Shadow Conflict

by Shadow Conflict (epub)

  * * *

  About a hundred yards away, at her table facing out onto the university, Anya had to bite her lip. Alex might have been useful as technical support, but he was an exasperating loose cannon in the field, either questioning every decision or simply refusing to take their situation seriously. Under normal circumstances she would have reprimanded and cut loose anyone displaying that kind of cavalier attitude. Unfortunately, Alex was all she had to work with.

  She felt bad for not telling him the true purpose of his presence here, but knew that if he found out he’d likely have refused to participate. There was of course a danger, but hopefully most of it would fall on Anya herself rather than her reluctant companion.

  ‘Broadsword calling Danny Boy. Target’s in sight,’ her earpiece announced, followed by, ‘That sounded even cooler in real life than in my head.’

  ‘I can hear every word you say… Broadsword,’ Anya reminded him irritably. ‘Are you sure it’s her? I need you to be a hundred per cent.’

  ‘Keep in mind who you’re talking to,’ he said. Alex was about as accurate a source of facial recognition as she was likely to find. ‘She’s approaching the library building from the west side.’

  Rising from the table in a deceptively casual manner, Anya left enough money to cover her bill and started towards the university building at a brisk pace.

  ‘Is she alone?’ she asked, waiting for a break in traffic before hurrying across the road.

  ‘No. She’s got a bloke and two girls with her. I don’t know if he’s in the friend zone or what, but they’re all heading for the library together.’

  Anya felt her heart sink. There was no way they could secure Lauren if she was surrounded by friends, especially ones that might fight back. Anya didn’t imagine any of them were capable of stopping her, but they’d likely raise the alarm before she could neutralize them all. They had to get her away from the others, create a distraction that would allow Anya to act.

  ‘I want you to start a fight,’ she said, unable to think of a better alternative.

  Silence for a second or two. ‘Say again?’

  Jumping out of the way of a Citroën hatchback that seemed to have no intention of slowing down, Anya crossed the wide plaza to the Sorbonne building, where a big open archway led to the enclosed square.

  ‘I need a distraction,’ she explained. ‘Pick a random student, a male, and find a reason to start a fight with him.’

  She didn’t expect this unorthodox instruction to be met with much enthusiasm, and she wasn’t to be disappointed. ‘Are you out of your mind? I’ll get my fucking head kicked in.’

  ‘You were just saying how much these students annoy you,’ she pointed out, hoping to appeal to his male bravado. ‘Here is your chance to get even.’

  ‘Yeah, well, Hulk Hogan annoys me too, but you wouldn’t catch me stepping into the ring with him,’ Alex countered. He seemed poised to continue with his tirade, but events in the square prompted him to rein it in. ‘Hold up, something’s happening.’

  * * *

  Alex watched as the small knot of people stopped near the library entrance, their body language suggesting they were wrapping up whatever conversation they were involved in, and preparing to go their separate ways.

  Sure enough, the man and one of the young women peeled off, heading towards the north side of the square which housed student support offices and admin areas. She had her arm around him, suggesting he wasn’t in the friend zone after all.

  ‘Right, the bloke and his girlfriend have just buggered off together,’ he said, happy to report that their problems had just halved.

  ‘What about Lauren?’

  Alex turned back to their target. Lauren, dressed in casual jeans, a long coat and a fashionable loose scarf, was making her way slowly towards the library entrance, still chatting with her remaining friend. His hopes rose that her companion might go the way of the others, but it wasn’t to be. Both young women disappeared inside.

  ‘She and her mate are heading into the library together,’ he reported. ‘Must be joined at the hip or something. What do you want me to do?’

  ‘Did you disable the surveillance cameras?’ she asked.

  Indeed he had. Compared to some of the top-tier encrypted databases he’d tackled in his time, hacking a university security system had been child’s play. Once inside, it had been easy to reconfigure a few small but vital settings.

  ‘I set the memory buffer to reformat every ten seconds. On the surface it’ll look normal, but there’ll be no record of anything that happens in there today. And I can kill the cameras completely from my phone if need be.’

  ‘All right, follow them,’ Anya instructed. ‘Keep your distance, but try to maintain visual contact.’

  He’d had a feeling she would ask him to do that. ‘Roger that. Where are you?’

  ‘Don’t worry about me,’ she said hastily. ‘Just go. Don’t lose them.’

  ‘Broadsword’s going in,’ he said, quickening to catch up with his target. He couldn’t shake the sense of foreboding as he passed through the arched entrance into the library building.

  Chapter 18

  Stupava, Slovakia

  ‘Stay down!’ Drake snarled, pinning Lenka to the floor as two more shots passed through the shattered window above, one of them blasting the toaster from the kitchen counter. The young woman let out a squeal, but made no attempt to get up.

  Drake forced himself to stay rational and consider his situation logically. Clearly Hawkins and his men had caught up with them. How or why didn’t matter at that moment. Trying to stand and fight would be suicidal. The only option was escape.

  But how best to get out of here?

  He hadn’t heard a shot, which meant the sniper must be using a silencer. Based on the angle the rounds were coming in from, they were firing from an elevated position, most probably the roof of the nearest apartment block to the south.

  That meant they couldn’t hope to get to Lenka’s car. Aside from the fact it was already compromised, such a journey would mean covering at least 50 yards of open killing ground. No, their best bet was to escape northwards, where their building would shield them from the sniper.

  ‘They are trying to kill us,’ the young woman whimpered, eyes wide in terror.

  No shit, Drake thought. It was decision time. Cut her loose and make a break for it alone, or take her with him and risk her slowing him down.

  ‘Lenka, listen to me,’ Drake said, grabbing her head so they had eye contact. ‘I’ll get us out of this, but you have to trust me and do what I say. Understand?’

  Leaving her here to be captured or killed wasn’t an option, and only partly because she could give Hawkins information that would aid his search.

  ‘Do you understand?’ he repeated firmly.

  Reluctantly she nodded.

  ‘All right. We’re going for the door. Stick close, stay low and follow me.’

  With that, he turned and began to crawl towards the front door, keeping as flat to the ground as possible, broken glass crunching beneath him as he moved.

  With the drapes still half-covering the broken window, the sniper had only a partial view of the apartment’s interior, and had likely fired blind to slow them down while an assault team moved in. Drake could only hope they weren’t waiting right outside the door.

  He saw Lenka wince as she pinched a small, bloody piece of glass from the palm of her hand. There was nothing he could do for her. She’d just have to tough it out until they were away from here.

  ‘Keep moving,’ he hissed.

  Reaching the door, Drake rose to his knees and undid the latch, drawing the Glock as he did so. The automatic was decent in a room-to-room fight, but like most pistols it lacked the stopping power to drop opponents in body armour. If it came to a firefight, he could do little more than hold his enemies at bay.

  He pushed the door open and edged out just far enough to peer into the dingy corridor. No sign of movement. Maybe they were
in luck and their enemies had been unusually sloppy.

  ‘Hurry,’ he said, beckoning Lenka.

  The young woman jumped to her feet and rushed towards him. Drake grabbed her by the arm and pulled her after him as he sprinted for the stairwell. He hadn’t made it halfway along before he pulled up short, straining to listen.

  Sure enough, he could hear the hollow thump of boots on concrete. Multiple pairs, coming up fast, an assault team approaching.

  ‘Shit,’ he growled, reversing course. Left with little option but to follow, Lenka sprinted along beside him. At least her soft-soled shoes made no noise on the floor.

  Rounding a corner, Drake found only a dead end.

  ‘Is there another stairwell?’ he asked, backing up against the wall.

  Breathing hard, her face flushed from the short but intense run, Lenka shook her head and gestured back the way they had come. ‘That is the only one.’

  ‘Fire escape?’

  She stared at him as if he were spouting gibberish. Maybe building regulations worked differently in this part of the world.

  ‘Fuck.’

  Hearing footsteps echoing down the corridor, Drake leaned back the way they had come. Sure enough, he counted three men in civilian clothes advancing towards Lenka’s apartment. It wouldn’t take them long to figure out their target had escaped.

  ‘How many?’ Lenka asked.

  ‘More than I can deal with.’

  There had to be another way out, he thought. If necessary he would break into one of the apartments overlooking the north side of the building and clamber down the outside. They were only on the second floor, so the climb might be possible.

  Then again, it was equally possible he’d lose his grip and fall, killing or severely injuring himself in the process. And he was almost certain his fellow escapee lacked the upper body strength to make the climb.

  Drake stopped, spotting something fixed into the cream-coloured wall opposite. A rectangular metal plate about two feet wide and nearly as tall, slightly battered and rusted in places, with a simple handle set into the centre.

  ‘What’s that?’ he whispered, pointing to it.

  ‘Chute,’ she explained hurriedly. ‘Where you put junk. I don’t know word.’

  Drake did, though. It was a garbage chute, allowing the block’s residents to dispose of their household waste without having to descend flights of stairs. The vertical shaft probably led down to a dumpster below that could be removed and emptied when needed.

  Hurrying over, Drake pulled it open. As he’d hoped, he found himself peering down a metal shaft about equal in size to the cover. A tight fit for him perhaps, but he was quite certain his female friend would fit easily. He could only hope the dumpster at the bottom hadn’t been emptied recently, otherwise the landing was going to be far more unpleasant than being surrounded by rotting garbage.

  ‘Get in,’ he ordered.

  Lenka stared at the opening in horror as his words sank in. ‘In there?’

  ‘Unless you want to take your chances with our mates back there. Get your arse in the chute.’

  She hoisted her lower half inside but refused to let go, clinging onto the metal rim for dear life. Drake felt bad about what happened next, but he was pretty sure he’d feel worse if they both got gunned down because of her hesitation.

  Squeezing her slender wrists, he wrenched her arms free. With nothing left to support her weight, Lenka suddenly disappeared into the darkness with a frightened scream.

  Drake was right behind, knowing her cry would have alerted the assault team. He just hoped she had the presence of mind to move out of the way once she landed, otherwise she was about to get a 190-pound wake-up call.

  Hoisting himself in, he was forced to twist sideways to accommodate his considerably larger mass. Straightaway he was hit by the unmistakable smell of decomposing garbage wafting up, which he took to be a good sign. At least there was something other than open pavement at the base of the shaft.

  Pausing only to shove the Glock into the waistband of his jeans, Drake let go of his precarious handhold and allowed gravity to do the rest.

  The descent was faster than he’d anticipated. He was able to brace his feet against the walls of the chute, slowing himself somewhat, but the sheet steel was too smooth for his boots to gain much purchase, and after 10 feet or so he lost all traction and fell.

  He landed on something lumpy and yielding, and was immediately assailed by the powerful stench of the rubbish, which had clearly been lying there for some time. He found he was lying in a half-full steel dumpster, with another empty unit close by. The room was bare brick and unlit, save for weak shafts of grey sunlight filtering in through the open entrance.

  Lenka was struggling to extricate herself from the piles of torn plastic bags, sodden cardboard boxes, leftover food and God only knew what else. Still, at least he hadn’t landed on her.

  ‘You okay?’

  She muttered something in Slovak that he suspected was less than complimentary. Rolling over, Drake hooked his arm over the edge of the dumpster and pulled himself up and over.

  Running over to her side, he caught the young woman just as she fell over the rim. Her coat and jeans were stained with a variety of unsavoury looking substances, and her expression reflected her disgust, but she was alive and apparently unhurt. Whether she stayed that way depended on what they did in the next 60 seconds.

  Drake hauled the heavy trash receptacle aside until it was flush against the far wall of the room. It was unlikely to buy them much time, but anyone who tried to follow them down the chute was in for a far harder landing than they’d enjoyed.

  ‘Come on,’ he said, taking her by the hand and leading her outside.

  The rain had abated at last, reduced to a sombre drizzle.

  There wasn’t much to see on this side of the apartment block. The main parking area was apparently on the opposite side of the building, leaving just a single-lane road, probably for use by garbage trucks emptying the dumpsters. Beyond this narrow strip lay about 50 yards of waste ground dotted with abandoned shopping trolleys and mounds of weed-choked rubble, where older buildings had been cleared to make way for the residential blocks.

  Scattered woodland lay at the edge, rising up to a low ridge that seemed to run roughly west to east. Stripped of leaves by the lingering winter, the woods would provide little cover, but if they could get over the ridge then they might be in with a chance.

  ‘We need to put some distance in,’ he said quickly. ‘You up for this?’

  The young woman looked pale, but she managed a nod.

  ‘Right, let’s go. Stay low and close to me,’ he instructed.

  As countless soldiers on countless battlefields have discovered, sometimes when you have to cross a stretch of ground there’s nothing for it but to get your head down and run. This he did, sprinting as fast as his body could carry him, leaping over half-buried bricks and wild bushes that threatened to catch at his feet, all the while aiming for the woods on the far side of the clearing.

  Lenka followed as best she could, her gasps growing louder and more strained with each step. He had no idea how fit she was, but she was young and at least looked healthy. That had to count for something.

  His course followed a zigzagging path towards the trees, partly because the obstacles that lay in their way forced them to detour, but mostly to throw off possible snipers. He didn’t think the one on the opposite block’s roof could get a line of sight, but there was no telling if there might be others. If there was one in the tree line ahead, their escape attempt was likely to come to an abrupt end.

  They had just rounded a pool of oily water and were almost at the edge of the woods when Drake felt something whizz past his ear, followed an instant later by an explosion of rocks and wet earth off to his right.

  ‘Oh, God!’ Lenka cried out, trying to duck for cover.

  ‘Keep moving!’ Drake shouted, practically dragging her into the woods as more rounds thumped into the
muddy ground.

  Struggling up the leaf-covered ridge, Drake flinched as a round ricocheted off a tree bole just a couple of feet to his left, gouging a chunk of bark away. Clearly the weapons being fired at them were short-range, probably pistols or submachine guns positioned in one of the upper storey windows. No decent sniper could have failed to hit them from this range.

  Losing her footing, Lenka pitched forward and landed face down in the mud, struggling to rise.

  ‘Get up,’ Drake said, hauling the young woman roughly to her feet. He didn’t care that he might have hurt her. Staying alive was the priority.

  The fire was slackening off now as it became clear they’d passed beyond the effective range of the assault team’s weapons. No doubt the team’s thoughts had turned to pursuit rather than engagement, which meant they needed to get the fuck clear of this area immediately. And they certainly weren’t going to make it on foot. They needed a vehicle.

  The other side of the ridge was steeper than the gentle slope that had led them up here, and both Drake and Lenka skidded down to the flat ground beyond, filthy and out of breath.

  Still, Drake could make out the distinctive shapes of two-storey buildings through the tree trunks, and made straight for them.

  As he’d hoped, another residential area lay on the other side of the narrow bit of woodland, which was likely too uneven to build on. The buildings were smaller than the apartment blocks, but seemed to belong to the same era and method of construction: flat roofs, square and functional structures that had clearly been designed for efficiency rather than aesthetic appeal.

  A metal fence lay between them and the residential area beyond, consisting of spiked vertical stakes held together by a pair of cross beams. It looked like it had once been painted green, but this was mostly rusted away, and many of the stakes were hanging loose or missing altogether. Finding one makeshift entrance that had likely been used by locals as a shortcut, Drake squeezed through the gap, jumped down the low brick wall onto the pavement, then helped Lenka down.