Page 84 of The Knight
He glanced upward.Fox is closer than me.
“I’m going to draw fire.” He pushed off the wall. “When they shift focus, you get her out.”
“Abe, that’s suicide. These aren’t amateurs?—”
“The mission is Freya. Everything else is expendable. Their forces are efficient, but they can’t be everywhere at once. I’ll make them choose.”
“Abe—”
“No discussion. Be ready to move. Get Freya out.”
He retreated to the garage, flipping on lights as he went.
Make noise. Be obvious. Be the bigger threat.
He knew what he wanted. The Audi RS7. Heavily tweaked, oversized engine. Fucking brash.
He grabbed the keys off the row on the wall and gripped the door handle with cold fingers. The door window glass was thick with visible layering at the edges. He’d bet money Korolov had ensured all his cars were bullet proof.
Freya was upstairs, and every instinct in his body wanted to fight his way to her. But facing down professional operators waiting for them? Sometimes, the only way to complete the mission was to walk away from it.
Time to make some noise. Lots of it.
The Audi’s engine woke with a guttural snarl that echoed off the garage walls as he positioned his hands on the wheel. Straight ahead was the wooden garage door.
Too quiet.
He flipped his attention to the floor-to-ceiling plate-glass window, beyond which the garage light spilled out onto the grass.
He revved the engine with a gentle press and hardened his grip on the leather wheel. The rational part of his brain cautioned that this was insanity. But rationality wasn’t getting his team out alive.Or bringing Freya home.
Their advantage was gone. The rest depended on him.
“Let’s see what you’ve got.” He secured his seatbelt before he changed his mind and stomped the accelerator.
The Audi’s horsepower erupted like a caged beast, rear tires fighting for grip on polished concrete as the car lunged forward.
The window rushed him.
Impact—
Glass exploded outward in a crystalline storm and the car burst through like a bullet. A banshee wail of alarms shrieked to life, ripping through the night air. The car hit the gravel with a thump that wrenched the breath from his lungs.
He yanked the handbrake, and the Audi pivoted on its axis, tires screeching protest. The spin ended with the car’s nose pointed where he needed it—toward the rear gate and away from his team.
His foot found the accelerator again.Hard. Broken glass cascaded from the hood as he hit a decorative brick border at speed, going airborne for one stomach-lurching moment before crashing down onto Korolov’s far-too-fucking-perfect lawn.
The Audi’s tires tore chunks free as he raced across the pristine grass, fishtailing wildly, each correction requiring all of his strength to maintain control. Floodlights powered on,and suddenly it was daylight, fucking everywhere. Movement surrounded him. Armed figures racing toward his position.
Come on, you bastards. Eyes on me.
Shouts competed with the alarms as the men split into teams, their focus shifting from the house to the madman in the stolen car.
Perfect.
He yanked the wheel hard left, then right, creating a chaotic path across the grounds that forced his pursuers to keep adjusting their firing positions.
The Audi responded like it was hard-wired to his nervous system, drifting in wild arcs between Korolov’s trees. Bark exploded behind him as rounds found wood instead of flesh. The car’s rear end swung wide, taking out a marble fountain in a spectacular crash of water and stone, creating spray that briefly shielded him from the nearest shooters.