Page 55 of Croatia Collateral
With no time to work the jam free, he used the weapon as a club and swung it at the nearest guard, hitting him in the side of the head.
Before he could swing at the next guy, he was hit in the head from behind. Pain shot through his skull, and Dax sank into to darkness.
How long he was out, he didn’t know. Seconds, minutes? He was sliding in and out of consciousness as he was being dragged across the floor. His hands were being yanked together and bound around something metal.
He tried to resist, but he blacked out. When he opened his eyes again, his vision was too blurry, his head too heavy to hold up.
Voices sounded as if at the end of a long dark tunnel.
They were saying something about the girl.
Giva? Were they talking about Giva?
Dax fought toward the surface. He fought to open his eyes, but his head spun, and he couldn’t...
A woman’s voice sounded near Dax.
Yamaguchi.
“She knows... bring... authorities... leave... now.”
“Can’t let them have access... destroy... move... backup location.” Was that Maas?
Dax needed to wake up. Time was running out.
“Where?” the German’s voice demanded.
“Bel...deer... abandoned hotel,” Yamaguchi said.
“We have five minutes,” Maas was saying. “...detonate... destroy everything... this room, including... imposter.” Someone kicked Dax in the ribs.
The pain shot through him, pulling him out of the fog to semi-consciousness. He raised his head in time to see everyone had left the room except Maas. The man stood in the open doorway, staring at Dax. “You look nothing like me. Should’ve stayed out of my business.”
He stepped through the door, and it closed.
Dax blinked his eyes several times, trying to clear the remaining fog from his mind. Five minutes echoed in his thoughts. Five minutes until what?
He lay on his side, his wrists bound together around a metal beam. Dax’s gaze followed the beam upward to the table it supported beneath the array of monitors displaying images from webcams all over the world.
Dax pulled his wrists, trying to break the bindings. They’d used three zip ties instead of one, making it impossible for him to break them by slamming his wrists against the pole. He swung his body around, braced his feet against the pole and then kicked as hard as he could.
The pole didn’t budge. He kicked again. Nothing. His movements had made his pantleg rise up enough he noticed the sheath strapped to his leg. The knife!
Dax wrapped his legs around the pole and positioned his right ankle close to his hands.
Five minutes until what?
As he pulled the knife free, his heart skipped several beats.
Detonation.
Maas had said five minutes until detonation.
Holy shit.
That left him less than five minutes to free himself and get out.
Holding the knife tightly between his heels, he rubbed the zip ties over the blade.
