Scorpion Strike. John Gilstrap

even the toughest man quite like his love for his children.

      As the prisoners settled into place—he couldn’t bring himself to think of them as hostages—Anatoly watched over Stepan Vasechkin’s shoulder as the other man sifted through stolen wallets in search of identification papers. One never knew who might be a guest of Baker Sinise. He owed it to his team and to Moscow to take a full accounting.

      “This will take time,” Stepan said. Until this was over, his name was Lima.

      “Something that I believe we have plenty of,” Anatoly replied. Only English would be spoken during their time at Crystal Sands, and most of them exhibited acceptable British pronunciation.

      The radios near him all broke squelch. “Alpha, this is India,” a voice said. Anatoly knew India to be Gerasim Arturovich Kuznetsov, one of the few operators on this mission with whom Anatoly had served while in the Russian Army. He knew Gerasim to be a good soldier and a loyal comrade.

      Anatoly leaned his jaw into the microphone at his shoulder. “This is Alpha.”

      “Alpha, be advised that the prime package is not here.”

      Anatoly’s stomach flipped. He met Stepan’s gaze and asked off the air, “Did he just say—”

      “That the prime package is not here, yeah,” Stepan said.

      Into the microphone: “Where is he?”

      Hesitation. “Um, can you come up to his quarters?” India said. “Third floor of the main building.”

      “Is it urgent?” he asked.

      A pause. “I suppose not urgent, but it’s important.”

      “I copy,” Anatoly said. “I’ll be up when I can.”

      CHAPTER 4

      TYLER COULDN’T HEAR THE WORDS THAT ALPHA AND THE OTHER man were speaking at the bar, but there was no missing the fact that something was wrong. He could see it in the faces of the other captors, as well, all of whom heard the same radio communication. Lots of silent glances and subtle shrugs.

      Alpha brought the megaphone back to his lips and keyed the microphone, triggering another squeal of feedback. “Damn it,” he said.

      That answered the question whether the feedback was done on purpose.

      “I want you all to listen carefully,” Alpha said. “As I call your name, I want you to move into the restaurant area to my left.” It was the least formal of the seven restaurants on the property—more about burgers and fish sandwiches than haute cuisine. It was currently occupied by three soldiers, who projected pure menace.

      In the far reaches of the assembled crowd, a profoundly pregnant young woman stood and aggressively waved her hand for attention.

      The nearest handlers swarmed toward her, but Alpha intervened. “Stop!” he commanded. “What do you want?”

      “I’m Barbie Burris,” the lady said. “I really, really need to use the bathroom.”

      The resulting chuckle from the crowd—including Annie—surprised Tyler.

      Alpha, likewise, seemed amused. He looked to Delta, who referred to the printout.

      “Is your husband, Michael, there with you?” Alpha asked.

      A man who was perhaps the skinniest adult Tyler had ever seen stood and raised his hand. Perhaps he was sick, but the guy was shirtless, and in this light, every rib cast its own shadow.

      “Very well,” Alpha said. He gestured to the area in shadow behind where Tyler and Annie were seated. “The bathrooms are right there. Michael, you go to the restaurant.” Alpha cocked the bell of the megaphone up, indicating that he was now speaking to the entire crowd. “As I call your names, if you need to use the facilities, you are free to do so, but only one half of a couple at a time. You will have five minutes. Do not make us come looking for you. That will not be good for the partner left behind.”

      This is how Stockholm syndrome works, Tyler thought. Some asshole gives you permission to do something that you have no choice but to do, and you end up feeling gratitude. They didn’t threaten the individual, but rather they leveraged the concern over loved ones. Compliance driven by guilt. He was going to have to run that by his psychology professor when he got back to school. If.

      Alpha began with the A’s—Rob and Sarah Anderson—and proceeded to carve his way through the alphabet. It took a few iterations for the crowd to learn the choreography, but soon the pattern became clear. When a name was called, the couple would stand, and Delta would check what he saw against the photo IDs that they’d collected. It was not a fast process, and emotions were raw. Many moved as though they were walking to their execution. For all Tyler knew, that was exactly what they were doing.

      “They skipped me,” Annie whispered. “I’m Banks, and they just called Dufresne.”

      Tyler beckoned for Annie to join him on his chair.

      Annie shook her head. “Somebody will take this one.”

      Tyler set his jaw and tried to flash anger with his eyes. “Please,” he said.

      She clearly didn’t like it, but she complied with his request. “I guess we’re going to have to move soon, anyway,” she said.

      “No, we won’t,” Tyler whispered. “We’ve got to get out of here.”

      Annie’s jaw dropped and her eyes grew wide. “But you heard what they said.”

      “I did, but—”

      “They’ll shoot us.”

      Tyler squeezed her thigh, perhaps a little too hard. She slapped his hand away.

      “Please keep your voice down,” he whispered. For his plan to work—hell for any plan to work—he needed not to draw attention to himself or to Annie. You can’t be invisible when you’re making a lot of noise. “They don’t have our names,” he said. “Don’t you see? I’m never on the guest list, and you’re not even here. They can take roll all night and our names will never come up. They’ll get to the end, and we’re the only ones who will be sitting out here.”

      “That doesn’t mean they’ll shoot us, like they would if we ran.”

      “If they caught us running,” Tyler corrected. “Remember, I’m the owner’s stepson. These guys are here for a reason, and if they—” He gasped as the truth dawned on him. “Baker’s not even here this weekend.” He didn’t have a clue what these guys wanted, or why they invaded the Crystal Sands, but it had to be something bigger than mere robbery. “Annie, I need to get out of here.”

      Annie did not seem pleased. “How?”

      “I think I know a way. I know some places that these guys probably don’t know about. At least not yet. You need to trust me and follow me.”

      “Tyler, I like you and everything, but I’m not going to get shot for you.”

      “You’d rather get shot for them?” That came out wrong, but he couldn’t understand why she would resist a chance to get away. Would she rather be a victim?

      “If you do what they say, they won’t hurt you.”

      “I can’t,” he said. “I’ve got to get out of here before they find out who I am. You can come or you can stay, but I have to go.”

      Annie looked hurt. “You’d leave me?”

      Tyler cast a glance at Alpha and Delta, the two soldiers closest to him. They seemed thoroughly absorbed in their paperwork and in watching the couples wander from poolside to the restaurant. His window of opportunity was closing.

      Annie pulled on his sleeve. “You can’t leave me here alone.” Her comment drew a concerned look from a heavyset older woman, who was sitting