Дэвид Балдаччи: The Fix

“And you’re still in?”

“Like you got to ask. Lead the way, dude.”

The instructions Decker had been given were complicated, which didn’t surprise him.

First, a bus that carried him west. Next, a rental car in his name waiting for him at an airport.

Then he drove according to the directions he’d been given.

He passed rolling hills and flat expanses. The trees bent under blustery winds, which grew stronger the farther he went. It was colder and the sky had swiftly changed from clear to foreboding. He looked behind to see if there were any headlights back there.

He was armed but knew that would be useless once he reached his destination. They held all the cards since they had Jamison.

He slowed as he came to the junction he’d been looking for.

He pulled off the road. A van was waiting there. It blinked its lights. He got out and the side door of the van slid open.

A man crouched there aiming a gun at him. He had on no mask, so Decker could clearly see his features.

Well, that wasn’t good. They obviously weren’t worried that he was going to live to tell anyone anything.

The man flicked his gun at Decker and he walked over to the van. His legs were stiff from the long drive and he tripped over his feet, hitting the dirt right next to the van. The man didn’t move to help him. Decker gripped the side of the van as leverage to hoist his bulk back up, while the man kept his gun trained on him all the way.

“Not very light on your feet, are you?” said the man snidely.

“I guess not,” said Decker, a bit out of breath.

Two other men climbed out of the back of the van. They searched him thoroughly, even using an electronic wand, but found only his gun and no tracking devices.

His hands were bound with zip ties and he was pushed roughly into the van. The door was closed and the van pulled onto the road and sped off.

The men said nothing and Decker was not inclined to conversation. The van had no windows, so he couldn’t see where they were going. Not that it mattered.

I just want to see Alex, alive.

They drove for about a half hour and finally the van pulled to a stop. The door opened and Decker was hustled out. He looked around and saw that they were in front of a dilapidated house with a waist-high falling-down wooden fence surrounding it. When he looked around he saw no other structure. The place looked to be in the middle of nowhere. All he could see in any direction was darkness.

There were lights on in the house, but they were low. Decker doubted the electricity was on in this place. It looked abandoned.

His captors marched him up to the sagging front porch. The door opened and he was led in.

When the door closed behind him and his eyes adjusted to the light, Decker could see that he had been right. Battery-operated lanterns were situated in several different places, giving the place a low glow, like pockets of lightning bugs were flitting around. The room smelled of mildew and decay.

As soon as he saw her he couldn’t take his gaze off her.

Alex was seated on a couch whose stuffing guts were spilling out through holes in the cushions. She had on a gag but her eyes were staring back at Decker.

He finally drew his gaze from her and looked around.

Five other men and one woman were standing around in the small room.

Even without the wig Decker recognized the woman as the one in the bank video with Walter Dabney. He was surprised to see that two of the men looked Middle Eastern.

The woman moved forward and appraised Decker. “You are stubborn,” she said, her accent pronounced.

Decker held her gaze. “You’re much younger than Anna. Are you her protégée? Since she’s dead I guess you can move up now.”

Her features turned ugly. “She should never have died.”

“We all have to die one day,” said Decker.

The woman glanced at Jamison and then back at him. “And so this is your day.”

“Killing us won’t stop the investigation. The FBI is a pretty big organization. This will just make them try harder.”

The woman smiled at this. “No one knows what the future will bring.” She paused. “But I think I can predict your and your friend’s future.”

“I can see why you might think that.”

“I am surprised you came so willingly to your death.”

“Alex is my friend. She has my back, I have hers.”

“Then this is good. So you can die together. You and your friend .”

“Maybe one day, but I don’t think today.”

“You have no control over that.”

“That’s true.”

“Then you speak nonsense.”

“Believe what you want to.”

The woman’s features turned suspicious. She said something to one of the men in another language that Decker didn’t recognize. The man answered her and looked toward the window. He motioned for two of the men to check outside.

The woman looked back at Decker. “You are either very stupid or very brave.”

“Right now, I’m not sure I’m either, actually.”

The woman pulled a gun from her pocket and placed it against Decker’s forehead. The door to the house opened as the men came back inside, shaking their heads and gesticulating with their hands.

The woman smiled at Decker. “No, let us go with very stupid , shall we?”

There were two windows in the room in addition to the door. All three were blown inward and mini explosions rained over them, the smoke dense and acrid. The woman holding the gun screamed as she dropped it and fell to her knees.

Jamison slid sideways off the couch. The other men toppled to the floor.

Decker could see something at one of the windows, but only for an instant before his eyes closed and he too fell heavily to the floor.

“Flash-bangs really suck, Ross.”

Decker was sitting up in a chair still looking woozy.

Bogart patted him on the shoulder. “Sorry, it was the best we could do. And I’d think you’d agree, it’s better than being dead.”

They were at an FBI field office fifty miles from the place where the kidnappers had taken Jamison. Melvin Mars was on the other side of him. He said, “I think it was a good thing you didn’t rely on me to get you out of that jam, Decker.”

Decker rubbed his ears and said, “It was enough that you were willing to walk the plank with me. But you’re right, I figured we’d need the big guns.”

Bogart said, “You did the right thing calling us in, Decker. We put the plan together pretty quickly. It was crazy and risky as hell.”

“But it worked.”

Bogart held up a small device. “You did a good job planting it.”

“I tripped over my own big feet and fell next to the van. I used that opportunity to stick it under the side step. Luckily, I was able to do it before they searched me. If I hadn’t been able to do that?”

“You and Alex would be dead.”

“They never saw you coming,” said Decker.

Bogart smiled. “Hey, Decker, we are the FBI.”

“How’s Alex?”

“Still resting. They banged her around some when they kidnapped her. And sedated her. But no permanent damage.”

“You’re sure about that?” said Decker quickly.

“I’m sure, Decker. She’ll be fine.”

“And the others? Did they bug the Dabneys’ house? Did they kill Cecilia Randall?”

“We haven’t gotten a word out of any of them, and I don’t think we will, actually. They’re a tough bunch.”

“So we’re back to square one, then?” said Decker.

“Well, it is a plus that we just captured a bunch of foreign operatives.”

“I think they were speaking Russian.”

Bogart nodded. “We think so too. If nothing else, it’ll give us some leverage with Moscow.”