“It’s possible,” Mason said. “We’re certainly tracking it. We just need to have a location where they land.”
“If they land,” Baylor said. “Chances are they’ll go to another ship.”
“Why do you say that?”
“I don’t know,” he said, studying it. “But it would have to be a ship around them here.”
“Or they’re taking them to shore and then flying them somewhere.”
“They’ll be trying to get them out into international waters where nobody can touch them,” he said.
“Sure, but if they can get them out of the country—into whatever country they’re trying to go to—a plane is a lot faster,” Mason said. “Water is good—it’s great as a matter of fact—but if you’re trying to get from point A to point B, like getting from Los Angeles to say, Russia, a plane is much faster.”
Baylor nodded at that. “But we don’t know where they’re going.”
“No, but I highly suspect that, if the Russian tanker isn’t part of it,” he said, “some of the crew on it are. We’re tracking all of the men’s histories right now, waiting for intel.”
“What about that Boris Karloff character from Interpol?” Baylor asked. “Do we have any update on him?”
Hudson, who was seated on the other side of Mason as they flew back to the base, joined the conversation. “His background appears to be KGB for fifteen years. He was drafted at age eighteen and moved up the ranks, until he walked away at thirty-three. He’s currently thirty-five, but nobody has any recent history on him. It is believed that he’s gone private.”
“Believed?” Baylor said, with a shake of his head. “I don’t believe anybody leaves the KGB, except in a pine box. But rumors said he’s been a merc for a couple years now.”
“It is pretty hard to imagine getting out of the KGB, isn’t it?” Mason said thoughtfully.
“Unless they have a new department that they don’t want anybody to know about, and he’s heading that up,” Hudson offered.
“But why the deception just because he’s KGB?” Baylor asked. “They have all kinds of departments we don’t know about.”
“That’s true, but this could give him a different cover,” Mason stated.
“I’m not saying he did go private,” Baylor explained. “I’m just saying it’s another possibility we have to consider. But that still doesn’t explain why they would care about this family.”
“Unless you combine it with that information we heard recently saying that the US is holding two Russian politicians,” Mason added.
“Not politicians,” Hudson corrected. “Businessmen. In telecommunications.”
“And do we believe that’s what they are actually doing over in the US?” Baylor asked.
“They were wanted for other activities,” Mason said, “and, as soon as they were found in South America, they were handed over to the US.”
“Of course now it’s an international incident,” Hudson noted.
“And now we have another,” Baylor said.
“True, and it could be as simple as that,” Mason said. “If that’s the case, at least we’d know that, in all probability, the kidnapped family would be kept in decent health.”
“Maybe,” Baylor said. “Depends on whether these kidnappers are contractors or if they’re directly under this Russian merc guy. I don’t think he suffers fools easily.”
“Nobody climbs up in the ranks of the KGB without having very decent training and self-control,” Hudson said.
“And it’s so much more than that,” Mason said quietly. “The discipline these guys go through for their training? Some of it puts ours to shame,” he admitted.
“Which is a hell of a thing to say too,” Baylor said. “But I understand what you mean. It’s almost like they’re indoctrinated, not just signed up. In truth, it’s a way of life.”
“I think it’s probably even way harsher than a way of life,” Mason said. “But the bottom line is, we still have to figure out where this is all happening. And see what we can do about getting the family back.”
“We need intel on that stealth ship,” Baylor said. “It’s not very big.”
At that, Mason’s phone rang. He answered it, and both Baylor and Hudson stared at him, as he nodded and made several comments, then finally hung up. “Well, the stealth ship, as you call it, headed into waters just south of Monaco.”
“Interesting.”
“It stayed at the international water line, where it had a meeting with another smaller boat, and it is believed that packages were potentially handed off.”
“Packages,” Baylor said. “Interesting terminology. What do we have after that?”
“The ship came in to land at a small yacht club, where packages were unloaded, and they disappeared.”
“And we’re tracking that, I presume?”
“Absolutely. So far, we haven’t got any answers as to where the packages have gone,” Mason said.
“My vote is an airport,” Baylor said.
Mason looked at him grimly. “You could be right. If this is a Russian tie-in, they’ll want to get them home as soon as possible.”
“Yeah. Either to Russia or to a neutral country somewhere in between Russia and Monaco, where they can keep the governor’s family hidden,” Hudson said.
“What if this Boris Karloff guy is a contractor?” Baylor said suddenly. “What if somehow he did get free of the KGB and decided he had more ability to do things to help the Kremlin if he wasn’t constrained by the hierarchy of the organization and the inherent government restrictions—though they don’t seem to be all that constricted compared to us,” he admitted. “But still, what if he went out on a contract basis, and he’s the one who has collected the family and is taking them home?”
“So? What difference does that make?” Mason asked.
Baylor stared at him. “You know what? I’m not sure,” he said. “It just occurred to me that he didn’t have to be KGB anymore or a mercenary. He could be somebody working with them.”
“Well, that goes for anybody. It could be a friend of this guy, or it could be somebody who was hired by this guy to collect the family.”
“Which would imply that they knew where the family was and that they had the ability to get in and to get out without getting caught.”
“Exactly,” Mason
