I focus on the door I know leads to a series of rooms in a corridor. Once again I take the Five-seveN and flip on the T.A.K. I aim it at the door and this time the screen turns red. Somebody is talking behind the door. I creep to the wall, flatten myself, and listen.
The voices are muffled, but they’re speaking in Russian, that much I can tell. I consider storming through the door and blasting the hell out of them, but before I can act, I hear footsteps approaching.
The door swings open, hiding me behind it. Two men emerge and walk toward the middle of the warehouse. They’ve got AK-47s around their shoulders.
“Turn on the lights, Yuri,” one says in Russian. “I can’t see a fucking thing.”
The one called Yuri walks toward the front of the building. Shit. They’re going to hit the lights and here I am standing behind the door. So what do I do? I slip around the door without being seen and go into the corridor, just as the lights come on.
The corridor is well lit, but there’s no one else here. I see three rooms. The doors to two rooms are open, probably the Russians’ quarters — I see cots and signs of day-today living. One door is closed. I flip on the thermal vision in my goggles and see an indication that there’s a warm body lying horizontally inside the room. Could it be Sarah? I decide to give it a try.
The door is locked, of course. With one ear trained to the open door at the end of the corridor — I can hear the Russians talking in the warehouse — I carefully take my lock picks and try them. After three attempts, I have it open.
Sarah is inside, lying on a cot.
40
“Sarah!” I whisper. She looks up, startled. Her eyes widen when she sees me. Of course, I look like an alien from outer space in my uniform and goggles. I raise the goggles so she can see my face.
“It’s me,” I say.
“Dad!” She lunges and grabs hold of me as if I’m the last man on earth.
“Shhh!” I whisper. “You’ve got to be quiet. I’m gonna get you out of here.”
“Oh, Dad, I knew you’d come!” She starts to cry and I stroke her dark hair.
“Are you all right? Did they hurt you?”
“A little. I’m… I’m a little weak.”
“Can you walk?”
“I’ll try.”
She gets to her feet, but I can see she’s very unsteady. I’ll have to carry her. I let her lean against the wall as I peer out the door to the corridor. It’s still clear.
“Honey, wait here, I’ll be back for you,” I say.
“Don’t leave me!” She almost panics.
“Sarah, the bad guys are right in there. I have to take care of them first. I promise I’ll be back for you.”
She takes a deep breath and wipes her face. “Okay.”
“That’s my girl. Don’t make a sound.”
I leave and close the door behind me, unlocked. I take the Five-seveN, attach the suppressor, and shoot out the two overhead lights in the corridor. I’m plunged into darkness, so I lower my goggles and turn on the night vision.
I peer through the door to the warehouse and see that the two Russians have stepped outside through the front. The place is empty. I quickly enter the space, drop to one knee, and aim the Five-seveN at the work lights. I shoot out all six of them. Now the only illumination in the place comes from the open front door, and it’s not much.
I run and find the steps leading to the loft. I quickly ascend the stairs and make it to the second floor just as the two men return. I quietly swing the SC-20K off my shoulder and ready it.
“Hey, did you turn off the lights?” one of them asks the other.
“No.” I see the one called Yuri go back to the light switches and flick them. “What the hell?”
“Did we lose power?”
“I… I don’t think so. Vlad, quickly!” They start for the front door, picking up on the possibility that I may have arrived earlier than expected. I rise, aim the rifle at the door and prepare to pick them off — when I feel the muzzle of a gun at the back of my head.
“Don’t move!” shouts a voice. “Drop the weapon! Yuri! Vlad! I have him!”
The two Russians stop and look to the loft. “Eli? Is that you?”
“Yes. Drop it!” I let the rifle fall. “Raise your hands!” I do so.
Eli. Eli Horowitz, the one who betrayed my daughter. He’s standing behind me with a gun to my head. The nearby lantern casts a dim glow over us, and now the Russians can surely see me.
“Bring him down!” one of them shouts.
“Get moving,” Horowitz says. “To the stairs.”
I slowly walk toward the stairs as Horowitz follows, the gun in one hand and the lantern in the other. A bright light flicks on below. Apparently one of the Russians found a floodlight that isn’t connected to the main work lights switch. Now the room is dimly illuminated.
“You’re early, Mr. Fisher!” the one called Yuri says. “We had a surprise party prepared for you, but it’s not ready yet.”
“Yeah, come back in the morning,” Vlad says, laughing.
When I’m at the top of the steps, I abruptly step back into Horowitz, grab his gun arm, easily pull the weapon out of his hand, and then throw his body over my shoulder onto the stairs. He lands in the middle, on his back, and the entire staircase collapses from age and his weight. Horowitz yelps in pain as he falls to the floor amidst the debris.
Before I can do much besides leap for cover, both Russians let loose with their AK-47s. The bullets rattle everything in the loft as I crouch behind an old stove.
“Mr. Fisher?” I hear Captain Weiss in my ear. “What’s happening?”
“Bring in the men, Captain!” I order, pressing my implant. “I’m up in the loft, there’s three of them on the ground floor!”
More bullets whiz at me as I dart from behind the stove. I feel the heat of a round snapping at my right boot, too close for comfort. I make it to a more strategic position behind a large refrigerator, though, and take a moment to catch my breath. I turn off the night vision and see that the two Russians have taken cover behind the appliances on opposite sides of the floor. Shit, they’ll be able to pick off the Shin Bet as they come through the door.
“Captain!” I say. “Don’t come through the front do—”
But it’s too late. The front door bursts open and three men rush inside. The two Russians are surprised but have the presence of mind to draw their fire toward the intruders. The three Shin Bet are hit and fall to the floor.
I reach into the Osprey and pull out two smoke grenades. I activate them to explode on contact and then throw them into the middle of the space. They burst loudly, quickly enveloping the room with thick, black smoke.
The Russians below me fire blindly into the middle of the room and up in my direction. I take the risk of jumping off the loft, landing hard on the floor. I hear windows breaking in other parts of the building — probably in the back rooms — as more men penetrate the hideout by other means. I run for cover as the Russians continue to fire in all directions. There are shouts and bursts of gunfire in the back of the building — were there other kidnappers inside? In the cover of the smoke I rush across the floor and return to the dark corridor. I burst into Sarah’s room and find her lying by the cot. I pick her up in my arms and carry her out. When I reach the warehouse again, more Shin Bet have entered and taken cover, shooting in the direction of the hidden Russians. The noise is intense, and I feel my daughter shaking against me. I can’t go that way, so I run through the corridor to the back door of the building. More Shin Bet have broken it down and are rushing inside. I let them through, and then Sarah and I leave the building, out into the fresh air. I run a good thirty yards from the warehouse before I stop and place her on the ground.