Retreat became the order of the day as the Hegre crew backed off. Bolan refused to let it end there and he tracked the hallway, sending more deadly fire at the enemy as they pulled away. When the Glock locked back empty, Bolan snatched the 93-R from its holster and continued to fire. The interior of the house echoed with the constant stream of gunshots. The last man in the group reached a door and kicked it open. Before he could clear the opening, Mitchell’s Glock fired twice and the guy’s head was hammered by a pair of .40-caliber slugs. They cored in through his skull and blew a portion of brains out through the bloody exit wound.
Mitchell slumped back against the wall, Glock sagging in her two-handed grip. The weapon had locked on empty, smoke still curling from the barrel. Bolan saw her shoulders moving as she trembled in the aftermath. He could see the rage seeping away, and he knew in her mind she would be seeing the image of her tortured, dead FBI teammates.
Ray Talbot.
Jake Bermann.
Mitchell would be taking on the blame because she felt a responsibility toward her team.
It wasn’t enough they had found Bermann.
They had arrived too late.
Bolan watched her, seeing her expression and feeling for the FBI agent. There was not a thing he could do for her.
His thoughts turned to another female.
Lise Delaware.
The woman would seek revenge, would attempt to even a perceived score with Bolan. Somewhere along the line that need would be addressed.
“One way or another, Cooper, I’m getting to the bottom of this.”
The determination in Mitchell’s voice told Bolan all he needed to know. The FBI agent was not going to stop until she had the answers she wanted. She had good reasons.
Mitchell reloaded automatically as she voiced her thoughts.
“They don’t do this and not pay.”
Her partners had been killed because they had been betrayed.
And Mitchell’s own tenacious nature would not allow her to ignore facts.
“The Bureau is in a good position to run some checks on Brewster’s recent history,” Bolan said, then added, “second thoughts. Go careful. Hegre appears to have deep contacts. It could be they might get wind of anyone looking too close at their business.”
“Are you saying they might have someone else in the Bureau? That’s crazy, Cooper. This is the FBI were talking about. Hegre doesn’t own it.”
“Agent Mitchell, I’ve been up against this group before. They had a pretty good reach last time around. I can’t do anything to stop you from checking them out. Just be careful is all I’m saying.”
Mitchell understood his concern. And as much as she even hated the thought there might be some other kind of leak within the FBI, her good sense cautioned against being careless.
She only had to remind herself what had happened to Joe Brewster. He had been a careful man, never one to even think about taking unnecessary risks. He was a stickler for obeying the rules. She had believed him to be an upstanding FBI agent who played by the book.
She had been wrong there. Brewster had stepped outside the circle and accepted Hegre’s money. He had been turned. In Mitchell’s eyes, if Brewster had been corrupted, it could happen to anyone.
Mitchell was at the room’s front window, keeping watch, waiting for backup to arrive. Her initial anger when she had realized Brewster had betrayed them had ebbed, leaving behind a dull ache. It wasn’t every day she had two friends die and witnessed another partner selling her out.
Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Cooper crouching over Brewster’s prone figure, talking quietly to the wounded man. Cooper fought with the dedication of a professional, yet now he was speaking to the man who had tried to kill them with the compassion of a priest taking confession. In the brief time she had known the man, Cooper had shown her many facets of his character. She found herself drawn to him, fascinated by his powerful presence and the deadly skills he used so well.
“Game’s over,” Bolan said to Brewster. “You rolled the dice and ended up with snake-eyes. A low roll. Whichever way you look at it, you don’t come out with any kind of winning hand.”
“So this is where I open up and admit the error of my ways?”
“Hegre isn’t going to come to the rescue.”
“But you are? You’ll offer me absolution if I confess before I die?”
“I’m no priest,” Bolan said. “But I’m open to offers.”
Brewster was bleeding from the mouth now, his breath ragged.
“If Mitchell was in your place right now, she would be pulling a trigger on me.”
“She lost friends over this. You were one of them. Do the right thing and at least offer her something in payback.” Bolan held the man’s gaze. “Or don’t. It makes no difference to me, Brewster. I’m tracking Hegre however long it takes.”
Brewster’s eyes rolled, and for a moment his stillness made Bolan imagine he was gone. Then he took a breath, his gaze focusing again.
“Hegre has a deal with some high-ranking Iranian group, brokering them uranium for their enrichment program. All illegal. It’s coming out of Kazakhstan. And diamonds to finance it from Australia... Cooper, remember what I said about Delaware. She’s crazy mad for what you did to their last big deal...losing the North Korean game cost Hegre a lot. Too much for them to ignore. Cooper, you’re top of her Most Wanted list.”
Brewster clutched at Bolan’s sleeve as a spasm of pain coursed through him.
“Hegre has this deal all worked out. They plan to transport the diamonds to Hong Kong...pass on to an end buyer in Philippines...make a killing...that’s all I overheard.”
The effort pushed Brewster over the edge. When he fell silent this time, Bolan found his vital signs had flatlined. Pulse and respiration gone. He rose to his feet and turned away, catching Mitchell’s gaze. He shook his head.
“Did he say anything?” she asked when he joined her.
“A lead. Maybe.”
Bolan called Stony Man on his secure cell phone. Price answered and Bolan picked up on her concern.
“I’m fine,” he said in answer to her question.
“You would say that if both your arms had been blown off.”
“I can tell you they’re both intact and in good working order. Now patch me through to Bear.”
“Kurtzman here. Fire away,” he said. Then added, “Sorry. In your circumstances that may have been an inappropriate remark.”
“Make up for it by doing some hard checking. Anything and everything concerning Iran and uranium from Kazakhstan. And look into any intel on a diamond heist in Australia.”
“Slightly bizarre combination but interesting. I guess you want the express response?”
“Don’t I always?”
“I’ll put the Boy Wonder on it. Nothing he likes better than a puzzle request.”
Bolan knew the cyberteam would work its magic. If anyone could pull digital rabbits out of imaginary hats, Kurtzman’s people