by J A Heaton
Daniel looked around at the bleak mountain desert that surrounded them as he staggered several steps forward with Edwards. Snow-tipped peaks rose in the distance, but a ravine dropped below them to a dry riverbed with scattered boulders.
Another flurry of gunshots came through the hole in the wall, and Daniel reflexively tried to drop to the ground.
Instead, it made Daniel stumble, and Edwards tried to catch him.
Edwards braced himself and reached after Daniel as he began to teeter over the edge. Edwards grasped at Daniel’s belt, but he only succeeded in dislodging Daniel’s Glock and sending it down into the ravine first.
Edwards made another lunge to grab Daniel, but it was too much.
They both tumbled down the steep and rocky side of the ravine towards the dry riverbed.
A final volley of gunfire thundered through the hole in the wall above.
20
Daniel groaned in pain once his body reached the bottom of the ravine. He struggled to roll over onto his back.
When he finally did, he looked up into the clear blue sky. He occasionally heard a gunshot in the distance.
At least I won’t be shot, Daniel thought to himself.
He moved his hands in front of his face and wiggled his toes. He didn’t want to know what he looked like, but he did not feel as badly as he had expected. His ankle still throbbed from his drop from the helicopter, and one of his ribs had hit a boulder awkwardly, but he was confident he could eventually walk away from the tumble.
Looking about, he spotted Edwards about twenty-five feet away, gathering his wits. After sitting up, he looked around again and saw the satellite phone resting in the dirt.
His body was shaking slightly, and Daniel thought he might be going into shock.
Am I injured in a way I haven’t noticed? Daniel thought to himself, fearing he would look down to see that his knee was bent ninety degrees the wrong way.
But no, Daniel rose to his feet slowly and noticed no other significant injuries. He went to grab the satellite phone, but a sharp pain in his side made him wait.
“Daniel?” Edwards called out in pain. “Are you okay?”
“Doing better than Fitzpatrick,” Daniel called back. “As long as somebody rescues us from this ravine, I think we will be able to celebrate.”
Edwards stood up, sat back down, crouched over, and then said, “You think Fitzpatrick might have broken protocol a few times as the Wolf? That bastard.” Edwards sat back up and rose to his feet. “Well, I finally got the Wolf.”
“What now?” Daniel asked. He picked up the satellite phone and asked Edwards, “You going to retire now and play golf?”
“Probably spend a little extra time at the driving range,” Edwards replied. “I don’t hear any more gunfire from above. Hopefully, the police called in backup and cleaned out the Russian mafia.”
“Hopefully,” Daniel agreed. He gave a funny look and pressed the satellite phone to his ear after hitting a button.
“Damned reception,” Daniel mumbled as he turned away from Edwards.
He pressed the phone firmly against his ear.
Daniel listened.
He stood up straight and froze.
“Edwards?” Daniel said into the phone. “You have proof?”
Daniel nodded slowly as he held the phone to his ear.
He pressed a button and lowered the phone to his side.
He turned his head slightly in both directions, scanning the area around him.
“Are you looking for this?” Edwards asked.
Daniel turned toward Edwards.
Edwards was pointing Daniel’s Glock at him. He was less than ten feet away.
“Drop the phone,” Edwards commanded.
Daniel allowed the satellite phone to slip from his fingers and land on the sandy riverbed with a thud.
“You’re the Wolf,” Daniel said, both as a statement and as a question. “But Fitzpatrick…?”
“All of this was to make it look like Fitzpatrick was the Wolf,” Edwards explained. “And I was going to have the best cover in the world. I had been captured by the enemy, rescued, then saved you. I had wanted you to live, but that won’t be possible now.”
“They already know the truth about you in D.C.,” Daniel lied.
Nobody had been on the satellite phone.
It had been a final test for Edwards, and he had fallen for it.
“But I still have to kill you,” Edwards said grimly.
“How did you do it?” Daniel asked, not willing to plead for his life.
“What I told you before was close to the truth,” Edwards said. “The best kind of lie. What I gave to the Soviets was then intermixed with information from other sources, but it was all made to look like it came from one agent. Although I have no doubt that I was the best agent for the Soviets, and then the Russians, my mythos was only enhanced by my codename.”
“But the Wolf gained information that you didn’t have access to,” Daniel objected.
“Billy was far more compromised than he knew,” Edwards said. He took several steps closer to Daniel. “He couldn’t admit how deep he was into his addictions. And Fitzpatrick was too easy to frame. Nobody liked him, and making it look like he was trying to flee after stealing classified information using Max’s credentials was easy. All my master had to do was kill him and tell him his usefulness was over.”
“And I thought his usefulness as the Wolf was over for your master,” Daniel said. “And that’s why Pavel didn’t use his pistol on me. He was under orders that I must survive so I could vouch for you rescuing me. And that’s why the man in the gray suit, though he shot Fitzpatrick, didn’t shoot me.”
“Not bad, kid,” Edwards remarked snidely.
“And who is your master?” Daniel asked.
Edwards paused for a moment before answering. “Nice try. You won’t be able to make me talk, amateur.”
“But why did you do it?” Daniel asked as he stared down the barrel of his own gun. “Why did you do it all these years? For money? You aren’t tempted the same way that Billy was.”
“Let’s just say that I always pick the winner, because I am a winner,” Edwards said. “The Soviets were tougher, smarter, and they were always winning the Cold War, doing whatever it took to win.”
“But the Soviet Union fell apart,” Daniel stated flatly.
“Outwardly, it would seem that the Soviet Union failed. But that will ultimately only make Russia stronger. They went astray when they became a geriatric bureaucracy. But what rose from that is powerful. Russia is already stronger than you know.”
Daniel knew Edwards was ready to pull the trigger.
“It’s ironic that you will die from your own gun, the very gun your father gave you,” Edwards said as a grim smile crept onto his face. “I’ll pass along my condolences for your death when I finish him off in the future, as I’m sure my master will command.”
“Then let me give you a piece of advice before you face my father,” Daniel said.
Edwards gave a quizzical look before Daniel explained.
“Spend more time at the shooting range.”
Edwards squinted and readied to pull the trigger before Daniel added, “You’re an amateur at handling a gun.”
Daniel rushed at Edwards.
The Wolf pulled the trigger several times, but only clicks came.
Daniel struck Edwards squarely in the face. A second blow sent the older man to the ground.
Daniel rushed on top of him, grabbed a nearby rock, and smashed it into his skull.
When Daniel was sure the real Wolf was unconscious, he fell over onto the dry riverbed and grabbed his Glock away from Edwards’ limp hand.
“If you are anywhere near as good as you thought you were,” Daniel said to the unconscious Edwards, “then you would’ve felt that your gun was light and that the magazine was empty. I had pressed down on the slide release to make it appear loaded. Amateur. Who’s the winner now?”
; The next hour was a blur for Daniel. But he wasn’t sure if that was because much time had passed or because it had passed rapidly.
As Edwards had lay unconscious on the ravine floor, Daniel paced about in shock for several moments. The gunfire up in the mansion had intensified, but it quickly died down. The sound of an approaching helicopter had put Daniel on edge until he saw the iconic silhouette of a Blackhawk approaching. Somebody must have spotted Daniel in the ravine waving his arms. After it descended into the narrow valley and Marines who had been posted at the US Embassy loaded the still unconscious Edwards and Daniel, Daniel made sure they radioed an urgent message to the embassy, Officer Carter, and Peters in Washington DC.
Everything continued to be a blur until he struggled off the helicopter and onto the helipad at the mansion and saw Rex and Walters inspecting the carnage. They stood over Ambassador Fitzpatrick’s lifeless body. Medics from the helicopter checked the ambassador first. After confirming his death, they proceeded to treat Rex and Walters. Daniel noticed that the mansion was now swarming with Uzbek police.
Jahongir came out to the helipad from the house and approached Daniel, but Daniel ignored him as he limped towards Rex. Daniel was concerned by the haggard look on Rex’s face. Rex had seen more combat than anybody else who had been at this mansion, Daniel knew. And he had already lost more friends than any of the Embassy Marines had lost combined. And yet, Rex still wore a worried look.
“Edwards is the Wolf,” Daniel said simply. “I tricked him at the last moment.”
But Rex ignored Daniel.
“Gunner is dead,” Rex said calmly.
“And we lost contact with—” Walters began before Daniel cut in.
“Where is Tina?” Daniel demanded impatiently.
“We don’t know,” Rex said.
Daniel looked down from the helipad towards the courtyard below. He spotted where he had shot Tina’s attacker with the rifle. Daniel guessed Tina must have continued towards the house that was at the far end of the garden.
Daniel attempted to hurry out of the room to go search, but his injuries did not allow him.
“Come with me, sir,” one of the medics said as he approached Daniel. “We’ll get you fixed up.”
“Later.” Daniel pushed the medic aside. “Help me get to the far end of the courtyard, and then you can do whatever you need to do.”
“Sir,” the medic continued. “You’re injured. The best thing you can do is—”
“Help me get over there. Now.”
“You best do what the man ordered,” Rex said, coming over to help.
The medic conceded, and along with Rex, they helped Daniel out of the room, down the stairs and into the courtyard.
Daniel grimaced with discomfort as they stumbled through the bullet-ridden garden and past the dead. When they finally reached the door at the opposite end, Daniel thought he was about to pass out from pain.
The medic sensed this and gave him a shot of morphine. All the windows were broken, and bullet holes pocked the wall and door.
Rex pushed the door open.
“Tina must’ve made her way in here,” Daniel explained.
The entryway beyond the door had a small staircase that led upstairs, and directly in front of them was a kitchenette. To the left was a living room with a TV that been destroyed by the gunfire that came to the windows.
Servants quarters, Daniel thought to himself as he took in the scene. This is probably where the reinforcements laid in wait until they were needed.
Daniel pointed to a door to the right, and the medic helped him over. When they opened the door, they discovered a staircase that angled downward.
“We’ve got to go down there,” Daniel said.
“This area has not been cleared yet, sir,” the medic explained.
“We’re clearing it out now,” Rex said as he stepped down the first step with Daniel.
The medic followed down the stairs, and they entered a hallway that matched that of the basement in the main house in which Daniel had been imprisoned.
The first door off the hallway was open, and Daniel stumbled in. Four bodies littered the floor. Three of them were Russian men in plain clothes, but the fourth was wearing body armor.
“Tina!” Daniel yelled as he fell to the ground and rolled her body over.
Tina’s eyes opened slightly, and she mumbled, “Daniel?”
“You came looking for me?” Daniel said. A lump formed in his throat as his heart swelled.
“No, I just enjoy kicking down doors.”
She still has her wit, Daniel observed with relief.
Tina shut her eyes and relaxed.
“Painkiller will kick in soon,” the medic said as he gave Tina an injection.
Daniel looked around and realized what had happened. Tina had come looking for him. She had guessed that Daniel was being held prisoner in the basement of this building. She had been wrong, of course, but in the process, she had killed the men she encountered in the basement.
Most importantly, Tina was still alive.
“I’m alive, Tina,” Daniel said urgently. “And you’re going to make it out of here too.”
The medic continued working, searching for her injuries and reassuring her that she was going to make it out okay.
Daniel didn’t interrupt but allowed the medic to do his job.
Several minutes later, the medic gave Daniel a nod.
Daniel knew what it meant.
The medic thinks she’s going to make it.
Daniel slumped down onto the floor out of relief.
She’s going to get back up and fight again.
Daniel heard footsteps and then voices upstairs as other Marines came to clear the final portion of the mansion.
Other Marines entered the basement and helped the medic move Tina. Another helped Daniel up the stairs.
As they moved across the courtyard and back to the main house, Jahongir approached Daniel again.
“I am sorry you lost your friend, Gunner,” Jahongir said. “I lost several men as well. The nation of Uzbekistan is indebted to you and your friends.”
“I don’t understand why Rex was involved in a raid by the secret police on the Russian mafia,” Daniel said, “and I’m too tired to worry about it now.”
“You will leave by helicopter from this place, and you must never speak of this event again. Understood?”
“Same with you,” Daniel replied. But curiosity got the best of him. “What did happen here?”
“Russia was increasingly exerting its power through the Russian mafia,” Jahongir began to explain. “Although the mafia had always existed here, there had been a balance of power. A respect between the mafia and the government of Uzbekistan. But the mafia got too big for its britches, you Americans would say.”
“So you were willing to use Rex and his men to help clean out the Russian mafia?”
“And in exchange, you Americans would be able to recover your personnel.”
“Other than whoever that was in the helicopter,” Daniel said, “it looks like to me the mafia was wiped out.”
“That man was from Moscow,” Jahongir said, “and he was part of the plan. He needed to clean house some, and there is a new head of the Russian mafia in Uzbekistan, but she is much more willing to coexist in a mutually beneficial manner with the President.”
Daniel almost asked who she was, but then he remembered. Nigora.
Jahongir stopped before entering the house. Daniel would be on the last helicopter out from the scene of the raid. Jahongir extended his hand, and Daniel shook it firmly.
“My son marries next week,” Jahongir said. “We would be honored by your presence at the wedding. Will you be there?”
“Will the music be loud?” Daniel asked with a grin.
Jahongir smiled and answered, “Bring earplugs.”
Rex helped Daniel the rest of the way inside and up to the helipad.
When the Blackhawk carried Daniel away from the mansion i
n the mountains, he thought about the Russian man who had smashed his fingers, forcing him to fall from his helicopter.
Who was he?
Jahongir had mentioned he was from Moscow, but he didn’t say that he was mafia.
Was he the Wolf’s master?
Daniel realized that if the master’s plan had succeeded, then Edwards would have had the perfect cover, and all the Russian mafia who knew the Wolf’s identity would have been dead.
Jahongir had needed to clean up the Russian mafia, and the mafia had been a willing participant in restoring the balance of power to protect the Wolf.
“How did you know Edwards was the Wolf?” Rex yelled to Daniel over the roar of the chopper’s engines.
“I didn’t,” Daniel said. “Not until he was pointing my gun at my face. But I think Muhammad called me to tell me just before the car wreck.”
“Muhammad cracked the code,” Rex confirmed, “but it wasn’t about the Wolf.”
21
One week later.
Thursday, September 26, 2002.
Daniel and Rex knocked on a door in Shahrisabz. It was the door of the apartment of Fatima, Dmitri’s widow’s older sister.
“Maybe nobody is home,” Rex suggested after their knocking was met with silence. “Their dog isn’t barking, anyway.”
Daniel leaned over to the window and peeked in, but he didn’t see anybody. He tapped the glass lightly.
Daniel pounded on the door again, harder this time.
Daniel heard noise inside, and after several more seconds, he could hear the locks on the door coming undone. The door opened a crack, and Fatima’s husband asked, “What do you want this time? This is a hard time for us.”
Daniel greeted Jamol in Uzbek and said, “My friend and I are paying one last visit to this historic city.” Daniel could hardly continue because of his broad smile. “And I do have some good news for you, Jamol and Fatima.”