Deadly Crossing (Tom Dugan 2) (7 page)

Nazarov listened to the sullen “
da
,” then hung up and called Anatoli.

“Anything new?”

“
Nyet
,” Anatoli said. “Kairouz arrived, and his driver dropped him in front of building and then went into underground garage. The American and the woman arrived by taxi. She went into building with him and has not come out, so I think she must work here also. Everything else seems normal. Many people coming to work; no one leaving except some deliveries coming and going and one repair truck.”

Nazarov sat up in his seat. “What kind of repair truck?”

“I’m not sure. Was a white van with design on the side. British Telecom, I think. Why?”

“Did it stay on the street? Can you still see it?”

“
Nyet
. It went into underground car park and left a few minutes later. Why? You think is problem?”

“I’m not sure,” Nazarov said, “but stay alert, and call me if you notice anything at all.”

Anatoli acknowledged the instruction, and Nazarov hung up and called Yuri back.

“Yuri, what did the telephone repair truck look like?”

“It was a white van,” Yuri replied.

“Is it still there?”

“
Nyet
. It stayed only a few minutes and then left.”

“Shit!” Nazarov hung up.

He tried to compose his thoughts. Something was up for sure. Having a telephone repair truck visit two of the locations they were staking out was just too much of a coincidence. Should he notify Arsov, or should he try to find out more first? He sat struggling with the decision when his phone chirped. The caller ID displayed the number of his man at the back entrance to the Kairouz house.

“What?”

“I spotted Tanya through the kitchen window,” the man said.

“You’re sure?”

“Absolutely. I had the binoculars on the window, watching the fat woman. Another woman came into the kitchen, Kairouz’s wife I think from the way she was dressed. They were talking, but when they moved, I could see across the room, and I saw Tanya. I am sure.”

“Did she look like she was a prisoner?”

“Not unless prisoners laugh and smile a lot.”

“Okay, keep a close watch. I’ll get back to you.” Nazarov disconnected and dialed Arsov.

Chapter Six

Berwick Street, Soho
Near Club Pyatnitsa
London, UK

Anna watched from the back of the vehicle as Harry Albright, uniformed as a repairman, drove the British Telecom van slowly down Berwick Street and pulled to the curb near a utility manhole. He got out and quickly arranged a bright yellow plastic barricade in front of the manhole, stabbed a curved metal hook into a small opening in the heavy steel cover to drag it to one side, and placed a large ‘Men at Work’ sign in front of the barricade. He surveyed his work briefly and climbed into the back of the van.

“All set,” he said to Anna Walsh.

“Thanks, Harry,” Anna said. “And thanks again for doing this. I’d stand out as a repair person, and that lot in the club have all seen Tom and the others. We really appreciate the help.” Beside her, Dugan and the Russians nodded in agreement.

“Glad to do it, Anna. But my chum in transport can only juggle things so long. The van is supposed to be in the shop for servicing.”

Anna shrugged. “We can only use it for a while anyway. A BT van is a bit conspicuous for long-term surveillance. Hopefully we’ll spot Arsov quickly and put a tail on him. Is Lou ready?”

“Parked around the corner in the chase car,” Harry said, “ready to pick up the trail if Arsov starts moving.”

“Brilliant.” Anna’s smile faded as she studied Harry’s face.

“What is it, Harry? You look troubled.”

“Nothing really, but are you sure you aren’t attracting some attention of your own?”

“Why?”

“It’s probably not related,” Harry said, “but I did see a couple of blokes sitting in a parked car before I turned into the parking garage for your apartment.”

“Did they seem overly interested in the building, or you?”

Harry shook his head. “Neither that I could tell, which is why I didn’t mention it earlier. Nor did they look particularly observant, but I only got a quick look at them as I passed. It’s more of a feeling, really. Quite frankly, I feel a bit foolish mentioning it now.”

Anna was silent. Harry Albright was an experienced agent, and his ‘feelings’ were ignored at one’s peril.

“What are you thinking, Anna?” Dugan asked from the seat beside her.

“I’m thinking if the bastards have identified us, we might have unknowingly led them to Alex’s house, and Gillian is alone there with Tanya and Cassie.”

“You think they’ve found us?” Dugan asked.

“No, I’m probably being paranoid. I guess I’m just overprotective of Tanya after all we know she went through. And I promised her we would keep her safe.”

“Ilya or I will go there,” Borgdanov said. “We do not need everyone to watch for this Arsov.”

Anna shook her head. “You’re both too conspicuous. If either of you leave the van here, someone from the club might spot you. Harry would be the logical choice, but we need him here to stay outside and fend off any police or anyone else that might show up. Tom’s also a risk, because he’s been seen, but at least he’s a bit smaller and thus less conspicuous than you two, presuming we can disguise him somehow.”

“I’ve got some spare BT repairman uniforms,” Harry said. “They’re part of the standard kit for the surveillance rig. One of them should fit our Yank friend here, and if he pulls the cap low on his face and walks directly away from the van and the club, he can be around the corner and out of sight in less than a minute. There’s a taxi stand about four blocks away.”

“Let’s do it,” Dugan said, and Anna nodded to Harry, who began pulling uniforms from a small cabinet mounted on the floor of the van and checking the labels for sizes.

“I’ll ring Gillian,” Anna said, reaching for her phone. “I don’t want to alarm her, but she should know what’s going on, and I’ll tell her Tom is coming.”

Five minutes later, Dugan was uniformed as a British Telecom repairman, pushing past the Russians to the rear door of the van when Harry stopped him.

“Are you armed, Yank?”

Dugan shook his head. “You folks aren’t big on concealed carry permits.”

“Permits be damned. These blokes are nasty bastards.” He reached into another compartment and extracted a Glock and a spare loaded magazine. “The magazine in the gun is full,” he said, handing both the Glock and the spare magazine to Dugan, “but there’s not a round in the chamber.”

Dugan nodded and slipped the spare magazine into his pants pocket and the Glock into his waistband. He adjusted his shirt to cover it and moved to the back of the van.

“Wish me luck,” he said, hand on the door release.

“Let’s wish you don’t need it,” Anna countered.

Dugan flashed her a hesitant smile, then crawled out of the van.

Club Pyatnitsa
London, UK

Arsov pulled his vibrating cell phone from his pocket and looked at the caller ID.

“Yes, Nazarov.”

“We’ve spotted Tanya. She’s in the Kairouz house.”

“Is she being held?”

“No, she appears to be there willingly.”

Arsov thought for a moment. “Too bad. That means we’ll have to take her by force. Who else is there?”

“A woman I think is Kairouz’s wife and a servant. A cook, I think. She seems to spend all her time in the kitchen.”

“And no one else?”

“Not that we can see,” Nazarov said. “Kairouz and his driver left this morning, and we followed him to his office.”

“And the others?”

“The American and the Walsh women went to the office, and the two
Spetsnaz
stayed at the apartment. We did not see any of them leave either place,” Nazarov hesitated. “But…”

“But what, Nazarov? Please do not tell me you couldn’t even perform a simple surveillance.”

“A… a British Telecom repair van, possibly the same one, entered and exited the underground garage of both buildings. I don’t know for sure, but it seems too much of a coincidence…”

“So what is the problem? You have plenty of men. Surely you dispatched someone to follow this van.”

“W-we did not realize it visited both places until it was out of sight. I do not know where the van went or if anyone was in it.”

Arsov suppressed a sigh of exasperation and collected his thoughts. Now why would the American and the Russians conceal themselves in a repair van, assuming, of course, that this idiot Nazarov’s suspicions were correct?

“Hold a moment,” Arsov said into the phone as he moved from his office and into the club. The club wasn’t open yet, and he motioned to a large man restocking the bar. “Victor, go out front and have a smoke. Look up and down the street casually, and see if you see a white British Telecom van anywhere, but don’t be obvious.”

The man nodded and moved from behind the bar and toward the door as Arsov reconnected with Nazarov.

“If they are moving around in a van,” Arsov said, “perhaps they have decided to watch us. I sent Victor to check. However, it doesn’t really matter where they are at the moment. In fact, whether they have obligingly gone to work as usual or collected in a van to try to watch us makes no difference. They are not around Tanya. Pull all the boys off the other surveillance and bring them to the Kairouz house. How long will it take them to get to you?”

“Not long. Both places are nearby. Ten minutes perhaps.”

“Good. Leave two men watching the street outside the Kairouz place, and the rest of you go in and take Tanya. Understood?”

“
Da
,” Nazarov said. “I will call the boys at once. Where do—”

“Hold a moment.” Arsov looked up as Victor returned.

Victor nodded. “
Da
. There is this van as you said. It is far down the street out of the view of the security cameras, but I could see it. From the position of the van, I think they can see both the front entrance and the opening to the alley leading to the back door.”

Arsov nodded, motioned Victor back to the bar, and spoke into the phone.

“The van is here, and since it stopped both places, we know both the
Spetsnaz
and their pet American are probably inside. Take the girl to the holding warehouse. I will join you shortly, and we can figure out what to do about our troublesome new friends.” Arsov paused. “And Nazarov, listen carefully. We prosper here because we provide a needed service and we keep a low profile, so do not do anything stupid. Don’t harm the cook or the Kairouz woman, but leave them tied up. The last thing we need is this escalating because of dead or injured British citizens, especially rich ones.”

“
Da
,” Nazarov replied, doubt in this voice, “but, Boss, surely when we take Tanya they will know it was us and report that to the police.”

“Maybe not. We will have Tanya back under our control and will be able to remind her what will happen to her family. If they call the authorities at that point, the girl will say anything we want. They will know that, and they must also know, or at least suspect, that we have video from the club showing them kidnapping her. They will be the kidnappers, not us.”

“But suppose a neighbor sees us or finds the women tied up before they free themselves?”

“Have the men wear ski masks, and no one is to speak Russian. In fact, have no one speak but yourself and then only two or three words at a time so your accent is not so obvious. And after you grab Tanya and tie up the women, ransack the house a bit and steal any valuables. That way, if it does get reported, it will look like a simple home invasion. The Kairouz woman and the others cannot say anything different without implicating themselves in Tanya’s kidnapping.”

“
Da
. But what about the American and the
Spetsnaz
?”

“One thing at a time, Nazarov. One thing at a time.” Arsov disconnected.

He sat for a moment and considered his next move. It was very obliging of these fools to collect themselves in one spot where he could watch them, but what exactly did they expect to gain from watching the club? Surely they understood he knew they were after Karina and that he would never bring her near the club. Then it hit him — if little Tanya was now friendly with her kidnappers, she undoubtedly told them about him, and they probably expected him to lead them to Karina. His face clouded — he’d take care of Tanya later, but for the moment perhaps he should give his new fan club something to see. After all, he didn’t want them to get too discouraged. If they kept watching him, he’d know exactly where to find them when the time came to deal with them.

Arsov sat for a moment and considered the possibilities. Tanya didn’t know the location of his apartment, so these amateurs could only really know about the club. And since they had only just arrived, they couldn’t know for sure he was inside. If he wanted to keep their interest focused on the club, he’d have to show himself. Should he take a stroll outside? Too obvious, especially after he’d just sent Victor out. Even amateurs wouldn’t be that gullible. He dialed the number of a cab company and requested a pickup in ten minutes.

***

Arsov cracked the back door of the club and peered down the narrow alley through the slit. He couldn’t see the surveillance van from the door, which meant that while the observers in the van could see the entrance to the alley, they couldn’t see the club door itself. He smiled and opened the door wide to stroll across the alley to another door. He opened the door and stepped into the busy kitchen of an Italian restaurant preparing for the lunch rush. He was immediately confronted by a burly man in a once-white apron smeared with tomato sauce.

“You cannot come in this door—”

“Food Standards Agency. Surprise inspection.” Arsov held up his open wallet as if it were credentials.

The surprised cook stepped back, and Arsov pushed past him, straight through the kitchen and into the dining room. He nodded at the servers setting up tables and continued out the front door without pausing. Five minutes and a block later, he climbed into a cab at the prearranged pickup point and gave the driver the address of the club.

“What?” said the angry cabbie. “My dispatcher said you was going to Heathrow. This bloody address is two streets away. You can walk it.”

“Yes, but if you take me there, I’ll pay the full fare to Heathrow with a nice tip besides.”

The cabbie shrugged, mollified. “Your money, mate.”

Berwick Street, Soho
Near Club Pyatnitsa
London, UK

Harry Albright sat in the driver’s seat of the van, pretending to study a clipboard as he conversed with Anna, unseen in the back of the van.

“You think they made us, Harry?”

“Hard to say. That was the world’s fastest smoke break. The bloke only took a few puffs before he tossed the butt, and he did seem a bit too interested in what was up and down the street. Then again, they are a criminal enterprise, so I suppose it’s only normal that they be cautious. It might just be routine. One thing’s for sure though, whether they’ve twigged to us now or not, we can’t be mucking about in this van too much longer without raising suspicions.”

Anna sighed. “Agreed. However, I was hoping we’d at least spot Arsov before we had to come up with another means of surveillance. My inventory of favors subject to call is fairly limi—”

“Hello! What’s this? You have that on your screen back there, Anna?” Harry asked.

“Affirmative.” Anna watched on the monitor as a cab pulled up in front of Club
Pyatnitsa
. A tall man emerged from the cab, dressed impeccably in a suit that said Saville Row and wearing a snap-brim fedora set at a rakish angle. He stretched and checked the street in both directions, then strolled to the front door and entered the club.”

“Well, well,” Anna said. “Here’s our guest of honor now. Now we just have to stay in touch.”

“It shouldn’t be too difficult, as long as he doesn’t suspect we’re onto him.”