"And now?" Lyons glared at him, kneeling.

"Huh?"

"Now that I've wiped out your buddies, you still have no personal feelings about me?"

"Yeah.No…!"

The foresight of Lyons's Colt ripped along the guy's cheek, splitting the skin apart.

"Who sent you?" Lyons shouted.

The almost-dead tough found a last gasp of bravado.

"Fuck you! Wha'd you have to say to that?"

"That you're not a very interesting character," Lyons replied. Standing, he stroked the Colt's trigger with his forefinger.

Any other survivors from the Jag had split, presumably through the gaps between the buildings and away.

Ripper walked to the Rover and removed two of the bodies that lay in its path, leaving trails of red in his wake. He climbed into the Rover and was thankful that the keys to the car were still in the ignition. He didn't want to search the bodies. The car started smoothly and he moved it out of the way of the Secret Service vehicle, feeling the bump as he drove over an arm. He parked, then returned to move the Jag away from the side of the limo.

Finally Ripper returned to sit at the wheel of the limo. He stared into the mirror at the men in the back seat, their bodies crouched next to the sweating figure of Sir Jack Richardson, their eyes darting about at all times.

What in the hell kind of men were these?

3

Settling back into the limo's front seat, Ripper took his passengers away from the battleground. The police were very efficient in London. The limo encountered a roadblock within two blocks. There had been no exterior damage to the car, and the diplomatic status of the vehicle guaranteed its passage through police lines without difficulty. The hardware rested snugly in the cases and the tinted windows of the vehicle prevented examination of its occupants.

Ripper drove on through wet streets to Grosvenor Square and the underground garage beneath the U.S. Embassy. There, Able Team went EVA in peace and quiet, disembarking and stretching their limbs and anxiously looking forward to some food and sleep. In the embassy itself, they were guided to quarters without introductions or interference. They had an hour or two before meeting with Leo.