Robert Ludlum's the Ares Decision by Kyle Mills

Author:Kyle Mills [Mills, Kyle]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Suspense, Espionage, Fiction, Thrillers, Science, Life Sciences, Biology, Microbiology
ISBN: 9781409111894
Publisher: Orion
Published: 2011-09-15T03:00:49+00:00

47

Outside Washington, DC, USA

November 25—1244 Hours GMT–5

THE CRUNCH OF ICY gravel sounded impossibly loud as Randi walked toward a small cabin tucked into the woods about ten miles from the nearest asphalt. The drive there had offered no opportunity for escape, and the situation wasn’t getting any better. Her captors were a good ten feet behind her, one thirty degrees left and the other thirty degrees right, staying close to the tree line.

The chances of her making a break and getting to cover without catching a bullet seemed to be hovering somewhere between slim and none. It would have been an easy shot for someone half as good as the people covering her. But even if by some miracle they did miss, that left her running unarmed through the snow in heels and a skirt.

Randi stopped at the front door and glanced back, unsure what to do. The woman, who looked much more sleek after shedding the elaborate foam belly, motioned her inside.

The trees were tantalizingly close, and Randi focused longingly on them in her peripheral vision before reaching for the knob. At this point she just had to keep breathing long enough for someone to make a mistake. Not a great strategy, but the only one currently available.

There was a green-wood fire crackling to her right as she entered, and she couldn’t help reveling for a moment in the heat coming off it. The galley kitchen at the back of the cabin was separated from the main living area by a granite-topped island, and there was a man standing next to the sink working on something she couldn’t see. He was a little less than six feet tall, with thinning hair and a suit that apparently had a healthy fear of irons.

“Randi,” he said, glancing up at her. “I’ll be right with you. Pour us some wine.”

There was a carafe on a coffee table near the fireplace, and she examined the odd way the light played off it and the two glasses next to it. Plastic. A quick sweep of the room confirmed that any object more dangerous than a soft cushion had been removed.

The man came around the counter and slid a plate of cheese and fruit onto the table before settling into one of the sofas surrounding it. “Please. Sit.”

He didn’t look even mildly athletic, but behind his glasses his eyes were sharp—a little sharper than she would have liked. The intelligence didn’t just reflect there; it glowed.

Still devoid of options, she took a seat across from him and poured. He reached for a glass and took a careful sip, nodding approvingly. “I was afraid it might be a little past its prime, but I’m happy to say I was wrong. Please don’t let it go to waste. If I wanted you dead or unconscious, you already would be.”

It was hard to argue with his logic, and she put the plastic glass to her lips. Credit where credit was due. The man knew wine.

“First let me apologize for the melodrama.

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