by Brad Taylor
“I don’t understand.”
“You will in due time. I’ve taken over as your Control. I have a special mission for you. But first, I need to meet this Boko Haram savage. I was going to introduce him to a Syrian Shabeeha leader. A man from Syrian Air Force intelligence who is working external operations. Someone who would help us attain our goals, but I’m afraid the savage has been compromised. I believe the United States is tracking him, and I need that to stop. I need you to confirm his status.”
Yuri nodded. “I can do that. My team is here right now.”
Vlad’s face grew stern. “It’s more than that. If he’s being tracked by the Americans, I need you to dissuade them from continuing. Buy me enough time to set up and execute a meeting.”
“How? Have them arrested? Get them involved with whores? That’s really not my skill, sir. Others in the FSB can do that much better than my team.”
Vlad’s face split into a macabre smile, disconcerting even to a man like Yuri. He began to understand where the nickname Impaler came from. “No, no, Yuri. I precisely want your skills.”
He pulled a folder off of the table and handed it to Yuri.
“I want you to kill them.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Brad Taylor, Lieutenant Colonel (ret.), is a twenty-one-year veteran of the U.S. Army Infantry and Special Forces, including eight years with the 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment–Delta, popularly known as Delta Force. Taylor retired in 2010 after serving more than two decades and participating in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, as well as classified operations around the globe. His final military post was as Assistant Professor of Military Science at the Citadel. His first five Pike Logan thrillers were New York Times bestsellers. He lives in Charleston, South Carolina.
In 1864, E. P. Dutton & Co. bought the famous Old Corner Bookstore and its publishing division from Ticknor and Fields and began their storied publishing career. Mr. Edward Payson Dutton and his partner, Mr. Lemuel Ide, had started the company in Boston, Massachusetts, as a bookseller in 1852. Dutton expanded to New York City, and in 1869 opened both a bookstore and publishing house at 713 Broadway. In 2014, Dutton celebrates 150 years of publishing excellence. We have redesigned our longtime logotype to reflect the simple design of those earliest published books. For more information on the history of Dutton and its books and authors, please visit www.penguin.com/dutton.
