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blow up in his face.
    He’d been meticulous in building his strategy. Months of planning and hundreds of hours of work had gone into this operation. He’d paid tens of thousands of dollars for the explosives blueprint. He’d dealt with men he wouldn’t turn his back on, lest he risk a knife between his ribs. He’d spent six months building two utterly flawless bombs—devices powerful enough to take out both power plants in the city and inflict enough damage so that it would be days before electricity was restored.
    Every aspect of the operation had been analyzed to the last detail, every variable countered with a constant. Every second had been synchronized so that the timing was perfect.
    What the hell had gone wrong?
    The question nagged like a migraine. But Aidan knew the answer. Chase Vickers was what had gone wrong. Evidently, the son of a bitch had nine lives and the luck of a gambler. Aidan had heard the man was good. Still, he’d underestimated him. He wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.
    Disappointment ate at him, but he wasn’t unduly worried. Not yet, anyway. The game was still in its early stages. And he was, after all, a driven man—and with good reason. This mission was his life’s work. He had an old score to settle—for himself and his father. Come hell or high water, he would see it through to the end.
    The cell phone clipped to his belt vibrated. Glancing at the display window, he smiled and hit Talk.
    “Did you get the woman?” He recognized the voice on the other end. His father. Liam Shea.
    “She escaped.”
    “How did that happen?”
    “Vickers showed up.”
    “Interesting development.”
    “I thought so.”
    “Watch him. He’s very good at what he does.”
    “Yeah, well, so am I.”
    A tense silence ensued, then Liam asked. “Where are they now?”
    “Somewhere in Chinatown,” Aidan replied.
    “I don’t like this. You need to find them. If you have to, kill the woman now. She’s expendable.”
    “With all due respect, I think that would be premature at this point. She’s our ace in the hole.”
    “I’m willing to sacrifice her to get my hands on Vickers. I want that son of a bitch on his knees and begging when I put a bullet in his brain.”
    “Rest assured, he’ll beg. If not for his own life, for hers.” Aidan thought of the woman’s condition and smiled. “She’s pregnant.”
    “His?”
    “The timing is right.”
    “No matter. He’s weak when it comes to women. The child’s parentage won’t matter. When we kill her, it will have even more impact.” He made a sound low in his throat. “What about the other part of the mission?”
    The bomb, Aidan thought, and smiled. He’d planted the high-power explosives himself in a very central location that would have a maximum impact of terror on the good citizens of Boston.
    “Done,” he said.
    “Excellent.” Liam Shea sighed. “I’ve waited a long time for this.”
    “It won’t be long now.”
    “Let’s stick to the plan as closely as possible, but if you have to divert to get the job done, do it.”
    “Understood.”
    “Find them, Aidan.” Urgency laced his father’s voice.
    “I’ve got two of our best men on it. They’re like bloodhounds. I’m certain Vickers and the bitch are here in Chinatown. I’ve got a couple of snitches with sharp eyes. I’ll ask around. Rest assured, we’ll find them.”
    “Let me know the instant you do. I want to be smiling when Vickers dies.”
    “Wouldn’t have it any other way.” Breaking the connection, Aidan clipped the phone to his belt and set out to find Vickers and the pregnant woman.
     
    “L ILY .”
    Chase placed the paper plate of crackers, cheese and fruit on the beat-up table next to the cot where she lay sleeping. He’d been gone only a few minutes, but already she was out cold, a sure sign of complete physical exhaustion.
    Taking in the pale cast of her complexion, he felt a quick and savage twinge of guilt. Intellectually he knew this