by Beth Abbott
Hollywood turned to see Kellen coming back from the bathroom.
“Roman has an old soccer ball amongst his things.” He glanced at the kid. “If Kellen and I take him to play on the other side of the warehouse, to distract Ilya’s goons, maybe you can get Logan and Evan to watch the women, while you and Yuri get the guns loaded.”
Kris nodded his agreement.
“That sounds like a good plan.” He confirmed. “Back in the day, when we were in the Russian army, Yuri and I used to have to dis-assemble and reassemble those things with our eyes blindfolded. It will be interesting to see how quickly we can remember how it’s done.”
“How about trying it without your eyes covered?” Hollywood smirked. “You’d look a bit fucking suspicious standing next to the truck wearing blindfolds.”
“Point taken.” Kris chuckled.
“What’s the plan?” Kellen bounced up with Roman sitting high on his shoulders.
“Soccer.” Hollywood pointed to Roman. “We’re taking Roman and his ball over to the far side to have a quick game of soccer, while the rest of the team make sure last night’s acquisitions are ready to be used, just in case they’re needed tonight.”
“Excellent idea.” Kellen nodded, lifting the boy down. “Do you want to play soccer, Roman?”
“He means football.” Hollywood rolled his eyes.
Roman jumped up and down excitedly.
“I have a football.” He started to run towards the truck.
“Hold up there, pal.” Hollywood snagged him up. “Ken can get your ball. Let’s go over to the other side ready to play. There aren’t any trucks over there to get in our way.”
By the time they walked over to the empty part of the building, Kellen had caught up with them, and as he rolled the ball out in front of them, Roman chased after it in that funny run way that only three-year-olds can do.
“He looks like he’s going to fall over the first time he kicks the ball.” Kellen grinned. “David Beckham he’s not.”
Hollywood shrugged.
“I’m glad he’s not an aspiring soccer star.” He murmured. “It would make Niko’s life harder if Ilya actually took an interest.”
“Ken!” Roman stood waiting impatiently. “Come and kick with me. Hollywood can be the goalkeeper.”
“I think we’ve had our orders.” Hollywood grinned.
For half an hour, they played ball with Roman, Kellen lifting him high and flying him like an aeroplane every time they scored a goal.
If that didn’t have him giggling enough to make him sick, whenever he celebrated too hard, Hollywood would pretend to chase him, and it would take Kellen to pick him up and hold him out of Hollywood’s reach for him to ‘escape’.
Hollywood didn’t think he’d ever seen a child so happy.
Thirty minutes into their play he saw Yuri and Kris strolling over to Logan and Evan. Kris looked across, winked, and blew him a kiss.
As far as he was aware, Kris was solely into women, so Hollywood decided to take that as confirmation that their new rifles were loaded and ready to fire.
If Kris was trying to tell him something else, Hollywood guessed he’d soon find out.
“Roman?” Niko’s voice broke into his musings. “Come on sweetheart. It’s time we were leaving. Hollywood has to drive the truck for us now.”
“Aww, mama!” Roman stamped his little foot. “Another hour, please?”
Niko smiled.
“Roman, you have no idea how long an hour is.” She explained patiently. “But Uncle Ilya has said we must leave now, so I’m afraid that’s what we have to do.”
Roman looked as pissed as it was possible for a three-year-old to look.
Picking up his ball he muttered something and then stomped all the way back to the truck.
Hollywood and Kellen chuckled as Niko followed her son, shaking her head at his little tantrum.
When he was about twenty feet from the driver’s door he stopped and turned, annoyed to find them still halfway across the warehouse.
“Well?” He hissed. “Is one of you going to lift me up?”
Hollywood waited for Niko to answer her son.
“Roman, I’m disappointed in you.” She crouched in front of him. “Hollywood and Kellen were kind enough to play with you, and you haven’t thanked them yet.”
Roman turned and scowled at them.
“Thank you for playing football with me.” He bit out as though the words were killing him to say.
“And would you like to ask nicely for someone to lift you into the truck?” Niko was so reasonable, Hollywood wanted to laugh. How could the kid carry on with his tantrum when his mom was being so calm?
“Will someone lift me nicely into the truck. Please?” Roman switched on such a fake smile, Hollywood had to turn his back on the kid, so he couldn’t see him grinning his ass off.
“I’d be delighted to lift you nicely, Roman.” Kellen smiled. “And maybe, if we get to the next place early enough, we can have another game later.”
Hollywood heard Roman grumble something as he turned and trotted alongside Kellen as they made their way slowly back to the truck.
“I’m sorry he was rude.” Niko frowned.
“Hey, he wasn’t rude. He was just disappointed because we had to stop the game.” Hollywood shrugged. “That’s how three-year-olds behave all over the world when they’re disappointed.”
“I guess.” Niko frowned. “I just worry that he’s picking up his bad behaviour from Ilya.”
“Niko, he’s fine.” Hollywood stopped her by placing his hand on her arm. “Just because he acts out a little every now and then does not mean he’s going to take after your brother. Besides, you’d never let that happen.”
Niko smiled at him and looked about to step closer when a whistle from one of the trucks had them both realising how they must look, her smiling, and him with his hand on her arm.
“We’d better go.” She muttered. “We’re attracting too much attention.”
Hollywood tried to look disinterested and let her take a few steps before following, but unfortunately that only gave him an opportunity to stare at Niko’s ass, leaving him anything but disinterested.
How could this woman expect to walk anywhere without getting too much attention?
He dragged his eyes away from her sweet derriere and turned and glared at the few of Ilya’s men who had stopped to watch Niko as she walked.
If only he could punch each and every one of them who dared to look at her, he’d feel a whole lot happier, Hollywood thought.
Almost as happy as he’d be if he could get his hands on Niko’s ass.
There was probably a double standard in there somewhere, he mused, but he really couldn’t rouse himself enough to care.
Chapter 55 – Hannah
“How far are they from the target area?” Major Kovats asked for what must have been the tenth time in the last hour, causing Hannah to clench her fists.
“Approximately twenty miles, Major.” Hannah replied politely, trying not to snap at him.
Danny reached over and wrapped his large hand around hers, trying to loosen her fingers and get her to relax.
She glanced over at him and smiled.
This was all new to Danny, being left behind and not being part of the mission, so he was starting to understand what it had been like for her all these years, worrying, wondering, biting your fingernails to the quick every time you didn’t have something to do to keep your hands occupied.
“Is the satellite still operational?” This question had only been asked seven times.
“Major, if I might explain…” Hannah winked at Danny before turning back to the screen. “I’ve been monitoring the vehicles ever since they left the warehouse this morning. There are seven altogether at the moment, including the three trucks with the women on board. They’ve maintained an average speed of fifty-six miles an hour, or approximately ninety kilometres per hour if you prefer. That means they will arrive at their
destination in approximately twenty minutes.”
She watched the Major nod, but as he opened his mouth to say something else that was probably going to annoy her, she jumped in again.
“I’ve had satellite coverage for the last two hours, and this is due to continue for another two hours before it goes out of range.” Hannah said confidently. “But if we’re still in need of images when that happens, I have a choice of three other satellites that have been offered to me by various governments, and another two whose private owners owe me favours. Whichever ones we need to call upon will be available to us until midnight at least.”
“What happens if things go beyond midnight?” Captain Bako asked.
“They all turn into pumpkins.” Danny murmured alongside her, making Hannah smile.
“Gentlemen, can I reassure you by telling you that this isn’t the first time we’ve done this.” Hannah smiled at them. “If it goes beyond midnight I have other friends I can call on. The planet rotates, as I’m sure you know, and I have a comprehensive little black book of contacts, which means that there’s virtually nowhere left on the planet that I can’t get satellite access to, should I need it. The key is to know where to look in the first place. If you don’t know where someone is to begin with, that’s where we have problems.”
“Did you track Ilya Federov when he left this morning?” Bako asked.
“We tried.” Hannah admitted. “But he drove into the city in rush hour traffic in a black Mercedes. We did fine until he went through a tunnel, and then around six large black cars came out at the same time. Within two or three minutes they’d spread to the four winds. We stayed on the three that were still in the city, but two of them were eliminated, and the third went into what we discovered was a large underground parking lot. Over the next three hours around sixty black cars exited the lot. It was an impossible task without someone on the ground to help us.”
“Did you ask for police assistance?” Bako demanded.
“I did, and I received good co-operation.” Hannah nodded. “Unfortunately, by the time the officers arrived on site and established that there was more than one exit, more than two dozen black cars had already departed. Nobody left after that who fitted Ilya’s description.”
“Do we have the license plate number?” Bako asked. “We could have been tracing them with the traffic cameras.”
“We thought of that.” Hannah smiled. “They seem to change the plates before each journey. Our men have reported back every time they’ve seen Ilya’s car, and though it’s always the same car, there’s always a different plate on it.”
“Captain, we’ve been involved with this sort of mission all over the world.” JT leaned forward so he was staring straight at the camera. “We’ve also worked with military and police units all over the world. We know what we’re doing, and more importantly, we’re damn good at it. Might I just suggest that you listen to Hannah’s commentary, and when she tells your men to jump, you make damn sure they know to ask how high!”
“Captain Thornton, I understand you have confidence in Madame Simons.” Bako nodded. “But we also have to consider the safety of our men against the objectives of the mission.”
“Captain, what you possibly don’t know is that we here at Guardians Security are a family.” Hannah stared at the screen. “The men and women on the mission are my brothers and sisters. Do you really think that I would do anything less than give a hundred percent of myself to make sure this operation is a success? Every instruction I give, every piece of advice I offer, and every thought in my head is all with a view to a successful mission. Anyone who stands in my way is eliminated.”
“Eliminated?” Bako asked, half a smile on his face.
“Eliminated.” Hannah repeated, confidently. “If you stand in the way of our objective, I will remove you from the field in the most effective way possible.”
“You’re in London and I’m in Hungary, Madame Simons.” Bako shrugged. “How do you plan on ‘removing me from the field’?”
“I have several options available to me.” Hannah shrugged, trying to hide her annoyance. “If you piss me off, I might have to resort to shutting down your communication equipment and messing with your road traffic signals. Switch everything to green, maybe, to clog up all your roads. If you put my family in danger, I will do far, far worse, I assure you.”
“Captain Bako, if Hannah’s skills are sufficiently respected by the British, American, and Colombian governments for them to give her operational control of every mission she’s been part of, possibly you might think it in your best interests to follow suit.” David Roan interjected. “I would hate to have to take this to ministerial level at this late hour to ensure we have everyone’s full co-operation, but if I see that as being my only alternative, I won’t hesitate.”
“I don’t think that will be necessary.” Major Kovats leaned forward, half a smile on his face. “The Captain has his men’s best interests at heart, but he doesn’t have control of the mission at this end. That responsibility rests with me. So, what do you want from us, Madame Simons?”
Hannah tried to regulate her breathing.
Bako was really pushing her buttons, but at least now Kovats seemed to be taking charge.
“Ok, the trucks are less than ten minutes away from their destination, and there may well be an outrider that we don’t know about, so make sure all your people are well out of sight. I don’t want anyone spotted because they weren’t careful enough.” Hannah began. “Then I want them to stay put until they’re given the instruction to move in. That could be thirty minutes, or it could be four hours. Patience is the key to our success here, so all of your men have to know that they can’t jump the gun. When we’re ready to move in, I’ll give the signal. Nobody moves without that signal. Is that understood?”
Kovats nodded.
“My men are well trained and disciplined, Madame. They’ll obey instructions.” He confirmed.
“My men are also capable of following instructions.” The Captain blustered. “You won’t find any cause for complaint.”
“Good.” Hannah nodded. “Then if you can refrain from asking for updates every thirty seconds, it would be helpful. If you have laptops or tablets handy, my colleague can patch through the connection, so you can watch the satellite images in real time, but if you can’t make out what’s going on, then I suggest you don’t look. Nobody has time to constantly talk you through what’s happening.”
Abbey sat forward and gathered the details required to link the officers in to their satellite coverage and clarified with them that they were looking at the first of the three vehicles.
Hannah’s phone started vibrating on the table and she picked it up.
“I’ve got a message coming in from one of our men.” She informed the assembled group. “Kris is in the first truck, and he’s confirmed they’re about a mile from their destination, and their driver is expecting a welcoming party. Literally, a party. Some kind of celebration.”
“Does your man know how many people will be there to welcome them?” Bako asked.
“No, and he can’t find out unless they discuss it among themselves.” Hannah shook her head. “It’s more beneficial for us if his driver and co-driver continue to believe that our men don’t speak Russian at all. They learn more that way.”
“How does there being a party affect the mission?” Bako asked.
“Firstly, it means that there are likely to be a lot more of Ilya’s men around than we’d expected.” Hannah pointed out. “Secondly, it means that they’re unlikely to be getting to sleep early. And thirdly, it means that they’re likely to consume copious amounts of alcohol, so we’re going to have a tough time protecting the women. I’m going to have to warn our men to be on guard from the moment they arrive at the warehouse.”
Hannah started typing into her phone and sent messages to Evan and Kellen to be on the look-out for trouble.
“Is there anything else we can do now?” David asked.
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Hannah shook her head.
“There’s nothing we can do until they arrive at the warehouse.” Hannah explained. “I’ve just sent warnings to the guys, so they’ve got a better idea of what they’re walking into. Once they’ve had a chance to assess the situation, they’ll report back in, and we’ll be able to decide when it’s best to infiltrate, and what the plan of attack will be. Just tell your men to stand easy for the moment.”
“What if they can’t get a message out?” Kovats asked.
“When they arrive in Budapest they’ll all wear hidden body cameras which also have limited audio ability.” Hannah explained. “As long as the signal can get through, we’ll be able to see what they’re seeing, and hear it as well. Ellen will have access to the audio, so she can translate for us, should we need it.”
The room fell silent for a little while as they followed the progress of the first truck on the monitors.
Hannah glanced at the screen and noticed both Bako and Kovats sitting forward, as though they expected to have to give the order to attack at any second.
“Gents, I suggest you settle back and tell your men to do the same.” Hannah suggested. “We could be in for a long evening.”
Chapter 56 – Niko
Niko sat in the passenger seat, her phone gripped in her fingers, staring out at the passing scenery.
It had been so pretty while they were travelling through the countryside, but once they’d hit the outskirts of the city, it had transformed, and become grey and dirty and tired looking.
Not that it would have mattered what it looked like at that moment. Her mind was going over the last few messages she’d received, trying to get her head around what was going on.
It had started about two hours ago, when the first message had come in.
“Everything is on track for tonight. As soon as we’re in position, it will be up to you to get Roman safely out of the way. Leave the safety of the women to us.”
That had immediately set her off into a panic. Where would she be able to hide Roman to keep him safe? In the back of the truck? Was it bulletproof?