Nova raised an eyebrow. “Mr. Horst, is there something you want to share with us?”
Klaus straightened and took a deep breath. This was his moment. “Yes, Madame Dinkel, I would like to offer my services. Let me explain.”
Everyone’s eyes were locked on Klaus.
18
The flashing lights were easy to spot even so far away. Hugo walked to the window and surveyed his surroundings.
The hospital building, tall and modern in its construction, extended to the right. Thick snowflakes fell, creating a thin blanket on the ground. Hugo’s body, bruised in multiple places from the crash, ached dully.
A voice spoke from behind him, and he turned, clasping his hands together to conceal how much they trembled. He looked at the group. Mikko, seated on the hospital bed, took hold of the frame for support and stood up. He stretched and groaned.
“I’m getting too old for this.”
Hugo put a hand on his shoulder. “You’re a tough one, I’ll give you that.”
“You are too,” Mikko chuckled. “We’re all tough—and lucky.”
Everyone had made it—or, almost everyone. The pilots were dead, and Anna was injured. At that moment, she was in surgery. They hadn’t heard anything about her condition for more than an hour.
Freya walked over to Sussie, who was standing with her arms crossed, looking out at the distant twinkling lights.
“They’ll see that we were shot down,” Freya said dully. She turned to the others. “We won’t be allowed to leave tonight.”
Hugo thought of his brother, who was hovering between life and death at the hospital in Malmö. It was crazy how much had happened since that catastrophe. He shook his head. They had less than eighteen hours left before the planned attack.
“We haven’t come this far just to give up now, right? he asked the team.
With a nod of her head, Sussie indicated the two policemen standing outside the door. “What about them?” she asked. “How do you suggest we get past them?”
Hugo’s eyes flicked to Mikko. “I’m working on that.”
“Okay, well, you’d better hurry,” said Sussie. “If we already have a police guard, I can only imagine what it’s going to be like when they figure out the plane was shot down. Then the cops will really pour in here.”
Hugo’s mind raced; it was now or never. “Okay. Let’s try this.”
Hugo laid out the pitch. Twenty seconds later, Freya raised a skeptical eyebrow.
“Okay, that sounds simple enough, but you know we’re going to be chased, right? By all the Finnish police, I mean.”
“I know.”
Mikko burst out laughing. “You’re one crazy cat—must run in the family. I say we do it.”
Sussie agreed. “Yep. We have no choice.”
Hugo looked to his left. “Freya?”
She shrugged and said, “We’ve come this far. We can’t stop now.”
*
She screamed as she fell to the ground. The guards rushed to look through the small square of glass and saw the woman lying lifelessly on the cold, white tiles. They pushed open the door and rushed in, and that’s when Mikko and Hugo jumped from their positions.
Mikko’s fist hit home, and the first guard went down. He blew on his knuckles with a pained grimace and cried, “Lord, I haven’t punched a person in a long time!”
Hugo struck the back of the other guard’s head, and as if a light had been flipped off, the man collapsed. Sussie got up from the floor and brushed herself off. The coast was clear—at least for a few minutes.
“Okay, come on. Let’s get our gear,” Hugo said.
The corridor outside was empty of people. Mikko and Freya slipped into the room next door, where their rescued equipment sat. It smelled of smoke, filling the small room with the noxious odor. Hugo and Sussie popped into the room next.
Freya moaned when she saw the meager three bags. “Is that all they got?”
“We’ll make do,” said Hugo. “Grab them. We’ll head down to the parking lot and take one of the cars.”
They moved quickly. Hugo’s heartbeat pounded in his ears as the four of them ran down the stairs and stepped out into a bitingly cold evening. Snow swirled around them.
Hugo looked left and right. In the corner, a jet-black van was parked. A Peugeot. He looked at Mikko with a grin. “What do you say?”
Mikko’s smile widened. “I think that’ll work just fine. I love French cars.” He rushed to the sleek vehicle and began to pick the lock. In a matter of seconds, there was a click and he shouted, “Come on!”
Swiftly, the team loaded the equipment that remained, and Freya jumped into the passenger seat next to Mikko. Hugo climbed into the middle row with Sussie. Mikko started the engine, and they started moving.
“That was surprisingly easy,” said Mikko.
Hugo looked at Sussie. She was still shaken.
“Hey, you,” he said.
“Yeah?”
“Can you call Madeleine? Give her an update on what happened?”
Sussie nodded. “Sure.”
Sussie pulled an iPad out of one bag and turned it on. Her fingers worked like lightning, and after forty seconds Madeleine’s face slid forward.
“Sussie! Hugo!”
Hugo took the tablet and asked, “Hey Madeleine, how’s Felix?”
The words came so fast that he couldn’t control himself. When his brother’s name exited his mouth, it was like a floodgate within him was released. Tears ran down his cheeks.
Madeleine’s mouth tensed. “He came out of surgery three hours ago. He’s seriously injured, but he’s hanging on. The next twenty-four hours will be crucial.”
Hugo tried to process Madeleine’s words. Sussie, realizing he needed a minute to think, took the iPad back and said, “We’re in Finland.”
“Already? That was fast.”
Sussie summarized the last six hours, and Madeleine whistled. “You’ve been busy.”
“You can’t even imagine. We’re here to look for Markov’s assistant. We had Markov, but he was injured in the crash, so they’ve got him in the hospital. If we’re going to prevent the attack tomorrow, we have to find the antidote and the scanner. Otherwise, we’re smoked.”
“Okay. Do everything in your power to get there, and then get to London. There are seventeen hours left. And don’t worry about the police—I’ll take care of it.”
Hugo leaned forward. “We will do everything we can. We’re not giving up. Please keep an eye on my brother.”
Madeleine gave a thumbs-up. “We’ll do everything we can, Hugo.”
Before Hugo could answer, the windshield of the van exploded.
*
Two hundred meters above them, a dark drone made a wide turn. Its advanced cameras scanned the area. It was airborne, but it was on borrowed time. The airspace above airports wasn’t open for drones, but Xi didn’t care.
He had to take down Hugo and his team. He had to. It was that simple. Xi wanted to be the best mercenary in the world, and you didn’t become that by giving up.
Xi sat in a state-of-the-art aircraft at three thousand feet and looked at the monitor in front of him. The dark drone above the airport streamed live pictures as it approached the target.
“One more time. Shoot them.”
A cold, measured voice answered, “Roger. Attack formation Delta.”
The drone accelerated and moved into position. Its cameras automatically homed in on the black Peugeot driving along the fence that surrounded the airport. The van’s headlights made it easy for the drone to follow. The sensors adjusted downward, and it sent a command to its controller.
The cold voice came back to Xi, “Approved to open fire?”
Xi pounded the table. “Yes! Shoot!”
A second later, the drone unleashed hell.
*
They were stuck. Mikko roared, “We have no more road!”
Hugo stuck his head out of the shattered side window, the frigid wind tear
ing at his hair. He turned his head, trying to see what was shooting at them. Finally, he saw it—a massive, dark shadow glided across the sky, and a faint growling bellowed through the air.
“Jesus. Whatever it is, it’s big.”
Seeing the look on Hugo’s face as he settled back into the van, she said, “What is it? A helicopter? A drone?”
“Looks like a drone. A really advanced drone.”
Mikko shouted again. “Fifty meters! There’s no more left!”
Hugo crawled forward and squatted next to the driver’s seat. The dark road was indeed about to end. A gate marking the exit was closed, and an armed guard stared at the approaching vehicle. Hugo pointed.
“There. Break through the gate and get us out on the rural roads, away from buildings. We need to neutralize the drone that’s following us before we do anything else.”
Mikko nodded once and gripped the wheel so tightly that his knuckles became white marbles. Freya crawled into the footwell.
“Hold on!”
A few seconds later, the Peugeot slammed through the tall metal gate, which was thrown off its hinges and flew ten meters into the air. The deafening bang disoriented Hugo; he looked up and saw Mikko struggling with the wheel.
“We did it! Holy shit, we did it!” Mikko cried.
“Well done, Mikko.”
Another long burst of bullets screamed across the sky and churned up hundreds of tiny clouds as they hit the ground. Mikko swerved wildly, nearly ramming into a tree, but he managed to correct the course and keep it upright.
“Careful!” shouted Sussie.
Hugo went back to Freya and asked her, “Do we have anything we can use?”
Freya chuckled. “We have an M249 left in that bag—it’s powerful enough to shoot down any drone.” She pointed to one of the heavy fabric bags. Hugo ripped it open and pulled out the powerful machine gun. As he secured it, Mikko made another turn and Hugo fell into Sussie’s lap.
“Hey!” Sussie pushed him back up. “Watch that thing!”
“Thanks for the assistance.”
“Any time. Now what?” she asked.
“Open the back doors,” Hugo instructed. “Make sure they stay open.”
Sussie’s eyes grew wide as saucers as it dawned on her what he was going to do. They crawled over the seats.
“Ready,” Sussie said and gripped the handles.
Hugo took a deep breath. “Okay, on three. One, two, three!”
She pushed hard on the door and it flew open. Hugo raised the gun as he scanned the skies for the target. He saw nothing. The van veered right, and the door slammed shut in his face.
“Come on! Keep it open for me!”
Sussie kicked the door and it flew open again. Once more, Hugo looked out and up, studying the darkness. Aha! There it was. The inky shadow in the sky was gigantic and growing bigger by the second as it quickly approached.
Sussie whispered, “Oh my God.”
Despite everything happening around him, a calm settled on Hugo. It all became external to his sense of inner peace—the roaring wind in his hair, the dizzying snow that made his fingers numb.
He whispered, “Closer, closer.” Finally, he exhaled slowly and squeezed the trigger, filling the van with deafening noise.
19
He slammed the screen so hard that the folding table rattled.
“Damn it!”
Miguel put his hand on Xi’s shoulder. “Hey, take it easy.”
Xi slapped his hand, and Miguel yanked it back.
“Shut up!” Xi spat.
Miguel didn’t answer, but just rubbed his hand where he had been struck. That reaction hadn’t happened before. Xi could be verbally tough—even cruel—but he had never slapped him.
Xi’s eyes flashed, and he screamed, “That bastard, why can’t he just die?” He knew he had to call Klaus. He’d promised to update him when he was approaching Finland. He was running out of time, and given how resilient Hugo had turned out to be, it all started to grind on Xi’s nerves. He pulled his hand over his face and rose.
The plane rocked in the sky as it began its approach, and he stumbled. Miguel reached his hand out automatically, and Xi grabbed it.
“Thanks,” he mumbled.
“Yeah, don’t worry about it,” Miguel answered sullenly.
Xi pulled a cell phone out of his pocket and stared at Miguel. “I have to report to the boss. Go back to the others and make sure they’re ready. After we land, it’s full speed ahead to this Aino Salo woman.”
“Roger.” Miguel turned to go, but Xi reached out and grabbed his arm.
“We’re going to finish this now. Okay?”
Miguel clenched his jaws. “You bet.”
“Good.”
Miguel went to the back of the plane and sat down with the others. When he was gone, Xi took a few deep breaths and felt a calm return to him once more. Then he dialed the number and raised the phone. It rang three times.
“Hello?”
“It’s me.”
“Yes?”
“It didn’t work. They shot down the drone and managed to escape.”
“You can’t be serious.”
“I am. They left the airport in a black Peugeot van—it looks like they were heading straight for the Finnish scientist.”
“For Christ’s sake,” Klaus cursed, “this is the second time you’ve failed today. I thought you were a rising star, but I’m starting to think I made a mistake betting on you.”
“It’s not me, Klaus, it’s that damn Hugo. He’s good—much more skillful than we thought. And Markov was injured in the crash. I was told he was in for surgery, so it looks like it’s just Hugo and his team again.”
“This is your last chance, Xi. Get the Finnish scientist and the antidote. Crush Hugo; do it now!”
The call ended, and Xi frowned. A drop of cold sweat slid down his temple. This was a new feeling for him—failure. It had never happened to him before, and certainly not twice the same day. He felt dizzy.
*
The discomfort came in waves. Each time they hit a pothole, Hugo grunted in pain. His wounded shoulder had taken a hell of a beating when he’d shot down the drone, and now, he was paying the price. Sussie crawled to the seat next to him holding a first aid kit.
“Well, here we are again.”
Hugo forced a smile. “Lucky me.”
Sussie rebandaged Hugo, then stuck a syringe into his shoulder. “This’ll help with the pain.”
“Thanks.”
He leaned back and closed his eyes as the painkiller made its way through his veins. After a few minutes, that warm feeling spread inside, and the pain receded into a faraway place in his mind.
Driving along the deserted country road. “It’s not far now,” he called back.
Freya glanced out of the passenger window. “Midnight. They’ll be asleep when we get there.”
Hugo answered without opening his eyes, “Probably so. We can use that to our advantage.”
“How are we going to do it this time?” Freya asked.
Mikko chuckled as they passed a huge lumber truck. “Hugo, my man!” he said. “You have a plan, right?”
Hugo opened his eyes and sat up. “Yeah—sort of. It’s been a while since I did this.”
Mikko slapped his knee. “I knew it!”
Sussie handed a laptop to Hugo. “Here, take a look.”
Hugo opened it and set it on his lap. A pdf file sat open on the screen; at the top was the image of a round-faced woman with her hair pulled back into a bun at the base of her neck. Under her no-nonsense eyes were dark rings that gave her an anemic look.
“Aino Salo, forty-seven. Married. No kids. Researcher at the semi-state-owned lab Microdigital, which specializes in nanotechnology.”
Hugo scanned the additional personal information about the Finnish researcher.
“But she has a secret,” Sussie went on. “She’s addicted to gambling. It’s gotten her in trouble—she owes some very bad people
a lot of money. That’s what Markov took advantage of. That’s how he got her to work on the nanobots he needed for his treatment.”
Freya mumbled, “Not very chivalric of him.”
“No. Chivalry isn’t exactly Markov’s bag. So, when we go in, we’re careful, okay? No deadly violence. We take her, make her open up the lab for us, get the antidote and the scanner, and get the hell out.”
Everyone in the car nodded in agreement.
“Roger that,” Hugo said.
They continued toward the town center. Aino lived in the central part of Helsinki, and her workplace was close to her home. Hugo leaned back.
“Just give me a few minutes.”
He closed his eyes, and Sussie made eye contact with Freya. They watched each other as the streetlights flicked by.
*
She didn’t know what woke her. Aino Salo sat up in bed in her luxury apartment. Beside her, her husband Pekka slept heavily. Aino peered out the window. The snowstorm had picked up again, and the drifts swirled around outside, making her bed feel twice as cozy and warm.
She glanced at Pekka and contemplated going back to sleep, but she knew she’d only lie there at this point.
“Shit,” she whispered. It had been like this for the past few months. She kept waking up earlier and earlier. This time, it was just after midnight. She slid gently off the bed, pulled the robe from her chair, and wrapped it around her body.
As she exited the bedroom, she closed the door lightly. In the kitchen, Aino turned on the kettle. A cup of tea sometimes helped, but deep down, she knew better. This particular waking moment had to do with her conscience. For the past month, she had been forced to work with that bastard Markov Tupolev.
The Russian researcher had tried to work out a collaboration with her a few times in recent years, but she had always deflected. At first, his interest had been flattering, but soon it had all turned nasty.
She had managed to hold him at bay, but then he’d found out her secret. How he’d done it she didn’t know, and it didn’t matter, either. Not now.
The kettle clicked, and she poured the boiling water over a tea bag. She added a teaspoon of honey, then leaned against the counter. If nothing else, the warm beverage at least gave her some relief as she stared into the whirling snowstorm.
The Hugo Xavier Series: Book 1-3 Page 13