“What now?”
“There’s a back way in, an old gravel road that leads in from the west side of the property. It’ll take us a few minutes to get there, but we might be able to sneak in on their flank.”
“Spoken like a true infantryman, Major.” Anya turned toward the rear seat. “We can’t just jump on board the plane and fly it out of here.”
“Why not?”
“I thought you were asleep,” Anya said as she looked at Danil.
“Just resting.”
“Because they’d be on us like maggots, and we sure can’t drag you into a firefight. Not like this, anyway.”
“I can hold my own,” Danil replied as he looked at Sasha. “I can still hold a gun.”
“Get on down the road, Anya. Let me think about this for a minute.”
The car pulled in before an old gate that looked like it hadn’t been opened in years. It was nearly buried in a snow drift, its wooden rails split and rotted. Sasha opened the car door and pushed through the snow to the gate. Its end posts were overgrown with thick bushes that did not look like they had been tended to in decades. At least that’s what it seemed. Sasha reached for the gate to pull it through the snow, but the rails simply pulled out of their sockets. He shrugged as he threw them one by one into the snow.
“I hope this car can clear the drifts,” Anya said as Sasha slid in beside her in the front seat.
“I hope so too. At least it’s quiet.”
“Do you know how far this takes us in?”
“Not a clue.”
“Donald told me about this way in. I don’t think he meant to. It might have been just a slip, something he didn’t think was important.”
“So, what are we going to do?”
“Get as close to the plane as you can. Since the path was cleared in case we needed it, we’re ready to go.” Sasha looked at Danil, who looked exhausted. “You’ve preflighted everything?”
“Did it two days ago. This plane won’t need a long stretch to get off the ground, so the original idea should still work.”
“Should?” Sasha’s face showed surprise at the remark.
“We hadn’t planned on new snow. It isn’t much, but it does put a new layer beneath the wheels.”
“Oh. Hadn’t thought of that. Think we can still make it?”
“No guarantees,” Danil said as he leaned forward. “Just get me to it.”
Anya pulled through the snow, the bottom of the car scraping out and clearing a path as they went. She pulled up behind the building furthest from the farmhouse and cut the engine. Sasha helped Danil from the rear seat and pulled his arm around his neck while Anya gathered their weapons. Three minutes later, Danil was perched behind the wheel of the Cessna, his face bathed in sweat.
“You sure you’re going to be able to do this?”
“We don’t have much of a choice now, do we?” Danil pointed to the large doors. “Push those doors open. As soon as you tell me, I’ll fire the engines. I don’t want to make too much noise before things start happening.” He looked over the controls one last time before leaning back into the seat. “It’s a good thing these doors face away from the house. They won’t see us for a few minutes.”
“Why don’t we just leave now?” Anya asked.
“Can’t take that chance. As soon as the engines start, they’d be on us quickly. We’ve got to surprise them first. I’d rather have a clear takeoff.” Sasha handed Danil his assault rifle. “If we don’t make it back, you need to decide how you want to handle this thing.”
Danil nodded in reply. He could go out fighting, or flying.
“Let’s go, Ruth. We’ve got work to do.”
She smiled at the sound of her name. It was the first time she’d heard it in over a week. She didn’t want to be Russian any longer. She handed Sasha his weapon and headed toward the door.
The building gave them cover only for a short distance as the yard behind the house was an open expanse. The farmhouse was situated to defend, with wide killing zones on all sides. They skirted along a line of bushes that acted as a windbreak to the fields for as long as they could, before kneeling down in the wet snow. The house was still almost one hundred yards in front of them.
“Not quite the ideal situation,” Sasha noted.
“I liked the openness from inside,” she whispered. “I didn’t think I’d need to assault my own safe-house.”
A single car was parked beside the house at the end of the lane. One person remained in it, the driver who was casually smoking a cigarette, the smoke drifting out the window into the cold, morning air.
“He doesn’t seem too worried, does he?” Anya leveled her weapon and sighted him. “I could pick him off with a single shot if I had the right rifle.”
“You that good?”
“Yeah,” Anya replied quietly. “I’m that good.”
The minutes dragged on as they listened for tell-tale signs from others. Surely there were others inside. Just as the thought formed in Sasha’s mind, the driver opened the door and yelled a reply to someone in the house.
“They aren’t being very secretive about their presence.”
“My guess is they found the house empty and are just waiting for someone, meaning us,” Sasha replied, “to come pay them a visit.”
“Well, let’s get this show on the road. No telling when others may show up.”
Their best plan was simply a sprint to the wall closest to them. It was a sitting room with only a single window pointing away from the lane. They nodded in unison and sprang forward. Sasha could feel his heart pounding. He hadn’t done anything like this in years. He had left live-fire drills behind, long ago. They dropped to the ground at the base of the wall after an agonizing run. They’d felt naked. If anyone had seen them, they’d know in the next few moments. Their breath hung in the still air as their eyes locked on each other.
The sound of scraping across a floor told them the room above was occupied. Sasha stood, glancing into the window from the side. He could see nothing but a wall. The sound of voices suddenly reverberated against the thin glass. He held up three fingers, and Anya nodded. They needed to get to a door. Anya pointed over her shoulder. They’d try the rear door that led to the kitchen. It opened into a small mudroom, something it seemed was common to farm houses around the world.
Anya led and came to rest beside the door, her weapon held tightly against her side. She reached up to the door knob, giving it a turn. It was unlocked. A full turn and she felt the wood door begin to give way. She let it stand silently as she listened intently. Nothing. It was time to move. She eased the door open and slipped inside, crouching as she went. The small hall was dark, lit only by a filtered light from the kitchen. Sasha stepped in behind her, his weapon trained ahead. He slipped past, landing his shoulder against the wall as he looked out into the kitchen. Empty. They were somewhere else.
Sasha pointed toward the sitting room and again they heard voices. ‘Sloppy’, he thought. But then he had to remind himself, they weren’t dealing with military types. They were dealing with criminals, thugs. They ruled with brute force and intimidation. They weren’t a tactical unit.
Anya stood as Sasha took a deep breath. It was show-time. They crept into the kitchen coming to the outer wall of their target. Sasha lowered his weapon as he stepped in front of the opening and sprayed a burst inside. His targets didn’t have time to even know he was there. Two went down instantly as Anya stepped into the opening and sent a single shot into the third. They spun around and began systematically searching the house for others. They couldn’t be this lucky, could they? Within three minutes, the house was cleared. No other targets.
“Let’s get the hell out of here.” Sasha lowered his rifle and wiped his sleeve across his face. He couldn’t remember sweating so much in winter before. He felt like he was getting old.