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But Luka is close. I can feel it.
“What’s the plan here?” Pyotr grumbles, practically wrestling the rifle strapped to his back.
“Charging them is out of the question,” Mikhail says. “We need to be smart about this.”
“Really?” Dimitri asks dryly. “See, hereI was thinking we just went in with guns blazing.”
My brain is already working at a mile a minute. I’ve been in stressful situations before, but this definitely takes the cake. Not only are we outnumbered, but we’re also outgunned. Not to mention we don’t have a sweet clue what to expect when we get inside.Ifwe get inside. The compound could be a labyrinth. Getting in and out without being seen… It’s just not that simple.
No matter what we choose to do, there’s a high level of risk involved. Any number of things could go wrong. We could be shot on sight. Those guard dogs could tear us limb from limb and leave us to bleed to death out in the cold. Hell, The Trinity might even put a bullet in Luka’s head before we get to him.
The only thing Iamsure about is this needs to be a stealth operation.
“The patrol comes every twenty minutes,” I inform them. “I’ve been keeping track of their comings and goings for the past hour. They’re very punctual. Always in groups of four, and a couple of the groups have dogs. If we can get the drop on one of the sets without dogs, steal their uniforms and equipment, and keep a low profile…”
“We can walk in without raising any alarms,” Mikhail finishes for me.
“That would give us a twenty-minute window,” Pytor grumbles. “It’s going to be tight.”
Dimitri sighs. “What other choice do we have?”
“None,” I conclude. “This is the only way we’re going to save Luka.”
“When’s the next patrol without dogs coming?”
I glance down at my wristwatch. “In another fifteen minutes.”
Dimitri nods. “Let’s get going.”
We move swiftly under the cover of dark, doing our best not to disturb the underbrush. Every now and then, a branch snaps under one of their feet. It’s hard to avoid. They’re all big, burly men. It’s frankly a miracle we’ve made it this far without alerting any of the guards. We hug the tree line as close as possible, staying low to keep out of sight. It’s overcast, so what little moonlight there is isn’t enough to give away our position.
The four of us have already assigned our own targets, each of us going after one of the four guards. This is a matter of speed. The sooner we take them all out, the sooner we can render any calls for help useless. The only problem is—what are we going to do about the damn dogs?
Sensing my unease, Pyotr pats me on the shoulder. He nods once, as if to say,We’ve got this.
One minute and counting. I can hear the patrol turning the corner. Any second now…
The moment they come into view, we spring into action, coming up from behind.
Mikhail manages to get his arm around his target’s throat, squeezing with all his might. The patrolman’s face goes blue as he passes out. That’s one down.
Dimitri rushes his target, slamming the butt of his pistol against the back of the man’s head. The guard slumps forward, out cold. That’s two.
Pyotr—the massive fucking bear he is—simply grabs the guy by the side of the head and shoves him into the perimeter wall. I think I hear something crack. Hopefully the guy will walk away with a concussion. Either way, that’s three.
I go for a more subtle approach, sharply jabbing the point of my gun into my target’s back. “On your knees,” I hiss. The man whimpers pathetically as he slowly lowers himself to the ground. Once my target is on the ground, all it takes is one hard kick to the face to knock him out.
“Okay,” I mumble. “That didn’t feel very good.”
“Feel bad about it later,” Pyotr snaps.
“Quickly,” Mikhail says, stripping his patrolman of his clothes, radio, and weapons before binding his wrists and ankles together with the zip ties that we brought with us. “We have eighteen minutes before the next patrol comes.”
I quickly follow suit. The man’s uniform doesn’t exactly fit me, but I don’t care as long as I look the part. I yank the mask and helmet off his head and pull it over mine. It doesn’t completely conceal my face, leaving plenty of space to expose my eyes, but it’s better than nothing. After we drag the men behind a large stump so they’re out of sight, we head for the gate. There’s an ID scan, but we thankfully have those on hand.
I hold my breath as we approach. The guards in the watchtower haven’t noticed anything amiss. When our IDs scan, the little light above the reader turns green. So far, it’s smooth sailing. We get past the wall, and then through the inner courtyard, working our way into the compound’s main building. The whole time, I have to pray my heart won’t leap out of my chest.
Now for the biggest obstacle of all—figuring out how to navigate this place and finding Luka.
