Page 59 of Spymaster

“Negative. I want it to be Sloane. A woman will draw less attention if they park and she has to get out and follow on foot. Have her call me as soon as she’s on the road.”

“Understood. I’ll relay your instructions.”

Disconnecting the call, Harvath paid for his items and quickly exited the store. Haney was outside with the minivan.

“Sparrman’s on the move,” Harvath informed him.

“Who’s in the follow car?”

“Sloane.”

Both men hopped back in the minivan and Haney asked, “Where to?”

“Start heading toward the farm. As soon as Sloane calls, we’ll have more information and can adjust our course.”

“Roger that.”

Pulling out into traffic, Haney headed back the way they had come. Moments later, Harvath’s cell phone rang. It was Sloane. He put her on speaker so that Haney could hear her, too.

“Okay, Sloane,” said Harvath. “What do you have?”

“He’s driving the red, late model Volkswagen Golf headed north-northwest on Route 143. Two passengers are with him. I’m guessing Spetsnaz.”

“Stay on him, but don’t get too close.”

“So getting right up on his ass is a bad idea?” she snarked. “If only I knew what I was doing.”

“You know what I mean,” Harvath replied. “I want everybody to stay cool. This may be the opportunity we’ve been looking for.”

“Roger that.”

“What should we do about the rest of the team?” Haney asked.

“Let’s spin them up,” said Harvath, gesturing for Haney’s cell phone. “Once we know what the destination is, we can decide who goes back to pick everyone else up.”

Haney handed over his phone and Harvath used it to call Jasinski. He told her what they knew so far and asked her to relay everything to Palmer and Staelin.

“What about Barton?” she asked.

“Same thing,” he replied.

Disconnecting the call, he asked Sloane for an update.

“No change. Still headed toward Visby on 143. Looks like we’re about twenty klicks out.”

Harvath decided to disengage. Looking at Haney, he said, “Pull over.”

Haney did as instructed.

Then, addressing Sloane, he said, “Sloane, we’ve pulled over. It’s Saturday night and I think—”

He was interrupted by Jasinski calling back on Haney’s phone. “Hold on,” he said to Sloane as he activated the other call. “What’s up?”

“According to Barton, two additional vehicles just left the farm. The first, a blue Jeep Wrangler, is carrying four of our Spetsnaz friends. The other vehicle is a silver Fiat Bravo carrying the remaining two.”

“Good copy,” said Harvath, as he disconnected the call and turned his attention back to Sloane. “As I was saying, it’s Saturday night and it looks like the farmhands are all riding into town. Watch your six. Two more vehicles just left. Blue Jeep Wrangler and a silver Fiat Bravo.”

“Blue Jeep Wrangler. Silver Fiat Bravo,” Sloane repeated. “Good copy.”

---