He shut down his phone and pulled the Austrian-made 9mm Steyr autoloader he’d found at Martine’s out of his belt. He headed after the woman to finish the night’s work before he returned to London, where he would write a complete report for Moscow. It was one that he was certain Putin would hear about and would like.
When the muffled boom of the explosion blasted out of the tunnel entrance, Pete barely missed a step. She’d expected the crypt had been wired, and unless the Russian had set the trigger on a motion detector or even a trip wire at the head of the stairs, it meant he had to be somewhere near from where he could see Mac going through the gate.
Reaching the caretaker’s house, she ducked inside, stepped over the body, and went to the window. She figured that Kallinger wouldn’t be too far behind her, and if she had a shot, she would take it. But she lingered in that position just long enough to check outside before she moved into the deeper shadows in a corner.
Kurshin was certain that the woman would go directly to their car in the parking lot, but he was only surprised for a moment when she went into the caretaker’s house instead.
Still just inside the line of olive trees, he held up for just a moment. She knew he was here somewhere, and she would be watching for him through the front window.
He sprinted to the left, well out of sight on anyone watching from the front of the house, and made his way in under a half minute to the rear door, which was unlocked, as luck would have it.
Making absolutely no noise, he slipped inside and headed across the tiny kitchen to the front room.
But she wasn’t at the window. For a moment, he thought that she might have seen him heading around the house and had run for her car, after all, but then he detected a slight movement in the darkness, and he switched aim, intending to bracket the corner. No way she would survive this night.
“Fire and you’re a dead man,” McGarvey said from less than eighteen inches behind.
Kurshin spun lightly on his heel, ducking left and batting McGarvey’s gun hand aside, while bringing his own pistol around.
He pulled off one shot, but McGarvey had ducked out of the line of fire.
The instep of McGarvey’s foot smashed into Kurshin’s left knee, and a lightning bolt of agony crashed through his lower body as he staggered backward.
He managed to bring his pistol up, but the old man was on him again, shoving his hand to the left, the shot plowing harmlessly into the ceiling.
Kurshin stepped back another step, but McGarvey was relentlessly on him, this time snatching the pistol out of his hand and tossing it aside.
Instead of trying to get away, Kurshin suddenly leaned forward, grabbing McGarvey’s gun hand and forcing it to the left while smashing his other fist with every ounce of his strength into the American’s face.
McGarvey deflected the next blow with his free hand and with his bulk forced Kurshin back against the doorjamb. He began to slowly bring his pistol to bear, the last of Kurshin’s strength all but gone.
“Why?” McGarvey demanded.
He let his body go loose. “It was just business,” he said. “You have been a thorn in our side for a very long time. I was sent to take you out.”
“Why not a long shot with a sniper rifle?”
“Not very sporting.”
“Then why Arlington? Why my wife’s gravestone?”
“To get your attention,” Kurshin said.
McGarvey said nothing.
“Which it did,” Kurshin said, but something in the old man’s eyes suddenly made everything clear. “I give up. You may take me under arrest.”
“You made a mistake at Arlington,” McGarvey said.
Kurshin never heard or felt the shot to the middle of his forehead that killed him.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
DAVID HAGBERG is a former U.S. Air Force cryptographer who has traveled extensively in Europe, the Arctic, and the Caribbean, and has spoken at CIA functions. He has published more than seventy novels of suspense, including Castro’s Daughter, Blood Pact, and Retribution. He makes his home in Sarasota, Florida. You can sign up for email updates here.
TOR AND FORGE BOOKS BY DAVID HAGBERG
CIA agent Kirk McGarvey fights terrorism, espionage, and all the biggest threats to the United States.
Without Honor
Countdown
Crossfire
Desert Fire
Critical Mass
High Flight
Assassin
White House
Joshua’s Hammer
The Kill Zone
Soldier of God
Allah’s Scorpion
Dance with the Dragon
The Expediter
The Cabal
Abyss
Castro’s Daughter
Blood Pact
Retribution
The Fourth Horseman
“Breaking Point” (short story)
The Shadowmen (novella)
Last Come the Children
Heartland
Heroes
Eden’s Gate
By Dawn’s Early Light
Burned
The Capsule
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
“V5” (short story)
Harrowing, near-future thrillers about energy, the United States, and those bent on using one to destroy the other.
Blowout
Gridlock
Mutiny: The True Events That Inspired the Hunt for Red October