Read The Protectors for Free Online Page B

got more pissed-off. Both goals suited my purposes.
    “Not difficult,” he started. “But annoying as hell. Talk all you want, but I’m not gonna tell you anything. You know I was sent to tail you, obviously. You know I’ve got a job to do, just like you. Nothing personal. Sorry about the Taser, but you surprised me.”
    I admired his honesty. He hadn’t yet mastered the art of talking in circles like an experienced operative. In another ten years he’d sound like Tucker.
    “It happens. And yes, I know you’re just doing your job, like me. Out of curiosity, do you know what my job happens to be?”
    He shook his head.
    “Don’t need to know, don’t care. My job was to find you after your disappearing act at the Rheinfelder, and I did.”
    “Excellent work, by the way. I was surprised anybody could get to the train in time. Unfortunately, my job—the one you don’t care about—is time-sensitive and cannot be accomplished with Agency surveillance in tow.”
    Rodney was unsympathetic. “It is what it is.”
    “It is what it is . . . ,” I repeated softly. “Truer words are seldom spoken,” I admitted, “but they don’t change what needs to happen next.”
    One of his eyebrows perked up. “Oh, really? What would that be?”
    “Well, Rodney, here’s the deal: the Agency has no idea I’m on this train yet. Heck, I could be on any of fifteen trains leaving Zurich, or maybe a bus. I’m sure they sent a few of your coworkers on similar jaunts. The Agency won’t know for sure until you tell them, or until enough time passes with no contact . . . in which case they’ll figure I was on the train and disabled you. Then in six hours, the Madrid train station will be crawling with Langley’s finest. You can imagine how much this unfortunate attention will slow me down.” I reachedinside my duster and pulled out his phone. “Your earbud mike was out-of-range two minutes after we left the station, so this is what I assume you’d use to blow the whistle on me. Which brings us to the uncomfortable part of our conversation . . .”
    I slipped the phone back inside the duster, placed both elbows on the armrests, and touched my fingertips together in front of my chest.
    “. . . I’m going to need your password, plus any other codes necessary to send a text message saying I’m not on board.”
    He reacted as I predicted. A challenging smile followed by a chuckle.
    “And you actually think I’m gonna do this? Just give you access and let you fly off the reservation?”
    “Rodney, not only do I think you’ll do it . . . I know you’ll do it. One way or the other.” My tone was less civil now.
    “And those ways would be?” he scoffed.
    “Not to sound all cliché, but the easy way and the hard way. The hard way is difficult and painful, and the easy way is the opposite. Low impact,” I promised, neglecting to mention that the hard way would be difficult and painful to me, not him.
    Rodney kept smiling, but the prospect of pain made him tense up. His fists balled and his torso pulled the seat belt taut.
    “Relax,” I said. “No need to do anything impulsive. You can’t reach me faster than I can shut you down. Let’s be calm.”
    He leaned back and pretended to relax.
    “Me? I’m plenty calm. I don’t mean to burst your bubble, but this is not the first time someone sat across from me and threatened me for information.” He lifted one leg and crossed it over the other, radiating ambivalence. “And with all due respect, Captain Sleepy, what exactly can you do? Make me well rested? Oh yeah, put me in the dining car with no clothes. Wow. Come on, man, be serious.”
    I took the opportunity to mirror his pose and relaxed a bit myself.
    “Rodney, I like you. You’re refreshingly candid and more than a little stupid. It’s a welcome mix. I’m sure we have a few minutes before alarm bells go off and your phone starts ringing, so let’s play a game.”
    “Seriously?”
    “I’ve lived