David Morrell - The Spy Who Came for Christmas

“ Yes,” Brody said, “but…”

“ Are you having second thoughts? You don’t want to help your wife and son? You don’t want to make up for beating her?”

“ Honest to God, I’ve never regretted anything more in my life.”

“ Then prove it to them. Maybe you can convince the suspect that we’re not out here, that he’s safe and he can let your family go.”

“ But…”

Andrei cut him off. “Okay, if you don’t want to help your wife and son, fine. I can understand why you don’t want to risk your own neck. It’s human nature to look out for number one. When the SWAT team gets their snipers set up, I’ll figure another way to handle this.”

“ Snipers? For heaven’s sake, no.”

“ Mr. Brody, I don’t have a lot of alternatives.”

“ All right, all right. I’ll go in there.”

“ You’re sure? No second thoughts?”

“ I said I’ll do it!”

“ Keep your voice down. The suspect might hear you.”

“ Sorry. This is all too-”

Andrei put a steadying hand on Brody’s shoulder. “Your family’ll be proud of you. That’s what matters. Now there are just a couple of other details. Give me your keys.”

“ My keys? Why?”

“ Is there a vehicle in your garage?”

“ A Range Rover.”

“ The suspect might try to escape in it. Canyon Road should be open to traffic by now. He might be tempted to take the chance.”

Brody gave Andrei the keys. “But if Canyon Road’s open to traffic now, why hasn’t the SWAT team gotten here? It’s been a long time.”

“ Good question. I’ll call headquarters and find out.” Andrei pulled out Brody’s cell phone, opened it, started to press numbers, and again deliberately lost his grip. As he intended, it fell in the snow.

“ Damn,” Andrei said. “I wish I’d worn thick gloves. My hands are so cold I can barely hold anything.”

He reached into the snow, groped, and pulled out the phone. He brushed snow from it and pretended to try to use it.

“ Shit. Now this phone’s not working, either.” He didn’t want Brody going into the house with a phone. Pyotyr would no doubt find it and use it to get help. “I’m awfully sorry about this. You’d better lend me your wife’s phone.”

“ Lend you…?” Brody tensed. “What’s going on here?”

“ Don’t worry. The police department will get you a new one,” Andrei promised.

“ What did you say your name was?”

“ I didn’t. It’s Detective Parker.”

“ You told me your microphones and earbuds allow you to communicate with headquarters, so why do you need my wife’s phone? This is… Something’s wrong. Let me see your badge.”

“ Badge?”

“ All of you. Let me see your ID.”

“ I told you to keep your voice down,” Andrei warned. “My identification’s under my coat.” He brushed snow from the front. “Do you really want me to freeze, just so you can-”

Brody backed away.

“ What are you doing, Mr. Brody?”

As Brody turned to run down the shadowy lane, Andrei shoved him hard, knocking him into the snow. He bent down, braced a heavy knee on Brody’s back, and rammed his face down into a drift. Andrei’s powerful hand kept Brody’s features submerged in the snow.

Brody struggled, gagging, but Andrei ignored his efforts and pressed his face down harder into the drift.

“ Listen to me,” Andrei whispered close to Brody’s left ear. “You’re going to do what I want, or I’ll smother you. Do you feel the snow clogging your nostrils? Some of it’s melting. You’re inhaling the water. Soon you’ll be choking.”

Pinned in the drift, Brody started coughing. The sound was muffled by the snow. His back arched-or tried to. His chest heaved.

“ Are you listening?” Andrei asked quietly, applying more weight to his back. “Do you want to die in a snowbank on Christmas Eve, or would you like to spend the holiday with your wife and son?”

Brody choked as he tried to speak under the snow.

At once, Andrei reached under Brody’s hat, grabbed his hair, and jerked his head up. Brody’s cheeks were covered with snow. He strained to clear his nose and mouth, but Andrei pressed a glove over his face to diminish the sound.

“ What are the names of your wife and son?” Andrei murmured. He took his hand from Brody’s mouth while he pressed his Glock to Brody’s right temple.

Snot clung to Brody’s mustache.

“ Meredith. My wife’s name is Meredith. My son… my son is Cole.”

“ Nice names. I bet they’re wonderful people. Are they?”

“ Yes.”

“ Do you love them, Ted?” The tip of the sound suppressor on Andrei’s Glock made an indentation in Brody’s skin. Andrei imagined how hard and cold the metal felt.

“ Love them?” Brody managed to answer. “Of course.”

“ Prove it, Ted. Prove that you love Meredith and Cole. Prove how much you wish you hadn’t punched your wife. This is your chance to be a hero. Save them. Save your family, Ted.”

“ Yes.” Brody trembled. “I’ll do anything for them.”

“ Then nothing’s different. You’ll go in that house. You’ll notice whatever defenses have been set up. You’ll ask about them. We’ll hear you talking. We’ll know what to expect.”

“ Meredith and Cole…”

“ We take care of people who cooperate, Ted. I just thought of something.” Andrei felt a sudden terrible doubt. “Is there a computer in your house? Could the man in there have e-mailed for help?”

“ I use a password lock.”

Andrei breathed out, releasing some of his tension.

“ Good,” he said. “Before we go into the house, I’ll tell you we’re coming. You’ll have plenty of warning. All you need to do is get your family down to the floor. As soon as we teach a lesson to our friend in there, and retrieve something he stole from us, we’ll leave. You and your wife and son can have a nice life.”

“ God, don’t I wish.”

“ What he stole from us is crucial. I want you to make sure we get it back alive.”

“ Alive?”

“ It’s a baby.”

“ A… What’s a baby doing in there?”

“ That’s not your concern, Ted. Just talk about the baby when you see it. Tell me where it is. When we go inside, I want to make sure it isn’t injured.”

“ But what about my family?”

“ I told you, just get them onto the floor. I promise, you and your wife and your son will be safe. An hour from now, this’ll be over. We’ll be gone. Your family will owe their lives to you. You’ll be a hero to them. Your wife won’t have any choice except to forgive you for hitting her. Do you understand, Ted? Is everything clear?”

Kagan stood with Andrei, Mikhail, Yakov, and the new man, Viktor, in the corridor outside the three doors. Beyond the middle door, he heard the muffled sound of a television, the only noise in the corridor. All the other guests were probably away from their rooms, enjoying the holiday festivities.

As adrenaline surged through him, Kagan heard just enough of the television program to be able to determine that a little girl was asking someone if he was really Santa Claus. The voice of an elderly man said that he was.

That middle room was where the three bodyguards were based.

Concentrating to control his breathing, Kagan watched Andrei take his cell phone from his pocket. It was set to the vibrate mode, and what Andrei waited for was a call from the nursemaid in the suite. Not that Andrei would answer the call. All he needed was to feel the vibration through his glove.

He also needed to verify the caller’s number. It would signal that the nursemaid had rigged the door to the left, pressing a strip of plastic against the spring-controlled latch, preventing it from sliding into the door frame and locking the door. She had done the same with the door on the right.