Kilo Option by Sean Flannery

Author:Sean Flannery
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates
Published: 2012-02-27T00:00:00+00:00

33

KUWAIT INTERNATIONAL HOTEL KUWAIT CITY

“We’re not going to crowd him,” Lane instructed the dozen NSA special agents and Kuwait Special Palace Guard security people gathered in his fourteenth-floor suite. “That means no one in the lobby. He’d spot your people right off the bat.”

“You’re the boss,” NSA agent in charge, Cal Trilby, said. “But if he’s as good as you say he is, you’ll be placing yourself in an unnecessarily risky position.”

The hotel was across from the US Embassy on Arabian Gulf Street in the section of the city known as Beneud Al-Gar. It was a favorite haunt of Western VIPs and journalists. Lane had registered this morning under his own name without trying to conceal his presence. The other rooms on the fourteenth floor were either empty or occupied by security people. A helicopter and pilot were stationed on the roof.

“It’s Yernin who’ll be putting himself in risk. Because if he gets this far, this floor becomes a killing ground.”

“Don’t we want him alive, sir?” one of the Kuwaitis asked.

Lane turned his steel blue eyes to the man. “That would be nice. But if you give this guy half a chance, if you hesitate for just a fraction of a second, if you don’t kill him the instant you see him, he’ll kill you.”

He looked at the others, including Zahedi, who stood by the window uneasily listening to Lane’s instructions.

“I’ve seen what he can do. If he thought that taking out this entire hotel was the only way to get to me, he’d do it.”

“What’s his beef with you, Mr. Lane?” Trilby asked.

“Let’s just say that I got in his way before, and I’m in his way now and he doesn’t like it.”

“If he’s got some agenda, wouldn’t it be better if we did take him alive?” Trilby persisted. “I heard that Norfolk wasn’t very pretty. I for one would like to talk to him.”

Lane nodded. “Okay. I wanted to see only one body bag going out of here. But I’d like to have a chat with this guy myself. Alone, in an empty room. So if your people want to do it your way, I won’t interfere.”

Trilby and the others looked uncomfortable.

“We’re going to give him seventy-two hours. If he hasn’t shown up by then, we’ll have to think of something else. He might not take the bait, or his people here might already know what precautions we’ve taken.”

“How?” Trilby asked.

“We might have a leak.”

The NSA agent gave Lane a very hard look. “Just great. Means we’ve lost our advantage.”

“Fourteen to one are pretty good odds,” Lane said quietly.

“From what you say and from what I read, he’s faced worse.”

Lane hated maneuvering people, but in this case it had been necessary for their survival. “You have a point. So we’re going to change plans in midstream, and nobody outside of this room will know about it.”

It occurred to Trilby that they’d been had. He grinned sheepishly. “They said you were good, Mr. Lane, but they were wrong. You’re better than that.

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