clothes and balaclavas and had semiautomatic rifles held ready. They moved purposefully and silently toward the buildings. One of them was clearly their leader, communicating with the others via hand gestures. He sent three soldiers to the boathouse; they moved quickly across the open ground, their rifles held high. Two of them paused on either side of the door; the third stood back while pointing his weapon directly at the entrance. The door was opened, and one of the men entered, followed by another. Within seconds, they exited. The commander gestured to others in his team. Four of them approached one of the huts. The same drill. But they found nothing. The leader nodded at the other hut. The same four men moved to it and entered quickly.
Noise.
Shouting.
A shot.
Then another.
Three more soldiers rushed into the building. The commander and his remaining four men were motionless, each on one knee. Two of them ignored the hut while pointing their weapons at the barn; the other two had their guns trained on the hut containing the rest of the team.
A soldier jogged out of the hut, then swiveled around and pointed his rifle at the door. Another two emerged and stood to either side of the exit. A man inside the building called out. The commander shouted back to him.
It happened very fast. Soldiers rushed out, Razin was forced backward, one soldier had his fingers in Razin’s nostrils, three others were gripping his limbs. They dumped him in the center of the clearing before fanning out to form a circle around him, their rifles trained on his body.
The commander stood, walked toward Razin, and said in a loud voice, “Colonel Khmelnytsky. You are under arrest for suspected misuse of Russian military property.”
Will felt relief and joy overwhelm him.
Because his plan had worked.
His call this morning to Otto von Schiller telling the German that he was taking possession of the nuclear blueprints had prompted the SVR agent to immediately report it to his handlers. And Will had given him an exact time and location for the handover. The beacon in Razin’s car had been turned on. His location had corroborated Schiller’s intelligence. And men had immediately been deployed to arrest Razin before a British arms dealer walked off with vital documents.
Will hadn’t been able to physically defeat Razin.
But he had totally outsmarted him.
Chapter Forty
Razin was on his knees, still in the center of the farmstead clearing. “You’re making a big mistake!”
The Spetsnaz commander took off his balaclava and ran his fingers through his blond hair.
Korina whispered, “Captain Zaytsey. Spetsnaz Vympel. I’ve done training courses with him.”
Zaytsey said, “Sir, we’re under orders to take you away for questioning.”
“Do you know who you’re talking to?!”
“Of course.” Zaytsey glanced at his men. “None of us takes pleasure in doing this to someone of your status.”
Razin started getting to his feet. Two of the soldiers stepped forward, shouting at him. But Zaytsey raised a hand. “Give him some dignity.” He looked at Razin. “Where are the blueprints?”
“What fucking blueprints?”
“You were here to meet a British arms dealer named Thomas Eden so that you could sell him blueprints of the nuclear devices you’ve been training with. We want them.”
Razin shook his head, anger vivid on his face. “I was never given any blueprints. Your commanders will know that.”
“They do, sir. We assume that you must have had an expert examine the bombs so that blueprints could secretly be drawn up.”
“This is outrageous!” Razin looked at the Spetsnaz men. “I’ll have you and your commanders court-martialed for this.”
The men stayed still.
Zaytsey pointed at Razin. “The order for your arrest was countersigned by General Platonov himself. The only man looking at a court-martial is you.” He held out his hand. “Sir, I’ll have your sidearm.”
“And I’ll have your head!”
“Your sidearm, sir.”
Razin hesitated.
“Sir!”
Slowly Razin removed his pistol from his holster and weighed it in his hand before thrusting it at Zaytsey. The commander took the weapon and tucked it in his jacket.
Razin placed his hands on his hips and looked at the men. All but Zaytsey still had their faces covered with balaclavas. “Which unit are you from?”
Zaytsey answered, “That’s classified.”
“Nothing’s classified from me!”
The commander stared at him, then nodded. “I suppose it makes no difference. We’re Vympel.”
“It makes every difference.” Anger was still evident in Razin’s voice, but he showed no signs of fear, his posture now one of a high-ranking officer addressing his men. “You should know that I used to be in Vympel before being given command of Alpha. We’re the same, and we do not sell Russian secrets.”
“If that’s true, you will be exonerated. But that decision will be made by more powerful men than me. We’re here simply to take you away.”
“Fools!”
“Sir, your Alpha men have been recalled and are being questioned. The beacons on the nuclear devices have been turned on. All of the bombs have been retrieved except one. We don’t know where it is because its beacon has been removed.”
Razin barked, “Removed or is faulty? Either way, I can help you retrieve it.”
“They think that’s the bomb that was dismantled so that the blueprints could be made.”
Sweat began to trickle down Will’s back. The fact that the beacon had been removed from the bomb meant that Razin must have planted it.
Slowly Razin turned fully, pausing to look at each man around him before returning his stare to Zaytsey. “You’ve all been tricked, and I think I know by whom.”
“Sir, if that’s the case, you must tell your superiors.”
Razin laughed. “Oh, I’ll tell those idiots everything. But right now you and your men need to know that I’ve captured the man I’m talking about. He’s an MI6 officer, one of the most powerful men in Western intelligence and certainly our biggest enemy. He’s been hunting me, and I’ve been hunting him. I got to him first. But this”-he swept an arm-“ farce was no doubt his insurance; a way to make me look bad to the motherland.”
Zatsey moved closer. “Is he dead?”
Will tensed.
“No. I have him prisoner. But if I don’t return to him soon, there’s every chance he may escape.” He smiled. “Perhaps it would be better for you and your men to return to your barracks with the one man that every Russian intelligence agency has been chasing for decades, rather than”-he thumped his chest-“a man who will certainly be proven innocent and will make you and your soldiers look like a laughingstock within all of Spetsnaz.”
Captain Zaytsey’s eyes narrowed. “Where is he?”
Silence.
Then Razin nodded. Speaking loudly, he gave them a grid reference.
Korina grabbed Will’s arm and said urgently, “He’s winning them over!”
Will muttered, “I know.”
He crawled forward a few feet, tightened his finger around the trigger, and pointed his gun at the center of
