The Rescue(27)

No. As much as Gunther wanted to press the easy button on this, he knew better. Penkin’s disappearance was connected to Decker, which meant he had to assume that Penkin had talked, and the suspicions stoked by Rich’s SEAL tattoo had been confirmed: that there was far more to Decker’s failed raid than vengeful Russians.

“Dammit,” he muttered.

“What?” said Jay, straightening their vehicle on a cramped neighborhood road.

“Penkin represents a real liability for us.”

“If he talks,” said Jay. “These mafiya types are pretty hard-core.”

“True. But as much as I’d like to imagine Viktor Penkin spitting in Decker’s face while his ear is being cut off, I get paid to assume the worst.”

“Penkin can’t identify Aegis. From what I’ve read in the files, the original contact team followed the strictest protocols. No money changed hands. Surveillance came back clean. The best he could do is say a group of American ex-military types tried to negotiate Meghan Steele’s release and it all went south. What’s Decker going to do with that?”

Gunther was pleased to hear Jay repeat the cover story with conviction. He truly believed what he had been told, which would be critical in the unlikely event that Aegis’s involvement in Meghan Steele’s kidnapping ever saw the light of day. It was a carefully crafted lie, told to a select few who held leadership roles in the current operation. The truth no longer existed outside of Gunther, Harcourt, and presumably Senator Frist. He had long ago buried it, along with the operatives directly involved. Jay and the two operational team leaders in Los Angeles had been fed a highly sanitized version of the truth. One that established the critical importance to Aegis’s future of quickly and discreetly neutralizing Decker.

“Don’t underestimate Decker,” said Gunther. “He managed to escape from a maximum-security penitentiary, elude our team, and kidnap one of the West Coast’s top Bratva bosses inside of twelve hours. Frankly, I’m a little worried about what he might have planned for today.”

“I’m just saying he doesn’t have any solid leads to pursue,” said Jay. “There’s not much he can do with the information he gets from Penkin. He can’t go to the police or FBI. They’ll throw his ass right back in jail. He certainly can’t take his thin findings to Senator Steele. She’ll have him arrested on the spot. I don’t see where he can go with this.”

“He’s surprisingly resourceful. That’s all I’m saying,” said Gunther. “We need to get ahead of him. Start working a list of potential opportunities he might pursue. Even if they’re dead ends for him, we might be able to catch him out in the open.”

Gunther’s phone buzzed in the vehicle’s center console. He answered it immediately.

“Mr. Harcourt. I was about to call you,” said Gunther. “I’m with Mr. Reid. We just drove by the North Hollywood location. I’m afraid there’s not much to report.”

“You didn’t find Decker dressed up like a homeless guy, watching the scene from a distance?” said Harcourt.

Jay shrugged, rolling his eyes.

“No. The place is crawling with cops—and the FBI.”

“What’s your next step?” said Harcourt. “And before you answer, Senator Steele has been made aware of the current situation.”

“How current?”

“Up to the minute, compliments of Supervisory Special Agent Reeves,” said Harcourt. “She knows Decker is on the loose and that Penkin has been kidnapped.”

“How did the FBI figure the Decker thing out that fast?”

“Reeves,” said Harcourt. “You need to watch your ass with him around. I guarantee he’ll be looking for Decker. We need you to avoid any FBI run-ins.”

“Understood. This complicates things,” said Gunther.

“I don’t pay you what I pay you to solve simple matters. What’s the plan?”

“We get ahead of Decker, working under the assumption that Penkin confirmed that another organization had a hand in the botched raid out in Hemet. I’m coming up with a list of angles he might pursue with this information. When he surfaces, we’ll nail him.”

“That’s a very theoretical plan. A little light on details.”

“I have no hits on the citywide surveillance network,” said Gunther. “He materialized like a ghost last night to grab Penkin, then vanished again. It’s like finding a needle in a haystack until we start getting some hits.”

“You know how you find a needle in a haystack?”

“Not really,” said Gunther, shaking his head.

“You stomp on the hay barefoot until you step on the needle,” said Harcourt. “Start stomping on LA. We need to find this guy. There’s too much at stake here.”

“Copy that,” said Gunther, not sure what Harcourt meant by that.

“I’m going to send some paperwork to your operations center. You are now authorized by Senator Steele to make inquiries into Decker. Be very careful how you do this.”

“I can work with that,” said Gunther.

“Good. She’s just as eager as the rest of us to tie up loose ends,” said Harcourt, disconnecting the call.

Gunther turned to Jay, who wore a mildly annoyed face.