we follow him?”
“We have so far. We should be safe in there. And maybe he does have something useful to tell us.”
“Somehow I rather doubt it.”
“Me, too, but you never know.”
“Let’s go then.” He took her arm and they crossed the street.
Once inside, they saw he was already seated, sipping from a paper cup of coffee. He motioned them to chairs.
“We’d rather stand,” Sean told him.
He shook his head. “Not an option.”
“Listen here, buddy,” Natalie began furiously.
The informant opened his coat.
What they saw made them both freeze.
The man had been wired with explosives.
“That’s right.” He smirked, but there was no amusement in his face, only tired resignation. “So I suggest you do as I say.”
If he triggered the bomb, he’d blow up not only himself and them, but everyone inside the coffee shop.
Of course, they couldn’t allow this to happen.
“What do you want?” Sean asked.
The man looked at Natalie. “The code. Hand it over.”
Maintaining eye contact, she looked puzzled. “What code?”
“Don’t play stupid. We know you have it.”
Just like that, she abandoned the pretense. “There are only three or four people who know about that. How’d you find out?”
“Looks like you told a snitch,” he sneered. “Someone like me. Maybe you’d better take another look at your friends. Hand it over.”
She spread her hands. “I don’t have it with me.”
The man actually snarled. “Then take me to wherever you’ve hidden it.”
Sean knew that Natalie did have the flash drive in her backpack. And there was no way in hell he was letting her go off alone with this walking bomb.
“Give it to him,” he told her, earning a sharp look of disgust.
The man looked from one to the other, finally settling his gaze on Natalie. “Better do as your man says. Unless you want me to blow this place sky-high.”
Natalie didn’t move. “Go ahead.”
The man blinked. “What?”
“I said, go ahead. Detonate your bomb. I don’t care. What I don’t understand is why you didn’t just shoot me and be done with it.”
Good question. Sean crossed his arms, waiting. He knew there was no way she’d let this man take out so many innocent civilians. For now, he’d follow along with her plan, whatever it might be.
Goggling at her, the informant shook his head. “Are you crazy or what?”
“No, I’m not crazy. But I’m not giving you the info. So, either detonate your explosives, or not. I don’t care either way.”
The lie in her voice was plain to Sean, but the stranger didn’t know her. Beginning to sweat, he looked at Sean.
“Talk some sense into her, man. You don’t want all these people to die.”
That remark told Sean that Natalie’s plan would work. The informant didn’t want to be blown to bits either.
“I’m guessing you don’t want to die either,” he said. “Come on, Natalie. Let’s get out of here.”
Together, they walked toward the exit. At the door, Natalie turned and faced the still-stunned man. “Tell whoever sent you that I won’t be bullied.”
The stranger followed them outside to the back alley, muttering under his breath. “Come on, man, they’re going to kill me.”
Sean shrugged. “Better than killing yourself. Go crawl back into whatever hole you came from.”
“Wait.” Natalie stepped forward. “Are those even real explosives?”
The man shrugged. “I don’t know. They gave me six hundred pounds to put this thing on. Promised me another grand if I brought them the info.”
“Where?” Sean demanded. “When and where were you supposed to meet them?”
Sweat rolling down his face, the man blurted out an address.
“I know the area,” Natalie said. “Bad part of town.”
“Of course.”
“I don’t get it,” Natalie continued. “They only ask for the coded message. What good will it do them?”
“Maybe the Hungarian has his own code specialists.”
Her eyes went wide. “Of course,” she breathed. “That’s why he doesn’t need me. He must have already broken the code.”
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