Razin was on his knees, still in the center of the farmstead clearing. “You’re making a big mistake!”
The Spetsnaz commander took off his balaclava and ran his fingers through his blond hair.
Korina whispered, “Captain Zaytsey. Spetsnaz Vympel. I’ve done training courses with him.”
Zaytsey said, “Sir, we’re under orders to take you away for questioning.”
“Do you know who you’re talking to?!”
“Of course.” Zaytsey glanced at his men. “None of us takes pleasure in doing this to someone of your status.”
Razin started getting to his feet. Two of the soldiers stepped forward, shouting at him. But Zaytsey raised a hand. “Give him some dignity.” He looked at Razin. “Where are the blueprints?”
“What fucking blueprints?”
“You were here to meet a British arms dealer named Thomas Eden so that you could sell him blueprints of the nuclear devices you’ve been training with. We want them.”
Razin shook his head, anger vivid on his face. “I was never given any blueprints. Your commanders will know that.”
“They do, sir. We assume that you must have had an expert examine the bombs so that blueprints could secretly be drawn up.”
“This is outrageous!” Razin looked at the Spetsnaz men. “I’ll have you and your commanders court-martialed for this.”
The men stayed still.
Zaytsey pointed at Razin. “The order for your arrest was countersigned by General Platonov himself. The only man looking at a court-martial is you.” He held out his hand. “Sir, I’ll have your sidearm.”
“And I’ll have your head!”
“Your sidearm, sir.”
Razin hesitated.
“Sir!”
Slowly Razin removed his pistol from his holster and weighed it in his hand before thrusting it at Zaytsey. The commander took the weapon and tucked it in his jacket.
Razin placed his hands on his hips and looked at the men. All but Zaytsey still had their faces covered with balaclavas. “Which unit are you from?”
Zaytsey answered, “That’s classified.”
“Nothing’s classified from me!”
The commander stared at him, then nodded. “I suppose it makes no difference. We’re Vympel.”
“It makes every difference.” Anger was still evident in Razin’s voice, but he showed no signs of fear, his posture now one of a high-ranking officer addressing his men. “You should know that I used to be in Vympel before being given command of Alpha. We’re the same, and we do not sell Russian secrets.”
“If that’s true, you will be exonerated. But that decision will be made by more powerful men than me. We’re here simply to take you away.”
“Fools!”
“Sir, your Alpha men have been recalled and are being questioned. The beacons on the nuclear devices have been turned on. All of the bombs have been retrieved except one. We don’t know where it is because its beacon has been removed.”
Razin barked, “Removed or is faulty? Either way, I can help you retrieve it.”
“They think that’s the bomb that was dismantled so that the blueprints could be made.”
Sweat began to trickle down Will’s back. The fact that the beacon had been removed from the bomb meant that Razin must have planted it.
Slowly Razin turned fully, pausing to look at each man around him before returning his stare to Zaytsey. “You’ve all been tricked, and I think I know by whom.”
“Sir, if that’s the case, you must tell your superiors.”
Razin laughed. “Oh, I’ll tell those idiots everything. But right now you and your men need to know that I’ve captured the man I’m talking about. He’s an MI6 officer, one of the most powerful men in Western intelligence and certainly our biggest enemy. He’s been hunting me, and I’ve been hunting him. I got to him first. But this”-he swept an arm-“ farce was no doubt his insurance; a way to make me look bad to the motherland.”
Zatsey moved closer. “Is he dead?”
Will tensed.
“No. I have him prisoner. But if I don’t return to him soon, there’s every chance he may escape.” He smiled. “Perhaps it would be better for you and your men to return to your barracks with the one man that every Russian intelligence agency has been chasing for decades, rather than”-he thumped his chest-“a man who will certainly be proven innocent and will make you and your soldiers look like a laughingstock within all of Spetsnaz.”
Captain Zaytsey’s eyes narrowed. “Where is he?”
Silence.
Then Razin nodded. Speaking loudly, he gave them a grid reference.
Korina grabbed Will’s arm and said urgently, “He’s winning them over!”
Will muttered, “I know.”
He crawled forward a few feet, tightened his finger around the trigger, and pointed his gun at the center of Razin’s skull.
He heard feet crunching over snow, clothes rustling, saw movement in his peripheral vision.
Too far away to be grabbed and pulled to the ground, Korina strode quickly out of the trees and into the clearing.
Will thought, No, Korina!
“Captain Zaytsey.” Her voice was loud. “Major Tsvetaeva, GRU.”
Four of the Spetsnaz men spun around and pointed their guns at the approaching woman.
“We’ve trained together. An interrogation course a year ago.” She kept walking. “Colonel Khmelnytsky is lying to you about the bomb.”
Zaytsey frowned. “Yes, I remember you, Major Tsvetaeva. What the hell’s going on?”
She went right up to the captain and Razin and pointed behind her. “There are dead people in the barn. Khmelnytsky murdered them. Check their identities. I suspect you’ll find they are high-ranking Russian officials.”
Razin spat. “More like traitors!”
“You’re the traitor, Khmelnytsky!” Korina looked back at Zaytsey. “This is worse than you think. Please check.”
Zaytsey looked doubtful, but he gestured to two of his men, who walked off toward the barn.
More sweat trickled down Will’s back. He had to stay hidden, keep his gun trained on Razin. If he could have stopped Korina going out there he would have, though he understood why she’d done so. But everything now depended upon her ability to ensure that the men carried out their orders.
A minute later, the two men returned and spoke quietly to their commander.
Zaytsey looked at Razin. “An air force colonel and a senior government official. Both natives of this country. You killed them?”
Razin stepped closer to the captain and Korina. “They were MI6 agents, run by the man I captured.”
Will adjusted his position slightly. Korina had her back to him and was partially obscuring his view of Razin, though he still had an easy head shot available.
Razin smiled while looking at Korina. “And they’re not the only MI6 agents I’ve been looking for. There’s one more. And I think”-he looked toward the perimeter-“that person’s been getting help from another MI6 officer.”
Korina interjected in a loud, urgent voice, “Captain-the bomb. Khmelnytsky plans to use it to-”
She became silent.
Something was wrong.
Zaytsey shouted.
His men moved quickly toward him.
Korina fell back toward the ground.
With a large knife stuck in her chest.
Will’s stomach wrenched; he gritted his teeth.
No! No! No!
Soldiers grabbed Razin.
No!
He was thrown down.
No!
Will banged a fist into the ground, disbelief overwhelming him.
Captain Zaytsey knelt down by Korina. She was motionless. He placed a hand against her throat, fingers against her wrist, then placed his ear to her heart. Rising slowly, he shook his head, moved to Razin’s facedown body, and said to the men holding him, “Let him go!”
They moved away.
Zaytsey stood over him. “She’s dead.”
Every emotion gripped Will.
Dead? Oh dear God, no!
“You killed a GRU major.” Captain Zaytsey moved an arm; Will couldn’t see what he was doing.
“No!” Razin’s voice was urgent. He looked wide-eyed toward the perimeter again, clearly trying to locate Will. “I’ve more information you need-”
“Shut up!” In a loud, authoritative voice, Zaytsey said, “Colonel Taras Khmelnytsky, Hero of the Russian Federation, soldier of the motherland, I relinquish you of your rank, title, and nationality.”
He swept his arm forward.
Razin’s sidearm was in Zaytsey’s hand.
Will shouted, “Stop!”
But his voice was drowned out by the sound of the pistol shot.
Its noise traveled through the forest, and across the adjacent lake.
The captain slowly lowered his arms and dropped the gun on Razin’s body. The back of Taras Khmelnytsky’s head had been completely ripped apart.
Razin was dead.