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Then the men left her there. Bree arched her back, trying to reach the nylon cord securing her ankles. If she could loosen it… Her fingers touched it, and she shifted her hands a little at a time, stretching the cord and trying to move her fingers enough. The rope cut off her circulation. She could feel her palms swelling. She arched a bit more, heard her vertebrae pop as she shaped the knots, finding the end and tracing it, imagining it in her mind.
She worked at the ties slowly to pull against the cords, holding her breath as the cord around her throat tightened. Nylon was strong, but it had give. She kept the door in her line of vision. If Leonid caught her, he’d just push her head down and watch as she strangled herself to death.
17
Blitzand the two teams were airborne, falling to the Baltic Sea rapidly, the Globemaster winging away. He was relieved to finally be here. After two hours of flight time, they were finally over the target.
They had been inserted two miles out. All sixteen of them, plus two Zodiacs, Rigid Hull Inflatable Boats or RHIBs with a planned HALO jump, were free falling to earth at about two hundred miles per hour for almost a full two minutes.
Below them were the lights of Denmark, casting a faint glow against the sky, outlining the looming black escarpment that formed the southern tip of land. The Danes had refused to get involved with the cargo ship without proof. They stated they would support the Americans in their pursuit and gave them valuable information about the ship moving through their channel.
If they were able to save their people on that ship, the credit would go to Hollywood. He anticipated the Dane’s reaction and got them airborne while the back-and-forth diplomacy was still playing out.
Blitz looked over to see Bear and Flint falling in tandem like the pros they were.
Barracuda, the other team’s MWD, a gray sable Malinois, was clipped to Viper, his handler as well. The rest of the members, Crow, Baltimore, Shotgun, Fate, Harvard, Midnight, and 360 were already floating toward their own Zodiac as were the rest of Blitz’s team. As soon as he reached the correct altitude, his chute opened. The boat below them descended to the water tethered to its own chutes, hit the water with a soft splash.
Blitz had jumped with his fins and dry suit on as had all of them. Once he’d hit the water, he released his chute and swam for the boat. Joker was already aboard when Blitz reached it, helping to haul him over the rubber lip. Then it was like clockwork as the rest of the team flowed into the RHIB.
As soon as Crow’s team was situated, they started up the boats and sped toward their target, theImperiya. After about ten minutes theImperiyacame into view, a freshly coated cargo ship with a crane towering on the deck, approximately three hundred and fifty feet in length. Gray hull with a matching gray stack and a white bridge. To anyone traversing this busy shipping lane, it would have appeared to be an innocuous cargo ship going about its business of delivering goods.
The plan was that Crow’s team would assault from the starboard side and Joker’s team would assault from the port side. They got into position. As the assault team’s lead climber, Blitz was responsible for being the first SEAL to ascend a telescoping pole with ladder attached to get onto the deck of the ship. He maneuvered the equipment, then latched onto the hull, making sure it was secure, he slung his M-4 over his shoulder, tying down the muzzle so it wouldn’t clank against the side of the ship and give them away.
When he reached the deck, he peeked over the edge. There were three guards, one was going toward a set of stairs, another was looking out to sea, but not toward Blitz, and the third was way too close for comfort.
The bridge sparkled like a crown atop the five-story white superstructure adjacent to the ship’s stern. Rising about twelve feet above it was a tall white communications tower, radar tracker, and emergency beacon. Below the bridge was a glass-enclosed ceiling that looked like it was the top of Olenska’s living space and the panels would separate to fully open to the sky.
Farther down from the inattentive guard was the entrance. Most likely they would find the elder Olenska inside.
He ducked back down. “I’m going to need to clear the way,” Blitz said.
“Crow?”
“We’re ready. 360 is at the deck. One guard on this side.”
“Three here,” Blitz said.
“On my mark,” Joker said. “Execute.”
Blitz pulled himself over the rail using his upper body strength until he was able to set his felt boot on the edge of the deck to propel himself over. The stairs guard was out of sight, the other guard still looking out to sea. He shouldn’t have been daydreaming.
Without making a sound, he came up behind the closest guard and covered his mouth, slit his throat, and lowered him down to the deck. Then moving quickly and silently, he caught the inattentive guard, and he went the way of the first.
“Deck is clear,” Blitz said. He crouched down behind some boxes and spied a hatch that led to the bowels of the ship. During the two-hour flight, he had memorized the layout and knew where every cabin and cargo hold was located.
That was his and Buck’s target. They were going in search of the hostages and tangos below decks along with Gator, Bear, and Flint from his team, and Midnight, Harvard, Viper, and Barracuda from Crow’s team. Professor and Baltimore would provide overwatch and Joker would oversee the op.
Crow, Fate, and 360 were tasked with taking the bridge. Shotgun would join D-Day and Zorro to take down Leonid Olenska.
As soon as the team was assembled up top, Blitz, Buck, Bear, and Flint headed for the entrance to the lower decks. Buck opened the hatch and Blitz slipped through, moving quickly down the corridor. He and Buck continued down a ladder to the next deck, clearing as they went. Most of the crew were in their beds and it was a simple matter of flex cuffing them and stuffing socks in their mouths.
His mind had been focused like a laser on the mission, but in the back of his mind, he was frantic to find Bree, to make sure she was all right. The thought of her already dead made him crazy. He had to find her.
“Speed it up,” Joker said through comms. Russian MiGs are on their way. We need to get off this ship!”
That fueled him and he, Buck, and Bear moved faster.
“Jackpot,” Zorro said through the comms. Olenska isn’t—”
