The Milestone Protocol, Ernest Dempsey [100 best novels of all time txt] 📗

me, and I don’t blame him. If Dr. Clark was attacked, someone must have wanted something he found or simply wanted his dig shut down.”

“But to kill the research team?” Tara sounded despondent.

“I know,” Tommy said. “Which is why I need you two to see what you can find out. All the calls I’ve made to Russian officials have come up empty. No one seems to know anything. See what you can find out and let me know. I’ll be on the plane to Stockholm in a few hours. You know how to reach me if you hear anything. Or if I hear anything, I’ll let you know.”

“Sounds good,” Alex said.

“Thank you. And great work on the helmet back there.” Tommy pointed at the bronze piece. “Still amazes me how fast you two are.”

He turned and started out the door. When he reached it, Tara said, “Fly safe, boss.”

Tommy turned back to her and gave an appreciative nod. “Thanks. You, too.”

6 Plovdiv

Sean led Kevin up the sidewalk and to the right. They’d made no effort to hide the bodies in the alley, and Sean knew it would only be a matter of minutes before some drunk pedestrian happened to glance down the side street and see the carnage.

And that was the best-case scenario.

A screaming drunk would draw attention and, eventually, the cops. But if a cop saw it, they could lock down streets and start asking more questions that Sean cared to answer.

“You’re not hurt, are you?” Sean asked as he ushered Kevin around a corner to the left.

Straight ahead, the Hotel Grand Garden’s alabaster façade shone like a beacon, brightly illuminated by ground lights on all sides. A crimson awning jutted out from the main entrance. Bright lights shone from within, and a man in a dark red uniform stood at the door to open it for patrons coming and going.

“No,” Kevin answered as he huffed. “I’m okay, as much as can be expected anyway.”

“You’re okay now,” Sean reassured, though he glanced back over his shoulder to make sure they weren’t being followed. “Do you have any idea who those guys were?”

Kevin shook his head, keeping his eyes forward and directed at the sidewalk.

A man with a guitar sat against the wall of an apothecary. He played “American Pie” as he stared out toward the street with unseeing, vapid eyes.

Sean fished a bill out of his pocket and tossed it into the man’s guitar case as they passed.

Kevin glanced at him askance. “Who are you?”

Sean returned the expression. “Sean Wyatt. I thought I told you that already. I work for the IAA? Remember?”

“I know that. What I mean is, you come in out of nowhere—how you got here so fast I have no idea—and then you take out four guys in a matter of seconds, all of them armed, by the way. That’s not normal.”

Sean huffed. “I guess not.”

They stopped at the next intersection and waited for the light to change. When it did, they continued through the crosswalk and paused to cross the adjacent street. The hotel stood just on the other side.

While the building’s grandiose design suggested it was something magnificent, the hotel was relatively small compared to some of its more luxurious rivals around the world. While Plovdiv remained a decent tourist destination, it seemed the secret about tourism in Bulgaria remained safe—for now.

Sean had visited the country once before, though it hadn’t been on vacation or to see the sights. He’d been here to take out a threat.

He remembered enjoying the food and the people, especially the culture that had settled in after the fall of communism. He loved the vibrant, traditional dresses the women wore with colorful flowers in their hair and bright smiles on their faces. Both the men and women were friendly, and that included total strangers, who seemed to be curious to speak to people from foreign countries. At the time, however, Sean hadn’t wanted to talk to anyone. During a mission for Axis, he needed to keep a low profile, and his level of trust remained low. Once the mission was done, however, and the threat eliminated, he spent a day in Plovdiv, learning as much as he could about the city and its people.

It was that day—so many years ago—that began pulling the thread on Sean’s career with Axis.

Now he was back, working for a different organization, but on a mission nonetheless. This time, his job was to save someone. But the end result was the same. Someone else had to die for his mission to succeed.

Over the years, he’d come to realize that a tiger couldn’t change its stripes, no matter how hard the animal tried.

The light across the street changed, and the two men started walking.

“You’re not going to tell me, are you?” Kevin pressed.

“I could,” Sean said with a wry grin.

“But you’d have to kill me?”

“Your words.” Sean passed him a cryptic glance and then shook his head. “I used to work for a special agency. Very covert. That’s all you need to know.”

They reached the other side of the street, passing a couple of younger women, probably in their twenties. The two could have passed as twins with their matching dark curly hair that cascaded over their shoulders. The women smiled at Sean as they walked by, both looking back over their shoulder at him.

Sean kept his eyes forward, but Kevin looked back and then stared at Sean, who veered left toward the hotel.

“Does that happen often?” Kevin asked.

Sean looked at him, puzzled. “Killing four guys in an alley?”

Kevin felt a knot return to his throat at the recollection of the earlier events. “No. I was talking about those two women that just walked by.”

“Oh,” Sean said and turned his head. He saw the two giggle. The one on the right waved. He inclined his head in acknowledgement and then returned his focus to the hotel. “I don’t think so. I honestly don’t know. I’ve always been a little aloof when it comes