Page 101 of Shadow of Doubt

“Car one clear!” Staelin announced over the radio. “Standing by.”

“Reloading!” Harvath declared as he ducked back behind the Renault and inserted a fresh magazine into the MP5.

When he was all set, he repeated the go command, “Now!” And as Staelin took off running, he popped back up and began spraying the woods all over again.

“Car two clear!” Staelin reported. “Elovik KIA. Standing by.”

Harvath dropped back behind the Renault once more and asked, “Was he armed?”

“Affirmative.”

Harvath had no idea who had killed the Russian. Preisler and Johnson had both gotten off a couple of shots as they had been backing away. Alternatively, it could have been fratricide—the Russians were notoriously undisciplined in high-stress situations. Or Elovik could have simplypopped his head up at the wrong second and been caught in the crossfire. None of it changed the fact that he was dead.

It also didn’t change the fact that until they eliminated that sniper in the woods, Harvath and his team would remain pinned down, unable to escape.

If the police hadn’t been alerted to the gunfight yet, any moment someone was going to pass by, see bodies and battle-scarred vehicles, and call it in. Observing the BRI conducting an arrest was one thing. A bloodbath like this was something entirely different.

Harvath was now faced with a very dangerous task.

Radioing Staelin and Preisler what he wanted done, he swapped in a fresh magazine and took several deep breaths.

He was about to head into the woods to take out the sniper.

CHAPTER 55

Right now, Harvath was wishing he had the rest of the team with him. At the very least, having Ashby or Palmer, especially if one of them had brought the drone, would have been a game changer. As it stood, he didn’t even have so much as a smoke grenade to help mask his movements.

What he did have, however, was the extremely thick tree cover. The same tree cover that the sniper was using so effectively to his advantage. All Harvath had to do was find the sniper before the sniper found him.

On his command, Preisler, who had both his and Johnson’s UMPs, and Staelin, who had picked up Haney’s 417, would begin shooting to help cover his mad dash into the woods. Once past the tree line, he would be on his own.

Keying his radio, he made sure everybody was ready. When both men confirmed they were in position, he counted down from three, and the moment Staelin started firing, Harvath took off running.

It was everything Sølvi wouldn’t have wanted him doing—sprinting across an open piece of ground, into an unknown environment, which was under the control of an opponent he could neither identify nor pinpoint. Other than that, she would have assured him, it sounded like a terrific plan.

For the brief moment that he had weighed his options, he had consoled himself with the fact that there really was no other choice. Somebody had to do it and, Harvath being Harvath, the thought of asking anyone else to step up hadn’t even occurred to him. You had to send the best man for the job, and in his mind, that wasalwayshim—regardless of how beaten his body, exhausted his mind, or difficult the assignment.

With Haney having directed Staelin and Preisler on where to focus their fire, Harvath managed to make it into the trees without being shot.

His lungs burned and he took the briefest of seconds to catch his breath and steady his heart rate. Everything from this moment forward would depend on him being absolutely silent and completely in control. The first task on his list was to gain the upper hand over the sniper. Removing the satellite imagery, he identified his position and then his first waypoint. He felt fairly confident that the shooter had probably made one very serious mistake. If he was right, the balance of power was about to shift substantially.

Pushing into the now-silent woods, he carefully chose his steps, making sure not to put weight on anything that would snap, crack, or otherwise give him away. It was bad enough that he didn’t know where the sniper was. Drawing audible attention to himself could only make the situation worse and possibly even get him killed.

With his weapon up and ready to engage, he swept back and forth as he moved, as well as up and down. There was no telling where the sniper might have established his hide site.

Harvath made it all the way to the next break in the trees without making any contact. But the moment he stared out into the clearing, he saw exactly what he had hoped to see.

Judging by the imagery, there was supposed to be a trailhead with a small parking area, which was exactly what he found. And in that parking area was a lone SUV, which he was willing to bet belonged to the sniper.

From here the sniper could have easily unloaded his gear, disappeared into the trees, and hiked the likely short distance to his hide. All Harvath had to do now was pick up his trail.

Based on where Haney believed the shots had been coming from, Harvath began his search. Luckily, it was in the opposite direction of the established trails, which were so well traveled that it would have been all but impossible to pick up the sniper’s figurative scent.

It took Harvath a few moments, but soon enough he saw it. There was a mound covered in tall grasses, a narrow band of which had been bent and recently broken. It was all that he needed to see.

Figuring that he had the element of surprise on his side and would be long gone before anyone investigated, the sniper hadn’t tried very hard to cover his tracks. His path, while not exactly a piece of cake, had been easy enough for Harvath to follow.

Closer and closer he crept until finally, he didn’t dare move another muscle. At this point, he could begin to make out the ambush site through the trees. The outlines of the shot-up vehicles were definitely visible. It was time to force the sniper to reveal himself.

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