Chapter 33
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
“We ran a lot of subterranean ops back at Fort Bragg,” Oliver commented, dragging a hand through his brown hair, his back to the wall inside Carter’s suite where the team was all gathered.
The room felt small and tight to Ella, with the operators and their gadgets and weapons scattered about the space. It wasn’t exactly Marriott-sized like the rooms back home.
It was just after midnight, and the team anticipated they’d soon be hearing from Yuri. They’d go after Zoran once Yuri was no longer a threat. One mark at a time , Carter had said. The most dangerous first.
“But what y’all will be doing is different than the situations we prepped for at Bragg, and unlike the ops we ran in Afghanistan,” Oliver went on, eyes on Carter. “Plus, you can’t breach with explosives, or you’ll risk creating instability when you’re inside the mine.”
More disturbing images muscled their way into Ella’s mind—a mineshaft caving in, boulders crashing down and trapping them. She cringed and shifted closer to Jesse on the couch, and he set his hand on her thigh and lightly squeezed.
“We won’t have earpieces. No radios. No way to communicate once we’re underground as well,” Carter announced, sharing the bad news Sydney had already told Ella on the train.
Right about now, Ella missed Savanna like crazy. She needed her friend to distract her and make her laugh in the midst of this chaos like she’d done the other day. Of course, she was relieved that both Savanna and Griffin were back home and no longer in danger.
“So, once we’re inside, Yuri will give you the location of the bomb?” Ella spoke up, still a bit unclear on what they expected to happen tonight. “And what if Yuri’s lying about where he hid it?”
“He won’t lie.” Zoey was on her knees in front of a duffel bag sifting through its contents alongside Sydney across the room, and she stopped what she was doing to put eyes on Ella.
“Really?” Ella found it hard to believe this MI6 officer would just trust a deadly assassin to tell the truth.
“The one thing we know about Yuri is that while he’s ruthless, he’s notoriously true to his word. And he’s also not a terrorist. While he’ll go to extraordinary lengths to take down a target, he’s not the destroy-a-city kind of killer.” Zoey’s green eyes remained sharp on Ella. “That doesn’t mean he won’t follow through if he doesn’t get his way, though, which is why we operate under the assumption he’ll do anything, including leveling this village, if we don’t do exactly what he stipulates.”
“He provided an accurate location of the weapon back when . . .” Carter let his words trail off, and Ella had to assume he was referring to the op during which Zoey’s fiancé died. “Well, it was accurate. And I had time to deactivate it.”
“You’re the expert on the guy. There has to be other, um, evidence that leads you to believe he’s telling the truth, right?” Ella assumed the team had already had this conversation, but she hadn’t been privy to all of the details.
Zoey looked at Ella again and nodded. “As horrific as this may sound, my intel suggests Yuri started changing his MO because of boredom. He was getting his marks almost too easily. So, he began taking jobs that were much more challenging.” She visibly swallowed. “Like taking out one of the best MI6 operators, for instance.”
Your fiancé. Goose bumps peppered her skin, and she shivered. Zoey had lost the love of her life. Same as Carter. Savanna. I can’t lose mine too.
“And in taking on these so-called impossible hits, Yuri changed his tactics. Upped the ante, so to speak. He started using more extreme methods to draw out his targets,” Zoey went on, her voice breaking a little as if remembering her loss. “He’d tailor his strategy based on the mark.”
Ohh. “Threatening to take down three city blocks would force someone like,” Ella began, glimpsing at Carter, “a CIA operative out into the open, but maybe not a Russian mobster if that was his target. Is that what you’re saying?”
Zoey nodded. “According to my intel, it’s more of a game to him. Even if he sends a team as he’s been doing, he’s the one to design the trap. But there’s been no known instances where a bomb went off.”
“And what if tonight is the . . .” Ella let go of her words when Jesse tightened his grip on her thigh, and she almost yelped. He eased up a second later, probably realizing his fear of losing her had triggered the tight hold of her leg. She covered his hand with her own, trying to, well, reassure them both.
Zoey’s eyes fell back to the bag as she responded, “We won’t let tonight be his first time, I promise.”
Carter coughed into his fist as if needing to change the subject. Haunted by his memories, maybe? “If he stays true to his MO, Yuri will allow one man to leave the mountain to deactivate the weapon, but we’ll already have Oliver waiting in the village. And Jack will call him the second he exfils the mine to provide the location.”
“Our issue still remains that Yuri won’t let you leave the mine,” Jesse said, which had Ella’s attention.
“Even if I’m Yuri’s priority, Zoran hired him to kill you and Ella,” Carter added, then turned his attention to Ella. “And he’ll make sure that happens. So, we’ve prepared a plan to get you out of there with Jack without allowing Yuri to change his MO and murder a thousand innocent people because he got pissed you got away.”
Wait, what? She blinked a few times, replaying what had been said, then focused back on Carter currently lifting a map that’d been open on the bed, and he motioned for Ella to join him.
“We can get to the mine by walking,” Carter went on once she was standing next to him. “That way, we can use the cover of night to go undetected just in case Yuri does have other plans. When we’re there, we’ll need to use the emergency stairs alongside the lift up the mountain to get to one of the entrances.”
“Okay.” The word barely escaped Ella’s lips as she anxiously awaited the news as to how in the hell she’d be fleeing the salt mine without triggering an act of terror upon the village.
“Because of the mountains, we have plenty of overwatch positions. There’s also the Skywalk and Rudolf’s Tower where some of my other guys are already positioned.” Carter expelled a deep breath and shot a quick look over his shoulder toward the room—probably to Jesse. “My guys have identified and scoped out Yuri’s men already hiding on the mountainside as well. Another reason we’re assuming shit’s going down soon.”
“The mine is currently closed for renovations, but we’ll need to disable their security cameras if Yuri hasn’t done so already,” Gray chimed in. “The moment you escape with Jack, they’ll simultaneously take out all of Yuri’s men to ensure you have clear and safe passage.”
“No one will be alive to radio to anyone in the village to detonate the bomb, and Yuri also can’t get word out after he realizes you’re escaping to do so because of comms not working from within the mine,” Carter said, piggybacking off Gray’s words.
“What if you miss someone hiding in the woods? And that person makes the call to set off the bomb?” Ella quickly asked, her pulse racing.
“We can’t use thermal imaging to check how many tangos we’re up against inside the mountain,” Sydney answered, and Ella looked over to where she kneeled alongside Zoey with a big-ass gun in hand. Was that an M4? “ But we can confirm how many are outside the mountain waiting for us. I already sent a small drone over the area. Not the kind you buy at Target, either.” She casually winked. So calm for such a crazy time, and Ella actually appreciated that. It was, well, comforting.
Ella shifted her focus back over her shoulder to Jesse to get a read on him. “I still don’t understand how I’m getting out of the mountain with Jack. I’m assuming we’ll be face-to-face with Yuri when he provides the location of the bomb. So, how do we escape?” She went over to Jesse as he stood. “And I hate leaving you.”
“I can’t get into some gunfight with an assassin with you there, Ella.” He wrapped his arms around her hips, tipping his head a touch as he captivated her with his blue eyes. “You know I can’t let you into that mountain without having a way to get you out safely,” he said without answering both of her questions.
“And you can trust me,” Jack added from behind them. “I won’t let anything happen to her.”
To her. He was speaking to Jesse. Offering him a promise that she knew he needed to hear and believe.
“We need to get Yuri to meet us in a specific location in the mine. There’s an old miner’s slide that’s now a tourist attraction that you and Jack will use to get away. As soon as my men on overwatch spot you and Jack exit the mine, they’ll eliminate all external threats within a matter of seconds.”
The slide? Really?
Jesse parted his lips as if prepared to share more, but the phone given to them on the train began ringing.
“It’s time?” Ella’s stomach continued to cramp as Carter swapped the map for the phone and placed the call on speakerphone.
“Carter Dominick?” the man asked straight away. “Is that really you?”
“Yuri,” Carter hissed. “Yeah, it’s me.”
“I’ve been waiting for this day for years.” Yuri’s accent weaved through his words.
“Let’s just get this over with,” Carter remarked in a steady tone, and Ella peeked at Zoey, who eyed the phone, her lip caught between her teeth as if resisting the urge to speak.
“I’m sure you know where I want to meet.” The line went quiet for a moment. “In thirty minutes, I’ll text you which entrance I want you to use. Nothing will happen to you or your people before you have the location of the bomb. And you have my word you’ll be allowed to send one man to defuse the bomb.” He paused again. “And you know my word is good, Dominick.”
“Don’t want to be considered a terrorist. That’s not your style,” Carter flippantly responded. “That’s why you’re not detonating the damn thing now to take us all out while we’re in the village, am I right?”
“I’d prefer not to kill a village of people, but you know I’ll do what needs to be done if I don’t get my way,” Yuri calmly answered. “It would have been easier to use the young girl instead, but your men were better than mine in Alabama—I’ll give you credit where credit is due.”
“You bastard,” Ella hissed, unable to stop herself. But McKenna was her family and . . .
Jesse grabbed hold of her and pinned her against his body, crushing her cheek to his chest as he held her tight, arms wrapped around her.
“Ella . . . did I strike a nerve?” Yuri’s words had Ella’s fingernails biting into Jesse’s back, and she had to remind herself he was playing mind games and that the better team would win tonight as they had in Alabama.
“Don’t say her name,” Jesse growled out in warning.
Yuri was quiet for a second before continuing, “You and I will fight the way we did last time, yes? Well, before you saved yourself and left your MI6 partner to die.”
“Do you think of me every time you look in the fucking mirror?” Carter asked, and his dark tone had the hairs on Ella’s arms standing. “Or did you finally find a plastic surgeon able to correct the damage from my knife?”
“I kept the scar on my cheek,” Yuri quickly replied. “It’s been beneficial in serving as a reminder to kill without remorse.”
“No,” Carter snapped. “That scar has kept you in hiding. You started sending errand boys to handle your business. Afraid you’d get hurt again.” He brought the phone closer to his face. “Afraid I’d find you and finish the job.”
“I guess we shall see who is truly the better man tonight, then.” Yuri’s voice cracked as though he were feeling the pressure of a confrontation with Carter.
Was Carter getting to him, and if so, was that good or bad?
“We will have our moment,” Yuri continued, his tone betraying a touch of something like . . . madness? “And I will take my time ending your life. But first, first, I will personally kill your friends.”
“You won’t touch her. I promise you that.” Ella felt a tremble roll through Jesse’s body as he tightened his hold on her.
“Promises are a fragile thing. They’re so often broken. But I keep my word. Always.” Yuri’s voice took on even more of that creep factor Ella was familiar with from serial killer crime shows, and it had her body tensing. “I heard you brought a friend along to play. Another MI6 friend you’ll let die. How are you, Zoey? Still searching for your revenge, my love?”
Oh God. An image of Hannibal Lecter and the disturbing sound of his voice saying, Good evening, Clarice popped into Ella’s head as chills fluttered across her skin reminding her that this wasn’t a movie. No, it was very, very real.
Ella turned her head to check on Zoey to see that she’d somehow managed to remain steady despite the conversation.
“Did you know the Nazis dumped valuables into the lake here when they learned they were going to lose? Blew up mine shafts where they hid their spoils of war as well. There’s a lot of history in this place. I can feel it all around. Some good. Some bad.”
Yuri babbling about the Nazis? That put him at a ten out of ten on Ella’s psychopath meter.
“The question will soon become, will the history books report about the entire devastation of one village,” the prick continued, “or the loss of a few lives that never belonged there in the first place?”
“And . . . the line’s dead.” Carter shook his head.
“He’s off his fucking rocker. Rails. Whatever it’s called,” Jack spoke up, and Ella nodded in agreement.
“You okay?” Carter focused on Zoey.
“No,” she replied. “He knows I’m here. And he knows I’ve been obsessed with finding him for years, so he’ll assume I’ll be able to predict his next moves, which means he’s going to fuck with us.” Her brows tightened as her gaze fell to the floor. “He’s going to change his MO.”
Jesse released Ella, and she watched the color drain from his face as he said, “The mine . . . it’s just a distraction, isn’t it? He’s not going to be there.”
Zoey’s lips parted to answer, but a quick rap at the door had everyone in the room on alert.
Gray went and checked the peephole. “We have a guest.” He faced the room, eyes on Jesse. “Are you ready to punch your old boss? Because Thatcher’s here.”