"Yep. Like most of the towns and cities in Normandy. You really have to hand it to the men who fought here. House to house fighting, with German machine guns around every corner."
"Like Fallujah," Ronnie said.
Nick nodded. "Like that, except in Iraq they had AKs instead of MG-42s."
Germany had issued massive numbers of MG-42 machine guns to its troops in World War II. Wehrmacht small unit tactics had been built around the deadly guns. By contrast, few soldiers in the Allied armies carried automatic weapons back then, a logistical decision that cost many lives. Seventy some years later, Fallujah rolled around and everyone and his brother had automatic weapons. Nick and Ronnie had seen heavy fighting there. It had been hell on earth.
They passed a World War II cemetery where hundreds of white markers marched in neat rows across a manicured green lawn. The setting sun threw a soft, rose glow over the silent stones.
"Peaceful," Nick said as they drove past.
"Arlington's the same way," Lamont said.
"I think it's sad," Selena said.
"War is sad," Nick said.
No one said anything else for the next forty minutes.
Nick looked at his GPS. "We're getting close. Take the next left."
Selena turned onto a narrow country lane. Thick hedges lined the road on either side. Infrequent breaks in the shrubbery revealed fields lined with more hedges and an occasional farmhouse.
"Coming up on the right," Nick said. "Slow down a little."
The hedge gave way to a high stone wall that ran along the road for a hundred yards. A double gate of black iron stood closed at the entrance to the drive. The wall was high. The only view they got of the house was through the gate as they went by. There was time to see that the house was solid and large, two stories of stone with a gray slate roof. Then they were past.
"Cars parked in front of the house," Lamont said.
"Somebody's home," Ronnie said.
They passed the end of the wall. A tight row of tall hedges formed a right angle with the wall, going back toward the rear of the property. They crossed a short bridge over an irrigation canal filled with muddy water. The canal paralleled the hedges.
"Looks like the meeting is on. I'd better check in with Harker."
Nick activated his comm link.
"About time, Nick. What's your status?"
Harker's voice sounded tinny over the satellite relay.
"We've just passed the objective and are about to pull off the road."
He pointed at a dirt track that went from the road into a freshly plowed field. Selena drove onto the track and followed it to a copse of trees a hundred feet from the road. She pulled in under the trees and shut down the engine. From the road, it would be difficult to see them. They couldn't be seen at all from the villa.
"We're in a farmer's field near the objective," Nick said to Elizabeth. "Any updates for me?"
"Negative. Gutenberg got an email from Thorvaldson saying he'd be late, after eight."
"We won't be going in before then. So they'll all be there?"
"It looks that way," Elizabeth said.
"You sound like you're not sure."
"I don't know, Nick. This seems too pat, all of them in one place. Something doesn't feel right."
"Is that your intuition talking, Director?"
"These people are paranoid about security. Why are they meeting at that farmhouse, instead of Gutenberg's chalet or someplace secure?"
"Now you mention it, I had the same thought," Nick said. "But we have Gutenberg's emails. He couldn't know we're monitoring him."
"Just the same, be careful going in there."
"Have you got the infrared up?"
"Not yet. The satellite won't be in position for another hour and a half. Stephanie will relay it to you as soon as it comes online."
"Anything else?"
"No. Keep your head down," Elizabeth said.
"Copy that," Nick said.
CHAPTER 49
The team was all but invisible in their dark gear. The only light came from a half moon that shed a faint, silver glow on the freshly turned earth of the fields. They crossed to the irrigation ditch that ran along the side of Gutenberg's property. The ditch was three feet wide. A short jump to the other side brought them up against the hedges that bordered the villa. Ronnie took a pair of heavy brush clippers from his bag of tricks and began working on the thick shrubbery.
"Stuff is like iron," he said under his breath. His voice was an electronic whisper in their ears. "Give me a couple of minutes."
It took five. Ronnie stepped back and Nick peered through the opening. Several windows in the villa showed light, all on the ground floor. The upstairs was dark. Curtains drawn over the windows made it impossible to see who or what was inside. Nick toggled the comm link to Harker.
"Where's that infrared?" he said when she came online.
"There's a big solar flare causing interference. I can't get a clear signal. Satellite visual is out also."
Nick stuffed the urge to swear at her.
"All right. We're about to go in. Keep the line open."
"Copy that. Good luck."
They'd all heard Elizabeth.
"How you want to do it?" Lamont said.
"The upstairs is dark. I'm thinking we could climb up onto the gallery and get in from there. We go in on the ground floor, they'll know we're there right away."
"Are we going to try and take them alive?" Selena asked.
"If we can," Nick said, "but it might not be possible. There have to be guards. Once they see us, they'll start shooting and all bets are off. We get into the house, toss flash bangs as soon as we see someone and clear the rooms. Shoot anyone who's armed. Don't hesitate. You hesitate, that's when someone will kill you."
"I know," she said. "You've told me often enough."
"Then I don't have to tell you again."
Selena started to say something and thought better of it.
"Seems odd there aren't any sentries," Lamont said. "You'd think they'd have some kind of perimeter lighting, at least."
"Yeah, you would," Nick said. "It bothers me too. It could be they don't want to draw any attention. Bright lights out here in the French countryside, someone would be sure to notice."
"Maybe," Lamont said.
"There could be ground sensors," Selena said.
"If there are sensors, there's nothing we can do about it," Nick said. "They'll send someone out of the house if we trigger an alarm. They might come out shooting."
Nick's ear began to itch. He tugged on it.
"I don't like this much," Ronnie said. "You're messing with your ear and we've got no Intel on what's inside that house."
Selena squatted next to Nick. "I don't like it either. Elizabeth is uneasy about this and so am I. Like Lamont said, why aren't there lights? Why aren't there sentries? These are powerful men, they wouldn't go anywhere without lots of security. Something's wrong."
"It smells like a setup to me," Lamont said. "It's too easy."
"Yeah," Ronnie said.
"All of you think it's a trap?"
They all nodded.
"All right. What's our next move?"
"Spring it, and see what happens," Ronnie said. "Maybe we'll learn something."
"How you gonna spring it without us getting killed?" Lamont asked.
Ronnie reached into his pack and pulled out the flash bangs.
"Three or four of these through the windows and see who comes out."
"The windows have curtains," Selena said, "How are you going to get those grenades through them?"
"We'll head for that far corner," Nick said. "None of the windows are lit back there. There has to be a back entrance. We'll go in through there. They can't surprise us if we know they're waiting."
"Room to room," Ronnie said.
"I hate houses," Lamont said.
"We don't have to go in," Ronnie said. "We open the door, we toss in grenades and wait. That ought to stir things up. We can follow up with something more serious than a flash bang if we have to."