Surprisingly, the ride only lasted about twenty minutes before the van came to a halt. A moment later, the back door was opened again and Noah saw three men with automatic rifles aimed at him. It was obvious they wanted him to follow, so he did so without asking any further questions.
The van had stopped in front of a run-down concrete building. There were only a couple of cars in its parking lot, and only one door was open. He followed his escorts through it and found himself in a dark hallway. There was barely enough light to see at all, and he found himself brushing the wall with his fingertips to be sure he was going straight.
A door opened ahead of him and light flooded the hall. Surrounded by his escort, Noah stepped into a room that had obviously once been used in manufacturing.
Nicolaich Andropov was sitting in a chair at a small table in the middle of the floor. He smiled when he saw Noah and pointed to the chair across from him.
“Mr. Wolf,” he cried. “It is good to see you again. Come, I have vodka waiting for us.”
“This isn’t a social visit, Nicolaich,” Noah said. “First I want to see my people and then we can talk about whatever it is you want.”
Andropov laughed. “Oh, it is as I told you before. You Americans never cease to amaze me. Here you are, surrounded by my men with their weapons trained on you, and yet you presume to make demands. Come, I must insist. Join me for a drink while your friends are brought in.”
Noah glared at him for a moment, then walked over and sat down. Andropov poured vodka into a glass and set it in front of him, then picked up his own. “Let us make a toast,” he said. “To a future of cooperation between us.”
Noah picked up his glass and held it close to Andropov’s. “I’ve got a better one. To the day I get to put a bullet through your other eye.” He clinked his glass against the other, then tossed it back and swallowed it down.
Andropov grinned and shrugged, but drank.
*
“Somebody’s coming,” Sarah whispered. “You had any luck?”
“Nope. Whoever tied us up knew exactly what he was doing. Just keep your cool, don’t give them any excuse to rough you up. Neil, keep that sarcastic mind of yours under control.”
“You don’t have to worry about that,” Neil said. “I hate to admit it, guys, but I’m pretty much scared shitless right at the moment.”
A key rattled in a lock and the door was pushed slowly open. Light came into the room and they could see three men step inside.
“Nicolaich said to bring you all to him,” one of them said. He and one of the others stood back with small machine guns pointed at them while the third man quickly cut them loose. Once their hands and feet were unbound, he helped them stand.
“Follow me,” said the man who had freed them. The other two stood out of reach as Sarah, Moose and Neil followed him out the door. When they had gotten into the hallway, the two armed men fell in behind.
They made a couple of turns and suddenly found themselves in a large open bay. Sarah barely bit back a shriek of happiness when she saw Noah, but she couldn’t resist glancing smugly at Moose and Neil. The look in her eyes told them that she was trying to say, “I told you he’d come for us!”
Noah looked them over quickly and decided that they had not been tortured or beaten since he had seen them last. He nodded to them once and turned back to Andropov. “Bring them closer, I want to talk to them.”
Andropov grinned and motioned for the guards to bring them closer. When they were about eight feet away, he held up a hand for them to stop.
“You guys doing okay?” Noah asked.
“Well, the accommodations aren’t as luxurious as I prefer,” Moose said, “and I can’t say much for the entertainment, but at least we’re still kicking.”
Noah nodded. “That’s the important thing,” he said. He leaned back in his chair and then winced. Sitting forward again, he reached down and took off the holsters and held them up for Andropov to see. “These are digging into my cracked ribs,” he said as he dropped them on the table. He leaned back again and looked at Sarah. “You okay, Babe?”
“I’m better now that I’ve seen you,” she said with a grin. “Any chance you’ve come to rescue a damsel in distress?”
He shrugged. “You might say we’re in negotiations on that.” he turned back to Andropov. “Okay, Asshole, who is it you want me to kill?”
“It’s actually one of my competitors,” Andropov said. “If I were younger and had both of my eyes, I could handle him myself. Unfortunately, that is not the case. This man is very well guarded and never allows himself to be exposed. It will not be an easy assignment, but I feel strongly that you can accomplish it.”
“I’ll need every bit of intel you can gather on him. I mean everything, from what he has for breakfast to how many sheets of toilet paper he tears off. Can you give me that kind of information?”