Page 109 of Dead Fall

Yesterday had been a hell of a day and he hadn’t gotten nearly enough sleep overnight to make up for the beatings he had been through. Oftentimes the body knew best what it needed.

He shouldn’t have been surprised and yet, when he woke up to the chime of his cell phone several hours later, he couldn’t believe how long he had been out.

Reading the message from Vesna, he hopped out of the back of the truck and said, “Heads up, everyone. The Ravens are on the move. Get your gear together. We’re leaving in five minutes.”

The good news was that the Ravens were not taking the night off. The bad news was that there had been a cell service interruption and the bush telegraph was behind in warning about the mercenaries’ movements.

This time, Harvath put Krueger behind the wheel, and he rode shotgun. He wanted to review the map and study the terrain in order to put together the best plan.

One of the options that he had considered was to simply hang back, let the Ravens strike, and then follow them back to their lair. But having seen the evil they executed when they hit a target, that struck him as morally unacceptable. It was also way too risky.

Not only might the Ravens have night-vision equipment, allowing them to pick up a tail, but they also might have lookouts along the route back, making sure no one was following them at a distance.

Though Harvath had no idea how he was going to do it, he was going to have to figure out a way to thread the needle. He needed to prevent any further loss of lifeandlocate the hostages. At this moment, he had no clue how he was going to make that happen.

As soon as the team was loaded, Harvath opened the mill doors, waited for Krueger to pull out, and then, shutting the doors behind them, climbed into the Novator and they headed out.

He plugged his phone into the charging port and kept everyone apprised of Vesna’s updates.

His hope that the first village to send in a report might give them a fix on the Ravens’ safe house was a bust. From what he was able to gather, the Ravens varied their routes. Villagers never saw them two days in a row.

From a security standpoint, it was smart of them to vary their routes. And from a looting perspective, you’d want to be rolling through fresh towns and villages every time you went out.

The good thing was that by Vesna reaching out, up and down the bush telegraph, the inhabitants in the area knew that as soon as they heard the Ravens were coming, it was imperative they flee. They could not wait. While the Ravens might drive straight through a village without stopping, there was no way to know for certain. The only certainty was that not moving meant death. Harvath instructed Krueger to drive faster.

As the man drove, Harvath used the Signal app to send Nicholas a message. There was no text, just a pin, dropped on a digital map of where he believed the Ravens were headed. Nicholas would know what it meant.

Nobody in the vehicle spoke. All of the men had their game faces on. There was the occasional rattle of equipment as weapons were checked or gear was repositioned, but other than that, silence. The only time any words were exchanged was when Harvath gave driving instructions to Krueger and Krueger confirmed them.

The area was a patchwork of farmers’ fields studded with strips of heavily wooded forest. It reminded Harvath of places he had seen in Germany and Switzerland—both rugged and beautiful.

With the purple light of twilight turning into the blue-black sky of evening, Harvath checked his watch. Like vampires descending from the clouds, the Ravens would be entering the village at any moment. He and his team would be at least ten minutes behind. He just prayed that the locals had heeded Vesna’s warning.

As the road dipped into a small valley, the ribbon of asphalt began to wind back and forth just like his map showed. What the map hadn’treflected, however, was how thick the trees were. Along with the turns, they made it difficult to see what was up ahead.

Nearing the village, Harvath cautioned Krueger to slow down. There was a dirt road that cut through the forest, and he didn’t want to miss it. It would allow them to loop around and come up behind the Ravens. It was also going to be their escape route and it was important to confirm that it was devoid of any obstructions.

When they found the road, they took it and headed into the trees. It was a bit overgrown, but in relatively good shape.

Because the Novator was a diesel, it wasn’t the quietest, most stealthy vehicle. They were only going to be able to risk getting so close to the village before having to get out and proceed the rest of the way on foot. Harvath had decided both where the truck would stop, and who would remain behind with it.

Biscuit wasn’t crazy about being left behind, but he understood why it was necessary. If the team needed an extraction, he was going to be the one to do it.

As the truck came equipped with night-vision tech, Harvath swapped his thermal device for Biscuit’s night-vision goggles.

Once they were mounted to his helmet, the team did a quick radio check and, with Biscuit keeping an eye on the Novator, struck off for the village.

They moved soundlessly through the forest, weapons ready. Just before the end of the road, they stepped fully into the trees and crept to a position where they could get their first look at the village.

It was a mixture of stone buildings and wooden houses organized across a hodgepodge of crooked streets. There was a church with a small, domed steeple, as well as a tiny square built around a communal well. Standing at the entrance to the village was an old Russian 4x4 military jeep known as a Tigr. Four Raven guards leaned against it with their rifles slung over their shoulders. They were smoking and chewing the fat. They were also doing something else—passing a bottle of vodka back and forth. No one was keeping an eye out for trouble. Harvath now knew exactly what he wanted to do and quickly laid out his plan.

From what he could see, the village was empty of inhabitants. Therewere no lights, and no smoke rose from any of the chimneys. Apparently, they had taken the warning seriously and had gotten out in time. That gave Harvath and his team one less thing to worry about.

Continuing to use the trees to conceal their presence, they moved parallel to the village.

At a narrow strip of farmer’s field, they stepped out of the forest and moved as quickly as they could to the closest village building. In the distance, they could hear the other Raven vehicles, the cargo trucks and the Humvees, as they carried out their operation.

Pressing themselves up against the wooden structure, Harvath gave the signal for the team to split up. Hookah and Krueger would continue around the back of the buildings and Harvath and Jacks would go up the front.

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