The blast would be localized, just enough det cord to get the team inside. And thankfully, Sydney’s drone had provided the location for the kid and other innocents inside so they could ensure their safety.
Jesse assumed Zoran was in the same room as his son, given the circumstances. And that prick would be his to deal with tonight for putting a revenge hit out on Ella.
“They know we’re here,” Carter said over the line a moment later. “Alpha Six and Four are now inside.”
Jesse kept his body low, his boots softly crunching across the snow, as he peered through the green-tinted scope, searching for any other tangos. When he heard the ripple of gunfire and a bullet whizzed past him, he quickly took a knee and crouched for cover behind a tree to determine the location of the shooter. “This is Alpha Five. We have a new tango in the tower. Working to get a shot to clear our way.”
“Roger that,” Gray replied, and more gunfire popped like fireworks from within the castle.
“When you have eyes on our HVT, don’t forget, he’s mine,” Zoey reminded the team, and despite her British accent, she sounded just like a Southern woman, one in particular. Hard-headed and stubborn to the core. Ella.
“Ignore her directive,” Carter snapped out, making it clear their high-value target, their HVT, was his. He wanted to finish what he started with Yuri years ago.
Jesse quickly rounded the tree, locked the shooter in the tower in his sights, and pulled the trigger. “Tango down in the tower,” Jesse alerted the team. “We’re clear to continue.” He swiveled his focus to Thatcher, now at his six, who nodded, and they began moving again.
“This is Alpha Four,” Jack said. “Advancing to the second level. First floor now clear for entry.”
“This is One,” Gray replied. “That’s a good copy. Advancing in now.”
“Stop.” Thatcher suddenly grabbed hold of Jesse’s arm and yanked him back just in time to avoid a headshot from an unexpected tango. Seconds later, Thatcher pegged the shooter near the bushes by the castle.
Jesse let go of a deep breath and purely out of reflex, gave Thatcher a nod of thanks for saving his ass.
He’d thought he had his head on straight, but he’d nearly lost it. Distracted. Yeah, I’m still distracted. Fucking great.
“This is Six,” Oliver said as he and Thatcher entered the castle from where his team members had blown the door down not long ago. “Second floor now clear. Two more tangos down.”
Jesse rounded a corner, checking the hallway for new threats as Carter instructed, “Bravo One, send two men to the boathouse in case any men from the mountainside escape our snipers there and head this way via water.”
“Roger that,” Bravo One replied just as a crackling sound came over the castle’s intercom system.
“Dominick,” a voice rang out from the built-in speakers, most likely used for the daytime tours. “This is unexpected.”
Jesse set his back flat to the wall and moved his NVGs back in place, scouring the dark hallway as he let the sling take his rifle and reached for a sidearm and knife. He had a feeling he knew what was coming next.
Yuri would attempt to pressure Carter and the others into revealing themselves in exchange for the hostages on the third level. What choice did he have?
“You’ve got us outnumbered,” Yuri went on. “But I have four innocent people here with me. If you don’t want their blood on your hands, then you’ll allow my men to disarm you so we can have a face-to-face. Zoran Mestrović wants Jesse though. I’m sure he’s here, but without the lovely Ella.” Yuri’s use of Ella’s name had Jesse’s skin crawling.
“You kill the hostages, and you lose your only leverage,” Carter responded, and he must have grabbed hold of one of the castle’s radios from his current location because his voice sounded over the intercom speakers. “You have another card up your sleeve. What is it, Yuri? How do you really plan to get us alone?”
Static filled the line for a second. “You’re right. You do know me well. Unfortunately, you were correct in assuming the mine was a decoy, a way to separate you from your team. I’d always planned to bring you here. But there is a bomb in the village. I don’t lie, remember?”
Jesse’s stomach turned, and his body went rigid at what he was suggesting.
Ella and Sydney. No. Fucking. No.
“Come upstairs and order your men to back off, and you can have the location. I’ll take Zoey in exchange for Ella. She comes upstairs as well,” Yuri announced.
“Ella will be okay,” Thatcher said before moving toward a panel on the wall.
The intercom. What are you doing?
“You want me, Zoran, not Jesse,” Thatcher remarked, his voice filling the speakers. “I was the one who killed your wife.”
“What are you doing, damn it?” Jesse hissed at Thatcher. They were running out of time, and no way would the man sacrifice himself for Jesse. Thatcher must not have trusted Jesse to get the job done. He wanted to be in the room with Yuri.
Thatcher held up a hand, a request for Jesse to let him handle the situation.
“We’ll sort it out. The four of you come, then. I’ll let you make a call to deal with the bomb once you’re with me,” Yuri said. “Order the rest of your men to stand down and leave the castle grounds.” He went quiet for a few seconds. “If you don’t, I make the call to detonate the bomb now, and you turn me into a terrorist.”
“This is Alpha Two,” Carter transmitted over their radios, “we have no choice. Alpha Six, get Juliet on the phone and tell her what’s going on. Let her know I’ll call the second I get the location, and you’ll need to explain to her how to defuse the bomb over the phone.”
What if they were too late? What if Yuri detonated the bomb anyway?
This is my fault. He shouldn’t have left Ella across the lake. Or maybe he should’ve . . . what? What could I have done?
“Focus,” Thatcher ordered, standing before him now and gripping his shoulder. “If you don’t want her to die, think about Ella as motivation, not as a distraction.” God, how he hated getting a pep talk from this man. “You made a promise, remember?” Thatcher reminded him of his own words. “Now it’s time to fucking keep it.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
“His men are gone,” one of the guards said upon entering the room. The place was dark with two wall sconces as the only source of illumination, which afforded them just enough light to see. Three windows faced the mountainside on one wall, three the direction of the lake on the other.
Zoran was in his wheelchair alongside his son, who had his back to the wall where he sat on the floor, hugging his knees, eyes on the ground. Zoran appeared frail, not like the robust man Jesse had scoped eighteen months ago. His too-long brownish-gray hair was partially hidden by the popped collar of his jacket, and his hair nearly concealed his eyes from view as well.
Jesse diverted his focus from Zoran to check on the four hostages tied up, thankfully within range of one of the windows that Sydney’s drone had spotted them through earlier. Their hands were tied behind their backs as they sat in what looked like dining chairs that’d been brought into the room. Black cloth bags hung over their heads, and since they were quiet, Jesse assumed their mouths were taped as well. But there were twitches of movement to indicate they were still alive.