Read Online Running Blind by Cindy Gerard - Free Book Online Page B

demanded after a pissed-off silence.
    â€œThe report is, there was a slight change of plans. A decision on my part that your employer will appreciate.”
    Another brief silence followed. She could feel the anger hum through the connection. “You will explain this decision; then my employer can make that determination himself.”
    â€œYou’re certain no one can intercept our call?”
    She’d picked up the high-tech phone from a post office box in Toronto a month ago. The key to that box had been mailed to a post office box in New York City. The Russians loved their cloak-and-dagger, particularly former KGB and Spetsnaz, Soviet special forces agents who ran the mafia, while Putin and his minions turned a blind eye in exchange for a cut of the profits.
    She, however, wasn’t as confident of their technical ability as they were.
    â€œThe communication is secure. We have been over this before. Be careful what you say next, or I may think you are attempting to avoid this conversation. Now, did you or did you not eliminate the targets?”
    â€œBetter than that.” Her voice expressed supreme confidence. “One is out of the picture. The other three—”
    â€œStop right there. You were not able to deliver?” His nasal tone escalated to high-pitched disapproval.
    â€œIt wasn’t a question of inability. I made a strategic decision.”
    â€œYou were not employed to strategize. You were employed to destroy that team.” The venom in his voice sent a chill down her back, and her conviction wavered.
    You can do this. Ray’s voice rallied her strength.
    â€œYou’re forgetting, Vadar. I handed your people this opportunity. If not for me, all of their plans would still be lost.”
    She let him think about that. Let him remember that because of her, they also had another shot at the Eagle Claw project.
    Two years ago, when she’d escaped undetected from the Idaho compound after Brown and his team had blown it and Ray up, she’d made her way to Ray’s secret residence in Ontario. There she’d slowly recovered. And grieved. Then, three months ago, while going through Ray’s encrypted computer files, she’d discovered that his operation in Idaho had involved much more than gun running and drugs.
    He’d had a deal in the works with the Russian mafia for the theft of revolutionary aviation technology the Americans were developing. A technology the Russians would have developed themselves, if not for Mike Brown and his team. Not only had they destroyed the Idaho compound that was to have been the Russians’ staging area to breach the secret facility and steal back the Eagle Claw technology, but Brown’s team had also recently facilitated the escape of the Russian scientist who’d created the technology. Dr. Adolph Corbet was now spearheading the Russians’ project for the Americans.
    The Russians wanted their scientist and their technology back. And because Mike Brown and his One-Eyed Jacks were a festering wound in their side, they wanted them eliminated. That’s where she came in.
    â€œExplain this new strategy.”
    â€œOh, I will. But first, let me remind you of something else. I am the one who facilitated what you could not. I established contact with Dr. Corbet. I ensured that he was informed that the wife and children he thought were tucked safely away in Budapest were once again secured by Mother Russia’s loving hand. I maintain communication with him and remind him that his family lives only if he continues to provide updates on the progress of Eagle Claw.”
    â€œNoted,” Vadar said in a somewhat calmer but no less irritated voice.
    â€œAll right. I chose not to eliminate the entire One-Eyed Jacks team for one simple reason. The loss to the U.S. covert defense machine would be too massive if I’d taken them all out. A loss on that scale would engage the might of the Department of