Page 58 of Spymaster

And no matter which route he took, Harvath would have to make his move before the window closed and Nyström set up his own surveillance and actively took over the case. He had only thirty-six hours left.

But the more Harvath studied the situation, the more problems he saw staring back at him. He wasn’t exactly being pummeled by the good idea fairy. It was going to be a long day.

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Surveillance, like a lot of the work performed in the intelligence game, involved long periods of extreme boredom. The Sparrman farm assignment was a textbook case.

With the sunrise, Ashby and Barton had been able to provide Harvath with the makes, models, and colors of the vehicles parked at the entrance of the property. None were any shade of olive.

Other than that, no useful intelligence was produced. Nobody visited the farm. Nobody left the farm.

By late afternoon, Harvath and Haney were debating the risks of doing another, more aggressive drone flight. Harvath had already begun fleshing out an assault on the farm and needed more information to help plan their approach. They decided to wait until dark and then go out to check on the surveillance team.

When the time came, they filled a thermos they had found in the kitchen with hot coffee and headed out to the minivan. The Camry was with the surveillance team in case Sparrman left the property and offered an opportunity to be followed.

They all knew what Sparrman looked like. A Gotland newspaper had done an article about the farm two years ago and had run his picture with it. Harvath had made sure that everyone downloaded a copy to their phone.

There had been sporadic sightings of him throughout the day. His shock of almost orange hair was unmistakable. Sloane had started calling him the “Ginja Ninja.”

“Tomorrow’s Sunday,” mused Haney, as he turned left onto the main road. “What are the chances the guy hops in his car to go meet up with his mom for church?”

“Church. Brunch. Paddle boarding. All we would need is an opening,” answered Harvath. “But our forty-eight hours expires tomorrow night.”

“Do you think that Nyström guy is going to start right up? Maybe he’ll wait until Monday.”

“And if he doesn’t?”

“Good point,” replied Haney. He, like Harvath, knew that as soon as the police took over, it would be extremely difficult to grab Sparrman.

Tonight was going to have to be the night. Harvath had already resigned himself to it. He had also, along with the rest of the team, resigned himself to the fact that the men who had been seen that morning going on their group run were indeed Spetsnaz operatives.

The thorniest issue for Harvath was how to get everyone in and out without raising the alarm.

Sparrman occupied the main house by himself, but had two very large dogs. From what Ashby and Barton had seen, they looked like Great Pyrenees. As soon as anyone got near the house, they were going to start barking. If that happened, the element of surprise would be lost.

Back when Harvath and Nicholas had been on opposites sides, Harvath had figured out how to get around the two guard dogs. He didn’t like punishing animals. They were only doing their job. Still, they had to be dealt with. As soon as he and Haney had checked in with the surveillance team and had completed their drone flight, they’d drive into town to get what he needed.

CHAPTER 36

Harvath and Haney dropped off the thermos of coffee and took over surveillance so Ashby and Barton could have a ten-minute break. Harvath also wanted a better look at the front of the farm.

As the two men held down the hide site, Harvath rattled off a specific list of things Haney should make sure to capture when he flew the drone overhead. He was trying to cover every possible eventuality, and this was likely going to be one of their last looks before they breached the property on foot.

When Ashby and Barton returned, they all traded places and Harvath and Haney returned to the minivan. Five minutes later, the drone was airborne and Harvath was watching a live feed via the tablet again.

In addition to primary and contingent means of entering and leaving the farm, Harvath was interested in several possible areas in which to create a diversion.

From takeoff to touchdown, the drone had been up for a little over twenty minutes. Satisfied that he had seen what he needed to, they packed up and headed for town.

First on his list was the pharmacy. Having checked it out online, he knew they would only be open for another hour. The grocery store would be open much later, and even if they somehow missed it, there was always the gas station minimart.

He had just entered the store and had been directed by a clerk to what he needed when his phone rang. It was Jasinski. She had agreed to monitor the radio while he and Haney were out of range.

“Sparrman is on the move,” she said when Harvath accepted the call.

“Alone?” he asked, taking his items to the front of the store so he could pay for them.

“No. There are at least two other people in the car with him. Ashby is going to stay and watch the property. Barton will follow and see where they’re going.”

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