*
Far below, the mangled Peugeot came to a stop. Heavy snowflakes settled on the hood, melting in seconds from the rising heat of the engine. Mikko checked his watch; it was half-past twelve. The pale glow of the streetlights glittered across the snow-covered ground, and the traffic lights silently and rhythmically alternated between stop and go. He leaned against the side door and looked up.
“We’re here.”
Hugo gingerly raised and lowered his shoulders as he pulled himself up into a sitting position. His wounded shoulder throbbed. “Get ready, people,” he said.
With quiet efficiency, everyone in the van went through his or her equipment. They would take no firearms. The information available to them indicated that Aino had been forced into this. Hugo patted the two knives against his chest.
“We don’t know how far behind us Xi is, so we need this mission to go fast. In and out, no frills. We enter through the main door, go up the elevator, and secure Aino. If her husband is there, we neutralize him. Then Aino takes us down to the lab, where we collect the antidote and scanner. Any questions?”
Sussie, Mikko, and Freya shook their heads. Soon, they were standing on the sidewalk in the freezing midnight air. They made their way to the main door; twenty buttons filled the surface of the control panel on the wall.
Mikko reached over and slid his hand down them all. A few seconds passed before three, then four, voices started talking. Then the lock clicked, and Sussie pulled the door open.
“Excellent.”
They entered the beautiful hall, where a large crystal chandelier spread a pleasant glow around the space. The sound of their coarse boots echoed off the marble walls as they walked to the elevator. When the doors slid aside, they piled inside, and Hugo pressed the top button.
Mikko’s smile widened. “This is going according to plan so far,” he said gleefully.
Hugo took a deep breath, preparing to carry out the next step. The elevator came to a stop, and as they exited, he pointed down the hallway.
“There it is. Seven-A.”
Freya and Mikko took up position on either side of the door, and Hugo placed his ear against it. He listened for two full minutes but heard nothing. Sussie stood by the elevator, and when the doors slid closed again and the elevator car disappeared, she froze.
“Come on now. Move,” she whispered.
Hugo cast his eyes to Mikko, then to Freya. They nodded—they were ready. Hugo took out a lockpick gun and drove it into the lock. It was a particularly advanced type, one that could normally only be obtained by police. He pulled the trigger, and the lock clicked. Gently, he took hold of the handle and pushed the door open.
*
Aino tensed. The sound from the hall was muted but certain—the lock. She knew that sound. It had been disengaged. Aino lowered the teacup silently. She barely dared to breathe. With her heart pounding in her ears, she stared into the hall but saw nothing. The faint lamp was on, but she saw no movement. Had she imagined the sound?
No. She had heard it clearly. The hair on her arms stood up as the silent seconds passed. Then came another sound—the door. It had opened. Her pulse quickened as time seemed to slow down. Everything felt so surreal, like a dream. Inch by inch, Aino stood up.
The floor was cold under her feet. Tiptoeing around the kitchen island, she peeked into the bedroom. Pekka was in there, still sleeping.
A shadow fluttered past in the hall, and she turned her head sharply at the movement. Someone was there. Another shadow flicked by—there was more than one “someone” in her house.
Aino listened to them shuffle through the corridor. No one was speaking, but she could feel their presence. Feel their intrusion. She took two more steps toward the bedroom and stopped cold. A woman stood before her in the hallway, looking straight at her. A strong-looking woman. Aino barely dared to breathe. They stared at each other for what felt like an eternity before another shape appeared behind the female intruder. This one was a man—tall and fit. Both of them looked like soldiers, though they didn’t appear to be armed.
Aino dug deep for courage and whispered, “Who are you? What do you want?”
The woman held up her palms, but Aino flinched, spun around, and ran toward the bedroom. A voice called out behind her to stop, and Aino heard rapid steps. She careened through the bedroom door and threw it shut behind her.
“Pekka! Someone’s in the house!”
Pekka jolted upright just as the dark shadows swept into the bedroom. Aino screamed in terror.
*
The snow sprayed like a geyser as the heavy Mercedes hit the curve in the road too quickly.
“Careful!” Xi howled.
The driver skillfully straightened the car and stepped on the accelerator, and the powerful engine thundered. Behind them, two more black Mercedes came up fast. The short convoy sped up even more as it barreled along the outer edges of Helsinki. There was almost no traffic at this time of the day, so they could floor it with no trouble.
“Miguel, give me a status.”
In the back seat, Miguel worked on a black tablet. “It looks like Hugo and his team have already gotten to Aino,” he said.
“What? Already? How the hell did they manage that?”
Miguel shrugged and took hold of the grab handle as the car turned another sharp corner at speed. “I don’t know,” he said. “The surveillance cameras only stream real-time video. I don’t have access to any of their backup systems.”
Xi turned around. “Is that something you can fix?”
“Not from here. Not when we’re mobile.”
Xi swore. This mission had gone from simple to nightmarish. He hadn’t expected this resistance, this Hugo interference. Xi hadn’t slept for nearly thirty hours, and he was beginning to feel the effects of the deprivation. He was getting sloppy; he could feel his mind struggling to cope.
He took a small, round jar from his bag, shook out a couple of pills, and dry-swallowed them. He offered some to Miguel, who accepted.
“Thanks.”
“How much further?”
“Almost seven miles.”
Xi shook his head to clear his thoughts. “Okay, Tom,” he said to the driver. “Full speed now, and no mistakes. We’ve had enough of them today.” Then he lifted the radio to his mouth and said, “Jack, come in.”
The radio crackled. “Jack here,” the man answered from the last car in the convoy.
“Seven miles to go, so get ready. When we get there, we enter with full force. Kill everyone.”
“Everyone? What about the researcher? Shouldn’t we keep her alive?”
“No,” Xi said coldly. “Kill everyone.”
*
The fear exuding from the husband and wife was so dense, Hugo could almost touch it. Aino’s eyes were as big as saucers. Hugo held up his hands to calm her.
“Take it easy. I know you’re scared, but we aren’t here to hurt you. We aren’t going to do anything to either of you. See? We aren’t even armed.”
Pekka sat next to Aino with his arm around her. “What the hell is this?” he sputtered. “You’ve broken in. Who do you think you are? You’ll never get away with this.”
Hugo sighed. This was going to take some time, and time was something they didn’t have. He had no idea how far behind them Xi was, but it probably wasn’t that far. They needed to persuade Aino as quickly as possible.
“Okay. Look, I realize this may be confusing, but I’m telling the truth. We aren’t going to do anything to you. We just need Aino to help us with one thing, and when that’s done, we’ll get out of here. There won’t be a problem.”
Pekka hissed, “No problem? I’ll make sure you have a problem, you bastard.”
Mikko, who had been standing next door, took a big step forward and yelled in Finnish as he stuck a finger in Pekka’s face. “Ole varastossa, idiot!” (Now shut up, idiot!)
Pekka froze. Mikko continued in a slightly calmer tone.
“We don’t have time
for this. A group of assassins is on their way here right now, and they’re not as understanding as we are.”
Aino gasped. “Assassins? Coming here? What are you talking about?”
Hugo pulled up a chair and sat opposite the terrified couple. This wouldn’t work if he didn’t take the time for at least a little explanation. He spoke evenly but quickly, and two minutes later, he leaned back.
“You understand now? It’s not you that we’re after. It’s the antidote and the scanner you keep in your lab.”
Pekka leaned against Aino and whispered in her ear. The seconds ticked by. Hugo noticed Aino’s hands begin to tremble.
“Okay,” she said at last. “We’ll do it—we’ll take you to the lab and give you what you want. But you have to promise you’ll let us go after that.”
Hugo smiled. “You have my word.”
Aino searched Hugo’s face for signs of deception but found none. She nodded. “Let me put on some clothes, and I’ll take you down.”
Hugo motioned to Sussie and Freya. “Stay with her,” he instructed. “Mikko and I will be with Pekka in the living room.” He turned to Pekka and said, “Get dressed. It’s cold outside.”
Two minutes later, they all stood together in the living room. Aino had put on a pair of jeans and a thick sweater, and as she pulled on her jacket, she tensed.
“Wait.”
“What?” Hugo said.
Aino rushed into the kitchen, and Hugo ran after her. She grabbed a gold-colored access card from the island. “Don’t want to forget this,” she said nervously.
Hugo thought through the next steps. It was two hundred meters to the lab. They would head down in the elevator, hop into the van, and drive there. Then, Aino would let them in. And then—
He interrupted himself. Slow down, Hugo. One thing at a time.
He clapped his hands together once. “Okay. Good. We’re leaving. Let’s head to the elevator.”
Silently, the team and the anxious couple walked down the hall and onto the elevator. At the bottom, they stepped out into the great hall. The snowfall had increased in the last fifteen minutes, and a two-inch layer of snow had already covered the van. A plow truck, its lights flashing, drove past them and disappeared.
“All right,” Hugo said. “Out here, we’re exposed. Get in the van, and we’ll drive to the lab.” He turned. “And Aino, when we get there, it’s your job to get us in as fast as possible. Got it?”
Aino pulled her jacket tighter and reached for Pekka. “Yes. Of course.”
Mikko opened the door, and they headed out into the snow. Hugo opened the side door for Aino and Pekka as Mikko and Freya climbed in front. As Hugo was opening the other passenger door, a black Mercedes blared around the corner. A man leaned out the window with a semiautomatic rifle and started shooting. The rounds slammed into the door of the Peugeot, and Hugo threw himself down.
20
Everything around him slowed. The snowflakes descended so unhurriedly, it seemed they were suspended in the air. When the seventh bullet blasted the passenger door, Hugo hit the ground and rolled. He scrambled up to a half-seated position and saw two more black cars following the first one.
That’s him! Hugo thought. He bared his teeth and kicked the passenger door shut. “Move!” he shouted at Mikko.
Mikko stepped on the accelerator, and the wheels spun. Snow shot up behind the van as it accelerated, and Mikko pulled hard on the wheel. The Peugeot made a U-turn, speeding around cars stopped at a traffic light.
Two more assailants stuck their heads out of side windows and began shooting. Hugo ran to close the wooden gate the van had left through—it didn’t provide much protection, but it had to be better than nothing.
Hugo was more or less unarmed; all he had were the knives, and they wouldn’t be much help here—not against three moving cars packed with armed men. He could only watch as Mikko accelerated. The large, damaged vehicle was too slow. It would just be a matter of time before the rest of the team was caught and killed. He pulled his body closer to the wall to avoid a fresh hail of bullets.
To his surprise, the van turned tightly again, and instead of attempting to escape, it headed straight for the three Mercedes.
“No! What are you doing?” Hugo shouted.
But Mikko couldn’t hear him—that, or he ignored him; either way, it didn’t matter. The van placed itself in the middle of the roadway and accelerated. The passenger side window opened and Freya stuck herself halfway out. She looked at Hugo, threw something toward him, and retreated into the van. The next second, she was hanging out the window again. The fronts of the cars were just thirty meters away now, with the distance closing rapidly.
Freya flung a dark object at the oncoming cars just before the Peugeot pulled a sharp right turn. Hugo threw himself toward whatever Freya had hurled at him, groping at the snow until he got hold of a pistol grip. He pulled the gun from beneath the snow and checked the magazine.
A second later, the whole world rumbled as the front of the first Mercedes exploded in a blast of fire.
*
Heat radiated through the windshield of the second car. Inside, Xi gasped at the enormous fireball in front of him.
“Jacky! No!”
Another dark object moved through the air, this time against his car.
“Grenade!” he shouted.
Miguel pulled hard on the steering wheel, and the heavy Mercedes veered right, hitting the curb square on and launching into the air. Seconds later, the car was rocked by the power of the explosion they’d barely missed.
“Shoot them!” Xi roared.
The two men in the back seat leaned out of their windows and opened fire with their machine guns. Xi watched with a mix of horror and elation as the rounds burst the tinted side windows of the black van.
It swayed as the driver tried to escape the inexorable storm of bullets. Xi passed the wreck of the first Mercedes, but there was no time to look for survivors. Narrowing his eyes, he instead turned his focus to the black Peugeot. He was able to see inside it now—a man and a woman were in the front, but it wasn’t the same man he had fought before. It wasn’t Hugo. Where was that son of a—
Just then, he caught sight of a shadow fluttering near the house, behind the wooden gate. It was him. Xi grinned sadistically.
“There you are, you bastard.”
As soon as Xi saw him, the figure raised its arm and started shooting. Bullets slammed into the door next to Xi, and he yelled, “There, inside the gate! Take him down!”
His comrade opened fire, and Hugo threw himself back. The van swung around and sped away in the thickening snowstorm. Xi cursed. He was being forced to make a choice: Hugo or the Peugeot. Hesitation grabbed hold of him, and the van vanished into the night.
*
The thunderous noise of gunfire disappeared behind them as Mikko swung around the corner. Sirens echoed in the distance. He picked up the radio.
“Hugo, do you read me?”
The radio crackled. “Hugo here,” came the breathless reply.
“We’re going to continue to the lab.”
“Roger. I’ll hold them here as long as I can.”
Freya threw a worried glance at Mikko but said nothing.
Hugo continued, “When you’re finished, head to the airport as fast as possible. I’ll be right behind you.”
“You don’t want us to come get you?”
Shots echoed from the radio, and Mikko flinched. Hugo’s voice broke up with static.
“No! Don’t come here! I’ll go myself.”
With that, the connection broke. Mikko held the radio in one hand and steered the van with the other.
Mikko looked over his shoulder at Aino. “How far?” he asked.
Aino, stiff with terror, stuttered, “To . . . to the lab?”
“Yeah, lady. The lab. How far?”
She leaned forward and pointed. “It’s just over there. Three blocks away. To the left.”
“Okay. Get ready.”<
br />
Pekka’s face was pale, but he maintained his composure. “Who was that in the cars?” he asked.
Freya checked the magazine on her rifle and answered without looking up, “Evil men. Those are the guys who are after you.”
Aino closed her eyes. “Why? We haven’t done anything.”
“In their eyes, you’re a target that must be eliminated, no matter the cost. These people are serious about killing you.”
“Oh my God,” Aino moaned. “What are we going to do?”
Sussie put her hand on Aino’s shoulder. “Once we have the antidote and scanner, we’ll head to a police station and drop you off. One of us will contact the police to explain that you need help. You’ll be safe there for tonight.”
Some color returned to Aino’s face. “Thank you,” she said, taking Sussie’s hands in hers. “Thank you so much.”
Sussie smiled. “Don’t worry about it. One thing at a time. We’re not going to let anything happen to you.”
They drove the last few hundred meters to the lab. It was a modern office building that shared an entrance with a hotel. Aino leaned forward.
“Park in front, and we can go right in.”
As instructed, Mikko pulled the Peugeot up to the entrance. They jumped out into the swirling snow and ran to the large glass doors, the biting cold turning their breath into streams of white vapor as they ran. Aino pulled out the gold-colored card and laid it against the scanner; the lock clicked, and Freya pulled the door open.
Once in the warmth and safety of the building, Aino led the way. She jogged to the elevator with the rest of the crew at her heels and pressed the down button. The readout above the elevator counted down; seven, six, five. Freya secured her weapon, and Aino and Pekka stared at her.
Freya shrugged. “You never know.”
The Hugo Xavier Series: Book 1-3 Page 14