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I nodded. “He’s behind this. He gave the order to have you kidnapped. He needs to answer for this and everything else he’s done.”
He nodded and I handed him my knife.
I ran to the door and watched the yard and command buildingopposite. There was no movement. No guards swarming toward me. Everything was still and the only sounds were those of Feo and the people he’d freed, working to free others. The lack of response was unnerving and I couldn’t understand why Alekseyev wasn’t sending his men at us.
The two guards who had been caught by the grenade lay in the dirt, their bodies scorched and twisted, and I wondered why their comrades hadn’t come to avenge them.
“Jack.”
I turned to see Dinara Orlova hurry toward me. Anna Bolshova, the officer from Moscow Police who had joined Private soon after the Bright Star investigation, was with her. Behind them, most of the hostages were free and on their feet. I could see two team members I didn’t recognize being helped by others. They had both been caught in the crossfire, but their injuries didn’t look life-threatening and they were able to walk.
“Thank you for coming,” Dinara said. “Thank youso much.”
I noticed she and Anna were carrying guns taken from the men I’d shot. Good.
“Take the staff out through the back and go through the forest. Head west and I’ll find you.”
“We’re coming with you,” Dinara responded. “Feo says Valery Alekseyev is responsible for all this.”
“Yes,” I replied. “He’s taking revenge on me. On us. Yevgeny Salko is his brother.”
Dinara understood the implication immediately, and Anna sucked in a sharp breath of disbelief.
“Feo says he has one of your friends,” Dinara remarked.
“Marlon West from the embassy, but you need to go. You’re not in any shape—”
Dinara cut me off. “And what shape are you in? You look tired, battered, no better than us.”
“She’s right,” Anna added. “We’re coming with you. I’d like to see Alekseyev myself.”
“Don’t waste time arguing with them,” Feo said, walking over with a ShAK-12 in his hands. “Or with me. The others will tend to the wounded and take them to safety.”
I looked over his shoulder and saw the rest of the Private Moscow staff making their way out of the hangar through the blast hole. I knew there was no point arguing with these three.
“Come on,” Feo said. “Let’s go get your friend.”
CHAPTER 95
WE CROSSED THE yard between the hangar and the command block, and I marveled at my friends and colleagues. Anna looked as though she’d been abducted from bed. She wore a pair of tight leggings, which were filthy, trainers that seemed too big and an oversized jumper riddled with holes. Her hair was tangled and matted, her face dirty. Dinara and Feo were in similar condition, but were at least wearing proper clothes: jeans, boots, Feo a leather jacket, Dinara a thick sweater. They looked exhausted and shaken by their ordeal but they kept going, prepared to risk their lives to be by my side. I was grateful to have such loyal friends.
I took point and kept my rifle ready as we neared the command building. The first shots came when we were within yards of the entrance, careless and wide. The shooter had appeared from behind a balustrade on the roof.
I replied with a volley and was joined by all three of my colleagues. The building was old and unstable. The balustrade collapsed under the barrage, sending the shooter, who had been leaning against it, tumbling two storys down along with a mass of rubble. He landed on his head and there was a sickening crack that left him motionless.
We ran over the fallen man, picked our way through the rubble and went into the building. I recalled the dank, decrepit lobby from my previous visit and checked the doorway leading off it.
I gave the others a thumbs up to indicate it was clear. We crept slowly and carefully through the lobby in file formation, toward the wreckage of the interior doors. I remembered from my last time in the building that there was a corridor branching left and right with rooms off it to either side. The old command offices and operation rooms lay to the right.
I entered the corridor and checked left. Nothing.
And then right. Also clear.
I signaled to Anna, Feo, and Dinara and we went right, moving silently along the corridor. The floor was damp and the walls pockmarked and crumbling. The place was dimly lit by moonlight shining through the holes in the roof. I kept my scope on; the others were forced to pick their way through the gloom.
We were nearing the operations room where West had flown the drone and we’d seen Alekseyev commanding his subordinates. I slowed, held my breath and dropped to a crouch as I neared the pool of light coming through the doorway. I lifted my scope as I got to within inches of the opening and peeredround one side. I could hear the electrical static, computer fans, the hum of a radio receiver … but there was no sign of anyone in the room.
Then I heard a rattle of gunfire and a scream. I turned to see Anna fall, wounded in the leg. She clutched her thigh and cried out as I ran back to her.
