Brandson jerked a bit after hearing the ringing of his secure phone. He immediately reached for the handset and picked it up.
“Hello,” he answered.
“It’s me, boss.”
“No shit, been waiting on your call. How did it go?”
“From bad to worse. Things are in a mess, and we’ve got some serious decisions to make.”
“Why, what’s happened?”
“Brzezinski’s dead. Nina accidentally shot him after they got to the warehouse.”
Randy winced as the voice of an exasperated COS could be heard by anyone standing within a few feet of the telephone.
“This has turned into a real disaster, Randy! I knew it was a mistake to let Allison handle this by herself.”
“Now hold on a moment,” Randy said, coming to Allison’s defense. “I don’t think we can put all the blame on her. Shit happens. You know that as well as I do. There’s nothing that she or anyone else could have done to improve an unfortunate situation.”
“If she hadn’t drugged him, we wouldn’t be in this mess,” Brandson stated with anger still in his voice.
“Perhaps not, but what if it had been the FSB instead of Alex? That would have meant that they were on to Nina’s activities. Allison followed op sec protocol by taking him out. She didn’t know it was Brzezinski, but she did know that we would need time to get Nina out of the country if it was the FSB tailing her. So drugging him was the right thing to do.”
Brandson was silent for a moment before continuing.
“I’m still not convinced that she did the right thing. So how did the shooting of Brzezinski take place, and what have you told them?”
“I don’t have all the details. It was too complicated for Allison to explain it to me cryptically, but he was dead when she got there.”
Brandson sighed.
“This was going to be such a simple damn op. So what took Allison so long to get to the warehouse?”
“It took time for her to get from the meeting point to her car and time to call and give me an update on what had happened.”
He’s protecting her, Brandson thought.
“Yeah, OK, what else?”
“She’s going to put it all in a report and send it to me later tonight. I told her to take the body to the farmhouse and have the team dispose of it. By the way, they will probably start recon and trial runs tomorrow. What do we do? I’ll need to tell them something. Is this a showstopper, or do we let them continue?”
Brandson thought about that for a moment and then responded.
“If the team feels comfortable about continuing, then that’s what we’re going to do. Also, I don’t think burying the body at the farm is a good idea. Brzezinski’s wife will report him missing at some point and inform the police. They’ll investigate, and want to talk to Nina, so we had better plan for that eventuality.”
“OK, in the meantime, do you want me to add my input to Allison’s report and send it in to headquarters?”
“Yes, write it up, put it in a cable, but only send it to me. I’ll send it on up the chain later tomorrow.”
“That won’t give headquarters much time to respond.”
“Precisely. Now, get back in touch with Allison and have her call Mike to get his take on what Nina has told him. If he still wants to continue with the op, they are to put their heads together and come up with a plan to dump the body someplace in the city. Nina should know a good spot. I’ve got a hunch that this won’t be a showstopper for Shocklee, not from what I’ve heard about him. If that’s the case, I want the rest of the RAVENS on the street in support of the team and capable of running additional interference.”
“We’ll need more commo equipment for them to be effective.”
“Jesus, Randy, I understand that. Buy some more damn phones and FedEx them to her overnight. I’ll be out of pocket until tomorrow morning. Let’s talk then.” He hung up the phone.
The odds of this becoming a successful operation are beginning to turn against us, thought Randy as he put the handset down.
***
For security reasons, Rick decided to post a security watch in the barn while the rest of them took up residence in the farmhouse. They were having coffee when the ringing of the phone on the table interrupted their conversation. Mike picked it up and flipped it open. He looked at the LED screen. It was an incoming call from Nina. He answered as Rick stood nearby.
“Hello.”
Nina did not want to mention any names.
“It’s me,” she said.
Mike recognized her voice. She spoke in English with a distinctive European accent.
“What can I do for you?”
“Nothing, at this moment. I’m just calling to let you know that I will be returning shortly. I should be there within the hour.”
The tone of her voice wasn’t natural. He suspected that something was wrong.
“Are you coming alone?” Mike asked.
Nina considered his question. He’s asking me that for a reason, she thought.
“Yes. See you shortly.”
Mike flipped the top of the phone to the closed position, ending the call.
“What was that all about?” Rick asked.
“It was Nina. She’s on her way. She said she would be here within the hour.”
“What’s going on?”
“Beats the hell out me. We’ll just have to wait and see. I’ve got a feeling this might be a long night.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Just a gut feeling. No way to tell if her call was being made under duress. Perhaps we should reposition the guys outside to be prepared for the unexpected.”
Rick headed to the barn as Mike gathered his gear. He picked up the phone and walked out, turning off the lights.
What’s going on? he wondered.
He turned the phone off to keep it from ringing while they waited in seclusion for Nina’s return—hopefully without unexpected company.
***
Everyone was spending more time on phones than anticipated and the real aspect of the operation hadn’t even started. Allison was especially concerned and worried about their calls being monitored by the FSB. It was her ass out on a limb without diplomatic protection if something happened and she was caught. She looked at the led screen and knew that it was Randy calling. She let it ring several times before finally answering.
“Hello.”
“Hi,” he replied. “Just spoke with the chain. We need to make a few changes to the plan. First, the cargo needs to be disposed of at another place, not at the dock. Someplace that “T” thinks will be a suitable location. Chain is concerned about a missing cargo investigation and thinks people might start asking a lot of questions. You good on this point and what I’m getting at?” he asked.
“Got it. What else?”
“Chain wants to know if TL has any concerns about continuing. If not, you are to put on additional coverage, just to be extra cautious during the move. I’m to get back to chain tomorrow morning with an update from you. Oh, I’ll also be sending you some more instruments for use by their use. Any questions?”
“No. I’m good. I’ll call you tomorrow. Good night, handsome.”
There were no lights on at the farmhouse as Nina drove down the lane. The team had taken different positions outside, dispersed away from the house and barn, hiding in the dark, awaiting her arrival. Mike saw the lights of a vehicle. He clicked off the safety on his mini AR-15 rifle and watched as a van continued down the lane toward them. They remained under cover. Mike flipped down NVGs and scanned the surrounding area. It was dead quiet as Nina stopped in front of the house. She got out of the van and kept the headlights on. She left the door open for additional outside light around the van. She stood near the front of the van while looking at the house, half expecting someone to come out. With no warm-bloodied bodies seen moving in on foot toward the house and no additional vehicles coming down the lane, Mike secured raised his goggles and whistled loudly—an indication for them to get up and move in. Nina heard the whistle and looked around. She couldn’t see them coming in out of the darkness. Mike was the first to reach the van and speak. She turned quickly at the sound of his voice. He was standing close by.
“We didn’t expect to see you again tonight. What’s up?” he asked.
Nina didn’t immediately respond; instead, she walked to the rear of the van and he followed. She opened the doors. The interior lights were on. She nodded toward the inside. Mike moved in closer and looked in. The others, who had silently walked up, looked in to see the contorted configuration of a body.
“It’s good to have you back with us, Nina, but coming back with what looks to be a dead body can’t be good news.”
“I’m sorry. This is all my fault,” she said, still devastated by Alex’s death. She wanted everything to be back the way it was before her trip to the cabin, but she knew that wasn’t going to happen.
Nina looked at Mike. “I accidentally shot him.”
He noticed her wiping her eyes.
“I’m here because this is where Allison told me to bring his body. We’re supposed to bury him here someplace.”
“Come on. Let’s go inside and get out of the cold.”
Mike turned to Rick and nodded at the van doors.
Rick closed them and spoke to Frank. “Your watch,” he said, turning toward the house. “And turn off the headlights.”
As they seated themselves around the large kitchen table, Mike took the flip-top out of his pocket and turned it back on. The sudden ringing of the phone startled Nina. Mike looked at her, while flipping it open.
“It’s Allison,” he said to no one in particular.
When he finished the call, Mike turned his attention back to Nina.
“They’re asking me for a decision as to whether we continue with the op. Tell us what happened.”
Nina took a small drink of water that Rick had gotten for her and then spoke in a soft, hesitant voice.
“The man in the van is Alexander Brzezinski, my boss from RT News. I accidentally shot him tonight at the warehouse. Allison reported it up the chain.”
“How did you happen to be at the warehouse with your boss?” Mike asked.
Nina took a deep breath, and during the next several minutes, she explained everything that had happened between her, Alex, and Allison.
She noticed the concerned look on Mike’s face and knew that if he canceled the op, it would be her fault.
Rick stepped into the conversation and came to Nina’s defense.
“Mike, it seems to me that this guy Brzezinski was sticking his nose into her business and ended up paying the price for it.”
Mike looked at him and then back at Nina.
“Perhaps that’s the case, but it raises a lot of questions. Are you sure that he didn’t follow you earlier, Nina, when you came to pick us up?”
“Yes, I am certain of that. He’s never followed me at any time before this evening. I told that to Allison earlier tonight. Also, I’m certain that he knew nothing of my relationship with your CIA or my plans to pick you guys up at the cabin.”
There was too much at stake for Mike to accept as face value everything being told to them; there was possibly more to the story. He was concerned. A careful review of the facts and getting input from the rest of the team, before deciding if they should continue with the op, was something that he needed to pursue. He’d lost men before as the result of poor judgment on his part, at least that’s what it seemed to him to be after the incident, and Mike wanted the others’ buy-in before making a “go or no go” decision.
“I think it’s become a lot riskier, in terms of our security, to go forward with the op,” he said, speaking to the group. “We know absolutely nothing about Mr. Brzezinski, and if Nina’s cover wasn’t well maintained, it’s conceivable that he could have been a FSB informant or asset they put on her in an effort to identify her handler, which would have enabled them to identify other agency activities such as the group we’ll be relying on for street support.”
He looked around at each of them and stopped with his eyes fixed on Nina’s.
“Perhaps we are fortunate that Nina accidently took Brzezinski out,” Mike said, “but we’ll never know until the op is over or until the FSB acts against us as the result of his death.”
He looked at the others again.
“Nina feels that there’s been no breach in her cover, and it’s obvious that the station is of the same mind, or she wouldn’t have been assigned to the op, but I’m still concerned about the details of what has transpired, even though there is no way to ascertain why Brzezinski was following her. It’s a dilemma that bothers me, but without hard evidence to argue something to the contrary, I’m inclined to move forward with the op—that is, if you guys agree.”
“I’m good with that decision,” interjected Rick.
“Me too,” stated Frank.
Charlie replied in the affirmative as well.
“All right then, with no objections, on we go. I’ll call it in.”
He picked up the phone, flipped it open, went to favorites, and then pressed the quick dial for Allison. She answered right away.
“Hello, again. Thanks for getting back to me so quickly. What’s the decision?”
“We’re still on, but we have some minor concerns. I think we need some additional support coverage. Can you make that happen?”
“That requirement has already been discussed and authorized by the chain. I’m taking care of it. Details will be provided at a later time. As for the cargo, you are to take delivery and move it to someplace in the city. There’s concern about a follow-on cargo investigation. Do you understand possible implications?”
“Completely. Anything else?”
“Yes. Call me first thing tomorrow morning with an update.”
“Will do.” Mike ended the call and turned his attention back to the others.
“They want an update after we’ve disposed of the body. The station believes it should be placed in the city instead of here to be easily found in an effort to help take the heat off of Nina when the police start an investigation.”
He looked at her again.
“Was Alex married?”
“Yes, he was, and she will probably alert the police when he doesn’t come home.”
“Then I think we need to make it look like he was killed while being robbed. That might alleviate any need for the police to question you about his death. His car must still be parked close to your apartment, so we need to move it to our planned crime site. It may still be painful, but we are going to need your help to dispose of the body. Are you up to it?”
“Yes, I think so.”
“Good. Be thinking of a place that will work as a crime scene. It’s not going to take all of us to get this done,” he said to the rest of the team, “just me, Rick, and Nina. The rest of you guys can stay here and get some rest, but make sure you post a watch while we’re gone.”