Chapter 10
Chapter 10
Though relieved they hadn’t encountered any resistance getting on the train to Bruges, Fearghas couldn’t ease the knot in his gut.
Once they got off the train in Bruges, they’d be targeted immediately. What he wasn’t certain of was who was doing the targeting. Was it one faction, the MI6 traitor or multiple organizations looking to own the disk for themselves?
Either way, people would be waiting for them in the small walled city. His team had to be in place and ready before the opposition.
He sat beside Catya in a soft, cushioned seat, thinking how easy it would be to stay on the train and go anywhere else.
Fearghas knew Catya better than that. She wouldn’t go anywhere else as long as Atkins’s daughter remained a captive.
The sun set well before they left for the Brussels train station. Traveling between Brussels and Bruges in the dark didn’t offer scenery to escape into and occupy his mind.
He held Catya’s hand all the way, his gut clenching when he dared to visualize how things would go down. Each possible scenario ended badly with Catya getting hurt or the girl being killed, whether or not her captives received the disk.
Catya squeezed his hand. “We will get her out,” she whispered, shaking him out of the downward spiral of his private thoughts.
He had to believe her to make it happen.
Ace signaled for the team to gather close to discuss a plan.
“We have to assume the bogeys have eyes on the train station.” He nodded toward Jasmine and Dmytro. “We will leave the train first. Jasmine and I will go out as a couple. Dmytro will leave alone. Anyone watching the train will be looking for Catya, Atkins and Fearghas.”
Ace pulled a printed map of Bruges from his duffel bag and held it out for them to see. “Atkins and Catya were told to show up in the Market square in front of the Belfry of Bruges at midnight.” He pointed to the image of a church at the center of Bruges.
“They probably know Catya and I are together,” Atkins said.
Catya nodded. “Based on the fact they found my apartment in Amsterdam, I’d agree. However, I don’t think we should show up together.”
“Agreed,” Atkins said. “I should show up first since it’s my daughter they’re holding hostage. Because we’ve been together, they won’t know who actually has the disk.”
“We need to keep them guessing,” Fearghas said. “Otherwise, they could just shoot Atkins, assuming they would find the disk in his pocket.”
“True,” Catya faced Atkins. “You need to demand they turn over your daughter before you tell them where the disk is located.”
“I can appear from a different direction,” Catya said, “to split their attention and focus.”
“What if they demand to see the disk?” Atkins questioned.
“You can tell them you may or may not have it,” Ace said, “and if they shoot you, they may or may not find the disk on either one of you.”
“I can offer myself as a trade for my daughter,” Atkins said. “They can take me hostage when they release my daughter. Until then, I won’t tell them where to find the disk.”
Ace nodded. “Good.” He turned to the big Ukrainian. “Dmytro, you can take a position at the base of the statue of Jan Breydel and Pieter de Coninckin located at the center of the square. You’ll need to pick up a bottle of alcohol on your way there.”
Dmytro grinned. “Am I playing a drunk?”
Ace nodded. “I’ll find my way to a high point overlooking the front of the Belfry and provide cover with my rifle. At midnight, there shouldn’t be many people wandering around the square. Most businesses will have shut down for the night. There are nightclubs, so it won’t be completely free of pedestrians.”
He met Fearghas’s gaze. “There isn’t much in the way of cover or concealment in the market square. I’ll be on top of a building, unable to provide any hand-to-hand combat support. We need you on the ground but close enough to help.”
Fearghas wanted to be with Catya the entire time. “I could accompany Catya.”
Catya shook her head. “Having you there gives them more choices for leverage. It needs to be me and Atkins.”
Jasmine leaned forward. “Fearghas and I could come from the direction of one of the nightclubs like a couple on their way back to their hotel.”
Ace frowned. “I don’t like the idea of you two being out in the center. What if they recognize Fearghas and start shooting?”
Jasmine cocked an eyebrow. “We know what to do, and we’ll be close enough we could shoot back. You’re the only one who has a sniper’s rifle. The rest of us have a limited range with our handguns. We have to be close enough to have a chance of hitting our targets or of taking them down in a street fight.”
“And if they outnumber you ten to one?” Ace posed the question.
“We all get out, regroup and come up with a new plan.”
Atkins shook his head. “I can’t walk away if they still have my daughter.”
“Your daughter is their only ticket to getting that disk,” Ace said. “Tell them that if anything happens to her or you, the disk will be delivered to the British Prime Minister.”
Atkins’s lips pressed together.
Catya touched his arm. “If you hand over the disk before your daughter is safe, neither one of you will make it out of Bruges alive.”
“Okay,” Atkins said. “I’ll go with the plan. Just help me get Madison out alive. I don’t give a rat’s ass if I don’t make it, but my little girl deserves a chance to live a full and happy life.”
Ace nodded. “Give Dmytro and me a head start to get into position in the market square. Fearghas and Jasmine can stroll slowly through right before Atkins appears. Catya will step out shortly afterward to make sure they don’t shoot Atkins without ascertaining whether or not he has the disk.”
As they neared Bruges, Dmytro handed each member of the team flesh-colored radio headsets. Thankfully, they had the train car to themselves as they conducted a comm check to ensure all devices worked and everyone could speak and be heard.
Catya pulled a blond wig out of her backpack and tucked her dark hair up inside it, tugging it firmly in place. She attached light brown brows over her own black ones and handed Fearghas a flat tweed caddy hat.
He slipped it over his red hair and adjusted it low on his forehead, shading his reddish-brown brows. Being a red-haired Scotsman had its disadvantages when trying to keep a low profile. Thankfully, the hat and darkness would help to disguise him long enough for him to get into a position with Jasmine to provide backup for Catya and Atkins.
The team split up, moving to different cars to exit the train separately when they arrived.
Fearghas’s pulse kicked up as the train rolled to a stop in the Bruges train station.
Ace left the train, carrying the duffel bag. He walked away as if he was just another traveler heading for his hotel.
Several seconds later, Dmytro lumbered off the train, already acting the part of a clumsy drunkard. He stumbled away, heading toward the city center.
“We’re next,” Fearghas said to Jasmine.
She nodded. Fearghas stepped off the train, turned and held out his hand to Jasmine and smiled up at her as if she was the love of his life. She hooked her hand through the crook of his elbow, and they walked away from the station behind a couple of women dragging wheeled luggage.
Meanwhile, the love of his life would be next off the train, walking alone through the streets.
Atkins would leave the train last.
If anything happened, they had their radios. Fearghas and Jasmine could respond to a cry for help relatively quickly.
Hopefully, quickly enough to keep them from being harmed or kidnapped.
“Off the train,” Catya reported. “I don’t see anyone lurking, waiting to grab or shoot.”
Moments later, Atkins reported. “Off the train.”
Tense and ready to turn and run back to Catya, Fearghas moved forward slowly.
“Man on the right,” Jasmine whispered. “Leaning against a tree on the corner.”
Fearghas glanced in that direction from the corner of his eye, spotted the guy and then swept the shadows to his left on the opposite side of the street.
A dark figure moved, drawing his attention.
“Another on the left. Lurking between two buildings.”
“Roger,” Catya said.
“Roger,” Atkins echoed.
Fearghas wanted to take out the two men before Catya reached them.
“Keep moving, Fearghas,” Ace urged as if reading Fearghas’s mind. “They can’t know you and Jasmine are backups.”
Jasmine’s hand squeezed his arm. “They’ll be okay,” she said. “And we’re not that far ahead.”
Fearghas kept moving despite the overwhelming desire to turn back.
Moments later, Catya said, “Passed the tree and alley, guys. They didn’t move.”
A little of Fearghas’s tension eased. Either her disguise had worked, or they were looking for Atkins, not her.
“Coming up on them now,” Atkins said.
Several seconds dragged by. Fearghas tensed, again ready to head back.
“Passed the tree and alley,” Atkins reported. “I’ve got a tail.”
“Need assistance?” Fearghas asked.
“Not yet,” Atkins said. “They’re keeping their distance.”
“An escort,” Jasmine said softly.
Fearghas had studied the printout of the map enough to know how to get to the market square. He’d searched the internet for nightclubs in Bruges and had found one not far off the square. He and Jasmine would turn to the left and head toward that nightclub.
Catya would walk further across the square, closer to the end with the Belfry, before she turned down a side street on the left and moved out of sight of the square and anyone who might be watching. Once she was out of sight, she’d wait for her cue to step into the square.
Fearghas looked at Jasmine several times, smiling down at her.
She would glance up at him and pretend to be saying something to make him laugh.
He laughed on cue while his gaze scanned over her shoulder into shadows cast by the buildings around them.
He didn’t see anyone else following or standing around, waiting to jump them.
“In position,” Catya said. “You okay, Atkins?”
“So far,” he responded in soft, brief syllables.
“Still have your tail?” Catya asked.
“Roger,” Atkins whispered into his mic. “Coming up on the market.”
Fearghas and Jasmine stopped walking and turned back to the marketplace.
“Ace, are you in place?” Fearghas asked.
“I am now,” Ace responded. “Took a minute to skirt the square and come in from behind the Belfry. I passed several clumps of men smoking on corners.”
“Did they see you?” Catya asked.
“No. I slipped down side streets and circled around.”
“Are you on the Belfry?” Fearghas asked.
“I am,” Ace said. “Had to break into the church and climb up some narrow-ass stairs carrying the duffel bag.”
“Coming into the market now,” Atkins said.
“I have my rifle assembled, complete with silencer, and aimed at the platform in front of the church entrance. My sights are set on the designated meeting location,” Ace said. “I can shift my aim should you send us somewhere else on the hard surface of the market square. I can’t fire at people on the opposite side.”
“Spotted two bogeys close to our position on the edge of the market square,” Catya said. “I can see Atkins coming around the back side of the statue. Dmytro, you good?”
“In position,” Dmytro reported in his gruff voice. “I have Atkins in sight.”
“I see movement on a rooftop to my left, Atkins’s right,” Ace said. “Three men coming out of the shadows. Atkins, head straight for the meeting location. You don’t want to give them a chance to grab you before the negotiations begin.”
Atkins altered his direction. Instead of circling wide and coming in from the right, he cut across the huge city square, aiming for the Belfry.
“Got your back, Atkins,” Dmytro said from his position at the base of the statue as Madison’s father passed within ten feet of him.
“Catya, be ready,” Ace said softly. “You’ll need to get Atkins’s daughter and get the hell out of the square as quickly as possible. It’s too open.”
“My two bogeys are stepping out of the shadows now,” Catya warned. “Two more just came out of the side of the Belfry. They’re gathering around Atkins. All are wearing hats, shading their faces.”
Fearghas and Jasmine increased their pace, heading back to the market square. He didn’t like that he and Jasmine were still out of sight of the market square. They couldn’t step out until Catya made her entrance. At that moment, all they could do was listen to the voices in the headset to know what was going on.
Unacceptable. He had to have Catya in sight. He urged Jasmine to close the distance between them and the end of the street leading back to the square.
Once they arrived, they paused. Fearghas whispered to Jasmine, “Leaning into you like I’m about to kiss you. Don’t shoot me, Ace.”
“Then don’t kiss her,” Ace responded.
“Kiss her, and I’ll shoot you,” Catya murmured.
Fearghas’s lips curled. “Jealous?”
“Don’t fuck with me now,” Catya responded.
“I have Atkins in sight,” Fearghas reported as he leaned closer to Jasmine, his gaze on the front of the Belfry, not the woman in front of him.
The three men Ace had mentioned timed their arrival in front of the church for the same as Atkins, stopping twenty feet from where Atkins came to a halt.
“Here goes,” Atkins whispered and then louder. “Where is she?” he demanded. “Where’s my daughter?”
Fearghas tensed, his hand going to the handgun tucked into the holster beneath his jacket.
“Show us the disk,” the men at the center of the threesome said.
Atkins shook his head. “Not until you show me my daughter. And if you think shooting me will get you that disk sooner, you could be very wrong. I may not have it on me.”
“You better have it,” the man said. “If you don’t hand over the disk, we’ll shoot your daughter.”
“Hurt my daughter, and you won’t get the disk. Now quit fucking around. Bring out my daughter, or I’m out of here, and I’ll send that disk to the British Prime Minister.”
“If you don’t hand over the disk, you won’t leave this square alive,” the man said.
“That’s my cue,” Catya murmured into her mic and then stepped out of the shadows and into the open market square.
“Bring out the girl,” she called out as she strode forward. “We’ll give you the disk, but the girl must go free first.”
Fearghas’s fists clenched, and his muscles bunched, ready to spring into action.
Catya had described what these people had done to her parents. They were bloodless cowards who would kill anyone who stood in the way of what they wanted.
Catya had just stepped into their way.
The shit was about to get real.