Read Online From Russia Without Love by Stephen Templin - Free Book Online

just as an Albanian, armed with a handgun and speaking into a cell phone, came around the corner. Chris didn’t slow down, hitting the man and knocking the pistol and phone from his hands. The Albanian landed on the hood, rolled up the windshield, and thumped the roof before Chris caught a glimpse of him in his rearview mirror as he landed in the street. It wasn’t very reverend-like of him, but he didn’t have the luxury of gazing into his belly button and soul searching right now.
    Sonny closed the door, and Chris turned the corner with tires squealing, onto a street that cut southwest. “I’m heading for Olympus,” Chris told Sonny, using their code word for the embassy. “We’re only five klicks away.”
    Downtown Athens was such a confusing maze of one-way streets, particularly in the Kypseli neighborhood. He’d never been more thankful for Hannah’s GPS. He was less worried about getting a traffic ticket or ending up in a head-on collision, and more worried about the Albanians.
    Michael was still breathing heavily. “We made it, we made it,” he said.
    Chris didn’t hear Hannah’s phone ring, but she took it out and put it on speakerphone. It was Young. “Xander received a call from the Kypseli neighborhood, and now he’s mass texting a shitload of people to converge on that area. And Xander himself is en route, too. If you’re near Kypseli, you might want to consider getting the hell out.”
    “Already on it. We’ve got the package,” Hannah said before she ended the call.
    “What do these Albanians want with you, Michael?” Chris tossed to the backseat.
    “I… I think they’re working for the Russians,” Michael answered. He seemed to be getting his bearings.
    “Why would the Russians want you?”
    “Russia’s energy exports are the backbone of its economy,” Michael said. “They supply a quarter of Europe’s natural gas, allowing Russia to exert its influence on European politics.”
    “Lithuania, Estonia, Finland, and Latvia import a hundred percent of their gas from Russia,” Hannah added.
    “Right,” Michael said. “Greece imports at least half, and countries like Germany and Italy import more than a quarter from Russia.”
    In the rearview mirror, a speeding car closed in on them fast. “We might have company,” Chris said.
    Sonny prepared his pistol to fire out the back window. “I’m on it,” he said. The tailing car moved in closer. “They’re armed. These guys aren’t out collecting for the Red Cross.”
    The car neared them again, and Sonny pressed his pistol against the back window and fired through the glass. Michael yelped at the sound vibrating through the confines of the vehicle. The pursuing car swerved.
    “One of them is an Albanian I shot at earlier,” Sonny said.
    Hannah checked her phone. “I’ve got a text message from Young. It says Xander is receiving more text messages, and he’s sending another mass of texts. Young is still trying to decode the messages.”
    “I can decode the messages,” Sonny said. “He’s telling them to kill us.”
    “What is Xander’s location now?” Chris asked, throwing a quick look to Hannah.
    “Doesn’t say.”
    “We need to reach Olympus before Xander reaches us.”
    “No shit,” Sonny shouted. “A little help here?”
    Hannah turned and aimed her gun through the back window at their pursuers, as well. Unfortunately, they were now shooting back.
    Can this get any worse?
    A bullet penetrated the back window and struck the windshield between Chris and Hannah. Chris’s heart jumped, and he stopped wondering if their situation could get any worse.
    He turned west on Agiou Meletiou , a large two-way street, but just as he reached the intersection of Leoforos Konstantinoupolem , cars were stopped at a railroad crossing, waiting for the southbound metro to cross. Sitting at a train crossing was not an option. When Chris hit the intersection, he swung the BMW left, going south and putting the pedal to the metal.