Page 101 of The Lazarus Protocol

The head of security pulled out a pistol. “No deal.”

Noah reached for his because he couldn’t have done anything else.

“Don’t,” Petrice barked.

The other guard had a gun out as well now, pointed at Marina. Noah shifted her behind him and held up his hands. “There’s no need for this.”

“You don’t dictate what happens here.” Petrice looked at the woman. “Put the inquiry in. Find out what we’re going to do with these two.”

THIRTY-FIVE

Davos, Switzerland

Adam turned slightly as he went through the turnstile in the train station. He resisted the urge to groan in front of a bunch of strangers going about their day in this mountain ski town. Dan followed him through, bringing up the rear, more concerned about Adam’s physical state than any dangers that might be around them.

His phone rang.

Adam slid it out and put it to his ear. “Dubkowsky.”

“It’s me,” Ash said. “I’m at the hostel, waiting for contact.”

“Keep your head down. Something is going on, and we’ve barely scratched the surface of what it is.” Adam eased between two guys and headed for the platform.

“I will. Don’t worry.”

“We should be more worried about…” Kyle. Johannsen. Same guy, even if it amounted to two guys with two different problems.

“I’m thinking yeah. There’s scuttlebutt on the message boards that he went Stateside for something. No idea what. His orders were about protecting you.”

“He’s the one in danger.”

Ash said, “I’m all for finding him and checking in, but I’d rather be out looking for Kai.”

“I know.”

“If it was me, he wouldn’t rest until I was back. I’m out here…” Ash didn’t finish.

“I know. Jay is looking into it. You know he gets more results solo, and when he has something, he’ll check in.”

“What are you doing?”

“Getting Steph back. Ice dumped her off on a train because he didn’t like what she told him.” Just saying it out loud made Adam angry. He’d been so livid he busted half a dozen stitches open when Ice had told them over the phone. Now he wasn’t even picking up? “I’m gonna knock the guy into next week when I see him.”

Dan glanced over at him.

Ash said, “Because…”

“She didn’t deserve that!”

Dan smirked, but Adam ignored him. Ash said, “So you’re gonna go apologize for your friend, and make up for getting her burned.”

“That wasn’t my fault.”

“And you’re gonna try and convince us all that you don’t have a thing for her?”

Adam said, “Let’s just focus on the mission, okay? She has skills, and we can use them to find Kai.”

Ash said, “I might not wait long. Not that I want to skip out on our duty to the Phoenix Network, but Kai is missing.”