Mukobo was staring at him.
Eddie forced himself not to react, maintaining his pace. The African’s gaze did not waver as he slowly rose to his feet. His men responded to their leader’s movement with growing alarm. Hands reached into jackets.
‘Oh… botheration and flippery,’ Eddie muttered, walking faster. He didn’t know why he had caught Mukobo’s attention, but something had prompted him to look through his disguise…
The wind gusted again — and he realised what had blown his cover.
He thought he had removed all the tags from his hastily bought clothing, but now felt an overlooked label flapping at his back on a length of thread. The incongruity had aroused Mukobo’s suspicions, and now his eyes were fixed upon him.
Recognition dawning—
‘Chase!’ The name was a bark of fury.
Eddie ran, his hat flying off. There was no cover on the terrace; all he could do was sprint for the shops and hope Mukobo’s bodyguards weren’t crazy enough to start shooting in a public area—
That hope evaporated as a sharp boom came from behind — and one of the shop windows ahead burst apart in a crystalline cascade.
Shoppers screamed. He ducked, risking a rapid glance back. The gunshot had come from Mukobo himself, the warlord wielding a large gold-plated revolver. His bodyguards leapt into the open to protect him, drawing their own weapons.
Brice and Alderley darted around the corner, guns raised. ‘Chase!’ shouted Alderley. ‘Move, hurry!’
‘What do you bloody think I’m doing?’ Eddie yelled, swerving. Another thunderous report came from Mukobo’s Magnum, the round searing past and shattering brickwork. The two MI6 men jerked back into cover.
More screams, people running in panic. Eddie dived around the corner. Gunshots followed him, another window exploding. He rolled against a pillar and glanced around it. Mukobo and his men were running along the terrace, heading behind the shops towards the escalators. The warlord yelled into a phone. Provone and his own bodyguards rushed from the tent after them.
‘Damn it!’ Brice snarled. ‘Chase, you’ve blown the mission!’
‘We can still catch them at the escalators,’ said Alderley. ‘Come on!’
The three men ran along the arcade. Alderley reached the next corner — then threw himself back as more bullets cracked past. He retreated into a shop doorway, Brice and Eddie joining him. Mukobo and his goons raced for the escalators. Another barrage of gunfire hit pillars and blew out windows, the three Englishmen shrinking into their cover.
Mukobo hurled a cowering woman over the guardrail to clear his path as the five Africans pounded down the escalator. ‘Just bloody shoot them!’ Eddie yelled.
‘We need Mukobo alive!’ said Brice. He was about to move when Provone and his guards sprinted into view. One man stopped and aimed at them—
Now Brice whipped out his sidearm, locking on with laser-like precision and firing three rounds. Red spots burst open across the bodyguard’s chest. He backflipped over the balcony and crashed down in the fountains below. The plumes of gushing water turned pink.
Provone gawped at the dead man, then he and his remaining guards unleashed a furious barrage at his killer. Brice retreated as more windows shattered, a shopper taking a hit to his shoulder and falling with a scream.
Provone scurried to the escalator. His men followed, still firing at the trio’s hiding place. ‘We’re pinned down!’ cried Alderley.
A thump caught Eddie’s attention. He glanced into the shop to see an open emergency exit at its rear. The employees had fled through it to the terrace…
He ran into the shop, vaulting the counter and charging through the exit into the open. The shop workers hared for cover to his right — and on the left were the Hyundais beneath the sunshade. Eddie dashed to them, seeing the salesman quivering by the SUV’s nose.
More shots from the escalators as Provone and his men descended after Mukobo. The Englishman spotted a bulge in the salesman’s chest pocket and snatched out a key fob. He pushed a button; the Santa Fe’s headlights flashed. He dropped low and sidestepped to the driver’s door.
One of Provone’s men saw him and fired, a glass panel between them disintegrating. Rounds clunked into the Hyundai’s tailgate. Eddie yanked the door open and dived inside, then stabbed at the starter button. The engine chuntered to life.
He grabbed the mirror and angled it to see the view behind. A glimpse of Provone and his two remaining men before they dropped out of sight. He fumbled the gear selector to reverse — then stamped on the accelerator.
The SUV surged backwards. Eddie clutched the steering wheel with one hand, aiming the vehicle at the descending escalator, then braced himself—
The Hyundai smashed tail-first through the damaged barrier and arced down at the moving stairway.
Provone looked up — and was hit in the face by two tons of metal. The Santa Fe demolished a section of the escalator’s sides, mashing him and a bodyguard into gory chunks against the sharp-edged steps, before tipping forward and slithering down the surviving guardrails.
The remaining man stared in shock at the splattered remains of his boss, then aimed at the sliding vehicle — only for another three shots from Brice to spin him through the crushed rail to demolish a stall selling scarves below.
The Hyundai reached the escalator’s foot and rolled off the guardrails, landing with a crunch. Eddie disentangled himself from the deflated airbag and pulled himself upright. ‘Chase, are you okay?’ Alderley cried as he and Brice ran down the escalator.
‘Forget him, they’re getting away!’ yelled Brice. He spoke into his phone. ‘Snatch team, get here, now! Mukobo is on the move!’
Eddie squinted into the sunlight outside. Beyond the mall’s main entrance were five running figures: Mukobo and his bodyguards, heading for their vehicle.
Rubber shrilled as the second Suburban skidded to a stop near its twin. The rest of Mukobo’s guards spilled out of it to protect their leader — and to aim at something approaching from behind. The Removal Men had followed them, forced to blow their cover to keep pace.
The guards opened fire. Another screech of tyres as the Discovery braked hard. Mukobo reached his parked 4x4, two men taking the front seats as he scrambled into the rear behind them. The rest of his companions joined in the shootout, taking cover behind the second Suburban—
The Hyundai’s engine was still running. ‘Oh well, why not?’ Eddie growled, shoving the gear selector into drive and flooring the accelerator again.
The SUV leapt forward. The chassis had been buckled by the crash, making the vehicle veer off course. He forced it back towards the doors, ignoring Brice’s angry shout of ‘Chase!’
The supermarket whipped past. Outside, the three MI6 operatives returned fire — and the Yorkshireman saw with dismay that the Suburbans were bulletproof, rounds smacking uselessly against their armoured bodywork. Mukobo’s 4x4 powered away. More bullets twanged ineffectually off its rear.
Eddie knew the crippled Hyundai could not keep pace. Instead he aimed at the second Suburban beyond the mall’s doors—
The SUV burst through them, the impact crumpling its nose. He fought to keep control as it lanced into the car park. The bodyguards reacted in surprise — then fired at him.
Eddie ducked. The windscreen burst apart, but he kept his foot down—
A flat thump as he hit one of the gunmen — then came a huge bang as the Hyundai ploughed into the Suburban’s side. Even the extra weight of the Chevrolet’s armour was not enough to resist the impact. It swung around like a scythe, mowing down two of the bodyguards sheltering behind it and crushing a third between it and a parked car. Another man was knocked over, the last leaping aside just in time — only for a Removal Man to pop up from behind the bullet-riddled Discovery and put a round in his head.