Page 113 of The Lazarus Protocol

Steph pulled the car over, parking up against a low stone wall at the side of the road which reminded him of Syria, the day they’d met. Parking so she couldn’t get out, with the truck up against a cliff.

“Gonna hold a gun to my head again?”

She looked at him, the damp of tears in her eyes. “What?”

“I was just remembering Syria.” He shook his head. “Feels like weeks ago.”

“Back when we were young and naïve, and we thought the CIA wouldn’t try to kill us.”

“Speak for yourself.” He reached over and squeezed her shoulder, getting her to chuckle a little. “Call your sister.”

She rolled her eyes. “She’s not really my sister. Not in any way that counts.”

“More like a thorn in your side? I’ll introduce you to my sister sometime. You’ll like her, and she’ll like you.”

Steph held the phone. “Was Ash really serious about finding my father? I’ve wanted to rescue him for years, but I could never locate him.”

“We can try.”

“I’d appreciate the effort.”

Adam nodded. “Make your call.”

She dialed and held the phone to her ear. Listening. “It’s me. I’m not going to pretend you feel any kind of loyalty to me, but I could use your help. All I want is information.” She tapped the screen and lowered the phone, looking around at the deserted mountain road around them.

A light drizzle dampened everything, and the windshield wipers swiped away the moisture. There wasn’t really enough to make it worth the effort.

Adam had about drifted off to sleep when the phone rang. He blinked, sitting up too fast.

“Easy.” She touched a hand to his arm. “It’s just me.”

For a second there, in his dream, she’d been gone and he had been back in that facility. At the mercy of a psychopathic US Army colonel. But it wasn’t real.

“Yes?” Whatever the caller said, Steph flushed and looked relieved. “Tell me where to find them. I don’t care how thin the lead is. I need to know what you know.”

A few seconds later, she hung up the phone.

Adam glanced over. “You have a location?”

“Vesper thinks she knows where Earthnet would’ve taken them.”

“How do we know it’s a good lead? She could be leading us into a trap—or a wild goose chase.”

“We don’t,” she said. “But we’re still going to check it out, right?”

“Of course.” He nodded. “With backup.”

THIRTY-NINE

Punta Sorapis, Northern Italy

The small plane banked to fly in an arc, then set down on a grassy field west of the base.

Steph lowered the binoculars. “Hopefully, no one was watching and saw that.” She made her way from their hiding spot in the bushes back to where they’d left the car so they could gear up. She glanced over at Adam, wishing they had protective vests to wear. “You good?”

He’d slept for half an hour at least in the front seat of the car while she drove here, but he didn’t look any better. She figured that was because he’d told her the short version of what the rest of his team had learned over the past few days—the reason why he had to be careful never to show his face to a security camera in the US. Or, preferably, stay away from the States so the colonel who had victimized him—her word, not his—never found him.

She’d come across a pharmacy in a small town and managed to communicate well enough to get him some painkillers, though he probably needed something a lot stronger.