Page 89 of Turn the Tide
Chapter 10
Berlin, Germany
Sunday, March 6, 12:05 p.m. CET
The history-stained Reichstag loomed in front of Logan. He looked up at the building that resembled a small castle, where the Nazis had made their last stand in WWII.
Where he would make his stand to get Ashley back.
Sunlight winked across the striking glass and steel dome, reflecting a prism of color. He climbed the stone steps alone to the entrance of the building, home of German parliament.
A vigorous security check and droves of visitors at this popular tourist attraction made it the perfect public spot for the exchange. Advanced registration for entry was required, which Logan had done online. Whoever took Ash would have to show an ID and wouldn’t be able to bring weapons inside.
If Glasses attempted a double cross, security would respond in seconds at the first peep of gunfire, and the German police would swarm in minutes. Neither side wanted such attention.
He took the elevator to the expansive roof terrace. The breeze resembled something of spring with a kiss of warmth. He strolled inside the dome and ascended the multilevel spiraled walkway to the apex. A dazzling inverted cone of mirrors shimmered in the natural light in the center of the dome, with the helical ramp coiled around it.
Parliament held court several stories below.
He glazed over the spectacular three-hundred-sixty-degree view of the city, too focused on the positions Mike and Ethan had taken up outside. One close by on the ground. The other taking a higher vantage point with a sniper rifle trained on the entrance.
Knox was probably having a conniption wondering where they were. His assistance on this would’ve been good—four men versus three—but he never would’ve gone for the trade.
Logan chose a view of a park with the TV tower in the background as the position to make his stand. He rubbed the tense muscles at the back of his neck. Minutes ticked by. During the nerve-racking wait, he visualized getting through this. A future with Ash. Making her his wife, if she was serious about having him.
You really are an idiot. Her words warmed his heart. She was serious and did love him.
They just had to get through this alive.
“They’re here,” Mike said over the wireless comms device in his ear. “Eyes on Ashley. Good God.” The horror in Mike’s voice chilled his blood. “Don’t freak, Logan.”
His pulse ramped up, throbbing in his veins. Discreetly, he lifted his wrist to his mouth. “What do you mean?”
“They worked her over. It’s not pretty. Don’t lose it when you see her. Better yet, don’t even look at her. Stick to the plan. Two are going inside with her.”
“We agreed on one,” Logan said.
“Yeah, well, if they’re reneging on that, more’s to come. I’ve got two more out here.”
“I count four more,” Ethan said.
Logan pictured Mount Everest. He’d climbed it once to prove to himself that he could—clawed up one foot in front of the other to the top, right before he joined the Agency. On his toughest assignments, no matter what he encountered, he channeled Everest.
Formidable. Brutal. Cold. Immovable.
He needed to remember how to be Everest. For Ash.
Two men were on either side of Ash, coming up the flat helical walkway. Huge sunglasses covered half of her bruised face, and she wore different clothes.
Bracing to see her up close, he stared at Glasses, focusing on his milk-of-magnesia-colored skin and russet-brown hair, reining in the urge to smash his skull.
Everest. I am Everest.
They stopped a few feet away, and Logan looked up at her face.
His heart locked in his chest. His whole body contracted painfully. She had her head lowered in a docile manner, looking broken with no will left to fight. His Ash was always up to argue, debate. She was the most willful, determined person he knew—or had been until she fell into that man’s clutches. What had they done to her?
Icy anger roared through him with the same force as the one-hundred-mile-per-hour winds that battered the summit of the tallest mountain in the world.
