The Americans had sent the killer after him again! Instead of withdrawing, the CIA was going for the jugular.

It was time to leave. “Bring me the priest!”

He leapt over to the desk and snatched up the transmitter.

“The priest?”

“The priest, you idiot! The hostage! I need a hostage!”

SHANNON PLACED four charges in the basement where they’d held him before swinging back into the elevator shaft and climbing hand over hand to the second level.

Using the bowie again he pried his way into the middle floor, gun in hand. Apart from three closed doors, the hall lay empty.

Shannon slid up to the two doors on his left, listened for a brief moment with his ear pressed to the wood, and cracked them open only to find each empty. The men had probably rushed to the explosion in the lab. A barroom and a mess hall each received a timed explosive.

He ran back to the elevator and pressed the call button, ignoring the third door, which he knew must lead to the large processing lab. Only the third floor remained above him. Abdullah would be there.

The elevator whirred to life behind the door. Shannon blinked at the sweat leaking into his right eye and took a deep breath. He would go up there and kill Abdullah as he had always planned. And then he would leave the jungle forever. A picture of Tanya flashed through his mind and his head twitched.

Are you ready to die, Shannon?

Soon. I will be soon.

He flattened himself on the wall, leveled his gun at the elevator doors, and exhaled.

RAMÓN PRESSED himself into the elevator car’s corner, squatting low. He’d taken the priest up to Abdullah and then he’d been sent to deal with Casius. The agent had eluded him once, but he wouldn’t escape again. The elevator bell rang loudly and he shrank farther down.

The elevator jerked to a stop and the doors parted. Ramón’s gun hand wavered before his eyes. Nothing. He held his breath and waited, straining for the first glimpse of movement.

But there was nothing. The doors slid closed and the elevator sat still, waiting further instructions.

Now what? If Ramón pressed any button, he might very well give himself away. Unless the agent was on the basement level. But then why didn’t the car descend? Someone else had called the car, not he.

For a few moments Ramón remained crouched in the corner waiting, undecided. Meanwhile the agent was no doubt below or above. He wouldn’t be on this floor. The thought finally prompted him to lean forward and press the “open” button.

The doors spread again and Ramón trained his gun on the opening. Still nothing. He stood and eased to the door’s edge.