Chapter 39
Nate, Sophie, and Sterling were more than a little dazed.
They rose from the blast a little battered but well enough to make a quick escape; each of them thinking that Sonia's men might return to ensure that all loose ends were tidied.
They walked for nearly a mile of dark, back roads before they found a payphone on the outskirts of the city and Sterling was able to contact his office and organize a team to meet them.
The nagging in Nate's head was getting louder the entire time.
What is Sonia up to? And where was the rest of the team?
He felt confident that Eliot was not in the explosion, but where was the Hitter? And for that matter where were Hardison and Parker?
"Nate, where do we go next?" Sophie called into his thoughts.
Nate looked at the anguished look in her eyes and down to her now-tattered gold dress. She hadn't slept, or eaten and he knew that the worry she was experiencing over Joshua was possibly all that was keeping her going. Love for a child could do that, he knew that first hand.
"We're going to go with Sterling," he coaxed softly, and when he saw the protest spring to her eyes he quickly added, "He's our best bet to find Joshua. We don't have the resources to do it alone."
Sophie's mouth opened, ready to object but reason settled on her. She knew they were in no position to take on Sonia and her organization as they were.
She closed her mouth and nodded silently. He gently touched her face.
"Did you hear me?" Sterling repeated, as oblivious to Nate and Sophie's exchange as they were to his first statement. "They have a lock on our location from the phone; we're not too far outside of London. They'll be here in ten minutes."
"Good," Nate replied, as he put his arm around Sophie's shoulder and rubbed her arms to keep her warm.
"And…," Sterling continued, "They know Sonia's location."
Sophie went rigid under Nate's warm hand. She turned to him with wide eyes.
"We have to go. She has to tell us where he is," the words rushed out of her chest with barely contained hysteria.
Nate nodded slowly, his mind already calculating the angles.
One way, or the other, it ends tonight.