Splinter Cell

Sometimes the hostages were rescued… more often not.

What would the bastards eventually do to her? So far they hadn’t mistreated her physically, although the creep named Vlad had come close. She hated Eli now, but in many ways he’d been her protector. There was no telling what the two Russians would do if Eli wasn’t around.

Several times she had been tempted to tell them how to contact her father. Sarah was loath to involve him, but she also suspected that he could get her out of this situation. If Eli was right and her father really was a government spy of some kind, he would have the resources to rescue her. Perhaps he could bring the army in and blow her asshole kidnappers to hell.

On the other hand, the kidnappers wanted him for a reason, and Sarah didn’t think it was a good one. She could see the hate in their eyes and hear the venom in their voices when they spoke of him. Sarah was certain they wanted to kill her father, and she understood full well that she was the bait to lure him into their clutches. She was resolved not to let that happen.

How many days had it been? She had lost count. She now realized she should have done what she’d seen prisoners in movies do — scratch on the wall with something and make a mark for every passing day. She knew she’d been there less than a week but more than four days. If she hadn’t been kidnapped, she’d be home now. She would have said goodbye to Rivka and her family and—

Oh, Rivka.

What happened to her friend haunted Sarah and tore at her heart. It was all her fault. If she hadn’t been Rivka’s friend, the girl would still be alive. During one of Eli’s frequent visits to her room, Sarah asked him what had happened to her. How did she die? Eli refused to tell her. He said he didn’t really know — only that she was dead. Sarah asked him if Noel was responsible and Eli simply shrugged. How could he be so cold? How could both of them do what they have done? She and Rivka had given the boys their bodies, their love, their devotion. She and Eli had spoken of living together in New York and maybe getting married someday. Had Rivka and Noel done the same? Had he convinced her to trust him and look forward to a future with him?

Bastards.

Sarah finished her business in the bathroom and lumbered back to the cot and lay down. She then heard a familiar knock on the door. Eli again. The key turned in the lock and the door opened. She didn’t look at him but felt his presence as he stood over her.

“You want anything to eat yet?” he asked.

She didn’t answer.

“Come on, Sarah. You better eat something. You’re… you’re going to need your strength.”

Sarah refused to acknowledge him.

“Look, Sarah, we’ve had new orders come through. Vlad and Yuri — they’ve been given the go-ahead to be more, um, aggressive. This is your last chance. You have to tell us what we want to know. Where is your father? How do we get a message to him?”

Her silence finally got to him. Eli grabbed her by the hair and pulled her head up. She shrieked and he shouted, “Goddamn it, Sarah! Talk to me! I can’t be responsible for what they’re going to do!”

The tears welled in her eyes, so she closed them. That way she wouldn’t have to look at him.

He let go of her and she burrowed herself into the blankets and pillow, sobbing.

“Sarah,” he said, a little softer. “Vlad and Yuri… they’re going to come in here and make you talk. I promise you, they will make you. So please. Tell us what we want to know.”

She mumbled something.

“What?” he asked.

She lifted her head and said evenly, “Go to hell.”

Eli sighed, moved toward the door, and said, “I’m sorry, Sarah.” And then he left.

Now Sarah was really frightened. What were those two men going to do to her? Please God, don’t let it be rape. Anything but that.

She felt movement in the room and heard the door slam shut. Sarah looked up and saw them — Vlad and Yuri — standing near the cot. Vlad had a coil of rope. Yuri carried a tool kit.

“Hello, Princess,” Vlad said. “Are you ready to have some fun with us?”

Adrenaline pumped through Sarah’s body as she leaped from the cot and ran toward the bathroom. Vlad caught her around the waist and swung her back to the cot. She fell on it hard, collapsing it.

Vlad uncoiled the rope.

* * *

Carly St. John finally had a good night’s sleep after spending two days straight on hacking Tarighian’s and Zdrok’s bank accounts. Now she had a new assignment and it was just as urgent. Lambert had given her digital files of phone conversations that Sam Fisher had recorded in Turkey, and he wanted a splice job. This meant she had to take pieces of the conversation, cut them up, and put them back together so the speakers were saying something very different from the original.

The subjects were Nasir Tarighian, aka Namik Basaran, and an unknown subordinate. They spoke in Farsi, not Turkish. After Third Echelon’s crack interpreter translated the dialogue into English, Carly heard the original conversation like this—

MAN: “But surely the Shop can see that it wasn’t us?”

TARIGHIAN: “No, the Shop can’t see, Zdrok is blind to everything but his own little world.”

MAN: “Let me get this straight. The diaper factory was attacked by someone—”

TARIGHIAN: “An Arab.”

MAN: “—and he blew up the building.”

TARIGHIAN: “And left Tirma material all over the place.”

MAN: “So obviously someone wants to create a rift between you and the Shop.”

TARIGHIAN: “The rift was already there. They just made it wider.”

MAN: “So I suggest you tell him that you’re convinced it was an outside job. Someone is setting you up.”

TARIGHIAN: “I told him that, but he didn’t listen. Now he doesn’t take my calls. Damn it, doesn’t he know who I am?”

MAN: “Has Hani found out what happened to the money transfer?”

TARIGHIAN: “No. We sent the money. According to Hani’s records the transfer made it safely into Zdrok’s Swiss bank account. However, Zdrok claims he never got it.”

MAN: “You did give the order for the transfer, didn’t you?”

TARIGHIAN: “Of course!”

MAN: “Then why would he lie?”

TARIGHIAN: “He’s angry that the first shipment of arms was confiscated in Iraq. The Iraqi police arrested the men red-handed. Ahmed and his men tried to mount an operation to retrieve it, but that failed. We had to bite the bullet and pay for a completely new shipment. So far Zdrok says he hasn’t been paid.”

MAN: “He delivered it without us paying up front, right?”

TARIGHIAN: “Yes. His one Good Samaritan act. Now he wants his damned money yesterday.”

MAN: “So he probably thinks you’re trying to put him out of business.”

TARIGHIAN: “Yes, that’s probably what he thinks.”

MAN: “Surely the Azeri police will catch someone for the crime.”

TARIGHIAN: “Not likely, you fool. The media’s already blaming the Shadows for it. Ali put out a statement denying responsibility but you know how far that goes.”

MAN: “So what now?”

TARIGHIAN: “The man better apologize for his behavior and exonerate us of this crime. And he should not charge us for the new shipment. The man’s a billionaire, he can write it off.”

Carly heard the sound of a knock.

TARIGHIAN: “Come in.”

ANOTHER MAN: “You’re wanted in the control room.”

TARIGHIAN: “I’ll be right there.”

And that was the end of it. A second file contained the following short exchange between Tarighian and the