Bolan yanked Khan from the car.
Once he had dragged the man a safe distance from the vehicle, he stretched him along the ground. The soldier pulled a small flashlight from a pocket, clicked it on and ran it over Khanâs blood-soaked form. Three bullet holes had pierced the manâs chest.
Khanâs eyes fluttered open. Bolan noticed that the former ISI agentâs gaze looked unfocused. His breath came in shallow puffs. After a second, Bolanâs presence registered with him, and he turned his head slightly to look at the big American.
âCooper,â Khan told him. âItâs not over.â
âIt is for you,â Bolan growled.
âNot for you. Not even close.â
A shudder passed through Khan, and he was gone.
I know that there are angry spirits
And turbulent mutterers of stifled treason,
Who lurk in narrow places, and walk out
Muffled to whisper curses to the night;
Disbanded soldiers, discontented ruffiansâ¦
âLord Byron, 1788â1824
Conspirators lurk in the shadows, biding their time, hiding their faces. Iâll drag the criminals into the light of day and unmask them for all to see.
âMack Bolan
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Terry Lang pretended not to notice the man following him.
In fact, it was the third man heâd pretended not to see in the past couple of hours. Whoever had taken it upon themselves to track his every move at least had shown enough sense to switch out the agents following him, a small attempt to hide that they were tailing him. But their skill had ended there. The first and the third had fallen all over themselves to not make eye contact with Lang, averting their gazes as if burned whenever he looked directly at them.
Lang stopped and bought a bottle of root beer from a street vendor. Unscrewing the cap, he brought the glass bottle to his lips, drained some of it and resumed walking. After two more blocks he spotted what heâd been looking for, an alley. Slipping inside, he advanced several yards. Along the way, he tipped the root beer bottle and drained its contents onto the cracked asphalt. It made a fizzing noise and welled up in a whitish foam. The odor of garbage cooking under Dubaiâs midday heat registered with him and his nostrils wrinkled reflexively at the stench.
He found a recessed doorway and pressed himself inside its shade.
He switched the empty bottle to his other hand, his ears strained as he waited. Surely his tail hadnât fallen back? He doubted it. They hadnât followed him halfway across the city just to fall back when he disappeared into an alley. They didnât strike him as particularly skilled, but they seemed committed.
Sweat beaded underneath his hairline, then rolled down his temples, cheeks and jawline. His pulse quickened. Moments later he heard the soft shuffling of shoe soles brushing against the pavement. The muscles of his legs, arms and torso bunched up as he prepared to pounce. A dark shadow stretched along the ground past his hiding place.
The sound of movement halted.
A small grunt telegraphed the guyâs next movement. By the time his pursuer rounded the doorway, a small, black automatic pistol clutched in his hand, Lang was prepared. He brought the bottle down in a wide arc. The fat end of the bottle exploded into a constellation of glass shards that glinted in the sunlight. Langâs downward swing continued, the edges of the broken bottle raking flesh, opening crimson ravines in his face.
The man yelped in pain and surprise. He whipped his head away and covered the wound with his hand. Blood immediately seeped between his fingers. In the same instant he started to raise his shooting hand so he could get a bead on his mark.
Langâs hand snaked out and he caught the guyâs wrist in his grip, squeezing hard. His other hand, the one clutching the neck of the bottle, came around in a horizontal arc. Lang buried the jagged end into his attackerâs eye socket.
The man screamed and wheeled away. His grip on his pistol loosened and the weapon fell to the ground. Lang gave the injured man a hard shove in the chest that sent him reeling.
Grinning, Lang tossed aside the remnants of the bottle. He scooped up the manâs discarded pistol and grabbed a handful of the manâs blood-soaked shirt and yanked him to his feet.
Shoving the guy into a wall, he pressed the gunâs muzzle into the manâs throat.
âWho sent you?â Lang asked, his voice barely a whisper.