Page 114 of Shadow of Doubt

The station chief, not a fan of being bullied, was choking back the urge to tell his handler to fuck right off when the waiter appeared with two glasses of champagne and set them on the table.

“Santé,” the Russian said in French, picking his up and clinking it against Powell’s.To health.

The station chief didn’t respond in kind. Instead he raised his glass in the attaché’s direction and took a long, smooth sip.

It was a decent champagne, made even more delicious to Powell by the fact that his handler actually thought he had something worth celebrating.

“Well,” Elovik stated, setting his glass down. “Now that we have our drinks, I think it’s time that you give me what I came for.”

Removing a cocktail napkin from his pocket, the station chief placed it on the table and slid it across to him.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” the Russian replied, picking his head up and looking across the street at the building that housed the Clinique Saint-Raphael. “I thought you chose this neighborhood because it was off the beaten U.S. Embassy path, or you had a safehouse around here or something. That’s where Harvath is? Right now?”

“My hand to God,” Powell replied, not raising his hand.

“Who else is in there?”

“Patient-wise? Only Harvath and one of his teammates. I don’t know how many staff. Probably pretty sparse. One nurse. Maybe two? It’s the overnight shift.”

“How did Harvath find this place? He didn’t get it from you, did he?”

The station chief shook his head. “I haven’t heard from him since I dropped him off at the safehouse. From what I understand, his own organization kept working with the surgeon who runs the place after we fired him. Sometimes the intelligence world is small.”

“Quite,” Elovik agreed. “Do you know anything about the building? Service elevators? Stairwells? Airshafts?”

“Not part of my purview. Our security guys handle that stuff. I just made sure the bills were paid.”

“Understandable,” the Russian replied as he pulled out his phone andtook a picture of the cocktail napkin with the address written upon it. Typing out a quick text message, he attached the photo and hit send.

“Now what?” Powell asked.

Sitting back in his chair and raising his glass, Elovik said, “Now we enjoy our champagne.”

CHAPTER 66

If Harvath had been truly honest with himself, he had only partially relinquished control. Stepping into the sniper role and occupying an overwatch position allowed him to be two places at once.

He could be in the window, with a view across the street, enabling him to protect and assist Preisler, and he could also be available to back up Staelin, should anything go down. In essence, he had figured out how to have his cake and eat it too.

Harvath had only one rule of engagement. If the Russians went on the offensive, then any Russians in or around the operation could be considered rightful combatants and therefore fair game.

As his phone vibrated, he looked down at a text from Preisler.Elovik just transmitted your location. Look sharp.

Harvath texted back a thumbs-up and then radioed the rest of the team. If an attack was coming, it was coming soon.

As Harvath manned Haney’s suppressed 417, Staelin was monitoring a bank of CCTV cameras at the front desk.

Four minutes after Preisler’s last text, he texted again.Three vehicles just pulled up. South side of your building.

Acknowledging receipt, Harvath then hailed Staelin. “We’ve got company. South side. Three vehicles.”

“Good copy,” Staelin replied. “I see them. They’re debussing now. Looks like twelve men in total.”

“Twelve?” Harvath replied. “Who’s back watching their embassy?”

“They’re going to be down to cooks and computer specialists soon. Here we go. They’re approaching the lobby door.”

“Which I made sure was fully locked. If they breach that barrier, it’s on. We go hot.”

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