Ghostwalker 08 - Street Game

any attention. “Your phone . . .”
    “It’s all right,” Sergeant Major assured as he removed his jacket. “It’s just a phone.” He rolled up his sleeve but even then, when he reached through the water to retrieve the cell phone, his immaculate white shirt was instantly wet.
    Bond-boy isn’t happy, Gideon reported. He’s moving in on Sergeant Major. I can take him if he gets ugly.
    Give him some room, Gideon, Mack advised. We knew they wouldn’t like losing the cell.
    Sergeant Major retrieved the cell, shook the water pouring out of it, and turned it off, cursing under his breath, even as he again reassured the elderly man that it wasn’t his fault. He glanced at his watch and set off briskly going up the block toward the men’s shop. The man with the dark glasses fell in behind him, mixing with the crowd.
    “Nice job,” Mack murmured. “Looks like you’ve got two shadows.”
    “I spotted one,” Sergeant Major snapped.
    “ Don’t respond.”
    Griffen cursed again and picked up his pace, his coat over his soaked sleeve.
    Mack felt bad for him. The man was a legend, reduced to playing a puppet on a string because of his love for his son. He was a man of action, not someone to let others manipulate him. Mack would bet his life he was armed and willing to use his weapons. Sergeant Major entered the men’s store, disappearing inside.
    I’ve got him, Ethan said. He’s stripping to the skin. I’m placing everything in a plastic bag. It’s safer to get rid of everything, then take it to Jaimie. I don’t want them tracing anything back to her. We’ll have to rely on the trace. She’ll have the cell phone.
    Hurry, Ethan, you’re on the clock, Mack advised. Get that tracking chip out of his hip.
    Scanner picked up a second one. Ethan’s voice was grim.
    Mack swore. Can you get it?

    202

    It will be tough. It’s deep. Sergeant Major says to cut the damn thing out of him regardless. Ethan let the admiration for the sergeant major show in his voice. “Sir, we have very little time. Can you stitch up your hip while I try digging for this thing?”
    “Whatever gets me out of here fast,” Theodore Griffen snapped briskly. Ethan shot him full of painkillers and deadened the area before cutting out the first small chip, but still, it hurt like hell. Griffen didn’t care. He wanted the vultures off his back and he wanted to retaliate.
    Ethan slipped the knife into Griffen’s side, trying to ease the chip out. It seemed elusive, embedded deeper than necessary. Griffen never moved, stoically putting in two stitches at his hip while Ethan extracted the second chip.
    “Destroy them,” Griffen ordered.
    “I’m sorry, sir, I can’t do that,” Ethan said. “You have to follow this through. You have to dress and go out the front door. I’ll be right behind you with the chips. If they know the chips are gone, they’ll kill you or reacquire you immediately.”
    Griffen swore again. “Let’s do it, then.”
    Ethan studied him. The sergeant major’s face was pale, but they’d cleaned him up fast. He had stitches in his side as well as his hip, but he walked without a limp even in the stiff new shoes. He walked out just ahead of Ethan. Ethan carried the garment bag with Sergeant Major’s clothes in it. The two chips were in his pockets, still transmitting.
    Boss, the woman is coming right up on Sergeant Major, the one from Union Square, Marc reported. She’s been in and out of shops, but suddenly she’s moving fast and I think her intention is to intercept Sergeant Major. She’s a pro, the way she moves through the crowd, very hard to spot.
    As Sergeant Major stepped through the doorway, Ethan pushed him to one side and collided with the woman.
    “Go now, fast,” Mack instructed in Griffen’s ear. “Head for the bistro. Go in and all the way to the back and down the stairs. Move it.”
    Griffen heard the sound of air rushing out of Ethan’s lungs, but he didn’t turn, moving fast away from the man in the direction of the bistro as Mack had ordered.
    Behind him there was a commotion.
    Ethan’s down, Gideon reported. I’ve got the shot.
    Take it, Mack commanded.
    Gideon squeezed the trigger and the woman with the knife in Ethan’s side went down. Blood splattered across the window, but if there was sound, it was drowned out by the traffic on the street. Javier burst through the crowd, wrapped his arm around Ethan, and half carried him back inside and straight through the store to the