Eagle Strike

the room. “Ah, there you are, Alex.” He stroked the dog.
    “This is Bubbles. Isn‟t he beautiful?”
    “Where‟s Sabina?” Alex asked.
    Cray scowled. “I‟m not going to be dictated to, if you don‟t mind,” he said. “Especially not in my own home.”
    “Where is she?”
    “All right!” The moment of anger had passed. Cray stood up and the dog jumped off his lap and ran out of the room. He crossed over to the desk and pressed a button. A few seconds later a door opened and Yassen Gregorovich came in. Sabina was with him. Her eyes widened when she saw Alex but she was unable to speak. Her hands were tied and there was a piece of tape across her mouth. Yassen forced her into a chair and stood over her. His eyes avoided Alex.
    “You see, Alex, here she is,” Cray said. “A little scared, perhaps, but otherwise unhurt.”

    “Why have you tied her up?” Alex demanded. “Why won‟t you let her talk?”
    “Because she said some very hurtful things to me,” Cray replied. “She also tried to assault me. In fact, frankly she has behaved in a very unladylike way.” He scowled. “Now—you have something for me.”
    This was the moment that Alex had dreaded. He had a plan. Sitting on the train from London to Bath, in the taxi, and even walking into the house, he had been certain it would work. Now, facing Damian Cray, he suddenly wasn‟t so sure.
    He reached into his pocket and took out the flash drive. The silver capsule had a lid, which Alex had opened, revealing a maze of circuitry inside. He had taped a brightly coloured tube in place, the nozzle pointing into the device. He held it up so that Cray could see.
    “What is that?” Cray demanded.
    “It‟s superglue,” Alex replied. “I don‟t know what‟s inside your precious flash drive, but I doubt it‟ll work if it‟s gummed up with this stuff. I just have to squeeze my hand and you can forget Eagle Strike. You can forget the whole thing.”
    “How very ingenious!” Cray giggled. “But I don‟t actually see the point.”
    “It‟s simple,” Alex said. “You let Sabina go; she walks out of here. She goes to a pub or a house and she telephones me here. You can give her the number. Once I know she‟s safe, I‟ll give you the flash drive.”
    Alex was lying.

    As soon as Sabina had gone, he would squeeze the tube anyway. The flash drive would be filled with superglue, which would harden almost immediately. Alex was fairly sure it would make the device inoperable. He had no qualms about double-crossing Cray. It had been his plan all along.
    He didn‟t like to think what would happen to him, but that didn‟t matter. Sabina would be free.
    And as soon as Jack knew she was safe, she would be able to act. Jack would call MI6.
    Somehow Alex would have to stay alive until they arrived.
    “Was this your idea?” Cray asked. Alex said nothing so he went on. “It‟s very clever. Very cute.
    But the question is…” He raised a finger on each hand. “Will it work?”
    “I mean what I say.” Alex held out the flash drive. “Let her go.”
    “But what if she goes straight to the police?”
    “She won‟t.”
    Sabina tried to shout her disagreement from behind the gag. Alex took a breath.
    “You‟ll still have me,” he explained. “If Sabina goes to the police, you can do whatever you want to me. So that‟ll stop her. Anyway, she doesn‟t know what you‟re planning. There‟s nothing she can do.”
    Cray shook his head. “I‟m sorry,” he said.
    “What?”
    “No deal!”
    “Are you serious?” Alex closed his hand around the tube.

    “Entirely.”
    “What about Eagle Strike?”
    “What about your girlfriend?” There was a heavy pair of kitchen scissors on the desk. Before Alex could say anything, Cray picked them up and threw them to Yassen. Sabina began to struggle furiously, but the Russian held her down. “You‟ve made a simple miscalculation, Alex,”
    Cray continued. “You‟re very brave. You would do almost anything to have the girl released.
    But I will do anything to keep her. And I wonder how much you‟ll be prepared to watch, how far I‟ll have to go, before you decide that you might as well give me the flash drive anyway. A finger, maybe? Two fingers?”
    Yassen opened the scissors. Sabina had suddenly gone very quiet and still. Her eyes pleaded with Alex.
    “No!” Alex yelled. With a wave of despair he knew that Cray had won. He had gambled on at least getting Sabina out of here. But it wasn‟t