Gunner

by Heather Slade

  “I can see you’re lost in thought, adding to my list of considerations.”

  Raketa nodded. “It’s logical they would not jeopardize the Russian Federation’s position in the UN or among its members.”

  “Exactly,” said Merrigan. “You also know that UR’s enemies within the federation are many.”

  Raketa nodded a second time. The United States was also often a hotbed of political turmoil, but here, differences were settled by way of elections. There was no shortage of hatred between political parties, but in the nation’s almost two-hundred-and-fifty-year history, there’d never been a governmental overthrow, and the odds of one ever happening were astronomically low.

  “In other words, they aren’t bloody stupid,” said Merrigan.

  Raketa heard a knock at the door.

  “Come in,” said Merrigan.

  “I’m sorry to interrupt, but we’re heading out,” said Gunner, his eyes focused solely on Raketa’s.

  “I’ll give you a minute,” said Merrigan, closing the door behind her.

  “I love you, Zary,” he said, cupping her cheek with his palm.

  “I love you, Gunner. Be careful,” she whispered.

  “Always.”

  Raketa clung to him in a way she’d never done with anyone in her life.

  “This is a big piece of the puzzle, Raketa, and to be honest, as much as I initially questioned Doc’s decision, I know now that I wouldn’t have accepted not being a part of this meeting. I wouldn’t have trusted anyone else to make sure it got done. I know Shiv feels the same way.”

  She nodded. “Thank you.”

  “I don’t want your thanks. It’s you and me from here on out. We’re together, and we’re going to stay that way for the rest of our very long lives. I’d say we’re a team, but we’re so much more than that.”

  * * *

  When Gunner said they were so much more than a team, Raketa almost confessed her plan and begged him to let her come with him. Knowing he’d refuse and then ask one of the K19 partners to keep an eye on her, she stayed silent.

  She’d studied the security setup of Doc’s compound, including how vehicles were able to leave through the gate without a code being entered.

  Earlier, she’d watched Razor set his car key on the counter, near his laptop, before going upstairs to check on Ava. It hadn’t taken much to slip it into her pocket. If he’d noticed it was gone, she’d have simply slipped it back out somewhere else where it would be easy for him to find it. He hadn’t noticed, though.

  No one commented when she said she was going outside for a few minutes, and evidently, no one noticed Razor’s car start up or pull out of the gate.

  According to her GPS, the ranch where Doc had said the meeting was taking place was only a few miles away. She’d have to hide the car, figure out a place where she could surveil what cottage they were meeting in, and then wait to make her move.

  Raketa didn’t plan to act unless it became warranted and Gunner was in danger.

  She parked behind a storage building and was creeping through the heavy growth of trees and bushes when she saw several cars, including one that she recognized as belonging to K19.

  Before she could take another step, she saw something else that turned her blood to ice.

  Petrov was also getting out of a different vehicle, one that had been parked farther away, with her mother held firmly in his grasp.

  Someone must’ve tipped him off about the meeting, and he planned to use her mother as either a shield or a bargaining chip. Had they been discussing the change in the location prior to Doc removing the tracking device from her body? She didn’t think so, which meant he had to have someone on the inside, reporting to him. Maybe Gunner’s instincts about Pimm had been right after all.

  She could follow, maybe even kill Petrov before he had a chance to act, but that meant her shot had to be dead-on. It had been years since she’d executed a nighttime kill without the assistance of an NVD.

  22

  Something was off. Gunner could feel it in his bones. He studied McTiernan as he outlined the deal they’d brought to the Russians, kept his eye on Shiv and Striker, and watched the three other men from United Russia who were with them in the dimly lit room.

  If Razor were here, it would take one look between them for his friend to know Gunner’s hackles were raised, and vice versa. Neither Shiv nor Striker had made eye contact with Gunner at all.

  Every man in the room, with the exception of McTiernan and his UR counterpart, had their hands on their guns. All things being equal, neither organization could take the other out…unless one of them had less backup posted outside. K19 had four—Monk, Onyx, Alegria, and Dutch. United Russia had agreed to the same number, but it was anyone’s guess as to whether they stuck to the deal or not.

  “Wait. This wasn’t part of our agreement,” Gunner heard McTiernan say. The man turned around and looked between Gunner and Shiv.

  Shiv approached while Gunner kept watch.

  “The terms of the deal cannot be changed at this juncture,” Shiv snapped, standing and glaring at the Russian negotiator whose only response was a smug look Gunner wanted to rip off his face.

  “What’s changed?” he asked Shiv.

  “They’ve added Petrov to the deal.”

  “He was already part of the deal.”

  “We have to deliver him to them instead of the other way around.”

  The idea didn’t exactly bother Gunner, but the fact that UR was changing the deal now pissed him off as much as it did Shiv.

  “Dead or alive?” he asked.

  Shiv looked back down at the document. “Either.”

  Killing Petrov would be his pleasure, but he wanted the deal done now anyway.

  As he contemplated their next move, Gunner saw a shadowed figure right outside the window. It appeared that whoever it was, wasn’t alone.

  “Code black,” he barked, and every light in the place immediately went out. It was a different meaning for a commonly used code that he, Striker, and Shiv had agreed to prior to the start of the meeting. “We have company, gentlemen,” he whispered in the now-silent room.

  “Who?” asked Shiv.

  “I’m almost positive it’s Petrov, and if so, he just made finalizing this agreement far easier.”

  Gunner, Shiv, and two of the Russians slipped on night-vision devices. Shiv and Gunner crept to the back door while the Russians went out the front.

  “We’ve got company,” Gunner whispered into his mic.

  —:—

  Raketa felt the gun pressed against her temple at the same time she heard a familiar voice say, “Don’t make a sound or a move.”

  Topor. Once again he’d caught her off guard. Instead of assessing her surroundings, she’d only been focused on Petrov and her mother.

  “Keep quiet and your mother might live. Make a sound and she’ll be dead instantaneously.”

  In the next few seconds, all hell broke loose outside the back of the cottage. Raketa watched in horror as Gunner and Shiv came out and found themselves face-to-face with Petrov, who pressed his gun into her mother’s temple the same way Topor’s was still pressed against hers. Raketa’s worst nightmare had come true. She and her mother would die tonight, and there was nothing she could do to stop it from happening.

  —:—

  The fact that he wasn’t wearing an NVD didn’t seem to thwart Petrov at all. There was enough light from the moon and the other cottages that he could see exactly who and what he was up against.

  Gunner studied him as he contemplated his next move. There was a flash of confusion on Petrov’s face. It was likely he’d anticipated walking in on a different scenario. But what?

  He held a woman Gunner guessed was Raketa’s mother at gunpoint, but otherwise, it appeared he’d arrived without backup.

  “Drop the gun, Makar,” Gunner heard Shiv say to him. “You’re vastly outnumbered.”

  They all heard the sound of movement from behind him. Gu
nner leveled his weapon in the direction of the noise at the same time as he watched Petrov fire a second gun into the dark. Immediately after which, they heard the sound of someone hitting the ground.

  “You see, being outnumbered will do nothing to deter me. I’m here for my daughters.”

  “Which daughters are those?” Gunner taunted.

  “You well know, don’t you? Zaryana, my oldest, and my beloved twin girls, Ava and Aine.”

  “They aren’t here,” Shiv told him. “It seems whomever you’ve got on the inside set you up for an ambush.”

  “Bullshit. I know my daughters are here. You have two choices. Hand them over or Zaryana’s precious mother dies.”

  “Shiver is telling the truth,” said Gunner, taking a step toward him. “Your three daughters are in a safe place far away from here. Want proof?” When Gunner made a move for his phone, Petrov pressed the gun more firmly against the trembling woman’s temple and shielded himself with her body.

  “Devochka moya,” he heard her softly cry when he eased another step forward.

  —:—

  Topor held his second gun to her back and pushed her in the directions of the woods. She could no longer see what was happening, but she heard Petrov offer her mother in exchange for her, Ava, and Aine.

  “Let her go, Petrov, and you live,” she heard Gunner respond. “You have ten seconds until I shoot.” He started counting backwards from ten.

  “Move,” grunted Topor, pushing her to walk faster. At the same time Topor shoved her into the car, she heard Gunner yelling for everyone to stand down.

  “No!” she cried when she heard a single gunshot followed by the sound of one set of footsteps, growing fainter as whoever it was ran into the forest.

  “Shut up, you stupid girl,” he seethed.

  What had happened? Had Petrov shot her mother? Were his footsteps the ones she heard running away? If so, why didn’t she hear more shots, or more footsteps running after him?

  —:—

  “I’m leaving, but if you come after me, she still dies.” Petrov held up a device that was hard to see in the dark.

  “Stand down,” Gunner yelled when Petrov shoved Svetlana away from him.

  When Shiver fired, Gunner grabbed his arm, diverting the shot into the trees.

  “What the fuck?” Shiv shouted, taking off toward the woods.

  Gunner grabbed him again, this time winding his arm around Shiv’s neck. “Let him go.”

  “Why?”

  “She’s wired.” Gunner showed him where a device was wrapped around Svetlana’s mid-section. “We have to diffuse it.”

  “You fucking diffuse it, I’m going after Petrov,” Shiv yelled, trying to wrench free of Gunner’s chokehold.

  “You can’t. You heard him. He’ll kill her and maybe us along with her.”

  “I have to kill him, Gunner. I have to. How can you not understand?”

  “I do, Shiv, but there’s something you need to know.”

  “Fuck off, Gunner. Let go of me.” Shiv tugged at Gunner’s arm.

  “Raketa refused to hand over Kuznetsov, even to save her own life,” Gunner said, releasing Shiv.

  “If we don’t get Petrov, UR will kill both of them.”

  “Shiv!” he shouted as the man started walking toward the forest. “Would Kuznetsov want you to give up Raketa’s mother?”

  Gunner watched the pain of acceptance wash over Shiver’s face. They both knew, for now, going after Petrov wasn’t an option. First, they had to make sure Svetlana was safe.

  “We’ll get him, Shiv. I promise. But we have to do this first.”

  Shiv nodded and Gunner motioned for the rest of the team to come closer.

  “We believe this is an explosive device that Petrov is able to detonate remotely.”

  Onyx stepped forward. “Let me have a look,” he said.

  Shiv turned to Gunner, who nodded. “He’s the best we’ve got.”

  Gunner looked for the UR team and found them seemingly immobilized by the scene that had played out in front of them. What they needed was someone like Raketa to kick their asses into shape. But she wasn’t theirs anymore. She was his and he couldn’t wait to get back to Doc’s and hold her in his arms.

  He remembered the shot Petrov fired. “Who’s missing?” he asked. “Check with the Russians too.”

  “Alegria,” said Dutch.

  “Go find her,” Gunner told him, praying she wasn’t dead, but doubting she could be. How close had she been when Petrov got the one shot off that had resulted in someone dropping to the ground? It had to have been very close for him to have hit her.

  —:—

  Raketa didn’t speak as the vehicle barreled out of the ranch’s parking lot. She had no idea where they were going, but did it matter? Soon they’d meet up with Petrov, who would threaten her life in exchange for her handing over whatever money he’d put in her name. Once she had, he’d kill her anyway.

  The familiar sounds of a gun being prepared to be fired didn’t phase her. How could it be this easy for her to accept her own mortality? Had she been preparing herself for it all her life?

  She didn’t believe in heaven or hell, and there wasn’t much she regretted. Not being able to save her mother’s life, for she was surely dead by now, and Gunner. Always Gunner.

  How long had she loved him? More than ten years, and they’d all been wasted. If she’d told him that first night, when she spared his life, that she wanted to leave United Russia, would he have taken her with him? Would he have offered her his asylum in exchange for the shot she’d fired into the ground? She’d never know for sure, even if she thought to ask him.

  At least she’d been able to tell him how she felt and hear that he loved her too. That knowledge would sustain her through whatever happened next. If Petrov was capable of mercy, maybe he’d let Topor kill her quickly.

  —:—

  “It was an amateur job. Something someone could have learned how to do from the internet,” Onyx told them as he tossed the explosive device’s components to the side after diffusing it in under a minute.

  “She’s alive,” Dutch yelled, carrying Alegria in his arms.

  “I’ve already called for a bus,” Striker told them.

  “Get another one on the way,” Gunner said, holding Svetlana’s limp body in his arms. She was alive, although she had likely been drugged enough to keep her pliable to Petrov’s plan, but not enough that she’d be unconscious, until now.

  Striker scrubbed his face with his hand. “Roger that, Gunner, but we need to talk. Immediately. You too, Shiv.”

  “What’s going on?” Shiv asked.

  “The Russians have taken the entire deal off the table.”

  “Why?” asked Gunner, incredulous.

  “Because you let Petrov go.”

  “Jesus fucking Christ. You’ve got to be shitting me?” They’d chosen to save a woman’s life and diffuse a bomb that could’ve killed everyone in her proximity if it had been detonated. That was very different than letting Petrov go.

  “This isn’t over,” Gunner announced to all those assembled. “Onyx, you ride the bus with Alegria.” Gunner looked at the assembled group. If Alegria hadn’t been injured herself, she’d be the one riding with Svetlana. That left Striker, Dutch, and Monk. Striker had to help them get this deal back on the table, and Monk had communication…issues.

  “Dutch, you ride with Svetlana.” Another thing occurred to him. “Do you speak Azeri?”

  Dutch shook his head.

  “Russian? Armenian?”

  “Negative.”

  “Contact Pimm and have him meet you at the hospital.” Raketa’s mother would need someone who could explain what had happened to her, and reassure her of her safety while, at the same time, figure out if she knew where Petrov might have gone.

  Gunner looked over at Shiv, who was studying his phone. His eyes met Gunner’s, and he didn’t like what he saw in them.

  “Raketa?” he asked, not knowing
why, other than the feeling of dread that settled in his stomach.

  Shiv nodded. “I’m afraid Petrov may have her.”

  “How in the hell?” Gunner asked.

  “She left Doc’s compound a half hour ago.”

  “And you know this how?”

  “You know the answer, Gunner. We need to go find her before Petrov has a chance to kill her.”

  —:—

  The vehicle came to a stop, and Topor killed the engine. It hadn’t taken long for them to arrive at the place where she’d breathe her last breath. Raketa squared her shoulders and raised her chin. She wasn’t a coward, even in the face of death.

  She felt Topor fumbling with the blindfold. When she opened her eyes, she saw her gun in his hand.

  “Here,” he said, motioning for her to take it.

  “Why?”

  “In the next few minutes, either you or I are going to kill Petrov.”

  The intel had been correct. “You’re my uncle.”

  Topor nodded as he prepped a second gun. “And we’re about to kill your father.”

  “He’s not my father. He’s the devil.”

  Topor nodded again. “Let’s go.”

  * * *

  Petrov’s breathing was labored as she and Topor approached him.

  “Ah, not in a protected location after all, Zaryana,” he said to her with an evil grin. “Good work, Topor.”

  She’d known, without her uncle saying it, that the gun he held pressed against her back was only for show. It would get them close enough to Petrov for one of them to kill him.

  She slowly pulled the 9mm Luger semi-automatic pistol from her back pocket. At the same time, a car’s headlights illuminated the scene, and Raketa watched as Topor turned his gun from her to Petrov.

  Petrov’s eyes widened in the split second when he realized what was about to happen. “What the f—”