by Rob Sinclair
‘Evans was. The others, I don’t know.’
‘Is he a good guy? I mean, was he?’
‘I don’t know,’ Logan said. ‘I barely know him, really. We worked for the same man.’
‘Mackie.’
‘Yes,’ Logan said, cringing.
‘He said he was trying to help. Is it possible that you still have some friends? That there really could be someone else we can turn to? They must know you couldn’t have done the things you’ve been accused of. Killing Mackie, killing all those other agents.’
‘But I really did kill some of them,’ Logan said, not a hint of regret in his voice.
‘That’s not my point,’ Grainger responded. ‘Don’t you think it’s possible that Evans was telling the truth when he said he was there to help? He didn’t seem like much of a threat to me.’
‘No, I don’t think it’s possible. I wouldn’t have trusted Evans even before all this happened. That’s just the way I’ve always been. But I especially wouldn’t trust him now. I don’t know how far the deal to sell me out went. He could have been a part of it from the start. And even if he wasn’t, agents don’t exactly question their orders. If Evans has been told I’m the bad guy now, then that’s it.’
‘So what do you expect us to do now?’
‘We’ll head to Astana, as planned,’ Logan said.
‘And then what? We’ll never get across the border now.’
‘Says who?’
‘Well, even if we do, just why the hell do you want to go to China at all? There’s nothing there for me. There’s nothing there for you.’
‘Because I know how to finish this.’
Grainger groaned. ‘Pretty soon, Carl, you’re going to have to start letting me in on exactly how you’re planning to do that. Because right now, I’m having a hard time seeing it. And I’m not sure I can keep on following you aimlessly forever.’
Logan said nothing in response and Grainger’s frustration grew. She didn’t want to fight with him, but she at least wanted him to try to reason with her.
Without warning, Logan slammed on the brakes of the four-by-four. The tyres skidded and screeched and the car veered left and then right. Logan and Grainger both shot forward in their seats. Logan battled to keep control as the speed fell to a crawl. With the traction generated by the four-by-four system, he managed to keep the vehicle on the road, just.
‘Carl, what the hell are you doing?’ Grainger shouted when she had recovered from the rapid and unexpected deceleration.
Logan didn’t respond. He pulled the car onto the verge at the side of the road and put on the parking brake. He then stared out of the rear-view mirror, watching as the cars, one by one, came to within touching distance of them before thundering past.
‘Carl?’ Grainger said, leaning forward and touching him on the shoulder. ‘What’s going on?’
He shifted his gaze to her.
‘Look behind us,’ Logan said. Grainger twisted to look out of the back window. ‘What do you see?’
‘I … er, I see nothing. Just the road, a few cars. Carl, what are you expecting me to say?’
‘Do you see them? Do you see Fleming’s car? The Jeep? The other car that Evans had?’
‘No.’
‘Do you see any cars that have stopped in the distance at all?’
‘No.’
‘Nothing at all to suggest that anyone is following us?’
‘No, but–’
‘Get out of the car,’ Logan said as he turned off the engine.
Logan stepped out of the car and Grainger followed just as another vehicle whizzed past. A blast of cold, wet air smacked into her face from the slipstream. Grainger shook herself down as Logan opened the boot with the remote clicker and went over to it. He inspected the inside, feeling around the boot lid, around the sides and the back. He lifted up the carpet on the bottom, felt around the space, in nooks and crannies that his eyes couldn’t see.
‘Nothing,’ he said.
He closed the boot, sank to his knees and looked under the car. He felt around the chassis, then methodically moved around the car clockwise, looking and feeling the underside of the car and the wheel arches all the way.
‘Nothing,’ he said to her, then turned and walked back to open his door. He pulled the lever to lift the bonnet, then headed to the front of the four-by-four.
Grainger understood what he was doing, and she followed. Together they inspected the engine compartment. After a thorough search, Logan slammed the bonnet shut, then they both got back into the car and searched there too, looking in the glovebox, in and around the seats, on the carpets and the soft fabric of the roof.
When they had finished, they both got back out and stood at the side of the road. Grainger was shivering from the extreme cold. Logan’s face was defiant.
‘Let me guess,’ she said. ‘Nothing?’
‘Exactly.’
He began patting her down, all over, his hands roaming through each of her pockets and up and down her body. She didn’t resist but her mood was becoming more and more sullen.
‘So?’ she said, when he had finally finished.
‘Let’s get back in the car,’ he said. ‘You’re freezing.’
Grainger got into the front passenger seat this time rather than the rear. Logan got in the driver’s side, shut his door and looked over at her.
‘I get it,’ she said. ‘We’re not being followed.’
Logan nodded. ‘We’ve been here what … ten minutes?’
‘Yeah. Nothing behind us. We can see at least a mile. There’s no one there.’
‘I can’t guarantee it but there’s no hint of a tracker on this car either. And nothing was planted on us when they were holding us.’
‘I mean, there could be one on the car,’ Grainger said. ‘Those things can be tiny. It could be in the stitching of the seats, in the windscreen washer fluid compartment, anywhere. It could be built into the car’s computer.’
‘There could be one,’ Logan said. ‘But I don’t think there is.’
‘Why not?’
‘Because they’re not following us,’ Logan said. ‘I’m certain of it. Evans let us get away.’
‘I don’t get it,’ Grainger said, shaking her head. ‘Why would he do that?’
‘I don’t know,’ Logan said. ‘But I’m sure one way or another, we’re going to find out.’
Chapter 41
Barinas, Venezuela
Having dumped his car a couple of hundred yards away in a clearing in the dense jungle, Logan waited outside the property for more than three hours before finally making his move.
In the darkness, he made his way on foot to the edge of the compound. With the heat of the daytime sun gone, the temperature had dropped some, but it was still hot and viciously humid and Logan was dripping wet with sweat. The moist air in the jungle carried a sharp but sweet smell that seemed to cling to the insides of Logan’s nostrils – its pungency together with the heat made him feel lightheaded.
He shook himself down to regain his focus, then looked up at the fortified wall in front of him that ran around the perimeter of the compound. The wall, covered in sloppy yellow render, looked basic and easily scalable. The main gates, off to Logan’s right, were wooden and would probably only take a few kicks to knock down.
There was an elevated guard post just inside the compound at the main gate, but it was hardly Fort Knox. Logan knew the main security would come in the form of the many armed men he had to expect would be inside the compound. From the spot where he had been hiding, he had made out two guards in the elevated lookout, both armed with scoped rifles. There were two more guards on the ground outside the gates, each carrying automatic weapons slung over their shoulders. Four men to take down just to get in through the main entrance.
And no one in their right mind, not even the local police or army, really wanted to take these men on. Nobody wanted a war on their hands. Logan, similarly, had no intention of heading in all guns blazi
ng.
Which was why he wasn’t going in through the main gates.
Logan used a simple grappling hook to help him scale the wall in one swift movement. He jumped down and landed softly, immediately moving into a crouch. The area he’d entered was about as dark as he could hope for, out of the direct line of each of the four spotlights that lit up much of the inside of the compound almost as well as bright sunshine. If someone were looking in his direction, though, they’d surely still be able to see him.
As he quickly scanned the area, Logan was surprised at just how quiet it was. Other than the guards at the gates and in the watchtower, there wasn’t a person in sight. The inside of the compound was made up of a large central building that looked like it had once been a pleasant mansion with its decorative red roof tiles, ornate windows and white-painted walls. But it was in poor condition and the grounds around it, with ramshackle outbuildings, barns and a series of vehicles including Jeeps, cars and a flatbed truck, made it look more like a military barracks.
Logan planned a route that would take him to the main house with as little time in the open as possible, then quickly moved away from his position against the wall. Moving cautiously but with purpose, it took him a couple of minutes to reach the main building.
He came to a stop at a side door that he had spotted was ajar, crouched down and pushed it fully open. It creaked as it swung on its rusted hinges and Logan grimaced, hoping the noise hadn’t alerted anyone. He froze in position for just a second until he was satisfied there had been no reaction to the noise from either inside or outside the house. Then he made his way into the dark interior.
There were no lights on inside and Logan contemplated putting on the night-vision goggles he had brought with him. He soon realised, though, as he moved along the corridor, that there was enough illumination coming from the spotlights outside for him to make out the layout. Plus, he hated wearing those damned things. No matter how many times he used them, they just didn’t feel natural, diminishing his full range of view quite drastically.
Logan reached the bottom of a twisting staircase. There had been no signs of life at all in the downstairs of the house. Logan was almost surprised at just how little resistance he had so far encountered. He had a fleeting thought that maybe it meant Leo Pinilla, the deep-cover JIA agent, wasn’t there after all. If that were the case, all of Logan’s efforts over the last three days would have been a waste.
This was his chance to prove himself. Mackie had finally given Logan an opportunity to show his full worth. Logan couldn’t be sure what ructions he’d caused by shooting Janet Ford. He’d certainly had no hint of a threat against him, no heat on him at all, since that last encounter with Hector. Maybe Mackie had pulled some strings after all.
Logan had met with two other assets as he tried to pinpoint Pinilla’s whereabouts. For three days, he’d been buried deep in intelligence, matching the information he’d been provided with the vast array of information – much of it uncatalogued and uncorroborated – that was available to him through the JIA.
It was the first time he had truly been let loose under Mackie’s authority. Albeit Mackie was keeping a watchful eye over his every move and Logan had briefed his boss on every detail of what he had found and what he had planned. Everything had brought Logan to this place: a building far off the grid that the JIA had previously known nothing about. But doubts were now beginning to creep in.
Maybe Pinilla wasn’t there.
Maybe he was already dead.
Logan really hoped that wasn’t the case.
He dropped the L85 rifle, which fell to his side, the strap tight on his shoulder, and took the dart gun out of the holster on his waist.
He knew the property was used by some of the cartel’s most senior soldiers. But the intel he had also suggested their wives and families stayed there. Although Logan had no qualms about getting into a firefight with the cartel’s guards and foot soldiers, he had no intention of killing innocent people. That was what the dart gun was for. He certainly didn’t want to kill a child or an innocent family member, but he had no problem at all in shooting a tranquilliser dart at them. Better to shoot first with the dart gun and ask questions later than run the risk of killing an innocent with the rifle.
As Logan ascended the stairs, he could feel the adrenaline beginning to surge through his body. He was alert, focused, ready. But he also felt edgy. Not nervous exactly, but he knew that he was without doubt well and truly in the lion’s den. One false move now and it would be game over for him.
When Logan reached the top of the staircase, he paused and took a deep breath as he scanned the area. He counted five doors along the main corridor on the first floor. Four of the doors were shut. Taking slow cautious steps, Logan moved forward to the first door. The one that was ajar. He pushed the door fully open with the barrel of the gun. The curtains were open. Light seeped into the room from the outside. Logan quickly realised it was a child’s bedroom, with playful patterns on the walls and toys stuffed on shelves and lying all around the floor. But the bunk bed in the middle of the far wall was empty.
Logan breathed a sigh of relief. He moved on to the next room. He reached out and turned the doorknob. When he felt the catch release, he froze for just a second. Then he slowly pushed the door open.
This room was also a bedroom. The curtains were closed. But they weren’t blackout drapes. The meagre light coming into the room from outside immediately told Logan one thing: this room wasn’t empty.
Logan’s heart began to thud in his chest. His hand clenched as hard as it could around the grip of the dart gun.
Because lying in the large bed in front of him were two figures. A man, Leo Pinilla, was fast asleep on the right-hand side. But the other, a woman, wasn’t asleep. She was sitting up in the bed.
Her eyes were wide open, staring at Logan.
Chapter 42
There really was only one option: the path of least resistance. Logan was there to rescue Pinilla, not kill him, but the woman in bed with the undercover agent had no way of knowing that.
Before she even had a chance to scream, Logan took aim and fired. The dart gun had a silencer but the noise was still stark in the otherwise quiet house. Logan could only hope it wouldn’t alert anyone else. He rushed forward and grabbed the woman, placing his hand firmly over her mouth to muffle the scream he knew was coming. Her smothered cries were quiet, probably not enough to be heard outside the room they were in.
Within seconds, the tranquilliser started to take effect and her resistance and cries died down. Logan let her go and she flopped onto the bed as she battled through her last seconds of consciousness.
But her wails had been enough to rouse Pinilla from his sleep.
He murmured and groggily opened his eyes. Logan quickly loaded another dart into the gun and pointed it at Pinilla, who was slowly coming to. After a few seconds, he must have finally got it because he suddenly sprang up in the bed.
Logan put a finger to his lips.
‘Pinilla, Mackie sent me. Don’t be alarmed.’
‘What the–’
Pinilla looked down at the woman next to him. His expression turned to one of horror.
‘It’s okay,’ Logan whispered. ‘She’s just unconscious. She’ll wake up with nothing more than a headache.’
‘Why are you here?’ Pinilla hissed. His anger was unmistakable.
‘I’m here to get you out. It’s over. Time to go home.’
‘You’re fucking kidding me, right?’
‘No.’
‘Do you know what this place is?’
‘Yes,’ Logan said.
‘Three of the cartel’s most senior soldiers are in the rooms next to us. They’ll kill us all. They’ll skin us alive, for fuck’s sake. I’m really not kidding about that. I’ve seen it done!’
‘Not today they won’t.’
‘Are you serious? Do you know what they do to their enemies around here? They’ll cut our fucking heads off and pis
s down our necks!’
‘Then I suggest we go.’
Logan reached out and grabbed hold of Pinilla’s arm. Pinilla quickly snapped his arm away.
‘I’m not going anywhere. I’m not throwing away three years of my life at the drop of a hat.’
Logan sighed. But then, he could understand Pinilla’s point. He certainly wouldn’t be happy if someone turned up out of the blue to tell him a half-run mission was getting canned.
‘I’m sorry. But it’s over,’ Logan said. ‘Those are Mackie’s orders. It’s too dangerous.’
‘Damn fucking right it’s dangerous.’
‘You’re coming with me one way or another,’ Logan said, pointing the gun at Pinilla.
Pinilla stared at the dart gun. Logan could see the man mulling over his position.
‘I’m not going anywhere without her,’ Pinilla said, looking over at his woman.
‘That’s not the deal.’
‘I don’t give a fuck what your deal is. She comes with me. I’m not leaving her to the wolves. Just what do you think they’d do to her when they find out I’ve scarpered?’
‘It’s not my problem,’ Logan said.
‘It is now.’
Logan let out another long sigh. The fact was, he really didn’t want to have to use a tranquilliser dart on Pinilla. If he did that, he’d have to drag the man out of there. He wanted to escape with Pinilla back over the wall, under cover. The cartel wouldn’t know Pinilla was missing until morning, by which point they would be long gone.
But it looked like Pinilla wasn’t going to give Logan that option.
‘If you hadn’t shot her, it would have been easier,’ Pinilla snapped, as if catching on to Logan’s thoughts.
‘Who else is in the house?’ Logan said. ‘How many men?’
Pinilla rattled off three names. Logan tried to hide his reaction. He recognised them all. They were notorious, kingpins of the cartel. And Pinilla was right there, living among them. The intelligence Logan had seen had suggested that senior soldiers and their families came to this place, but to have so many of them there at the same time was a huge surprise.
