Zrada
by Lance Charnes
Two priceless paintings. Two million euros. A civil war. What could go wrong? The DeWitt Agency assigned disgraced ex-cop Carson a simple job: carry two briefcases of cash to swap for two artworks stolen from a German museum. Except nothing's simple in the Donbass, the breakaway Ukrainian region overrun by militias, warlords, and bandits. After a brutal zrada – betrayal – Carson finds herself alone and hunted forty miles behind the front lines with half the money, one of the paintings, and a huge target hung on her back. The militia behind the exchange thinks she blew up their deal and wants the money and her hide. Her co-workers were in on the double-cross. And the Agency can't send help into the hottest war in Europe. Carson's never been one to wait to be rescued. She hires Galina— a tough local with a harrowing past and a taste for revenge— to help her cut through every checkpoint, freelance army, crooked cop, and firefight between her and the West....