Patriot by M.A. Rothman (summer reading list TXT) 📗

“I’ve read those commandments,” Connor said. “And your interpretation is extremely loose.”

“You know nothing.”

“Right.” Connor motioned to the door with the barrel of his pistol. “Let’s go talk about it. And like I said, don’t do anything stupid.”

Khan didn’t move. “There is nothing you can threaten me with. I know Allah will protect me.”

“Allah won’t stop a bullet,” Connor said. “There are certain things He can’t bring you back from. Now, you work with us and keep some of your dignity and you might have a chance at living through this. You might even be able to see your daughter again. But the choice is yours. I don’t give a crap either way.”

That last part was a lie. Connor wanted, very much, for the sheikh to live through this. It was the only way they were going to get the answers they needed. A lot of men like Khan talked a big game, but you press the barrel of a gun to a man’s head and show him the willingness to use it, and all that bravado goes right out the window.

The sheikh glared at Connor as if weighing his options. Connor knew he was just trying to buy himself some time, holding out hope that one of his security guards would burst through the door. Connor shifted his aim ever so slightly and fired, sending a bullet zipping through the air inches from the man’s ear. It smacked into the window frame behind him, splintering wood.

Khan cried out, ducking away from the attack, hands coming up to cover his face. “Okay! Don’t kill me. I’ll come with you.”

Annie moved up behind him and pressed the tip of her silencer into the back of Khan’s neck. “Try anything and I’ll drop you where you stand. Got it?”

“Here,” Connor said, pulling a pair of flex cuffs from the rows of molle on the back of his tactical vest.

Seconds later, Khan was cuffed and they were ushering him out of the room. He hesitated at the sight of his dead guards, their blood pooling and mixing together on the floor. Annie jerked him hard in the direction of the stairwell and pushed him forward.

The stairwell door swung open, slamming back against the wall, and two more guards emerged, pistols in hand.

“Shoot them!” Khan shouted, trying to pull away.

Connor yanked on the back of the sheikh’s thobe, using the man’s body as a shield. At the same time he extended his pistol and fired. But his shot went wide, smacking into the wall before the guard on the right. The guard ducked instinctively and fired back.

Pain erupted in Connor’s side. Clenching his teeth, he used Khan to stay on his feet, ignoring the pain. Beside him, Annie fired, dropping both guards.

The sheikh started to drop to his knees, pulling Connor down with him.

“Get up!” Connor yelled, pulling on the man’s robes. “Move, you son of a bitch!” As he jerked Khan toward the stairs, the burning in his side increased.

Annie sprinted forward, shouldered her way through the door, and bounded down the stairs. Connor shoved Khan into the door just before it closed, using the man’s forehead to knock it back open.

“Move!” Connor repeated with another shove.

The two men made their way down the stairs, Connor keeping a tight grip on the man’s robes to keep him from tripping and falling.

Annie stood at the bottom, peering out through a crack in the door. She gave Connor a nod. “It’s clear to the back door.”

“Let’s go.”

Annie took the lead, reached the back door first, and kicked the breaker bar, forcing it open. Every step Connor took sent an agonizing flash of pain through his side. As he pushed Khan into the entryway, gunshots ripped through the air behind him and plumes of plaster shot out from the wall, stitching toward them.

Connor shoved Khan through the door and outside.

“Drive!” he shouted at Annie. He yanked open the Tahoe’s back door and shoved the sheikh inside.

The mosque’s back door swung open behind him, slamming against the wall, and a man wearing all black stepped out, rifle coming up for a shot. Annie ripped off three shots, and the man in black spun like a top and fell back through the open door.

“Keys!” she shouted as she got in the driver’s seat and slammed her door. “I need keys!”

“Here,” Connor said, fishing them out of his pocket and handing them up to her. He pushed Khan over, pinning his shoulders and head against the seat to make sure he didn’t go anywhere, and pointed his pistol at the mosque’s door.

Another guard appeared, already shooting, blowing out the passenger-side glass. Connor fired back, sending a string of bullets into the guard and the entryway beyond. “Go!”

The engine roared to life, and Annie slammed on the gas. The SUV lurched forward, throwing Connor against the seat. Pain flared in his side, and he knew that the bullet had at least bruised if not broken a rib. Thankfully, the vest had stopped the bullet.

He felt Khan shift underneath him, and he pressed the silencer into the back of the man’s skull. “Don’t you fucking move,” he said through gritted teeth.

Even as she drove, Annie drew her pistol and fired behind them, hitting another guard as he emerged from the doorway. Pursuing gunshots blasted out the rear window, spraying Connor with tiny shards of glass, and he returned fire without looking until the slide locked back on an empty magazine. Then the tires squealed as the Tahoe left the lot and veered into the alley.

Chapter Thirty-Six

“Where to?” Annie asked as she merged into traffic.

“You’re the pro here. Don’t you guys have a safe house around here somewhere?”

“Hold on.” She steered the lumbering vehicle with one hand and tapped on her phone with the other. “Got it. Twenty-seven minutes.”

“No good,” Connor said. “There’s no way we’re going to make it that far without someone noticing our car’s shot to hell. We’re going to need to find a new