41 |

Route A1, Poland

 

“Sir, our monitors are showing your cellphone has been compromised.”

Alexie Tankov cursed at the message received through his comm as he retrieved his cellphone from his jacket pocket. He removed the SIM card and hit the button to lower the window. He snapped the phone over the car door, then tossed the device onto the road, eliciting a few honked horns, soon silenced as the window closed.

“By who?”

“Unknown, sir. We just know it’s been pinged several times, unauthorized. Probably CIA or another state’s equivalent.”

Tankov frowned. “Then that means they’ll be able to backtrack us on camera. If they’ve got my phone, then they might have others. Everyone, scrap your phones and switch to backups. Team Two, find us two new matches.”

“Roger that.”

His driver, Arseny Utkin, handed him his phone and Tankov repeated the process, disposing of the device before pulling two new phones from the glove compartment. They had been shut off since they were configured at the start of the mission, so there was no way they could have been compromised.

Someone must have figured out his phone had been at the mine. They were clever, though it was a possibility they had planned for. The order had been that all phones were to be turned off ten minutes before reaching the mine, but he had turned his on to test the jammer.

A jammer that hadn’t been powered up properly.

He belted Utkin on the shoulder.

“Hey, what was that for?” he protested as their vehicle swerved slightly.

“For messing up the jammer.”

Utkin frowned. “Yeah, that one’s on me.”

“Damn right it is.”

The screw up had meant his phone was on the cellular network for several seconds.

Apparently, enough for somebody to figure out it shouldn’t have been there.

Very clever.

“I need another pee break.”

“Hold it.”

“I’m serious. Your guy was watching me last time like he was interested in making Jim, Jr.’s acquaintance. I’ve got a shy bladder.”

Tankov glared at him, though the man was lucky this time.

He had to go as well.