by Tom Haase
Matt rushed to Val. “You all right?” he asked as Val rose up, grasping his shoulder.
“Yeah, the bastard nicked me on the shoulder. Thanks. Now we need to go.”
Matt took off his NVGs and turned on the overhead light. No use in pretending not to be here. Someone knew they had penetrated the house and was intent on eliminating them. He still needed to find Dmitri’s computer. Once the room became illuminated, he noticed a single door on the side wall, flanked by two huge bookshelves. He flung the door open and stepped into what he believed to be the owner’s bedroom. A large four-poster bed dominated the center of the room, with two wide television monitors hung on the wall for viewing from the bed. After he turned on the light, he scanned the area in quick, short movements. A desktop computer rested on a small stand near the bed.
“I found the computer,” he shouted to Val. It took a second to insert the flash drive and power up the machine. Multiple weapons being fired outside of the house rattled the peace of the night. He wanted to have this drive inserted and connected to Scott’s machine in case they didn’t make it out. The computer would weigh too much to attempt to extract it with them. He didn’t want to think of not making it out, but that loomed as a possibility with the current assault on their position.
Val grabbed him by the arm and tried to force Matt to follow him out.
At that moment his earpiece erupted.
* * *
“All hell is breaking lose out here,” Scott said for Matt to hear over his earpiece. “Val’s men are trying to keep them in a kill zone in front of the house, but some got in. Watch yourself. I’m still up here on the hill away from the house.”
He looked down from his vantage point overlooking Alexandrovitch’s estate. He could see tracer rounds impacting the outside of the house, their brilliant red trails lighting up the night. As he observed the firing concentrated on the house, he picked up movement closer to his location. Bullets started to impact nearby. Scott yelled at the men around him. They were also under attack. His lack of Russian delayed their comprehension of the warning, but his loud shouting and pointing alerted his guard detail to the danger. In seconds, they returned fire and one of them grabbed Scott. They ushered him down the backside of the observation hill.
They reached the location where he had left Matt and Val. The guards stooped and took up firing positions aiming in the direction from which they had come. His companion did the same thing on the opposite side of the street.
Scott quickly collected himself despite the pounding of his heart and decided to contact Matt with an update.
“We’re back where we split up. The attackers found the OP and attacked us. I think we’re safe now. Hurry up so we can get out of here.”
“I’m at the computer. Inserted the flash drive,” he heard Matt say in a stressed voice.
Scott opened his laptop and acquired the signal from the device attached to Dmitri’s computer. He waited to see if he could receive any information from the drive. Then a large amount of data started to arrive.
“I’m getting info,” he informed Matt. “Go, and leave the flash. It’s gonna take a while longer to get all the data on the drive.”
“No can do. Nothing that can be traced back to us. How much more time?”
“I’ll get the document files and emails and won’t bother with anything else. Maybe one or two minutes.”
* * *
“That’s all I needed,” Scott said in Matt’s earpiece. “It’s definitely the computer that originated the emails. Now bug out of there. These guys out here are shooting everyone. Val’s men are attempting to eliminate the attackers and starting to succeed. They killed the ones that attacked me and are now moving to eliminate those at the house.”
Matt heard the urgency in Scott’s voice. He realized that they could be trapped inside by the superior force that now stormed the house. Time to go. He let Val pull him away from the computer as he jerked out the flash drive, which had somehow transmitted all the required information to Scott. One day, he would learn more about this tech stuff—if he got out of here alive, that was.
“Follow me. We have to go. They’ll be covering the front and side entrances. I know a different way out. We need to get downstairs first.” They exited the bedroom into the hallway, leaving the light on and the door open.
They ran toward the stairway and found two men with automatic weapons stood at the bottom of the stairs with their AKs raised. They opened fire. Matt tugged Val back as the bullets slammed into the ceiling. The next second, Val pushed Matt toward a door two down on the right side. Both men kept their weapons out and ready. They entered the room and shut the door.
“I think they’ll go for the lighted doorway on down the hall. Get ready,” Val said.
The sound of footsteps running up the stairway reached Matt’s ears. Val signaled for him to stay still. The men ran past the door. As they did, Val jerked open the door and both men stepped into the hall. They fired multiple rounds into their attackers’ backs and sent them tumbling forward.
Matt rushed over and looked down at one of the dead. The light from the bedroom illuminated his features.
“My bet, he’s Iranian,” Matt said. In his mind they were the most likely culprits to be associated with Dmitri.
Val searched the other man and found a wallet. “Follow me,” he said.
At the end of the hall, Val opened a door into a large room. He crossed it and sent three rounds into the floor-to-ceiling solid-case window, shattering the glass. Matt saw why he had blown out the window. A fire escape ladder hung outside.
“Didn’t want to waste time getting it to open,” Val said with a smile. “With all the gunfire out front, no one will notice a few rounds going off in here. We need to hurry and head for that wall over there.” He pointed to where he wanted Matt to go. Matt saw his objective. It comprised an integral part of the perimeter defense of the house by extending into the side of a cliff. “You go first, I’ll cover you going down.”
Matt scaled the ladder and moved away from the house. He stopped short of the wall some sixty feet from the house and took up a firing position to cover Val’s descent. Without warning, a man appeared with an AK in the window over Val’s head. He looked down and saw Val climbing down the rungs as quickly as he could. Before the attacker could raise his weapon, Matt opened fire and watched as the man fell out the window. At this distance, and firing from a stance, he didn’t want to take the risk of not neutralizing his target, so he’d used his entire magazine. The falling man and Val hit the ground at the same time.
Matt slipped the empty magazine out and reloaded as Val came running to his position. They both climbed over the wall and ran a block before Val raised his hand.
“Let’s stop here. I’ll call my men for a sitrep.”
“Scott, can you hear me?” Matt asked. He didn’t receive any answer.
After a short conversation, Val said, “Scott is fine. My men evacuated him. He’s most likely out of comm range for your earpiece from our location. They tell me they cleared the house of the attackers. They eliminated all the ones who arrived in the van.” He gleamed with pride at this statement.
“Let’s take a look at that wallet you lifted,” Matt said.
“There is a passport inside. It’s Iranian.” Val handed it to Matt, confirming Matt’s suspicion.
“They knew we were going to be here. How did they know? They were after us, not Dmitri. He’s not here, and they knew that,” Matt said. “We have to get out of Russia. They’ll come after us again if we stay here.”
“You are right, my friend. Now we hurry and get away from here. I can hear the police sirens.”
“We know that Dmitri sent the email putting a contract on us. Now we need to plan how to get him. Since he’s not here, and you don’t know where he is or when he’ll return, we can’t afford to stay in Russia. We have to go home and plan our next moves based on what we’ve learned.” Matt slapped Val on the back. “Really appreciate
what you did.”
Matt returned to their hotel and found Scott in his room.
“What a night. Val’s men decided to evacuate me from the area and brought me here for my safety,” Scott said, looking up. “Great work on getting at the computer. You’re not going to believe what I discovered.”
“What?” Matt demanded.
“The emails putting the hit on us certainly originated from that computer. No question of that now. There is one other thing that I located. I found a Word document that Dmitri probably copied from some or all of an email. I didn’t extract the actual email, but I don’t think you’ll miss the significance.”
Scott went over to his computer and hit a few keys. He returned with the laptop and turned it for Matt to see the message he had found in the document.
Kill Bridget Donavan, Scott Donavan and Matt Higgins. No collateral damage.
27
Matt Plans to Use Karim
Matt raised the glass of scotch his host had given him. They clinked glasses. “What did you learn in Russia?” Schultz asked. They were seated in Schultz’s apartment in New York overlooking Central Park. Matt took a few moments to enjoy the warm feeling of the beverage and then opened his backpack to display the photos he’d taken of the office space and the framed pictures taken from Dmitri’s desk.
“I examined them on the plane ride here,” Matt said. “But I have to admit, I can’t find anything useful. The most beneficial thing we retrieved came from the computer hack that Scott did on the desktop computer using his software. He confirmed that the order to kill us originated from that machine. You’ll be glad to hear that your daughter’s name isn’t on the list. The problem in all this is that we have to get to Dmitri to find out who hired him.”
“You have no idea who that could be?” Schultz asked.
“Absolutely none, at this time,” Matt responded. “I’m formulating a plan to use Karim, who might still maintain contact with our favorite Russian crime lord.”
“What are you planning?”
“We talked before about some way to get at Dmitri, but we have no leverage. Maybe I can employ this Karim to cajole him into coming out. Dmitri seems to have disappeared, maybe gone into hiding, and I plan on getting him to come out to visit us.”
“How?” Schultz asked.
“Right this minute, I’m not sure, but I’m working on it.”
* * *
Matt held the phone away from his ear as he waited for it to be answered.
“Where the hell have you been?” Liz almost shouted into the receiver.
“I took a little trip, but it didn’t work out.” He took a breath and waited for some pithy comment from Liz, but none came, so he continued, “Remember the director gave me approval for a plan I had to use Karim?”
“Yes. What’s your plan?” came syllable by syllable in the enunciated response.
“I implore you to get his release order processed.”
“Are you out of your mind? He hasn’t given up the intel we want.”
“Be that as it may, the director told me to find the bastard who killed Bridget and attempted to kill me. I need this scumbag to help me capture him. Make it happen.”
“He wants to see you,” came her answer.
Matt hung up and headed for the safe house in the Virginia countryside. The director could wait until his plan coalesced and he could talk coherently about it. The plan hadn’t really completely come together in his mind, but by the time he arrived, he believed he would have worked out the details.
An hour later, Matt sat down opposite Karim. The man appeared somewhat surprised by his visit and didn’t say anything. Matt waited before speaking. He knew Karim to be curious, and undoubtedly the man was already formulating lies to take advantage of anything he said.
“I may have a job for you. It’ll get you out of here for a while, and possibly forever, depending on how well you do.”
Karim stared at him, in obvious disbelief by the expression on his face. He looked Matt in the eye and said, “What do you want?”
“It’s simple. I want you to set up a delivery of arms from the Russian who supplied your man in Savannah. We’ll fund whatever you need to establish yourself with an import-export office to be used as a transfer point to the people you will sell to.”
Karim started to glow, and a big smile spread across his face.
“I’m the only person you will sell anything to,” Matt said.
The smile disappeared. “I don’t maintain contact with that man.”
“You’re lying. You’re just maneuvering to try to get more out of me. That’s the deal. Take it or start thinking of how much you’ll enjoy the sunshine in Gitmo.”
“Since you put it that way, what are the details?”
Matt filled him in on what he wanted Karim to accomplish. Karim would have to contact all the people he knew in the illegal arms trade and spread the word that he had opened a new business. Karim needed clients and would provide any materials ordered. His most important task remained getting information on Dmitri Alexandrovitch. All the responses he received, whether by Internet or in person, would be monitored.
Before Matt left, he looked at Karim in as stern a manner as he could muster. “If you fail me, you know what will happen. If you try to run, I swear to you now, I’ll kill you. If you accomplish this and I get Bridget’s murderer, I’ll do everything possible to secure your release.”
Karim nodded his acceptance.
“Be prepared to leave here soon and start your new life as an arms dealer. Try anything stupid and I’ll put you down.”
28
Sotheby’s Backup Plan
When Matt left Karim’s location, he felt elated about the future. He now could put into motion his embryonic plan to attract Dmitri to come to the States, as he couldn’t go back to Russia. It might take a little while, but now he had his target and a time. He would proceed with deliberation and detailed planning to exact his final vengeance. The first step would be to get Scott and Schultz on board to support his new effort, then the FBI. The director wouldn’t have to approve the plan, since he had already given the initial go-ahead.
At Scott’s apartment in Alexandria, Matt suggested they make a video conference call to Schultz. Once they connected, Matt explained how he intended to use Karim to get to Dmitri by setting up a fake arms deal. His goal would be to force the man to come to the States to solve a problem that would arise. He would have to create one, but it would take some time. They had no viable way of chasing after him inside Russia, so they needed Dmitri to come to them.
“I’ve been thinking,” Scott said. “Perhaps we also need a backup plan. You gave me the pictures of the man’s office. I examined the photos you took with your phone in detail and I saw what I thought were two original paintings. I researched them and found out they were worth a fortune. The man must have a craving for that artist, and it’s apparent from something else I found. Indeed, he might even be a collector of that particular artist. At least, I put it to you as an idea since I saw an email on his computer about the artwork. Let me show you.” He pulled it up.
Stephan, I need a painting that my sources tell me is being advertised on the web. It is by Petro Alvazovsky. I want you to get it before it goes to auction. I’ll pay twice what the owner wants. Just don’t let it go up for auction. And if it does, get it at any cost. Dmitri.
“I think your people at the FBI should be able to break that down and find out who has it and where the painting is,” Scott said to Matt.
“Why don’t we get ahold of it and advertise it for sale?” Matt said. “He might take the bait, or he might not, but it might be worth a try. If he bites, we’ll demand that it be picked up in person as a requirement for transfer and make that part of the sales agreement.”
“Is that possible?” Scott asked. “I’ve never heard of such a thing.”
“It is indeed,” Schultz intoned from his image on the iPad. “I’ve used that ploy on some transacti
ons to discover who’s buying from me. They’ll try to deceive you by sending a legal rep, but you can hold him to the terms of sale.”
“So to get one of those paintings, we’ll have to discover who has it for sale and procure it ourselves,” Matt said.
“I did some looking for works by this particular artist and discovered that a painting by Petro Alvazovsky is going up for auction here at Sotheby’s in two weeks. There are no other works of his for sale anywhere at present. They’re valuable collector’s items, and all the ones sold recently were outlandishly expensive. They won’t negotiate before the auction now that it’s been publicized.”
“That may work in our favor,” Schultz said. “If your man is a collector of this artist, he’ll be searching for any of his works that come on the market. Let’s get someone we know to buy it. It can’t be me, because my history and business show that I never have indulged in art. I can, however, supply you with whatever funds you need.”
“I’m broke, so it can’t be me,” Scott said.
“I believe I know someone who could fabricate the bona fides and the background to pull this off,” Matt said.
“How are you going to do it?” Schultz questioned. His face moved in and out of the camera’s eye on the iPad.
“I’m still an FBI agent, and I have access to some powerful computer friends who can fake all kinds of information. I believe the time has come for us to take advantage of them. I was afraid to employ them before because of the things we did and the places we went. Now we’re engaged in an op that they are part of with Karim, so I can use them legitimately. We’ll need to create someone who has a searchable background in the world of valuable paintings. I believe I know someone who can be created to be a convincing art collector,” Matt said.
