Page 37 of The Lazarus Protocol

Jay chuckled.

“Who’s living the good life?” The voice came through Adam’s comms earbuds.

Relief washed over him. “Ash?”

“The one and only, and little ole me,” Kai said. “We’re tracking the drone. Almost to⁠—”

Gunshots echoed across the channel.

Soon as it quit, Adam said, “Drop a pin of your location, and we’ll meet you there.”

“Copy that.” Kai muttered something, then louder said, “We’re in the bucket.”

“No kidding. Hold tight until we get there,” Dan said. “The drone pinpointed them. I’m setting down on a rooftop, hopefully out of sight. I’ll guide you in.”

Adam turned his ball cap backward. “Jay and I are on our way.”

“Copy,” Kai said.

Dan echoed him. “Copy.”

“Call Ice and let him know we found them,” Adam said. “And watch your back up here.”

Dan nodded. “Got it.”

Adam slung the rifle strap over his shoulder and pulled the neck scarf up over his mouth and nose. He ran in a slight crouch down the incline, sprinting flat out. Jay wasn’t quite as fast, but they cleared two buildings in as many minutes and made a beeline between structures toward the south. Air all around them was laced with smoke from the fire, quickly gathering steam and racing this direction like a wildfire out of control.

A helicopter flew overhead, the massive rotors kicking up dust.

“Reinforcements?” Dan said over comms. “They’re landing to the north, on the open plain on the other side of the fire. That isn’t any military I’ve ever seen. Probably mercenaries.”

“Am I going in the right direction?” Between buildings now, Adam slowed a little. He had to check around every corner, but a threat could come from anywhere, and clearing every shadow would take too long.

He spotted a guy down an alley, faced away from him. After motioning to Jay behind him, they crept across to the far side and carried on.

Gunfire to the south-southeast echoed over in their direction.

“You guys good?” Adam asked Kai and Ash.

“We’re pinned down. We can’t get to the drone.”

He heard the urgency in Ash’s voice, and the hint of pain that made Adam run faster. “Almost there.”

Jay patted his left shoulder.

“Yep.” He paused a beat while Jay ran off to the left, racing around so the two of them could come at this from opposing angles. “Dan?”

“Take a right when you can. Run to the end zone, then hang a left.”

Adam ducked right, down an alley. He counted the seconds that would get him the length of a football field and stopped at a corner. Men gathered in a group to his left.

“I’m coming in from the north,” Jay said. “The alley is full of guys.”

“Here, too.”

“We have another problem,” Dan said.

Adam ducked back behind the building. “What is it?”