Even without the leg brace over the knee I’d put a bullet through, I’d have recognized her anywhere. Eve. Rafael Santoro’s little pet. She called him Daddy. She loved him, had killed for him, had become his star pupil in the game of brutal extortion. She and her ex-lover, Adam, had managed to forcibly corrupt Navy SEALs and turned them into mass murderers. While trying to shoot me, Eve had accidentally killed Adam. I’d made a critical mistake by not putting my bullet into Eve’s brainpan instead of her knee. Every life she destroyed from now on was on me as much as her.

And here she was, with a squad of spooky-ass enhanced Fixers.

Had she known I was going to be here? Or was this one of those coincidences that make me believe the whole universe is run by demented gods?

As I watched, three more figures came out—a pair of Fixers half dragging, half carrying a prisoner in an orange jumpsuit. I swapped a new magazine into my Snellig and then tapped keys to bring the swarms of bees out so I could stage another assault. I could hear police sirens in the distance, but not too close. Maybe I could take out the Fixers and drag Eve off to a quiet spot for a little game of Truth or Consequences. But before I could even begin to formulate a plan, the air was chopped by the whup-whup-whup of helicopters coming in low and fast. I turned to peer into the night sky, hoping they were also police or maybe a military sent in response to alarms from the processing plant.

They weren’t.

A pair of unmarked black choppers came roaring out of the night. One was a muscular NH90 medium troop transport, and the other was a deadly UH Tiger that bristled with rocket pods, chain guns, and missiles.

I may be crazy, but I’m not that crazy. This wasn’t a fight I could win.

Ghost made low growling sounds of frustration. He knew it, too.

So instead, I set some Busy-Bees to get pictures of Eve and the prisoner.

We waited until the bees completed their task. I collected them, and then Ghost and I vanished into the night.

CHAPTER 108

THE TOC

PHOENIX HOUSE

OMFORI ISLAND, GREECE

Doc Holliday was not done with her presentation.

“What we don’t yet know is where and how they plan to use this tech,” she said. “As of right now, they could walk right into any venue, any stadium, any public office, or—hell—even any military base and destroy it.”

“Do we think the Fixers know they’re wearing what amounts to suicide vests?”