27 |
27 |Off-the-books Operations Center Outside Bethesda, Maryland
Tommy’s shoulders trembled as tears rolled down his cheeks. Leroux wanted to reach out to comfort the poor kid, but there was an op underway, and there was no time. All he could do was offer a steadying hand on that shaking shoulder, and a calm voice.
“Tell me you’ve got that vehicle locked.”
Sonya nodded, her experience winning out over emotion. “I do. As long as the drone holds out, we’ll know where they went.”
Leroux frowned, glancing at the indicator showing how much battery power was left. This was a miniature drone, not designed for high speed and long deployments. For the moment, it was keeping up thanks to the fact it was above the fray, not dealing with the traffic the escape vehicle now found itself in.
Tommy sniffed, wiping his tears away with the back of his hand. “They-they’re going to have to switch vehicles soon, right?”
Leroux nodded. “I would. Every cop in the city is looking for them.”
Sonya pointed. “There go the motorcycles.”
Leroux watched as they all split off in different directions, chewing his cheek as he watched them make tight turns on slippery roads. “They must be using studded tires.”
Sonya agreed. “That’s the only explanation. Should we try and track them?”
Leroux shook his head. “Forget them, they’re not important. Let the Russians deal with them.” He activated his comm. “Romeo One, this is Control Actual, come in.”
Kane immediately responded. “Go ahead, Control.”
“Are you getting our tracking information?”
“Yup. I’m a couple of streets over. Don’t worry about me.”
“Copy that. We’re expecting them to exchange vehicles, somewhere out of sight, probably a camera dead zone.”
“That makes sense. Tommy, any chance you can find that zone?”
Tommy sniffed. “I-I’ll try.” The kid attacked his keyboard. Keeping busy was the best way to push through. The true collapse would come later when he was alone with his thoughts. Leroux hated the fact he was so used to this type of carnage, and quite often he was the one directing the killing, which made it even more difficult, though in situations like this, where he was a mere witness to the events, there was a sense of helplessness that could become overwhelming if left unchecked.
The kid might not be cut out for this line of work.
That was fine. Most weren’t. The CIA conducted extensive screening before anyone was thrust into the situation Tommy had been, and Leroux was regretting having agreed to Kane’s suggestion the young man be added to the team to help out. He had agreed to the addition for selfish reasons. Yet were they selfish? Yes, it would mean they could work alternating shifts with a pair always active, reducing the workload and stress level, but no one had thought anything like this would happen. No one had thought there’d be a massacre of this proportion executed on the streets of Moscow, while they watched it all happen, taking no action to prevent it.
And perhaps that was what was troubling him. They had known this would happen, and they had done nothing. How many lives had been lost today because they had kept the intel to themselves? How many could they have saved with a simple phone call? Was Morrison’s life worth so many? Was one man worth the dozens lost?
The secure phone rang and he answered it. “Yes?”
“Should any further intel come into our possession that could save lives, we share it. Understood?”
Leroux hesitated before responding to his new mission parameters from Morrison. He had been monitoring remotely as well, so had witnessed everything they had, and no doubt was asking the same questions as the rest of them. “But, sir, that could put your life at risk.”
“You have your orders.”
The phone went dead and he dropped into his seat, exhaling deeply, his stomach in knots, as it would be his job to share the intel, and should it lead to Morrison’s death, he’d be the one who would have to live with that for the rest of his life.
Sometimes I hate this job.