Hostage (25 page)

‘Let’s cross the road,’ he
suggested to Alicia. ‘Stay out of the sun.’

‘Sure,’ said Alicia.

At the next junction, they switched to the
other side. Connor snatched a look over his shoulder.

Gold Tooth had crossed the road too. Connor
felt his heart rate increase. ‘Mirroring’ was one of the key signs. But this
could still be an innocent matter of circumstance.

‘Hold on, Alicia, my shoelace has come
undone,’ said Connor, bending down.

As he pretended to retie his lace, he
glanced behind. Gold Tooth had also stopped, appearing suspicious as he hung around a
parked car. But then he finished his Coke and dumped it in a trash can.

‘Not far now,’ said Alicia,
oblivious to their tail. ‘It’s left here. Then just two blocks down on the
right.’

They stopped at a crosswalk on the junction
of 13th and W Streets. For Connor, this was the moment of truth. If Gold Tooth followed
them towards the park, he knew they were in serious trouble.

The seconds counted down with excruciating
slowness as Connor waited with Alicia for the pedestrian signal to turn green. A few
metres behind, Gold Tooth loitered on the corner, yabbering into his mobile phone.
Connor’s alert level had rocketed to Code Orange and he was ready to react at the
slightest threatening move from the gangster.

The signal turned from red to green and
Connor followed Alicia across the road, ensuring he was between her and Gold Tooth at
all times. On the far side they bore left and made for the park. There were no
pedestrians on the sidewalk ahead, so Connor risked a glance back. Gold Tooth still had
his ear clamped to the mobile phone and was walking on past the junction.

‘Have you listened to anything I just
said?’ asked Alicia.

‘Sorry,’ said Connor, allowing
his awareness to return to Code Yellow.

‘The Meridian Hill Park is nicknamed
“Malcolm X Park”. It has a thirteen-step waterfall –’

Alicia came to a sudden halt as a youth
stepped out from behind a van and blocked their path. Connor cursed
himself for letting his guard down. He’d been so focused on Gold Tooth,
he’d forgotten about the other gang member with the crew cut. The lad was a good
foot taller than Connor and his arms not only boasted tattoos, but vicious scars from
numerous knife fights.

In the second that followed, Connor
instinctively applied the A-C-E procedure from his training.

Assess the threat: gang member, high probability of carrying a knife or gun, one
hundred per cent certainty of an attack.

Counter the danger: priority one – provide body cover for the Principal, then …

Escape the kill zone: evacuation options (A) fight way through the threat but risk
injury; (B) turn round and retreat but danger of exposing back to knife or gun
attack; (C) take side street to next busy road and find safety in numbers.

Grabbing Alicia by the shoulder, Connor took
option C and pulled her towards the side street.

‘RUN!’ he shouted, keeping
himself between her and the gangster.

Alicia was too stunned to do anything but
obey. Yet no sooner had they begun to flee when Gold Tooth jumped out from a nearby
alley and cut off their escape route.

‘Where
you
going so
fast!’ he said, grinning to reveal his gleaming tooth.

Connor spun to take Alicia back the way
they’d come. But Crew Cut was bearing down on them from behind.

‘Yo, girl, give us the bag,’
Gold Tooth demanded.

Connor looked around. There were no other
people in
sight to call for help, the two gang members having picked
their mugging spot carefully. Panicking, Alicia became frozen to the spot and Connor
recognized the symptoms of ‘brain fade’. He, on the other hand, was already
pumped with adrenalin and able to think straight.

‘Do as he says,’ urged Connor,
hoping that would put an end to their predicament. It was far better to lose a fancy bag
than an invaluable life.

Alicia moved as if to comply, but as she
unshouldered the bag she dived her hand in. Gold Tooth grabbed the Prada bag and
wrenched it from her grip.

‘No tricks, girl,’ he spat.
‘You ain’t using no mace spray on me. That’ll cost you your
necklace.’

‘No,’ Alicia protested, her hand
going protectively to the silver chain. ‘It was my grandmother’s.’

‘Well, it’s mine now.’

Gold Tooth snatched for his prize. Connor
instinctively stepped in to protect Alicia. But Gold Tooth got his fingers round the
chain. Alicia jumped back, her wig and glasses dislodging as she fought to free herself.
Her long dark locks tumbled out and Gold Tooth, taken by surprise, let go.

‘What the –?’ he yelled. Then
his eyes widened in recognition. ‘I know you –’

Seizing on the distraction, Connor made his
move. The situation demanded an all-or-nothing approach and he drove the edge of his
hand into Gold Tooth’s throat. The sudden attack cut off the gangster’s air
supply. Gold Tooth’s eyes bulged as he fought to breathe. He dropped
Alicia’s bag, its contents spilling across the tarmac.

Connor immediately followed up with a hook
punch to the solar plexus, then a lightning-fast upper cut to the jaw. There was a
bone-jarring crunch and the gangster’s gold tooth flew from his mouth. Over in
less than five seconds, the final punch knocked the former Gold Tooth unconscious and he
collapsed to the sidewalk in a heap.

Alicia dropped to her knees, scrabbling for
her bag’s discarded contents.

‘Leave it,’ said Connor, his
priority her escape.

‘Behind you!’ cried Alicia as
Crew Cut now charged in.

Connor spun to face the other gang member.
In Crew Cut’s hand flashed the ominous steel glint of a switchblade. Alicia
screamed as she saw the knife plunge into Connor’s side.

Connor felt a sharp stab of pain in his ribs
as the blade hit its mark. But the adrenalin blocked out the rest of the damage.
Battling now for his own survival as well as Alicia’s, Connor fought with the fury
of a tiger. He palmstriked Crew Cut in the face, stunning and weakening his opponent.
Then, grabbing the gang member’s hand that held the knife, he spun himself under
Crew Cut’s arm. The whole series of joints from wrist to shoulder twisted against
themselves. The effect was instantly crippling. Crew Cut’s elbow hyper-extended
until it snapped out of joint with a sickening pop. Crew Cut bawled in agony and dropped
the switchblade. Kicking the knife away, Connor then finished off the gang member with a
strike to a pressure point at the back of his skull. Crew Cut ceased screaming and
crumpled to the ground.

Ensuring there were no other immediate
threats, Connor pulled Alicia to her feet.

‘Are you hurt?’ he asked.

‘Me?’ gasped Alicia, panting
from the shock of the attack. ‘I should be asking
you
.’

‘I’m fine.’

‘But I could have sworn he stabbed
you.’

Lifting his black T-shirt, Connor inspected
his ribs. There was a small round bruise forming, but the knife hadn’t penetrated
his skin. He thanked his lucky stars for the stab-proof T-shirt Jody had given him.

‘Just missed me,’ he said,
quickly lowering his shirt so she didn’t question his miraculous survival.

They turned their attention to the two gang
members who lay unconscious on the road.

‘I can’t believe it,’ said
Alicia, studying Connor in a new light. ‘Where did you learn to fight like
that?’

‘I’ve trained a bit in
kickboxing,’ he admitted.

Alicia gave an astonished laugh. ‘A
bit? You’re more deadly than Secret Service!’

‘Look, we have to get out of
here,’ replied Connor. ‘There may be others.’

Hurriedly gathering the contents of
Alicia’s bag, including his mobile, he noticed the panic alarm was already clasped
in her hand. So
that
was why she’d been so determined to retrieve her
belongings.

As they turned to go, three black limos
screeched to a halt at the end of the alley. In a matter of seconds Secret Service piled
out, guns at the ready. They cordoned off the area, three agents immediately surrounding
Alicia. Two others began inspecting the comatose gang members and handcuffing them.

‘What happened?’ demanded Kyle,
his eyes sweeping the alley for further danger.

‘We were mugged,’ explained
Connor.

‘I can see that. I mean … back at the
clothes store.’ He glared at Connor, clearly wanting to say more. But he held his
tongue, realizing he couldn’t blow Connor’s cover.

‘It’s my fault, Kyle,’
said Alicia boldly. ‘I wanted a little adventure. On my own.’

‘Well, you certainly got it,’ he
replied, struggling to maintain his professional composure. ‘You could have been
seriously
hurt.’

Alicia shook her head. ‘Not with my
knight in shining armour by my side,’ she replied.

Smiling, she took Connor’s arm and
strode off towards the waiting limo.

‘What were you trying to prove?’
Dirk demanded, his steel-blue eyes boring into Connor. ‘That you’re some
sort of hero?’

‘I was just doing my job,’
replied Connor, sitting on the opposite side of the conference table in the Roosevelt
Room. As soon as they’d returned to the White House, he’d been summoned to
the West Wing by the Director of Secret Service for a crisis meeting. Kyle had already
been grilled by the director and now it was his turn.

‘Your “job” is to inform
Secret Service
immediately
of her intentions.’

‘I’d have broken Alicia’s
trust if I’d done that.’

Dirk gave a hollow laugh. ‘Trust is
the last thing you should be concerned about. Your very presence is a
deception.’

‘That wasn’t my choice,’
replied Connor, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. ‘But, if Alicia’s going
to run away, isn’t it better that I’m with her?’

‘Not if you introduce her to city
gangs!’ he snapped, hammering the mahogany table with his fist. ‘You put
Alicia’s life at great risk, boy. As you well know, your
appointment was against my better judgement. And I’ve been proved right.
You’re a tragedy waiting to happen, Connor Reeves.’

Before Connor had a chance to defend
himself, there was a knock at the door and the President’s secretary popped her
head round.

‘Dirk, the President will see you
now.’

The Director of Secret Service shot Connor a
withering look. ‘I hope you’ve got a thick skin, because you’re about
to be flayed alive.’

Connor swallowed nervously. He thought
he’d done the right thing. And he
had
protected Alicia when it mattered
most. But now he questioned his judgement. Even he realized that they could have avoided
trouble if he’d just pre-warned Kyle. But it was too late to change that. He had
to live with his decisions. Bracing himself to be sent home in shame, Connor followed
the director and Kyle into the Oval Office. President Mendez was standing by the window,
his back to them. The White House Chief of Staff, George Taylor, was also present. He
greeted them with a strained smile.