Andrea Carbonell.
Who else?
KNOX WANTED TO LEAVE NOVA SCOTIA, BUT CARBONELL AND her two companions seemed in no hurry. He decided not to try their patience, at least not yet, and sat in the plane.
“Did you find what you came for?” she asked him.
He wasn’t going to answer her. “Two of my men are dead in that fort. Your man Wyatt is battling it out with someone named Cotton Malone. You send him, too?”
“Malone is there? Interesting. He’s from the White House.”
He then realized why she was here. “You were going to take back whatever I found. You had no intention of letting the captains have the solution.”
“I need those two missing pages in my possession.”
“You still don’t get it, do you? The Commonwealth is not your enemy. But you’ve gone out of your way to make it one.”
“Your Commonwealth is radioactive. CIA, NSA, the White House, they’re all closing in.”
He did not like the sound of that.
“We have to go back to Paw Island,” she said.
“I’m leaving.”
“There’s nowhere for you to go.”
What did that mean?
“Your precious Commonwealth is being attacked, as we speak.”
“By you?”
She nodded. “I decided Stephanie Nelle needs rescuing. And if Hale or one or two of the captains is killed in the process? That would be good for us all, wouldn’t it?”
Her right arm moved and he caught the silhouette of a weapon in her hand. “Which brings me to the other reason why we’re here.”
He heard a pop, then felt something pierce his chest.
Sharp.
Painful.
A second later, the world vanished.