Page 25 of Pervade Montego Bay

“I need more time…”

“Keep talking.”

He huffed his frustration. “I reached the rendezvous in Macau and there was no one there to meet me.”

“Where have you been for forty-eight hours?”

“Got a hotel room. Used my tech skills to order food and clothes.”

“Like that tux?”

“Why not?” He let out a sigh. “Couldn’t risk trusting the safe house.”

“What made you nervous?”

“You mean what had me running for cover?” He reached up and grabbed the handle bar. “I hacked into MI6. They know.”

“You work for MI6. What would motivate you to hack into their system?”

“I needed to look inside someone’s personal computer at HQ.”

“I’m going to politely ask you to shut the fuck up now, Xavier. I’m trying to lose the car behind us.” I turned right onto Estrada do Dique Oeste.

There was the Zhujiang River Estuary on our left and vast structures on the right. We were heading into a built-up area. The traffic was denser.

“The odds of us getting out of this alive are slim to none,” he said. “Even with you at the helm.”

I shoved the car into fifth gear and pressed the accelerator.

“They sent me here to die,” he added softly.

“I’m not feeling any sympathy, since I found you sitting in a bar knocking back their best bourbon.”

“I needed time to think and figure a way out of this mess.”

“While intoxicated? Nice try.”

He shook his head in frustration. “Where are we going?”

“Wherever the hell I say.” I flashed him a careless smile. “I suggest you go into silence mode.”

I focused on losing the vehicle trailing us, zigzagging around the cars ahead that were moving too slowly.

I was counting on Jason Zhao to come through for us with a speedboat.

My next thought was lost as the Jeep took a sudden hit from behind.

I heard the grinding of metal and glass as our vehicle spun around and went into a skid, sparks flying outside my window. The white van crashed into us again, jolting us forward. My seatbelt sliced into my chest as my head snapped back against the headrest.

Another strike from the side forced the Jeep to spin around sharply with nauseating force. I raised my arm in front of my face to protect it as the windshield shattered and glass sprayed over us.

The car came to a stop, its rear tires mere feet from a fatal drop.

I took a deep breath and glanced over at Xavier.

He was staring straight ahead, his eyes widening in horror. I followed the direction of his glare, my vision clearing just in time to see the white van heading straight for us again.

I braced myself for another collision as Xavier frantically tried to get his seatbelt unfastened.