Page 56 of Croatia Collateral

A few minutes had to have passed when he snapped the first zip tie. He worked steadily, carefully. If he dropped the knife and had to fumble around to reposition it, he’d waste valuable seconds.

The second zip tie snapped. He pressed his wrists against the last zip tie as tightly as he could and slid it over the blade. Once... twice...

Snap.

Dax rolled to his feet. He didn’t have time to locate the explosives and defuse the detonator. His only hope was to get out of the command center and as far down the passage as he could.

He slid the metal plate upward, exposing the keypad and quickly entered the code. His hand shook so badly, he missed and had to start over.

The clock in his mind was ticking loudly, counting backward.

Ten... Nine... Eight...

His second attempt to enter the code failed.

Had they changed it?

Steady, man. Focus.

Seven... Six... Five...

He drew in a deep breath and slowly entered the numbers he’d memorized. After he pressed the last key, he waited for the reassuring click of the lock disengaging.

Four... Three... Two...

The lock clicked, and the door opened slowly.

Dax stood near the gap, fitting his arm through, then his leg, and finally, his body.

One...

Chapter 13

Giva’s heart pounded in her chest like a bass drum at a rock concert as she ran through the stone-lined passages. Using the numerical code Dax had given her at each locked door, she eventually came to the last one leading out to the street beyond.

She’d become complacent after passing through two doors with no one on the other side to challenge her. The corridors seemed to be rising in elevation.

Because of the urgency of her exodus, she hardly noticed the incline.

At the third door and keypad, she almost didn’t take precautions, expecting the door to open into yet another tunnel.

When it opened onto a street, she leaped to the side into the shadow of the interior tunnel.

A guard peered in through the door, his rifle held out in front of him.

Giva didn’t have time to think through her every action. As the man entered and turned to look into the shadow where she stood, she grabbed the rifle and shoved it upward into the man’s face, hitting him hard in the nose. He yelled and flung the rifle away.

The weapon skittered across the stone, out of reach of the guard and Giva.

She leveled the pistol at the man’s chest.

Starlight glinted off the barrel of her pistol.

When the guard realized she had a gun aimed at him, he raised his hands into the air.

Now that she had him cornered, what did she do with the Russian? She didn’t have time to deal with him. She needed to get to the other Brotherhood Protectors and bring them back to help Dax.

Impatient to be on her way, Giva tipped her head toward the tunnel, indicating he should go through the door.

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