Takedown (An Alexandra Poe Thriller) Read Online Free Page A

if you harm me, there will be reprisals.”
    “Too bad you didn’t warn that busload of kids you killed in London,” Alex told him and looked at Deuce. “Are you buying this bullshit?”
    “I’ve never been a big fan of fairytales,” Deuce said as the elevator doors slid open.
    Alex shoved Solak a little harder than she needed to and he stumbled forward, hitting the elevator wall. “Oops. My bad.”
    They stepped inside and the doors closed behind them. Once the elevator lurched into motion, Deuce said, “Cooper, we’ve got the package ready for delivery. Are you in position?”
    There was a long pause.
    “Shane?”
    Still no answer.
    Alex and Deuce exchanged a look, and as the elevator came to the ground floor, they braced themselves, weapons ready.
    The doors slid open to reveal a loading dock, and the ambulance Cooper had been driving parked haphazardly in one of the bays. Cooper stood outside the vehicle, looking glum, surrounded by a phalanx of men in suits and dark glasses—none of them Turks—several of them pointing weapons directly at Alex and Deuce.
    Americans. No doubt about it.
    “Step out of the elevator and release your prisoner,” one of them said. “And put your weapons on the ground.”
    Alex frowned. “What the hell is this?”
    “Just do as they say,” Cooper told her. “The op’s been burned. They’re letting Solak go.”
    Alex couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “ What? ”
    “Step out of the elevator,” the American repeated, “and put your weapons on the ground.”
    Then Solak smiled and said, “Not a fairytale after all.”

    Alex barely spoke a word on the plane ride home. She felt used and abused and didn’t like being taken advantage of.  
    A phone call from McElroy, the op coordinator at Stonewell International, had confirmed that Solak had indeed cut a deal with the US government and was no longer on their hit list. The reasons were classified, but McElroy guessed Solak was more valuable to the intelligence community as an ally than an enemy.  
    McElroy had apologized for the confusion, and explained that the DHS had somehow forgotten to inform Stonewell of the change until the operation was well under way.
    “Screw them,” Alex said. “And screw you, too. Deuce and I almost got our heads shot off because of their incompetence.”
    “It happens,” McElroy told her. “We’ll try to do better next time.”
    “Next time? Don’t count on it. I’m done.”  
    “But you’ve only just started, Alex, and you’ve already proven to be a valuable asset to the organization.”
    “Lucky me,” she said, and hung up on him.
    Now, as the Stonewell jet carried them home, she thought about the slippery nature of politics and shifting allegiances and how she didn’t much like it. One minute you’re hunting a man down and the next you’re in bed with him. But what could possibly justify cozying up to a guy who had been responsible for the deaths of so many innocent people? Alex didn’t care what kind of cards he was holding, Solak should not be a free man. The fact that he was free royally pissed her off.
    “You okay?”
    She turned with a start, unaware Cooper had taken the seat next to her. They had served together in Baghdad but hadn’t kept in contact after her discharge, in large part because she had blamed him for a mission that had gone south and gotten people killed. But the blame was misplaced, and she had finally come to terms with what had happened.
    Shane had been instrumental in helping Stonewell recruit her. In fact, he was part of the reason she had agreed to sign on.
    “Alex?”
    She tried a smile, but lacked the conviction. “I’m fine. Just trying to figure out what the hell I’m doing here.”
    “Same as the rest of us. Making the world a better place.”
    “Do you really believe that?”
    “It’s on the company brochure, isn’t it?”
    She laughed in spite of herself, some of her anger easing. “I wish I could be as nonchalant as