“No reason not to. It’s clean.”
They finished their discussion and Jet terminated the call, and a dull ache twisted in her chest at the idea of yet more time without the two loves of her life. She pulled up the article on the charity ceremony the following day, looked up the city where it was taking place, and studied the satellite imagery of the marina hosting the event – not a particularly large venue, which could be either positive or negative. There was a main clubhouse, a hotel across the street, and a few restaurants nearby. The main port was situated on the opposite side of the long breakwater, the surroundings bleak and industrial even from the bird’s-eye view. She spent the better part of an hour doing research on bus schedules and documentation requirements, and determined that it would be too risky to fly or take public transportation.
Which left hitching a ride or stealing something.
She cleared the cache and the browsing history and turned the computer off before moving to the counter and paying for her time. When she emerged onto the street, the whine of a cheap motorcycle greeted her from the curb, where a delivery driver was coaxing the reluctant engine to life. An idea struck her and she nodded to the youth, who smiled amenably and returned to his task.
Jet pushed the bicycle to the street and swung her leg over the saddle with a sense of purpose.
She knew what she needed to do. Now it was just a matter of finding the right motorcycle.
She angled her head at the partially cloudy sky and let the sun warm her face, and then looked back at the young man on the bike as he pulled on his helmet. She beamed a genuine smile at him and offered a small wave before calling out over her shoulder as she pedaled away.
“Nice day for a ride.”
Chapter 48
Yulia stood in the doorway of Jet’s abandoned room, a look of disbelief in place as early-morning light streamed through the window. She’d really thought the woman would take her up on her offer. But apparently she’d been wrong and now needed to implement damage control.
She did a quick check of the cafeteria and other common areas just to be sure – it was possible she’d awakened and decided to go for a run – but a scan of the path that ringed the compound showed it to be empty.
Yulia hurried to the administrative offices and made her calls, alerting the military and the police that Jet was an enemy of the state and was to be considered armed and dangerous. She was finishing up her last call when Anton stuck his head inside, his expression alarmed.
“What is it, Anton?”
“Someone broke into my workshop. It has to be your newcomer.”
Yulia nodded. “Yes. It appears she decided to go it alone. What’s missing?”
“All our passports, and a little money.”
“She didn’t take all the cash?”
“No. Odd, isn’t it?”
Yulia couldn’t understand why she would have left anything of value. “Why take all the passports?”
“They have considerable value on the black market. Or if she’s got the right gear and knowledge, she could alter them and use them herself.”
Yulia accompanied him to the secure room and eyed Anton’s workbench. “At least she was neat about it.”
“That’s a month’s worth of passports, gone. Now we have to start all over.”
“Nothing we can do about it.”
“What’s worse is that she knows where this base is located. If she wanted to sell that information to the Russians…”
Yulia laughed humorlessly. “That’s about the only thing I can be certain she won’t do. But no matter. Inventory the weapon room to be sure she didn’t break in there and steal anything, and I’ll work the phones. I presume you have a list of the names and numbers of the passports?”
“Of course.”
“Then get me those. She’s good, but nobody can evade discovery forever. When she surfaces, we’ll be waiting.”
Anton’s brow creased. “You didn’t tell her about the missiles, did you?”
“Are you out of your mind? The only ones who know about them are you, me, and the colonel.”
“So this changes nothing about that operation?”
“Why would it? I tried to recruit a mercenary, who repaid my generosity by stealing some documents and running for the hills. It’s hardly the end of the world. Annoying, but our bigger picture remains the same.”
~