“Smoker,” Nick whispered.
“I remember the lesson,” Gus replied, remembering the men Nick had stalked in the past with Gus along, and how far the smell of tobacco smoke could reach. “You sure made those guys pay for their up until then innocent habit, proving that smoking is indeed hazardous to your health.”
Nick went to a crawl, picking each hand and foot advancement with care and patience. As he neared the sentry’s position, Nick watched a billowing cloud of tobacco smoke waft upwards into the air. Flipping his night vision goggles upward Nick allowed his natural night vision to work. He couldn’t take the chance the sentry might be in constant communication with someone inside. Nick waited until the red glow of his cigarette brightened as the sentry inhaled, and fired two silenced hollow points into the face behind the glow. The sentry dropped with very little sound.
The approach remained a careful time consuming task as Nick covered the remaining distance to the dead sentry. He breathed a sigh of relief, finding no evidence of anything relating to a communication device. The sentry had nothing of an electronic nature on him. Nick confiscated the Uzi and extra clip from the guard. Removing his small pack, Nick extracted his remote viewing video cam at the end of an extendable cable. He propped the entrance hatch quietly to allow him to snake the video cam into and down the stairs. No one was in sight, which was not unexpected at nearly 3 am. With pack in place once again, Nick entered the compound entrance with noiseless steps. In the entry tunnel, a constant underlying noise of generators provided cover for his steps. A red glow from corridor lights made maneuvering an easy task for Nick.
“I’m by myself in the entrance tunnel,” Nick whispered. “Guide me to John.”
Nick hugged the corridor wall, his silenced MP5 at the ready. He moved forward slowly, to give Gus time to react to his movements.
“Look for somewhere to go right.”
Fifty feet ahead Nick came to intersecting tunnels going in both directions with still no one in sight. He went right. After moving ten feet, Gus affirmed the right direction.
“You’re getting close,” Gus said. “There should be something on your left soon.”
*
Hanging on a chain, naked except for his undershorts, John tried to balance on alternating feet, cringing each time as his feet were cramping. They had received word from the East with conflicting stories, one claiming Ebi Zarin died during an operation in Boston. The other source claimed Zarin had been killed near the Canadian border. John denied the stories, joking he was standing with his contact, Yuri Aman. Therefore he could not be dead. Aman showed his lack of humor by chaining John in the position he was now in.
Only his toes touched on the cold bare floor. He grinned through the pain, remembering he had just seen a TV show with the main character hung in such a way. John had been left alone since shortly after midnight. The man who originally brought him to the compound returned with a second man. His original recruiter stood directly in front of him, staring at John with his hands clasped behind his back. The man who came in with him arranged surgical implements on a side table.
“You don’t need to torture me, Yuri,” John told the man. “What is it you wish to know?”
John’s statement surprised Aman. His eyes narrowed, and his lips pursed in a tight line. “You think this is funny. That is good. When my friend Hadi shares his passion with you, I am most certain you will tell us everything you know. Who are you in reality?”
“I am Ebi Zarin. I did not lie to you about my name.”
“Ebi Zarin died. That, we do know.”
“I know that is the story. I faked my death with help from the man who told me to tell you everything if I was caught.”
“Who is this man?”
“His name is El Muerto. He killed my entire cell, and another with my help near the Canadian border. We made movies of it. Have you seen them on YouTube? They are very popular, almost with as many hits as a cat video. Muerto wants you to know everything I know, because he said he would kill you and all of your men here soon anyway.”
Yuri smiled then. “You think much of this Muerto. I hope you like him as much when we cut pieces from you slowly.”
“Why would you do such a thing,” John asked, trying to buy as much time as possible. “Take me down, and give me a notepad. I will write everything out for you. All that I have experienced since I faked my death will be in writing.”
Hadi walked over with a scalpel. “This Ebi is very funny. Let me cut his dick off, Yuri. He will be serious then.”