I t was midday. Will and his CIA colleagues were still in the vicinity of the lodge. White clouds lay low in the sky; snow fell fast on the ground. The black smoke from the trees was gone.
Will and Laith were on the other side of the lake. Roger was a mile away by the lodge, observing the mountain road in case any concerned civilians had seen the smoke and were coming to offer their help or armed police were coming to investigate the sounds of gunfire. But everywhere around them was silent, peaceful.
Will looked at the mountains, at the tranquil lake, and at the snow that seemed to be cleansing the beautiful grounds around them. An eagle flew from one of the mountaintops and drifted. Will watched its graceful movements. He looked at Ross’s dead body. The poor man had been sliced open from the lower abdomen to the base of his chest plate. His intestines, liver, and other entrails had spilled out.
Laith glanced at the distant lodge, across the lake. “We haven’t got time to clear up all this mess.”
Will nodded. “I’m going to leave cash in the lodge for the asset. But we can’t expect the owner to dispose of the bodies.” Will kept his gaze on Ross. The Scot’s eyes were wide in an expression of absolute terror and pain.
“Well, we’ve got a problem. There’s no boat to take them out onto the lake, and swimming them out there would be suicidal.” Laith stamped a foot on the frozen ground. “Plus, no chance of digging graves.”
The eagle emitted a high-pitched scream. It moved so gracefully, yet seemed so distant. But Will knew it could quickly swoop on its prey and rip it apart with a brutal and immediate savagery. “I’ll bring Barkov’s body out here. Let the animals have them. There’s nothing else we can do.” He knelt down and patted a hand on Ross’s blood-soaked jacket. “Doesn’t make it right, though.”
“Nope, it never is.”
“Did you examine the area around here?”
“Yes. It took me an hour to find, but the snow indentations are clear-Razin was lying about five hundred feet away, farther up the mountain. Bastard was watching Ross and the lodge the whole time.”
Will stood and rubbed his facial stubble, knowing that Ross’s blood would now be on his face. “He must have been here hours before us, maybe longer.” Even though he hated Razin’s actions, he couldn’t help but admire the man’s professionalism. “Tomorrow night we need to be in Moscow. We’re going to do something unexpected.”
“Fine by me.” The big ex-Delta man sighed. “But I still think we need backup.”
“You’ll change your mind when I tell you what we’re going to be doing.”
Laith smiled. “Patrick told me and Roger to report back if you started disobeying protocols again.”
As Will had done in his last mission with the two CIA officers.
“Go ahead, but you’ll be making a mistake.”
The American said quietly, “We’re saying nothing.”
Will frowned. “Why?”
Laith moved closer to Will; he was at eye level. “Because we hope you know what you’re doing.” His smile faded. “But we also worry that you’ve met your match, that you won’t succeed.”
Will held his gaze. “I’ll succeed. The bastard’s time is running out. Soon he’ll make a mistake.”
“You’re that confident?”
Will studied his colleague. “No.”
“I thought so.”
“You knew so.”
“Yeah.” Laith moved back. “I believe you’ll succeed. But the question is whether you’ll do it in time to stop a war.”