Chapter 38
MI-6 had sprung for a second copter, and it landed with Alex, Howard, Fernandez, Cooper, and Toni. The strike force copter was still on the ground, and a dozen soldiers in Brit camo and berets, weapons at the ready, moved around the big old barn as the Net Force team piled out of the second bird into the dusty prop wash.
Toni had tucked her personal pain away into the box of professionalism and locked it tight. Even so, she hadn't been able to look directly at Alex during the short flight.
A British captain approached and spoke with Cooper. Toni walked around, bent to examine the ground in a couple of spots, then drifted toward the barn. There was a new car parked inside, and it hadn't been there long enough to get dusty. The floor was earth, under a light layer of dry hay. She walked back out and circled the area again. The ground was soft and chalky enough in places to take footprints, but the military force had obliterated a lot of them, their combat boots leaving a distinctive tread. She thought about what might have happened here, given what she knew and what she had seen.
Alex said, 'Toni?' He stood next to Cooper and the British captain.
She could do this. She could keep her feelings at bay and do her job.
'This is Captain Ward,' Alex said.
Cooper said, 'Why don't you bring Sub-Commander Fiorella up to speed on what you think might have happened here, Captain?'
A flash of anger enveloped Toni. Bring her up to fucking
Cooper blinked. Did she hear the challenge in Toni's voice? 'Oh, really? Why don't you tell us, then?' Yeah, she heard it.
'Sure. Peel had a backup man. That's his car in the barn. It will be a rental and won't have a backtrail. Probably some dummy corporation post office box and phony ID used to get it.
'Your agents must have missed the backup. Odds are it was Mikhayl Ruzhyo, who must have some kind of link to Peel. Maybe they were old college buddies or they met in some police action in Africa or SA somewhere. They have history. Otherwise, it's too coincidental.
'Peel led your men here, right into a trap. Ruzhyo sneaked up on them — no, strike that, you couldn't really sneak up on this barn from the road in a car, and it's too far from anywhere to walk, so probably he was already hiding when Peel arrived. How am I doing so far?' She looked at Alex and his face was frozen into a half-grin. He felt her anger, she knew. She nodded at him.
Cooper didn't speak, nor did Alex or the captain, so Toni continued: 'There are two small spots of blood on the ground, still visible, though somebody kicked dirt over them, there and over there.' She pointed. 'Were your men armed? And wearing body armor?'
Cooper just glared at her, and it was the captain who said, 'They carried sidearms, and as for the vests, yes, they should have worn them. It's standard for this kind of operation.'
'Right. So Peel or Ruzhyo shot them, most likely in the heads. That's where they fell. Then they shoved the bodies into their own car and left here driving that and Peel's. I imagine if your troops haven't stomped all over them, you'll find his tire tracks and those of your men's car leaving. By now, I'd guess they've driven the car with the bodies in it somewhere it won't be found for a while. Two missing agents are a concern, but not as high-profile as two dead ones. If I were in charge, I'd have the local constables drag any big ponds or lakes within a few miles of here. Deep water is a good place to hide a car.'
The captain shook his head. 'Overall, it's a bit of a stretch, isn't it? Aside from the blood, we found no other evidence. There weren't any shell casings.'
'Ruzhyo would have picked his up, and I'm assuming Peel is smart enough to have done the same. By the time we catch up to them, the guns used will be long gone, anyway. I don't know much about your Major Peel, but Ruzhyo is very much a professional. He doesn't leave you much to work with.'
Ward nodded, as if confirming that he wasn't as concerned with her explanation as that he wanted to hear her reasoning for it. 'The scenario you postulate is not impossible. As soon as he figured out with whom he was dealing, Peel would have known about the transponder in their car and disabled it. We've set up road blocks, but we may be behind the curve here.'
'Not at the moment, Ms. Fiorella.' Cooper gave Alex a quick look, and in it Toni saw a measure of what she thought might be concern. Pity, even.
So, Cooper had figured out that Toni knew, too. And the British tart was feeling sympathy for Alex because of it. Great. Now we're all just one big, unhappy fucking family.
Michaels pulled his virgil and put in a priority call to Jay Gridley.
'Yeah, boss, what's up?'
'If I gave you an address, a physical address for where this QC hardware might be, would that help you search?'
'Couldn't hurt. Might be able to spot a trail if I'm close enough to it, though there's no guarantee.'
'Stand by, I'm uploading it now. We found Bascomb-Coombs and where he works. We can't lay our hands on him just at the moment, but maybe you can figure out something from your end.'
'Thanks, boss.'
'Be careful, Jay.'
'I copy that, decibel and crystal. Discom.'
Michaels walked to where Cooper stood. 'Does this change things? Can we go to Goswell's and grab Peel?'
'I can check with the DG, but I'm afraid it won't matter. We have missing agents, but not much to tie them to his lordship or even to Peel. For all we know, Peel drove off before they could speak to him, and our men were coincidentally attacked by sheep rustlers.'
'Yeah, right.'
'Sorry, Alex, but that's how it is. Our hands are tied.'
On their way back to the helicopter, Michaels lagged behind. 'Hold up a second, Colonel.'
Howard slowed.
'Cooper says MI-6's hands are tied. They can't go traipsing into Lord Goswell's estate without an engraved invitation.'
'Wonderful,' Howard said. His voice dripped sarcasm.
'Colonel, I don't know how good your grapevine is, but I've put you up for a promotion.'
Howard hesitated a second, then said, 'I had heard the rumor, Commander. Thank you, I appreciate it.'
'I mention this only because an international diplomatic incident might squash your chances. Probably would.'
Howard grinned. 'If that would let me catch Ruzhyo and this mad hacker, I could live with it.'
Michaels smiled back at him. 'Somehow I knew you'd feel that way. When we get back to MI-6, I think our crew needs to take a break. Go for a ride in the country or something.'
'Yes, sir.'
Michaels looked at the copter, squinting against the dust blown up by the prop wash. Most of the time, he colored between the lines. Now and then, he had to go outside the boundaries. There was a difference between justice and the law, and sometimes the end did justify the means. Generally, in his line of work, if you took a risk out in territory where your ass was bare and you pulled it off, you could rationalize it afterward. If you failed, you got skewered. They were hunting terrorists, killers both by remote means and with their own hands. The worst that could happen to Michaels if he screwed this up was that they'd fire him in disgrace and put him in jail for twenty or thirty years.
