Chapter 9

Alex had tensed as soon as the voice had spoken from the trees and now he stared as the men materialized in front of him and Jamie. Was it a trap? He glanced at Jamie out of the corner of his eye. She seemed genuinely worried and … could it be, scared? He turned to re-asses the man who had spoken. He had a look of total control on his face, like he knew what was going on.

"Jamie, aren't you glad to see me?" he asked with all of his attention on her. Jamie was ashen. She couldn't bring herself to say anything. She had taken every precaution to make sure that he had no idea that this meeting was taking place. How had he found out? This was impossible! Jamie knew that it would be hard, but the most important thing to do would be to get Alex to MI6 and safety. She had just hoped she would not have to face Dylan while leaking all of his plans to a government agency.

"What are you doing here?" she asked trying to make her voice sound more controlled than she felt.

Dylan smiled. "Oh, I just thought I would take a late night walk. I guess it was luck that led me to you."

Jamie knew that Alex was regretting coming now. He had asked her why he should trust her and here was the number one reason he shouldn't. Everyone in the park was tense except for Dylan, who really did look like he had just decided to go for a late night walk. Jamie realized that he must have found out what she was up to and decided that this was the best time to catch Alex. She knew she could not let Dylan catch Alex. She would not let his twisted plan play out this time.

Jamie decided to stall and see if she could get Alex to get away. "Don't you trust me Dylan? You did ask for my assistance in this part of your plan," she said and waited for his answer.

"Of course I don't trust you," was Dylan's reply. "And you have already helped quite a bit. We have the Rider boy in our grasp. That was your plan right?" Jamie knew she was trapped because if she denied it, both she and Alex would be dead. Time for some drastic action; Jamie backed toward Alex, who was still behind her. Dylan turned to bark orders at his men in Arabic, but the last bit was in English, "… and no mistakes!"

Jamie leaned in and whispered in Alex's ear, "You've got to get to MI6 as quickly as possible. I'll play distraction, you just run." Jamie looked him in the eye and then scanned the area. "They haven't closed in yet, get down and move as soon as you get a chance." Alex gave her an uneasy glance and then ducked down under the fountain's shadow while everyone was looking away. Jamie saw that Alex was down and she took a deep breath. Then she threw her body sideways into a tree and grabbed her head like she had been hit. "Ouch!"

Dylan whipped his head around and stared at her, "What happened…Where is Rider?"

"He hit me out of nowhere and ran for it!" cried Jamie.

"You idiot!" screamed Dylan as he slapped her. Alex flinched at the sound. Was that how Jamie was normally treated? It would explain how her wrist had been hurt. "Find that kid!" The rest of the men in the clearing spread out and began hunting for Alex. Dylan turned back to Jamie, "Which way did he go?"

"To the right, I think," Dylan stared at her. "He hit me! I wasn't paying that much attention!"

"I'll deal with you later," spat Dylan and joined the others, a gun appearing in his hand.

Jamie waited until he had disappeared in the trees and then she motioned to Alex to move. "Go now. It might be longer, but they would expect you to take the shortest route."

Alex nodded and started to move, but then stopped. "Come with me. It'll prove you're more innocent if you give them the info."

"I'll go, but if they catch us, you go no matter what," she stared him down. "I know these people, you don't." Alex nodded and they were off.

Dylan stormed back to the fountain. None of his men had seen the boy go past them and there was no way he could have evaporated. He was sure Jamie had lied to him. When he got back to the fountain he circled it. Jamie was nowhere to be found. "That little…!" Dylan let off some expletives in Arabic and then called for his men. "Search all over," he ordered. "It seems little miss Jamie has decided to trade sides." The chase was on.

Jamie and Alex stopped beside some dumpsters behind a building next to the hotel Jamie was staying in. They were both breathing hard after sprinting for the fountain in the park. Suddenly Jamie held her breath and listened.

"What is it?" Alex asked, but Jamie shushed him. She peered around the dumpster. There were men in dark clothing appearing out of the park.

"Crap!" Jamie said. She looked at Alex, "They found us." Alex nodded and hurried to the other end of the alley with Jamie close behind him. They ran as far as they could behind the buildings, but they finally hit a dead end.

"We have to go out on the main road now," whispered Alex.

"They'll see us. Isn't there another way?" Alex shook his head. Jamie took a deep breath. "Okay, we'll walk normally until they definitely spot us and move in. Then take off as fast as possible. No looking back." Alex nodded once again and they moved up the alley. When they reached the edge they peered out and noticed a few of the men, but they were farther back. Jamie gave Alex a slight push and they began a somewhat leisurely walk up the sidewalk.

"How far to MI6 from here?" Jamie asked, keeping her voice down so that they would not be overheard.

"Not too far, but I don't think I could out run your friends," Alex responded. Jamie flinched at those words. She had hoped that he would let it go or give her a chance to explain, but there was no such luck.

"Alex, I promise I didn't mean for this to happen. I tried to keep you out of this situation, but letting you know was the only way for me to try to help your government stop a terrorist attack. I don't even know how Dylan knew I was meeting you," Jamie knew there was a pleading note to her voice that Dylan would have killed her for using. He hated it when she showed any kind of weakness, but she needed to know that Alex would be on her side. Alex continued to be stiff and aloof. He didn't know what to do. Jamie could be telling the truth, or she could be a very good actress. With all that he had been through, he could never be sure. Then Jamie stiffened next to him.

"They realized it's us," she said quietly. "Get ready to run." Alex snuck a quick glance back and saw the men moving towards them in the street. Soon the footsteps increased as the men cut off their escape down the side streets. Then more men stepped out and blocked their path forward. Alex and Jamie had been quickly and easily surrounded.

"Got any weapons?" Jamie whispered. Alex shook his head. She sighed. "Okay, I'll make a gap and you get that flash drive to Smithers." Alex didn't like having his life in the hands of someone he barely knew, but he had to trust her because she was his only option. Alex watched as Jamie slowly reached into the back waistband of her jeans and pulled out a dagger. Alex was surprised because they were the same age and MI6 had never allowed him to have a weapon of any kind. He guessed that different rules were in play in this situation.

"Now, Jamie, what is this act you're pulling?" Dylan's voice came from the back of the group. Alex watched Jamie close her eyes and take a deep breath.

"Just let him go Dylan," she said. "He has nothing to do with you." Some of the men chuckled a bit nervously. No one had ever tried to talk Dylan into doing something that went against his exact plans.

"You know that won't happen, missy. Now stop playing hero and get over here!" Jamie knew a direct order when she heard one and knew she was going to die when Dylan got his hands on her. She grabbed Alex's wrist in her free hand and started to back towards the edge of the group of men. Alex realized that she was still wearing her wrist brace and wondered again how she had been hurt. Then he realized what she was doing.

"Uh, Jamie, the guards…" Alex started, but Jamie shook her head so little it looked more like a twitch. No one was really sure what was going to happen; there was nowhere for them to go. When they were practically right on top of Dylan's guards Jamie lashed out with her fist with the dagger. She caught the first guard on the side of the head with the hilt which brought him down instantly. Before anyone could really register what had happened Jamie hit another guard in the stomach and pushed Alex out the opening yelling, "Go!"

Alex stumbled briefly, but then took off up the street. He heard someone following him and he glanced back to see Jamie following on his heels. The group had reorganized behind them and was in full pursuit. They were gaining on Jamie quickly.

"Just go!" she panted. Then she fell as a blade hit her in the back of the leg. Her dagger went flying and the men overtook her quickly. Alex would have helped her but he was seriously outnumbered and was not in the mood to get caught.

Jamie pulled the knife out of her calf and tried to crawl for her dagger, but she was grabbed by the back of her shirt.

"Oh no you don't." Every word from Dylan's mouth dripped venom. He spun her around so she was facing him and then he pulled her hair so she had to look him in the eye. Jamie had always been scared of Dylan, but now she was absolutely terrified by the murderous glint in his eye. "You have messed with me for the last time." Then he pushed her to one of the other men who shoved her into a truck and drove off.