Beasley rose, got in beside Hume to dig his arms into Hume's pits and haul him to his feet.

Hume hadn't been kidding about feeling nauseous. Just as he leaned over, about to hurl, Smith came rushing into the stairwell, took one look at them, and said, "Guess you got it covered here, Matt."

"Hold on, cowboy. Get back here, police up his gear, and help me get him out. Let's go!"

Seeing that the first SUV was barreling down the road, out of control, heading directly toward the east building, Mitchell raced toward it.

There was, however, nothing he could do as metal screeched and the vehicle crashed through the gate, heading straight for the curving brick wall. At least the gate had helped to slow the SUV so that once it struck the wall with a low boom, the bricks slid back a quarter meter or so, but the vehicle did not bust through and sat there idling, its black hood draped in dust and rocks.

Gasping, Mitchell reached the SUV, swung open the driver's side door, and grimaced. Their young CIA contact was gone and had bled all over the seat and wheel. He shifted the lever into park and turned as Diaz came sprinting up.

"Sir, I'm sorry, I just couldn't get a bead," she said, gasping herself, her face drenched, the Cross-Com's power light glowing like a small jewel near her ear.

"It's all right. Help me get him out. You take the wheel. I want to stop that other truck."

"You got it, sir. He's following our route, which is good, but he's got one hell of a lead."

Mitchell sighed in disgust. "I know."

As they dragged Boy Scout out of the seat and toward the back of the SUV, Diaz cried, "Wait a second. There might be a way to slow him down."

TWENTY-NINE

TWENTY-NINE

LEAVING HAKKA CASTLE
XIAMEN, CHINA
APRIL 2012

Mitchell ordered the others to load Brown and Hume into his SUV. Nolan climbed into the back to better assess their wounds and treat them while en route back to the coast. Hume was in and out. Brown was just coming around.

They raced off, while Ramirez, Beasley, Smith, and Jenkins climbed into Buddha's SUV.

As Diaz took them up onto the slick mountain road, struggling with the wheel, Mitchell just happened to glance in the side-view mirror.

Buddha's SUV had yet to pull out of the courtyard. A man was running toward the truck, waving one hand.

"Ramirez, this is Ghost Lead. What's going on down there?"

They had been screaming for Buddha to get the hell out of there, but the fat man had spotted someone running across the courtyard and had cried, "Wait!"

Ramirez, who was sitting up front, swung his pistol around and aimed at Buddha's head. "Drive!"

"No, that's Huang, our contact. Just wait one second!"

"Get moving now!" shouted Ramirez. "This place'll get hot soon. Come on!"

Buddha faced him with widening eyes. "Patience."