Chasing the White Lion by James Hannibal (mind reading books .TXT) 📕

“But you didn’t take his word for it.”

“No need. As I said, unending reach. My Agency contact, courtesy of Anton, gave me your identity and advised me to kill you. But I’m still wondering, which is the real Talia Inger?” Boyd stretched out his hands, wrists pressed together. Beside him the white lion began to pace again, watching her with hungry eyes. “Are you the dutiful spy, ready to take me in? Or are you the ruthless killer who took out Orien Jafet, looking to become queen of the Jungle.”

Talia didn’t hesitate. The team had everything they needed. “The dutiful spy, I’m afraid.” She raised three fingers to her temple in a mock salute—a signal to the darkened drone hovering outside. Her other hand moved closer to her Glock. “I’m here to bring you in, Boyd. We all are.”

EDDIE’S CALL CRACKLED in Val’s ear, perhaps affected by the jammer still running over in the maze. “Val, Talia gave me the go sign. You’re on.”

The patrons of the Grand Bazaar had arrived en masse. A small crowd of Asian businessmen surrounded Rudenko, all quite unhappy. Atan, on the other hand, seemed quite popular. The pile of gold coins and his rainbow of pharmaceuticals had drawn a crowd.

Perfect.

Val palmed the remote trigger and walked out to the central fountain. “Copy that, Red Leader. Three . . . two . . . one . . .” She pressed the button. “Boom.”

A blue-white flash and a storm of sparks erupted from Atan’s bay. The buyers reeled back. Boyd’s security men converged, all talking into their radios at once.

UP IN THE ATRIUM, Bazin’s radio buzzed with urgent chatter. He took his gaze off Talia to answer, and the barrel of the Desert Eagle drooped—a small opening, but all the opening Talia needed.

She drew the Glock and fired, running sideways into the miniature jungle. The light crack of the Glock and the Desert Eagle’s hefty boom shook the Atrium. His rounds split the air where Talia had been standing a moment before and thwacked into the foliage. She kept shooting. Bazin’s body jerked twice and he dropped out of sight.

One down.

Waist deep in rubber plant leaves, Talia shifted her aim to cover Boyd, but he was gone.

CHAPTER

SEVENTY-

SEVEN

GRAND BAZAAR

TWIN TIGERS COMPLEX

BANGKOK, THAILAND

DARCY’SEXPLODINGCOINS caused confusion in the Grand Bazaar but no lasting panic. The crowd in Atan’s bay parted. Boyd’s guards dragged the protesting Albanian into the promenade.

Val moved behind the fountain, out of his sight line, to avoid the inevitable She did it! She turned her attention to the stacks of crates in Talia’s bay. “Eddie, Phase Two.”

“I’m sorry. Who did you call?”

She sighed. “Red Leader. Phase Two. Hurry up, before we lose the moment.”

“With pleasure.”

With a ripple of bangs, the stacks of hard-shell crates toppled, lids falling open. Drones poured out like bees from a broken hive. The sight hardly fazed the crowd of hardened black-market buyers. Most only backed up a little as the drones fanned out among them.

The MC helped maintain the calm. “All part of the festivities, ladies and gentlemen. A demonstration of one of our top merchant’s wares.” He cast a wide-eyed glance at Val, and she gave him a reassuring nod.

“He wants a demonstration?” Eddie said. “I’ll give him a demonstration.”

The TACRON spider drones with their ball cameras and the sphere drones with their rocket payloads rose to the arched ceiling. The gun drones hovered at eye level and did coordinated flips, earning a smattering of applause.

Val frowned up at one of the cameras. “Stop playing, Red Leader.”

“Yeah, yeah. A few more seconds. Targeting, sorting, and . . .”

The gun drones opened fire.

What might have been a bloodbath under TACRON’s original design became a surreal, but less disturbing scene for Val. The team had loaded the drones’ magazines with P3Q rounds. Most of the guards and patrons collapsed in one collective faint. A smattering survived the first salvo, including Rudenko. He ran for the bridge.

“Re-sorting. Re-targeting.”

The drones fired again. The remainder dropped. Rudenko fell sprawling beneath the huge Frenzy scoreboard.

UP IN THE ATRIUM, the white lion clawed the air, testing his ultrasonic fence. Big cats and gunfire didn’t mix.

Talia moved away from him, returning to the path. “Come out, Boyd. You have nowhere to go.”

“Don’t I? This is my domain. My kingdom, not yours.”

The voice came from the jungle to Talia’s right. She pointed her Glock at the mass of green and walked the path, body coiled, ready to spring. She sensed Lionel behind her, mirroring her movements, and prayed the invisible fence along the stream would contain him.

The play of light and shadow in the greenery toyed with her senses. Boyd could be anywhere, working his way toward an exit. She had to keep him talking. “Tell me about the product you’re moving tonight. How did you acquire your stock?”

“What do you care? I thought you were here to take me down.”

The voice came from behind her. He had doubled back toward the waterfall.

“I am.” She reversed her course to follow. Lionel did the same. “I’m just making conversation. Keeping the mood light.”

“No, this is something more. You hijacked Rudenko’s shipment. Now you’re asking about my stock. You came for the children as well as for me. Your priorities are divided. What will you do if you’re forced to choose?”

“Won’t happen.” Talia zeroed in on a grove of short palms. A leaf quivered. She kept her aim low, seeking to wound rather than kill. But as she put weight on the trigger, something felt off. Boyd had to be watching her aim the Glock. Why didn’t he run?

The hairs stood up on the back of Talia’s neck. She dove for the stream bank an instant before the rhythmic blasts of a 9mm semiautomatic erupted from the grove. Bullets whizzed past, splintering the glass walkway and thudding into the bank.

Lionel pounced.

All the gunfire. All the movement. All the hunger. The ultrasonic fence no longer held instinct at bay. Talia flipped over to see the huge cat airborne,