“Really?” Ella found it hard to believe this MI6 officer would just trust a deadly assassin to tell the truth.
“The one thing we know about Yuri is that while he’s ruthless, he’s notoriously true to his word. And he’s also not a terrorist. While he’ll go to extraordinary lengths to take down a target, he’s not the destroy-a-city kind of killer.” Zoey’s green eyes remained sharp on Ella. “That doesn’t mean he won’t follow through if he doesn’t get his way, though, which is why we operate under the assumption he’ll do anything, including leveling this village, if we don’t do exactly what he stipulates.”
“He provided an accurate location of the weapon back when . . .” Carter let his words trail off, and Ella had to assume he was referring to the op during which Zoey’s fiancé died. “Well, it was accurate. And I had time to deactivate it.”
“You’re the expert on the guy. There has to be other, um, evidence that leads you to believe he’s telling the truth, right?” Ella assumed the team had already had this conversation, but she hadn’t been privy to all of the details.
Zoey looked at Ella again and nodded. “As horrific as this may sound, my intel suggests Yuri started changing his MO because of boredom. He was getting his marks almost too easily. So, he began taking jobs that were much more challenging.” She visibly swallowed. “Like taking out one of the best MI6 operators, for instance.”
Your fiancé. Goose bumps peppered her skin, and she shivered. Zoey had lost the love of her life. Same as Carter. Savanna. I can’t lose mine too.
“And in taking on these so-called impossible hits, Yuri changed his tactics. Upped the ante, so to speak. He started using more extreme methods to draw out his targets,” Zoey went on, her voice breaking a little as if remembering her loss. “He’d tailor his strategy based on the mark.”
Ohh. “Threatening to take down three city blocks would force someone like,” Ella began, glimpsing at Carter, “a CIA operative out into the open, but maybe not a Russian mobster if that was his target. Is that what you’re saying?”
Zoey nodded. “According to my intel, it’s more of a game to him. Even if he sends a team as he’s been doing, he’s the one to design the trap. But there’s been no known instances where a bomb went off.”
“And what if tonight is the . . .” Ella let go of her words when Jesse tightened his grip on her thigh, and she almost yelped. He eased up a second later, probably realizing his fear of losing her had triggered the tight hold of her leg. She covered his hand with her own, trying to, well, reassure them both.
Zoey’s eyes fell back to the bag as she responded, “We won’t let tonight be his first time, I promise.”
Carter coughed into his fist as if needing to change the subject. Haunted by his memories, maybe? “If he stays true to his MO, Yuri will allow one man to leave the mountain to deactivate the weapon, but we’ll already have Oliver waiting in the village. And Jack will call him the second he exfils the mine to provide the location.”
“Our issue still remains that Yuri won’t let you leave the mine,” Jesse said, which had Ella’s attention.
“Even if I’m Yuri’s priority, Zoran hired him to kill you and Ella,” Carter added, then turned his attention to Ella. “And he’ll make sure that happens. So, we’ve prepared a plan to get you out of there with Jack without allowing Yuri to change his MO and murder a thousand innocent people because he got pissed you got away.”
Wait, what? She blinked a few times, replaying what had been said, then focused back on Carter currently lifting a map that’d been open on the bed, and he motioned for Ella to join him.
“We can get to the mine by walking,” Carter went on once she was standing next to him. “That way, we can use the cover of night to go undetected just in case Yuri does have other plans. When we’re there, we’ll need to use the emergency stairs alongside the lift up the mountain to get to one of the entrances.”
“Okay.” The word barely escaped Ella’s lips as she anxiously awaited the news as to how in the hell she’d be fleeing the salt mine without triggering an act of terror upon the village.
“Because of the mountains, we have plenty of overwatch positions. There’s also the Skywalk and Rudolf’s Tower where some of my other guys are already positioned.” Carter expelled a deep breath and shot a quick look over his shoulder toward the room—probably to Jesse. “My guys have identified and scoped out Yuri’s men already hiding on the mountainside as well. Another reason we’re assuming shit’s going down soon.”
“The mine is currently closed for renovations, but we’ll need to disable their security cameras if Yuri hasn’t done so already,” Gray chimed in. “The moment you escape with Jack, they’ll simultaneously take out all of Yuri’s men to ensure you have clear and safe passage.”
“No one will be alive to radio to anyone in the village to detonate the bomb, and Yuri also can’t get word out after he realizes you’re escaping to do so because of comms not working from within the mine,” Carter said, piggybacking off Gray’s words.
“What if you miss someone hiding in the woods? And that person makes the call to set off the bomb?” Ella quickly asked, her pulse racing.
“We can’t use thermal imaging to check how many tangos we’re up against inside the mountain,” Sydney answered, and Ella looked over to where she kneeled alongside Zoey with a big-ass gun in hand. Was that an M4? “But we can confirm how many are outside the mountain waiting for us. I already sent a small drone over the area. Not the kind you buy at Target, either.” She casually winked. So calm for such a crazy time, and Ella actually appreciated that. It was, well, comforting.
Ella shifted her focus back over her shoulder to Jesse to get a read on him. “I still don’t understand how I’m getting out of the mountain with Jack. I’m assuming we’ll be face-to-face with Yuri when he provides the location of the bomb. So, how do we escape?” She went over to Jesse as he stood. “And I hate leaving you.”
“I can’t get into some gunfight with an assassin with you there, Ella.” He wrapped his arms around her hips, tipping his head a touch as he captivated her with his blue eyes. “You know I can’t let you into that mountain without having a way to get you out safely,” he said without answering both of her questions.
“And you can trust me,” Jack added from behind them. “I won’t let anything happen to her.”
To her. He was speaking to Jesse. Offering him a promise that she knew he needed to hear and believe.
“We need to get Yuri to meet us in a specific location in the mine. There’s an old miner’s slide that’s now a tourist attraction that you and Jack will use to get away. As soon as my men on overwatch spot you and Jack exit the mine, they’ll eliminate all external threats within a matter of seconds.”
The slide? Really?
Jesse parted his lips as if prepared to share more, but the phone given to them on the train began ringing.
“It’s time?” Ella’s stomach continued to cramp as Carter swapped the map for the phone and placed the call on speakerphone.