“Yes, Sir, I think that’s quite possible. Bridger may have been instructed to offer the information if confronted, and to sacrifice Morabito to make it more believable. If that’s the case, Nicolaich will undoubtedly be gone by the time we arrive, with snipers in place to try to take us out.”
“Exactly. When I saw the report come in about the three casualties, I suspected that it might have included information that could lead you into a trap. I can’t risk losing you right now, so I’ve taken the liberty of requesting a Delta Force squadron to be placed under your command. They’re being transported to you in a C-130, and you should hear from their commanding officer within the next three hours. Your orders are to separate them into response teams and deploy them around the area. That way, at least one of them should be within a reasonable distance if you get a location on Andropov. Let them handle the takedown, Camelot. Stress to them that there is no need to take Andropov alive. His corpse will suffice and can be positively identified. We obtained samples of his DNA from the broken glass Ms. Child used to put out his eye. It seems our man in Moscow has some connections with the police, there, and was able to get it after your confrontation with him in the bar.”
“Yes, Sir,” Noah said. “Under the circumstances, that’s a logical decision. May I request permission to join the active engagement when it begins?”
“Camelot, we’re talking about Delta Force. These guys are the equivalent of SEAL Team Six, the active engagement will probably be over before you can get there, but permission granted anyway. Just don’t get yourself killed in the process.”
The phone went dead and Noah relayed the instructions to the rest of the team.
“Okay, that just sucks,” Neil said. “I know I got shook up when you killed that guy earlier, but I was looking forward to watching you take out Nicolaich. Attacking Neverland was a mistake, and he needs to pay for it.”
“He will,” Noah said, and the coldness in his voice was deeper than usual. “It’s well after five. Let’s take a ride down by Molly’s place and see if we can pick up another shadow.”
“You got it,” Sarah said as she backed the car out and pointed it in the right direction. “Um—is this going to be like the last time?”
“I’m not sure,” Noah said. “Depends on how they react. Odds on, they already know what happened to the last batch. I doubt they’ll be so easy to draw into any kind of a trap.”
“What’s to keep them from just opening fire on us?” Neil asked. “I understand this is a supercar, but I don’t think it’s bulletproof.”
“It probably isn’t,” Noah said, “but I don’t think that’s something we have to worry about. Nicolaich isn’t likely to want someone else taking me down. Whatever he’s up to, he simply wants to know where I am and what I’m doing.”
“Wait a minute,” Sarah said. “I thought we were certain he was still going after Molly.”
“He almost certainly is, but with the security we’ve got on her right now, it would be damned hard to get to her. It isn’t likely he’ll try it tonight; he’ll want to observe the heightened security for at least a couple of days, first. On the other hand, he’s probably getting frustrated that we keep losing his tails. He’ll have somebody there just to watch and see if I show up. We don’t want to disappoint them, now, do we?”
SEVENTEEN
As Noah had predicted, a white Ford Crown Victoria was parked less than a block from the entrance to Molly’s subdivision. Sarah had to drive past it as they approached the entrance and Noah looked into the car as they did so, smiled and waved at the four men inside and then watched in the visor mirror as the car pulled out behind them.
“Amazing,” Neil said. “They seem to think it’s a good idea to stay back a ways. Wonder what gave them that idea?”
“I’m sure Nicolaich is monitoring police radio traffic,” Noah said. “Somebody would have found the results of our earlier handiwork by now, so they’ve undoubtedly been told to do what they can to stay out of range. All they’re supposed to do is keep us in sight and try to find out where we’re staying.”
“Oh, that’s peachy. What do you say we disappoint them on that part, can we do that?”
“I second that motion,” Sarah put in.
“Don’t worry, I have no intention of letting them trace us back to the hotel. With any luck, we can stay completely off their radar until after Nicolaich makes his call tomorrow. If the situation is unresolved tomorrow afternoon, we’ll need to find a new base of operations. There are only so many hotels in the area; sooner or later, Nicolaich would find us.”