The only question was what action to take. Whatever the answer, Sean needed it soon.
33
“I’m afraid I’m going to have to leave you three here,” Khalif said. “I have a very important diplomatic meeting in an hour, and I don’t like to be late.”
“So you’re not going to oversee this whole thing?” Sean asked. “You kind of strike me as the micromanager type.”
“No, Agent Wyatt. You see, I’m a planner. If you have a good plan, you don’t have to supervise every little move. In this case, I will be meeting with high-ranking Egyptian officials. So even if — worst-case scenario — someone did try to connect me to the attacks, I have the perfect alibi.”
“Sometimes things don’t go according to plan.”
Khalif shot him a wicked smile. “This one will.”
A gun blast from the hallway shocked the room. The explosive sound seemed to come out of nowhere. Everyone — including the Americans — turned to see what had happened at the doorway. A thud on the floor signaled a body had dropped.
The sudden distraction was exactly what Sean had been waiting for. He spun out of his chair, lowered his shoulder like a linebacker, and plowed into the guard on the left. The shoulder dug into the man’s abdomen. Sean pumped his legs hard until he felt the sudden stop of the man’s back hitting the wall.
The jarring blow caused the guard to drop his weapon. Sean used the stunned moment to his advantage and in one move rose up, swinging his fist into the bottom of the opponent’s jaw. Teeth broke, and the guard instantly lost consciousness. He slumped against the wall and slid to the floor. A few seconds later a fresh trickle of blood oozed from his lips.
Khalif watched the American’s rapid attack in stunned awe. He wasn’t silent long. “Kill him now,” he ordered to the other guards.
More gunfire erupted from the other side of the doorway. Ahmed dove into the corner. A guard near Fitz was struck in the chest. Another near Emily took two rounds in the gut. The other three guards retreated to the balcony for cover between the doors.
In the chaos, Emily and Fitz dove to the floor, trying to stay clear of any stray shots.
The muzzle flashes popped loudly in quick succession as the shooter sprayed the room until the weapon clicked. For the first few seconds, the Americans could only see the pistol and the hands holding it.
When the remaining guards heard the attacker’s weapon click, they stepped around the balcony doors and opened fire with their guns on full auto. The weapons filled the room with a repeating thunder. The doorframe and the wall around it shredded in seconds. Drywall exploded, wood splintered, and the light in the room flickered off as one of the rounds struck some wiring.
Emily and Fitz were still on the floor when the guards’ magazines went dry. The two Americans glanced knowingly at each other. They bounced up and charged the two closest gunmen.
The guards hadn’t expected that and were ill prepared.
Fitz went the brute-force route. Using his weight to his advantage, he replicated Sean’s earlier tackle move and nailed his target in the chest. He drove the man back through the open door and out onto the balcony. The guard was smaller and lighter. For a panicked few seconds he swung his arms and kicked his legs. At the last moment, he tried desperately to slow his momentum by dragging his heels, but it wouldn’t slow down the larger American’s strength.
The guard’s lower back hit the balcony railing. When Fitz felt his movement slow, he instantly pushed up and forklifted the guy up. The guard screamed as he toppled over the edge and tumbled head over heels to the ground below. His screams stopped suddenly as he hit the grass.
Emily jumped and twisted her body to the left. Her right foot whipped around at her target’s head. His cheekbone cracked as the top of her foot struck. He let out a sort of yelp and stumbled backward. She landed on her toes, spun around, and kicked out with her left foot. The heel landed just below his ribcage, and the guard instantly doubled over with a grunt.
She saw the third guard nearest the wall out of the corner of her eye. He was panicking in an effort to reload his weapon.
“Fitz!” she yelled out.
Fitz turned around at the balcony just in time to see Emily snap-kick her opponent in the face. The guard flew back a few feet and into Fitz’s arms. In a single fluid movement, the big American grabbed the guy under his armpits and used his momentum to hurl him over the railing. His scream was less pronounced than the previous guard’s, probably due to Emily kicking him repeatedly.
She switched her attention to the last guard.
Inside the room, Ahmed dashed toward Sean. His initial attack was reckless and clumsy, a foolish charge that Sean dodged easily. Ahmed ran into the wall, shoulder first. The sound of the thud made the American wince.
“That had to hurt,” he said.
He put up his hands, ready for a more well-conceived approach.
Ahmed’s right eye twitched as he straightened up and turned to the side with his hands up and ready. He kept them moving in a fluid motion that instantly told Sean this guy had martial arts training.
Time to find out how much.
The American faked a roundhouse punch and went with a jab. Ahmed deflected and countered with his own. Sean blocked the counterpunch and swung his right elbow, stepping close to use his weight behind the blow.
The elbow never got there. He got too close to his opponent before he could finish the attack. Ahmed saw and reacted like lightning, ducking his head and driving his fist into Sean’s gut.
Sean didn’t have time to tense his abs, and the full force of Ahmed’s fist sank deep beneath the skin. He grimaced and tried to hammer-fist his opponent’s head, but Ahmed swung repeatedly at Sean’s midsection.
Each strike sent a new round of pain through the American’s body until Ahmed swung his left arm up to clear the way for a massive uppercut. All Sean could do was turn his head as much as possible to absorb the shot. It did little to ease the surge of fresh pain when Ahmed’s knuckles hit between the jaw and cheek.
Sean spun away and hit the floor. Signals from nerves all over his body wrecked his thought process as he writhed on the tile. He noticed a couple of drops of blood on the floor near his face and wiped his lips with the back of his hand.
Ahmed wasted no time. He stepped toward Sean to finish him off.
Sean saw the approach and regained his senses enough to sweep his right leg at the attacker’s shin. Ahmed saw the move and hopped over Sean’s foot. The American didn’t give up and scissored his other leg around, catching his opponent just as he landed.
Ahmed’s feet tangled and he fell sideways, arms flailing in the air to keep his balance. He crashed to the floor and struck the hard tile with the side of his head.
The American struggled to his feet. Ahmed pressed his hand into the floor to push himself up, but he collapsed again — still dazed from the blow to his head. Sean wobbled for a moment, regaining his balance. The second he felt steady, Sean jumped on Ahmed’s back. Sean’s momentum caused him to roll Ahmed over onto his back. Sean took advantage and climbed on his chest, straddling Ahmed with both legs. At first he pummeled his victim’s face with his knuckles, delivering one angry blow after another. With each successive punch Ahmed’s head snapped one direction and then the other. When the muscles in Sean’s arms started getting fatigued, he switched to hammer fists, dropping them down on Ahmed’s bloody face until he felt the man’s body go totally limp. Sean smacked the unconscious man’s right cheek just to make sure. A cut over the right eye oozed blood down to his ear. Ahmed’s face was already swelling and bruised in several spots.