The investigator in him said yes.  Best to provide all relevant information.  But he also knew how bureaucratic organizations worked, especially law enforcement, which tended to act first and ask questions later, making it entirely possible Eshe could be taken from the outset.

No, he decided, she should stay in the car with Angela and Townsend.  Better to–

Without warning, there was a loud screech and multiple bright lights on them as two silver SUVs roared past on either side and abruptly slowed in front of them, together coming to a stop in a V-shaped angle.

Rickards slammed his foot against the brake and brought the sedan to a swerving stop, immediately shifting into reverse when men opened the doors and stepped out of each vehicle.

“Hold on!” yelled Rickards, throwing an arm over the back of Mona’s seat and accelerating backward.

He barely made it twenty feet before two more vehicles screeched to a halt behind him, sending black smoke rising from the pavement in front of their headlights.

Rickards checked either side and found nothing but long concrete walls lining both sides of the street.  There was no place to go.

Through the windshield, he could see the four men in front of them approaching the car.

And four more men behind.

With eyes fixed forward and both hands clutching the steering wheel, all Rickards could think to say was, “Lock your doors.”

He then reached for his handle and pushed the driver’s door open, stepping out with Badawi’s gun tucked into his belt at the small of his back.

Once out, he tossed the keys to Mona and locked his own door, pushing it shut with a loud thunk.

The four men stopped several feet away while Rickards checked over his shoulder at the others.  One of the men in front was Badawi himself, glaring through seething eyes while all eight men slowly surrounded him.

They were after Mona and the girl.  That much was clear.  But the real question was how badly Saad wanted to involve Americans, giving some hope to Rickards that he was simply in the way.  It was a good reason to leave the gun in his belt and not make their decision easy for them.

“Give them to us,” said Badawi flatly.

“And then what?”

He cocked his head and let out a wry grin.  “You get to go home.”

“And if I say no?”

The man turned his head, motioning to the barren landscape around them.  “You stay here.”

Rickards twisted and glanced through the car’s front windshield at everyone inside, with the last being the young girl.

Those surrounding Rickards had an enormous physical advantage.  Eight strong men against one.  It was simple math.

But their American target had an advantage of his own.