“Good, and his wife and son?”
“I presume so!” replied Borodin uneasily.
“You presume so?” questioned Surkov scathingly.
All Borodin had was the conversation, if you could call it that, with Pushkin, Done? Yes. Borodin thought back at the orders he had given Pushkin which were to kill them all and not just Sean Fox. “Sorry, yes, they have all been dealt with,” he replied more confidently.
Surkov paused before responding, leaving Borodin hanging.
“You’re not convincing me, General. You do understand how crucial your task is to Russia?”
Borodin bit his tongue. The prize was too great not to be part of it.
“Of Course,” he replied. “I will get clarification as soon as possible to you.”
“Good!” replied Surkov.
“I have not heard from the President, as yet?” added Borodin quickly.
“I told you, you would be contacted when the time was right. Under no circumstances do you discuss anything with anybody. Until you are contacted! And that includes the president!” instructed Surkov forcefully before ending the call.
Vasiliy who had witnessed Borodin’s side of the conversation had never before seen anything like it. Borodin was putty in Surkov’s hands. Borodin was the man that people feared, even the president dreaded a meeting with the over powering Borodin. Whatever Surkov had promised Borodin was something Borodin could only have dreamed of in his wildest dreams.
As Surkov considered the conversation that had just taken place, he began to worry. Sean Fox was a concern but General Borodin was slowly becoming a greater one. Surkov needed him. He needed the power that Borodin had within the military for the plan to work. There was no one more revered or feared within the military. Borodin was the modern Russian equivalent of Hoover. He knew all the secrets of anyone who was anyone in Russia. Surkov and Grebnevo had been under his radar. However, if it had fallen under his gaze, Borodin would have been dealt with.
Whatever the case, removing Borodin with so little time was going to prove troublesome. A suitable replacement would have to be found which might result in a delay.
As Surkov considered the options, he watched the secret courtyard that only his study had a view of. It was exercise time and two residents of Grebnevo were stretching their legs and catching some late summer sunshine. A generation in the making, it was not the time for indecision.
He picked up his phone and dialed a number that very few people on the planet had access to.
“Hello?”
“Mr President, Boris Surkov,” replied Surkov to Russia’s head of state.
“Ah Dr Surkov, you’ve come through on my private line.”
“Yes Sir, the day I briefed you on when you took office?” prompted Surkov without preamble, jogging the President’s memory.
The President did not need to be reminded; it was still the most intriguing briefing he had ever been given in the two years he had held office.
“Yes, I remember.”
“It has come Mr President. Are you free to visit us at Grebnevo?” inquired Surkov, knowing exactly how free the president’s schedule was for the next week. It was one of the quietest weeks in his diary in two years. Exactly as planned.
“We were due to meet in a few days anyway, I believe,” replied the President, referring to a presidential banquet arranged many months earlier.
“Yes, Sir. However, matters have become more pressing and this is not a matter for public consumption,’ alluded Surkov.
Surkov suppressed a laugh as the President made it sound as though he were squeezing Surkov in. Surkov even rejected the President’s first offer, two days away. The Borodin issue couldn’t wait that long.
“You couldn’t squeeze us in tomorrow, first thing, could you?” asked Surkov, adding. “It is really quite urgent!”
After a minute or so of humming and hawing. “I’ll shift a couple of things around and see you at eight?”
Surkov was hoping for later. He had a lot to organize in a very short period of time but didn’t want to push it.
“I look forward to it!” he replied sincerely.
“As do I Dr Surkov, as do I,” said the president.
Surkov very much doubted he’d feel the same when he found out what he had planned. He picked up his phone. He needed to let one very special person know that the timeframe had been changed.
Chapter 48
Sean knew instantly. The scream was Katie’s. He bounded down the stairs and screamed for the CIA team to follow suit.
“Our packs!” one of them shouted, looking up at the loft space.
“No time!” shouted the team leader. Sean was off and running and their job was to back him up. Sean had heard the initial shout and recognized the voice. Somebody would be getting a lesson in priorities as soon as he had the chance.
Sean crashed into Luis as he rounded the staircase. Luis had himself reacted to the scream by running into the house. Sean threw him aside, shouting “He’s with me!” to ensure the CIA team didn’t shoot Luis by mistake.
Sean burst out of the house and onto the street. Katie was surrounded by another three of the Russians. She had obviously surprised them as much as they had surprised her. All looked somewhat bemused as to what they should do, until that was, that they caught sight of Sean charging towards them. They all then had only one thing on their mind. As Sean raced towards them with the silenced Gyurza pistol raised in his hand, they raised their AS VAL rifles. Sean was woefully out-gunned and out of range and a good twenty yards ahead of the CIA team who were struggling to catch up with him. Continuing headlong towards them was suicide. As soon as their weapons were up, they would start shooting. They, unlike Sean and the CIA team, had no Katie to worry about. All that lay ahead of the Russians were hostiles.
Sean dived across the grass and rolled just as the Russians dispatched their first round of bullets. With Katie frozen to the spot in abject fear, there was little return fire either Sean or the CIA team could offer. Sean took aim as he rolled and sent a bullet a foot to the right of one watcher. It was as close as he dared aim as the three Russians crowded around Katie. The watcher didn’t flinch. They were very well trained.
The second burst of bullets came even closer to hitting Sean but a roll in the opposite direction caught them off guard and Sean narrowly escaped the second burst of fire. He wouldn’t avoid a third.
The CIA team had two options: charge headlong into the fire or stop and take aim. Their H amp;K MP5’s offered significantly better accuracy than Sean’s handgun. Sean was also offering an excellent target for the Russians to concentrate on and as such, he gave the CIA team an ideal opportunity to press home their advantage.
“If you have the shot take it!” screamed the Team Leader.
Four shots rang out and the two Russians farthest away from Katie fell. Again, the Russian didn’t flinch. Two of his team had just been taken out and he remained 100 percent focused on the job in hand. He grabbed Katie and using her body as a shield, he worked back towards the main door that Katie had come out of. Whoever the Russians were, Sean seriously doubted they had anything to do with the mafia.
“We don’t have a shot!” shouted the CIA Team leader, alerting Sean he was the only one with an angle.
Sean aimed at the fraction of body the Russian exposed from behind the much smaller Katie. He fired off a few rounds which barely missed Sean as his aim was hampered by holding Katie with one arm. Sean remained rock still as he waited for his chance. As they neared the house, he had all but given up hope when Katie winked at him
