Rose was a brilliant operative, even now, even after all this time, but she was impulsive. She was bordering on rash. He had guessed, correctly as it turned out, that she was liable to go off the reservation, and when that happened, he wanted the added flexibility that being on the ground would afford him.

He needed Mackenzie West taken out of the country in one piece. He had only just assumed his new role. This should have been an easy enough job, even given the fact that he had been asked to use an agent who was no longer on the books of the Group. Go in, get the target, exfiltrate him. The business with Duffy should have been simple enough, too. Duffy must have guessed that he was on Rose’s shit list, but he wouldn’t have expected her to find him so quickly after she had taken out Joshua Joyce.

But Rose had complicated things. He didn’t know her well, but he knew her well enough to know that there would have been no point in trying change her mind about this excursion. Faulkner could have tried, but he wouldn’t have gotten anywhere. Pope could have tried, too, but he would have had no greater success, and he would have had to reveal his presence to speak to her properly. There was no point.

No.

This farrago was a complication, but it shouldn’t have been insurmountable.

But now this.

He glanced down at the Grizzly and the blocked gateway and the confidence that was flooding back into the routed guards.

This.

He couldn’t have a failure on his résumé.

And he wanted to help Rose, too.

He had meant everything that he had said to Stone.

It was the least that he could do.

Beatrix pushed Faik behind her and held him back with one arm. She had fallen back to just inside the entrance to the main building. The lobby was behind them, the Plexiglas-fronted counter that visitors would pass through before being admitted into the guts of the building. She didn’t want to go deeper inside again. It would have been safer, for a short while, but they would have been trapped. There would be nowhere to go once they were back there again, and it would just be a matter of time before they were hunted down and shot.

Their chances in the other direction were better, but not by very much.

The guards were still in disarray, but that wouldn’t last.

“One, Twelve. Report.”

“I’m in the car.”

“Can you see anything?”

“Trouble. An APC just went by. Heading to the front gate.”

Wonderful.

“Can you get to me?”

“Not easily. They’ve blocked the gates.”

She gripped the rifle tightly.

Faik took her shoulder. “What is happening?”

“Stay there,” she said.

“Why are we waiting here?”

“Stay back,” she said sharply. “Wait. If you don’t, you’ll get shot. Understand?”