Page 39 of Belgian Betrayal

Ace nodded. “Good.” He turned to the big Ukrainian. “Dmytro, you can take a position at the base of the statue of Jan Breydel and Pieter de Coninckin located at the center of the square. You’ll need to pick up a bottle of alcohol on your way there.”

Dmytro grinned. “Am I playing a drunk?”

Ace nodded. “I’ll find my way to a high point overlooking the front of the Belfry and provide cover with my rifle. At midnight, there shouldn’t be many people wandering around the square. Most businesses will have shut down for the night. There are nightclubs, so it won’t be completely free of pedestrians.”

He met Fearghas’s gaze. “There isn’t much in the way of cover or concealment in the market square. I’ll be on top of a building, unable to provide any hand-to-hand combat support. We need you on the ground but close enough to help.”

Fearghas wanted to be with Catya the entire time. “I could accompany Catya.”

Catya shook her head. “Having you there gives them more choices for leverage. It needs to be me and Atkins.”

Jasmine leaned forward. “Fearghas and I could come from the direction of one of the nightclubs like a couple on their way back to their hotel.”

Ace frowned. “I don’t like the idea of you two being out in the center. What if they recognize Fearghas and start shooting?”

Jasmine cocked an eyebrow. “We know what to do, and we’ll be close enough we could shoot back. You’re the only one who has a sniper’s rifle. The rest of us have a limited range with our handguns. We have to be close enough to have a chance of hitting our targets or of taking them down in a street fight.”

“And if they outnumber you ten to one?” Ace posed the question.

“We all get out, regroup and come up with a new plan.”

Atkins shook his head. “I can’t walk away if they still have my daughter.”

“Your daughter is their only ticket to getting that disk,” Ace said. “Tell them that if anything happens to her or you, the disk will be delivered to the British Prime Minister.”

Atkins’s lips pressed together.

Catya touched his arm. “If you hand over the disk before your daughter is safe, neither one of you will make it out of Bruges alive.”

“Okay,” Atkins said. “I’ll go with the plan. Just help me get Madison out alive. I don’t give a rat’s ass if I don’t make it, but my little girl deserves a chance to live a full and happy life.”

Ace nodded. “Give Dmytro and me a head start to get into position in the market square. Fearghas and Jasmine can stroll slowly through right before Atkins appears. Catya will step out shortly afterward to make sure they don’t shoot Atkins without ascertaining whether or not he has the disk.”

As they neared Bruges, Dmytro handed each member of the team flesh-colored radio headsets. Thankfully, they had the train car to themselves as they conducted a comm check to ensure all devices worked and everyone could speak and be heard.

Catya pulled a blond wig out of her backpack and tucked her dark hair up inside it, tugging it firmly in place. She attached light brown brows over her own black ones and handed Fearghas a flat tweed caddy hat.

He slipped it over his red hair and adjusted it low on his forehead, shading his reddish-brown brows. Being a red-haired Scotsman had its disadvantages when trying to keep a low profile. Thankfully, the hat and darkness would help to disguise him long enough for him to get into a position with Jasmine to provide backup for Catya and Atkins.

The team split up, moving to different cars to exit the train separately when they arrived.

Fearghas’s pulse kicked up as the train rolled to a stop in the Bruges train station.

Ace left the train, carrying the duffel bag. He walked away as if he was just another traveler heading for his hotel.

Several seconds later, Dmytro lumbered off the train, already acting the part of a clumsy drunkard. He stumbled away, heading toward the city center.

“We’re next,” Fearghas said to Jasmine.

She nodded. Fearghas stepped off the train, turned and held out his hand to Jasmine and smiled up at her as if she was the love of his life. She hooked her hand through the crook of his elbow, and they walked away from the station behind a couple of women dragging wheeled luggage.

Meanwhile, the love of his life would be next off the train, walking alone through the streets.

Atkins would leave the train last.

If anything happened, they had their radios. Fearghas and Jasmine could respond to a cry for help relatively quickly.

Hopefully, quickly enough to keep them from being harmed or kidnapped.

---