Page 162 of Enemy of My Enemy

Silence. “Whoever this is,” Faisal said, his voice frigid, “this is not humorous.”

“It’s not a joke, Your Highness. I called you last year. Thanked you. You told me no matter what, your family remained strong friends with the United States. That even if something came out in the media, our two countries’ friendship wouldn’t waver. And that we could call on you for anything.”

More silence. “Mr. President?” Faisal finally breathed. “How?”

“I needed to disappear. Needed to get off the grid. But now I need to find Ethan. Do you haveanyidea where he is? Has he reached out to you, or to Lieutenant Cooper?”

“Ibn al-kalb,” he spat, cursing. “Adam!Yallah!”

Shuffling, muffled voices, and then a string of curses and pounding feet running on marble. The phone clattered to the ground. Someone picked it up.

“Mr. President?” Cooper’s breathless voice strained over the phone line. “What thefuck?”

Well, he wasn’t the president anymore. He let Cooper’s curse slide. “Do you know where Ethan is?”

“Yeah, he was fucking here!” Cooper cursed again. “He was here with us, but he fucking left.”

“Left?” Jack’s heart plunged. “Where?”

“I don’t know, he wouldn’t say. He fucking fell apart after that press conference. After President Wall told the world you were basically dead. We got him down, but he went crazy after. Worse than Ethiopia. He’s fucking gone. Ready to die.”

Ethan gone. Ready to die. His heart plunged, his stomach turned inside out. “She spoke too soon. Congress pushed her to do it. I wasn’t ready. God, I should have called sooner. Damn it, where did he go? Do you have any idea?”

“He said he was going to find the men who killed you. That’s it.”

Vanished, on the warpath, and seeking revenge. Madigan’s threat from Sochi came back.He’s the exact same as us. It must be you who’s keeping him sane. I wonder, what will happen to him when you’re gone?

Fucking Madigan. Jack knew Ethan, knew him better than that monster did.

Where would his lover go? What would he do, if he thought the worst?

“I have an idea. Call me on this number if you learn anything. And… don’t tell a soul about this. About me.”

He hung up before Cooper could say anything. The next number he dialed, he knew by heart. Elizabeth had air-dropped cell sites into the region, and supposedly everything worked there again.

Another international buzz. He waited, the phone pressed to his skull as he counted the seconds.

After six rings, a gruff voice answered. “Da?”

He knew that voice. He smiled, his first real smile in ten days. “Sasha?”

A beat. “Who is this?”

“It’s Jack.”

“Jack Spiers is dead. Who is this?” No inflection. Nothing but a cold, hard fact.

“It’s Jack, Sasha. I know you. I know you’re in love with Sergey. I can see it in the way you look at him. And I know he didn’t bring that statue of one of your heroes of the Soviet Air Force out of storage for nothing.”

Long, long silence, save for Sasha’s harsh breaths. In the background, distant gunshots fired, isolated bursts followed by shouts in Russian.

“I need to talk to Sergey, Sasha. Please. Is he there?” He’d called Sergey’s personal phone.

“Da.” More sounds of shuffling, someone moving, and grunted Russian.

Then, Sergey’s rough voice, too much emotion choking his words. “Jack?” he breathed. “Sasha says it is you, but this is impossible. I heard the news. You are dead!”

“Not yet, Sergey. I needed to get off the grid. Madigan will just keep coming after me until he believes I’m dead. I’m giving him what he wants, for now. Until I kill him.”