He tried to get more comfortable, failed, and sat brooding for a while – he wished Frank was here, and immediately felt a knot of regret turn inside him at the realization his old friend was gone for good. He shuddered at the thought of what happened to him and he prayed that it had been quick.

He checked his watch and shifted in his seat again. Over an hour – time was dragging and he couldn’t shake the feeling he was being watched. He wished he had some field glasses so he could zoom in on the windows at least. Though they were all as black as bottomless pits, he couldn’t help the crawling sensation that someone was peering through a crack in the shades or whatever they had drawn over the panes.

Andy’s phone pinged with an incoming message. At last, he thought. He flicked off his game and read – it was from Major Joshua Abrams and contained two words: Turn around.

Huh? Well, that makes no sense, he thought. Too late, we’re already here, big guy. He was wondering whether he should respond or maintain Adira’s radio silence when his phone pinged again. He read. Look behind you, numb nuts.

Andy frowned and swiveled in his seat. Up close to his car, a dark SUV had glided up to within ten feet of him. In the front seat he saw Abrams and the huge frame of the SEAL, Hartogg. Abrams looked pissed, but Hartogg was grinning.

Andy waved. Abrams pointed at him, and then beckoned.

Fuck, what do I do? Andy groaned and gave up. He got slowly from the car, and walked casually to Abrams’s window. “Small world, huh?” He grinned, but immediately regretted it.

“Shut the fuck up.” Abrams voice was like a knife. “Where are they?

Andy cleared his throat. “Ah, you mean Matt?”

Abrams growled. “Get in.”

Andy slid into the back. What did he have to gain from shielding Adira, and for that matter, why, and how else, would they have gotten here? He saw the tightness in Abrams’s jaw, and immediately decided that playing dumb would be plain stupid.

Abrams swung in his seat, and glared, his eyes drilling right into Andy’s soul. Andy cleared his dry throat; Abrams’s glare intensified.

Andy knew his rights, and he certainly wasn’t in the armed forces, so couldn’t be ordered around like some wet-behind-the-ears private. But out here, alone in the street, confronted by a furious army major and an enormous Special Forces soldier, he suddenly felt very vulnerable – And these are the good guys, he reminded himself.

Abrams glare was like an icepick. Andy gave up, and exploded. “She came and got us, said that she needed to get the Book back; she’d bugged it in Egypt, but never told us. She also said –”

“Enough.” Abrams voice was like a punch.

“Hey, Major, listen, there’s no –”

“Son, I have full take-down authorization under the homeland war protocols, and right about now, I’m getting the urge to execute those orders. You understand what I’m saying?” Abrams red face seemed to extend on his corded neck right into Andy’s.