Ron turned into the warehouse yard. Nina still had the remote. She clicked it and the door was nearly open before they came to a full stop. He drove in, parked, and turned off the engine. Mike continued to rest in the back of the van with Mauldin as the others got out.
“Where are we at, Charlie?” Nina heard Mike ask, as she was getting out.
“It was a close call, but we’re back at the warehouse. I think we’re in the clear for a while.”
“Good. Allison should be here soon. Let me know when she arrives.”
“You got it, boss. Get some rest.”
Allison was taking her time and running a surveillance detection route to ensure that she was clean before getting close to the warehouse. She was very cautious and continually looked to see if anyone was tailing her. She arrived, drove into the yard, and stopped in front of the warehouse door. It was almost five in the afternoon and a lot had happened in the three hours since the team had walked through the gate at the institute. She clicked the remote that was attached to the sun visor and waited for the door to open. It was a large warehouse with plenty of room. She looked for the best angle to park and drove in. She got out to see some of the men standing around and chatting with Nina.
“Whose Mike’s second?” she asked.
Rick raised his hand.
“I guess that would be me. I take it that you’re Allison,” he said, walking over to greet her.
“That’s right,” she said, reaching out to shake his hand. “Where is he?”
“Inside the van being attended to.”
“The chain doesn’t believe that you guys can get back to Checkpoint Charlie driving the van. I’ve got to let them know that you’ve made it here safely, so I need to know Mike’s status.”
“We’re fortunate to have a very good medic with us. Let’s check with him. Charlie, front and center.”
Charlie came out the back of the van and walked over to join Allison and Rick.
“This is Allison. She needs to know how Mike is doing. Give us an update.”
“Sure thing. It’s just a flesh wound in his side, ma’am. Nothing too serious. He’s tough, but it’s going to cause him some pain for a while. I just gave him a shot of morphine and was about to put in a few stitches. He’ll be able to walk afterward, but he’ll still need to rest.”
They heard a noise and looked to see Mike attempting to get out of the back of the van. He sat on the edge holding his side.
“Don’t make me walk. Come on over here so I can join the conversation.”
They walked over to Mike. Allison extended her hand.
“Hi, I’m—”
“No need for introductions,” Mike interrupted. “I know who you are. Was hoping that you’d show up,” he said, releasing her hand.
Allison looked past him to see one of the SEALs sitting beside Mauldin, who was lying closer to the front of the van with the hood now removed from his head.
“How long will he be out?” she asked, looking back at Mike.
“One injection is supposed to keep him out for four hours, but we can’t keep him that way all the time. He’ll need to be ambulatory when we leave Charlie for the border.”
“The chain wants an update on you, but that will have to wait until after I can get you guys some different transportation. My contact is the number two at the station. He’s in Helsinki, at the office. I was keeping him updated by phone, and he’s been relaying the information to the COS via a secure line. What happened back there?”
“A man with a pistol came out of nowhere, yelled at us as we were about to leave with Mauldin, and fired on us. I was the unfortunate recipient of the bullet before Frank could take him out. I don’t know, but he could be dead. We didn’t stick around to find out.”
“Well, I guess we can be thankful that it wasn’t Mauldin that he hit. It would have been a terrible blow after everything you guys have been through to get here. Say, they’ve asked me to get a truck, a lorry if possible, for your use in getting back to Checkpoint Charlie. Also, I didn’t broadcast this over the net, but the police have issued a BOLO for Nina, stating that she is wanted for being involved in a murder case. What are your thoughts about her?”
“I don’t think we’ve got a choice now, based on the BOLO, but to take her with us—if she wants out, but that will take headquarters approval. I think the COS probably knows that, but once we get out of here and on the road with new transportation, pass the request up the chain. I’ll hold off on telling Nina about the BOLO until we hear back from headquarters, which will have to be over the SatCom link.”
“OK, but you know it will take time to get headquarters approval for what you’re asking. Also, it’s going to take time for me to get you some different transportation lined up, so be prepared; it could possibly take several hours before I get back.”
“Thanks. Also, let them know that a security camera was mounted inside the institute garden away from the bench toward the main building. I saw it, but not until after being shot. I noticed it while lying on the ground looking back at the man who pulled the trigger. If the camera is connected to a recorder, they probably have footage of everything that we did—including me getting shot.”
“You’re shitting me. The camera wasn’t there a week ago, or at least if it was, it couldn’t be seen from the street when I did the pre-op recon.”
Mike thought about that for a moment. He knew, given what had happened, that institute authorities would soon be reporting Mauldin’s abduction. The video coverage of them taking Mauldin would soon be in the hands of the security services. Mentally, he was pissed. They should have worn masks to conceal their faces, but there had been no need to, based on the reporting provided by the station. Now their faces, principally his, if stowed in the FSB’s extensive database, would be evidence that the CIA had abducted Mauldin and they’d have a digital image of the man responsible for possibly killing the security guard.
“Yeah, let’s just hope the FSB and officials at MINOBOROVY don’t put the pieces of the puzzle together before we can get out of here and across the border.”
“OK. I’ve gotta go. Be back as soon as I can.” Allison turned, looked at the others, and then got into her car. She opened the warehouse door and backed out. Charlie walked over to the back of the van to visit with Mike.
“You ready for those stitches now?”
***
Claire answered the phone; it was the duty supervisor at the Ops Center.
“We’re connected with Moscow Station, ma’am.”
“Good, patch him through.”
“Hello, Claire,” Brandson said.
“Hello, Bill. I don’t have much time before my meeting with the director, and he’s going to want an update. What’s their status?”
“They’re probably at the warehouse as we speak. Mike was shot, by whom, we don’t know, but he’ll be OK. They have Mauldin. The support team is in the process of getting them another vehicle, a truck they can use to get from Echo to Charlie. Don’t know how long that is going to take, but hopefully, by nightfall, they’ll be on their way.”
“That’s good news. From watching the satellite feed, I couldn’t tell how badly he’d been hurt. Is there anything that we here at headquarters need to do?”
“Nina’s cover has been blown. It’s a long story that involves the death of her boss, who she accidentally shot during the operation. I don’t think you have enough time for me to tell you the whole story before your meeting with the director, so I’ll put it into an ops cable and send it in later today. I’ve already started on the report. The important thing to know is that the police have a BOLO out for her. I think we need to consider bringing her out with the team.”
“That will mean getting the director’s approval to have her processed as a ‘priority-one’ asylum case with permanent residency status.”
“I know that it will take time, but Mike will need an answer before they leave Charlie for the border.”
“I’ll take it up with the director this morning and get back to you with written approval—if he agrees, which he may not without knowing more about what happened out there. The sooner you get me that written report, the quicker I’m likely to get you an answer. How are you going to handle her disappearance if we do get his approval?”
“Don’t know yet, but we’ll think of something.”
Claire had heard enough, and she knew that Brandson wasn’t going to elaborate any further. She wanted a report to share with the director and knew how to get it.
“Got to go. Get me that report if you want an answer anytime soon.”
She ended the call, and Brandson sat thinking about her response. He knew she could probably get the director’s approval without the report. He imagined her request for the report was just a way to get even with him for not responding to the birthday wish she had sent—a ploy he considered, at the time, to get an update from him on how the op was going down. However, he cared more about the safety of Nina than he did about Claire’s penchant for getting even with him. He pulled up Randy’s ops cable and added the latest information. He reformatted it to be an “eyes only” ops cable from him to the DDO with an info copy to the chief of SE Division. Within thirty minutes of her call, the report landed in Windstrum’s classified e-mail in-box.
Brandson was a prolific writer, and Windstrum knew it wouldn’t take him long to get her a report if it was in his best interest to do so. It was an hour later that she was preparing to leave for the director’s weekly staff meeting with the other deputy directors. Before leaving, she checked to see if the report had arrived. Sure enough, it was there. She printed it out and left for the director’s conference room. She opened the door and walked in. It was 0930 Friday morning and 1730 in Saint Petersburg.
***
It didn’t take Allison long to get to the RAVEN’s garage after leaving the warehouse. She met with Otto in his office with the others.
“We’ve got to get them on the road again, but with a different mode of transportation. Also, we need to get rid of the van, and we don’t have a lot of time. Does anyone have any recommendations?”
“Come with me,” Otto said.
They left his office and walked through the mechanic’s bay and out to the back of the garage. A large lorry in pristine condition was parked there, just waiting to be used.
“What do you think?” he asked.
“It’s a damn big truck. I was thinking of something a little smaller, but this will have to do on short notice. Now all we need to do is get it to the warehouse and get them on their way. Where did you get it?” she asked as they turned to go back inside.
“Don’t worry; it’s clean. It was a used freight truck that we bought at a local auction a few months ago. Reko put a new engine in it, and we gave it a fresh paint job. It hasn’t been registered yet. We’ll put some plates on it and throw some blankets in the back to help keep them warm during the trip.”
“Good. What about the van? It needs to disappear, completely. Can you guys handle that too?”
“I think so.”
“OK, let’s make it happen.”
A few minutes later, they were back in his office, and Otto was the first to speak. “The boss here wants to know if we can get rid of the van. I told her we could. Here’s what I’m thinking. We take the tow truck to the warehouse and hitch the van to it. Then haul it off in a different direction than the route the team will take to get to the cabin. Sakke, if we are stopped by the police, I’ll tell them that you received a call to pick the van up after it had broken down. If not stopped by the police, we’ll find a desirable isolated location, unhitch it, and set the damn thing on fire. Burning it should destroy any evidence of its use by the team.”
“I like it. Great thinking,” interjected Allison. “Gear up. Let’s roll.”
Ten minutes later, they left: first Allison, then Otto driving the lorry, and then Sakke a few minutes later in the tow truck.
We’ll be back at the warehouse by 1900 and soon have them on their way, Allison thought.