Chapter 35
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
“I made her a promise. I said I’d come back, and I plan on delivering.” Jesse lay flat on his stomach, a blanket of fresh snow beneath his body, awaiting orders from Gray and Carter to advance away from the cover of the tree line and to the castle. Thatcher was at his three o’clock, kitted up in his own gear. He was the last man Jesse wanted alongside him, but what choice did he have?
“And I plan to make sure that happens.” Thatcher adjusted his night-vision goggles, shifting them up and away from his eyes, and Jesse ignored him.
The castle was a hundred meters away from their location, and his team had already heard from Sydney by phone, confirming via drone there were armed tangos on-site.
They’d split up into two assault squads. Alpha Team was at the backside of the castle, and Carter had his guys who’d been previously keeping an eye on Dragan’s home, now converging at the side entrance as Bravo Team.
Jesse knocked his NVGs up, drew the stock of his fully blacked-out rifle against his shoulder, and leveled his aim up at one of the towers where he’d spotted movement. He went for his radio and transmitted, “This is Alpha Five. I have two tangos with AKs on the tower in my line of sight.”
“This is Alpha One,” Gray answered. “That’s a good copy. We’re weapons hold until we’re breachers up.”
“Roger that,” Jesse replied.
“This is Bravo One. My team is in position,” one of Carter’s guys transmitted. “I have two armed tangos near the boathouse. Confirming visual of the tango Juliet spotted walking along the front of the target location.”
Juliet was Sydney’s call sign, and right now, she was their saving grace with her small drone keeping watch for them. But the flying time of the drone was limited, and they’d be losing the signal soon.
“This is Alpha Two,” Carter responded a moment later. “Roger that.”
“I made a mistake,” Thatcher quietly said. “I didn’t realize that until Versailles.”
“I don’t want to hear anything from you,” Jesse growled, wanting nothing more than to punch him in the jaw to shut him up. He hated that Ella was in Austria and anywhere near the danger. He knew Sydney would protect her, but if it weren’t for Thatcher, she wouldn’t need protection. Period. She’d be safe at home.
“I thought if Ella were in danger, you’d be more motivated to take the mission, but I neglected to take into consideration that . . . she can also be a distraction for you. She was why you missed killing your mark eighteen months ago, so I’m here to make sure Yuri is handled tonight in case you’re distracted again,” Thatcher went on anyway, and Jesse cursed under his breath.
And Carter is a distraction for Yuri. “So, you don’t actually care about me. Or her. Your little declaration that you were done prioritizing the mission over the operators was bullshit. You’re here because you want to nail Yuri.” Jesse clenched his teeth and gripped his weapon tighter to keep his hand from trembling. He was not going to allow himself to get distracted by anyone or anything. And he wasn’t going to fuck up like he did eighteen months ago. “Does Langley even know you’re here? Or did you go rogue too?”
Thatcher shifted his rifle and eyed the tower through his scope, his silence an affirmative. The CIA didn’t know he was in Austria, which meant he didn’t have operational authority to be there.
“Haven’t been on an op like this in a long time,” Thatcher deflected a few seconds later. “Of course, I was usually in the sky, but the feeling is still the same. The anticipation and buildup.”
Why did he sound excited right now? Did he miss war? Jesse sure as hell didn’t miss Iraq or the sick-in-the-gut feeling he got when his team left the Green Zone and advanced into the Red Zone, one of the most dangerous areas in the world at that time.
“This is Alpha Two. Juliet’s drone spotted four people tied up inside. Bags over their heads,” Carter abruptly announced and rattled off the location in the castle.
“Alpha Five and Seven, prepare to take out their tower overwatch,” Gray ordered Jesse and Thatcher, and God, Jesse hated that Thatcher had a call sign. “Bravo One, on my mark, you’ve got the guard out front.”
“New information,” Carter rushed out a moment later. “The drone also caught sight of Zoran’s son.” He quickly provided the boy’s location. “If he’s in the castle, Zoran must be there as well.”
Which meant Carter had been right. Yuri had more than likely planned to bring the three of them to the castle after exploding the C4 in the mine to take down the rest of their teammates. Zoran wanted his revenge. He wanted to watch Jesse and Ella die.
“No innocents are to become collateral damage,” Carter commanded. “Understood?”
“Roger that,” the two teams answered over the radio in unison, and of course, they’d do everything in their power to prevent a child from dying or any of the other innocent people inside getting hurt.
“Alpha Five and Seven, send two headshots in thirty seconds,” Gray told them, and Jesse readied his rifle.
“Just like in Bulgaria, the two of us are about to fire at the same time,” Thatcher said. “But maybe kill your mark this time?”
Jesse gritted his teeth once again, ignored his former boss, and remained steady. “This is Alpha Five,” he said when it was time. “Target acquired and locked. Preparing the shot in three, two, one.” He and Thatcher fired at the same time.
“This is Alpha Two, breachers up. Clear to infil.”
Jesse quickly stood and patted Thatcher on the shoulder, signaling for him to move. If Yuri wasn’t aware that three of his men had just been taken out, he’d know in a matter of seconds that his plan had backfired because Jack and Oliver were setting the breaching charges at the backside, and Bravo Team would breach the front.
The blast would be localized, just enough det cord to get the team inside. And thankfully, Sydney’s drone had provided the location for the kid and other innocents inside so they could ensure their safety.
Jesse assumed Zoran was in the same room as his son, given the circumstances. And that prick would be his to deal with tonight for putting a revenge hit out on Ella.
“They know we’re here,” Carter said over the line a moment later. “Alpha Six and Four are now inside.”
Jesse kept his body low, his boots softly crunching across the snow, as he peered through the green-tinted scope, searching for any other tangos. When he heard the ripple of gunfire and a bullet whizzed past him, he quickly took a knee and crouched for cover behind a tree to determine the location of the shooter. “This is Alpha Five. We have a new tango in the tower. Working to get a shot to clear our way.”
“Roger that,” Gray replied, and more gunfire popped like fireworks from within the castle.
“When you have eyes on our HVT, don’t forget, he’s mine,” Zoey reminded the team, and despite her British accent, she sounded just like a Southern woman, one in particular. Hard-headed and stubborn to the core. Ella.
“Ignore her directive,” Carter snapped out, making it clear their high-value target, their HVT, was his. He wanted to finish what he started with Yuri years ago.
Jesse quickly rounded the tree, locked the shooter in the tower in his sights, and pulled the trigger. “Tango down in the tower,” Jesse alerted the team. “We’re clear to continue.” He swiveled his focus to Thatcher, now at his six, who nodded, and they began moving again.
“This is Alpha Four,” Jack said. “Advancing to the second level. First floor now clear for entry.”
“This is One,” Gray replied. “That’s a good copy. Advancing in now.”
“Stop.” Thatcher suddenly grabbed hold of Jesse’s arm and yanked him back just in time to avoid a headshot from an unexpected tango. Seconds later, Thatcher pegged the shooter near the bushes by the castle.
Jesse let go of a deep breath and purely out of reflex, gave Thatcher a nod of thanks for saving his ass.
He’d thought he had his head on straight, but he’d nearly lost it. Distracted. Yeah, I’m still distracted. Fucking great.
“This is Six,” Oliver said as he and Thatcher entered the castle from where his team members had blown the door down not long ago. “Second floor now clear. Two more tangos down.”
Jesse rounded a corner, checking the hallway for new threats as Carter instructed, “Bravo One, send two men to the boathouse in case any men from the mountainside escape our snipers there and head this way via water.”
“Roger that,” Bravo One replied just as a crackling sound came over the castle’s intercom system.
“Dominick,” a voice rang out from the built-in speakers, most likely used for the daytime tours. “This is unexpected.”
Jesse set his back flat to the wall and moved his NVGs back in place, scouring the dark hallway as he let the sling take his rifle and reached for a sidearm and knife. He had a feeling he knew what was coming next.
Yuri would attempt to pressure Carter and the others into revealing themselves in exchange for the hostages on the third level. What choice did he have?
“You’ve got us outnumbered,” Yuri went on. “But I have four innocent people here with me. If you don’t want their blood on your hands, then you’ll allow my men to disarm you so we can have a face-to-face. Zoran Mestrovi? wants Jesse though. I’m sure he’s here, but without the lovely Ella.” Yuri’s use of Ella’s name had Jesse’s skin crawling.
“You kill the hostages, and you lose your only leverage,” Carter responded, and he must have grabbed hold of one of the castle’s radios from his current location because his voice sounded over the intercom speakers. “You have another card up your sleeve. What is it, Yuri? How do you really plan to get us alone?”
Static filled the line for a second. “You’re right. You do know me well. Unfortunately, you were correct in assuming the mine was a decoy, a way to separate you from your team. I’d always planned to bring you here. But there is a bomb in the village. I don’t lie, remember?”
Jesse’s stomach turned, and his body went rigid at what he was suggesting.
Ella and Sydney. No. Fucking. No.
“Come upstairs and order your men to back off, and you can have the location. I’ll take Zoey in exchange for Ella. She comes upstairs as well,” Yuri announced.
“Ella will be okay,” Thatcher said before moving toward a panel on the wall.
The intercom. What are you doing?
“You want me, Zoran, not Jesse,” Thatcher remarked, his voice filling the speakers. “I was the one who killed your wife.”
“What are you doing, damn it?” Jesse hissed at Thatcher. They were running out of time, and no way would the man sacrifice himself for Jesse. Thatcher must not have trusted Jesse to get the job done. He wanted to be in the room with Yuri.
Thatcher held up a hand, a request for Jesse to let him handle the situation.
“We’ll sort it out. The four of you come, then. I’ll let you make a call to deal with the bomb once you’re with me,” Yuri said. “Order the rest of your men to stand down and leave the castle grounds.” He went quiet for a few seconds. “If you don’t, I make the call to detonate the bomb now, and you turn me into a terrorist.”
“This is Alpha Two,” Carter transmitted over their radios, “we have no choice. Alpha Six, get Juliet on the phone and tell her what’s going on. Let her know I’ll call the second I get the location, and you’ll need to explain to her how to defuse the bomb over the phone.”
What if they were too late? What if Yuri detonated the bomb anyway?
This is my fault. He shouldn’t have left Ella across the lake. Or maybe he should’ve . . . what? What could I have done?
“Focus,” Thatcher ordered, standing before him now and gripping his shoulder. “If you don’t want her to die, think about Ella as motivation, not as a distraction.” God, how he hated getting a pep talk from this man. “You made a promise, remember?” Thatcher reminded him of his own words. “Now it’s time to fucking keep it.”