Page 88 of The Devil's Ransom

Veep came on, saying, “Want us to come in?”

“No. We’ll handle it. Keep your position. I’m pretty sure they’ll be headed back to their car.”

Knuckles said, “They’re walking to the wall. They aren’t going to another place here.”

I said, “Wall? You mean the wall that’s a tourist attraction?”

“Yeah. They just bought tickets and they’re headed up it. Should I follow?”

I smiled at Jennifer and said, “Looks like you get your wish.”

On the net, I said, “No, don’t burn yourself. That thing is a straight linear target. Jennifer and I will take it. A couple on a date, not some strange hippy all by himself.”

I heard him laugh, then, “Better get here soon. They’re moving out.”

I threw some money on the table, gave our waitress an excuse, and we left the restaurant, threading up the ancient stairs into the village. We found a sign pointing the way to the fortification, continuing higher. We met Knuckles right outside the ticket counter.

He said, “No idea what they’re doing, but they’re moving out with a purpose.”

If I’d had any sense, I would have thought through the problem set. Instead I said, “We’ll keep an eye on them. Get some chow and rotate Veep and Blood through a restaurant. When they come back, we want to be able to move.”

He nodded, and I went to the counter, paying something like ten bucks to walk my ass off on a giant set of stairs. Jennifer and I started climbing, and I muttered under my breath, causing her to laugh. I said, “Just stay in front of me. That’ll keep me moving.”

That shut her humor down.

The wall was exactly like you’d expect: a stone hunk of stairways leading up and over the mountain between Mali Ston and Ston. Within seconds I was sweating like I was in a gym, wondering why anyone would do this. More importantly wondering why our targets would be walking the route.

Mali Ston disappeared behind us before I finally saw our quarry. They were about a hundred meters ahead of us and steadily trudging uphill. I could see the break-off for the Ston portion of the wall about a half kilometer away. I hoped they were sweating like me. The only good thing was there was nowhere for them to deviate. They were on this wall just like I was, and there was no reason to suspect us, as plenty of tourists were doing the same thing.

They kept climbing and Jennifer said, “What do you suppose this is all about? Why take him on a walk?”

“I don’t know. If I were to guess, they’re going to meet someone on the wall for some reason. Either way, it’ll be worth our effort to see. We locate another target and it just opens up opportunity.”

We threaded higher and higher, reaching a turnoff to a fortress at the crest of the ridge, but our targets ignored it, heading downhill to the village of Ston.

I said, “Shit. Guess I was wrong. Must be something in this town.”

We finally hit the downhill portion and I picked up the pace, saying, “We’ve got to be on them when they exit.”

We closed the gap, a family of four in between us and them. I saw them disappear into the modern building that controlled access to the wall. Two stories tall, it was made of burnished metal and stained wood, looking like a miniature ski chalet in Switzerland. I gave them a chance to get to the lower level, then scooted past the family, dragging Jennifer behind me. I entered the top floor, seeing a ticket office, the air-conditioning immediately making me feel my sweat. I held up, letting them exit and looking down the stairwell as they did so. When they were gone, I motioned to Jennifer and we went down the stairs.

We exited on the streets of Ston, a small village full of cafés and tourist kiosks. I rapidly surveyed the area, but didn’t see our targets. Jennifer pulled my arm and nodded to the left. They were disappearing into an alley. We went behind them, me saying, “Okay, they’re going to meet someone. Let’s see who it is.”

They met no one. They walked straight to the exit of the town, and like a lightning bolt striking me in the head, I realized why they’d used the wall. When they went through the arch at the entrance of the town, crossing a stone bridge to a parking area, I said, “Jesus Christ. These guys just played us.”

Jennifer said, “What?”

“They wanted to break themselves from the surveillance, and they just did.”

They were standing together across a small bridge, waiting. We kept eyes on them, but I knew it was worthless.

Jennifer said, “What do you mean?”

“Just watch.”

Sure enough, a car pulled into the parking area, and all three loaded. Within seconds, they were gone, with no way for us to follow.

They thought they were smart, but they didn’t have the might of the United States behind them. I let them leave, waiting for a few minutes to allow them to commit to a road that would give me some indication of where they were going. I called the Taskforce and asked for a ping on the phone.

---