Read Online Without Options by Trevor Scott - Free Book Online Page A

few more times. At what? Nothing. Because somehow Jake knew they were coming and he entered behind them. That’s his brass outside the door on the sidewalk. Those are forty cal, his weapon of choice.” Franz didn’t bring up the fact that the bullets that killed the man on the floor might have been standard Austrian Polizei issue rounds from the gun he had provided Jake to protect himself.
    “But then where is Herr Adams?” Hermann Jung asked derisively.
    Without answering, Franz went to the dead man on the floor, pulled aside the plastic and examined the body. Pulling up the sleeve on both arms, he noticed a tattoo on the man’s left forearm. He smiled and pointed. “You found no identification?”
    “None. Just like the man at the apartment.”
    “This man is a Serb.”
    “What?” Hermann came closer and stooped down. “How can you be sure?”
    “The tattoo. Two-headed eagle with two sabers, topped off with the crown. That’s from the Serbian Army flag.”
    The wheels seemed to be turning in Herman Jung’s mind, trying to assess the situation anew. “So, the other man wounds Jake Adams and takes him with him for some reason. That makes sense.”
    Jesus, help me, Franz thought as he lowered the sheet back onto the dead Serb. He rose and towered above Jung. How in the hell had this man filled his position? “No. You have it backwards. As I mentioned, Jake wasn’t here when the men came in shooting. They don’t need anything from Jake, other than his death, to receive the bounty on his head. All they need is proof of death. Jake, on the other hand, needed something from these two. He needed to find out why they wanted him dead and who had hired them. So, Jake shot this man in self-defense, shot and wounded the other assailant, and then took him in their car.” After he said this last part, he wished he’d kept his mouth shut. Sometimes his own superiority got in the way of logic. But he couldn’t help correcting such a flamboyant dolt.
    With that, Hermann Jung rushed out of the gasthaus room onto the parking lot, pulling his cell phone out and talking in private. Franz glanced one last time around the room to make sure he hadn’t missed anything. Jake was either the best Franz had ever seen, or the luckiest bastard alive. How had he known these two would come for him here at this time? Franz thought about the isolated location of the gasthaus, the distance to St. Anton, possible response time and direction of that response, and came up with his best guess. Jake had planned this out quite specifically. It was perfect. Luck had nothing to do with it. He smiled thinking of the intelligent guile of his American friend.
    Hermann Jung came back ten minutes later, a smirk on his face. “Thank you for your help, Herr Martini.”
    Hesitating and in deep thought, Franz said, “What have you done?”
    “One of the men rented a car at the Innsbruck airport using a Serbian passport. They don’t see them very often, so the rental agent made a mental note. The men rented an Audi A4 just hours ago. I’ve put out a bulletin on it. I also informed Interpol in case Adams decides to cross into Germany or another country.”
    Great. Franz checked his watch. “He could be in Germany, Switzerland or Italy by now.” At least Franz hoped so.
    Hermann gnashed down on his teeth. “We’ll find him. Trust me on this, Herr Martini.”
    “You mentioned in the bulletin that Jake Adams is a victim here,” Franz said vehemently.
    Not answering, Hermann Jung walked away.
    That was fantastic, Franz thought. Now he’d have to clean up this mess behind the scene to keep Jake out of jail. But he wasn’t sure if he still had enough pull in the Austrian Polizei to make that happen.
     
    Central Intelligence Agency
Langley, Virginia
    Behind his large desk off the command center, his second office and nearly his second home, CIA Director Kurt Jenkins clasped his hands together in deep thought. His intense eyes moved from the 24-inch