Don Pendleton: Infiltration

“You think RBN operations overseas are short of cash?” she asked.

“Why not?” Bolan said. “It makes complete sense based on the intel.”

“Given the state of the world economy, it’s likely they’re starting to see a rapid depletion of funds. They need to get more money from their investors or find new ones. But I’m thinking the latter would take too long.”

“Which means they’d need to get all the financial data they could on those financiers,” Brognola concluded.

“Striker, do you think Godunov’s looking to crack that list?” Price asked.

“I think he plans to have Lutrova crack the New York financial network and suck it dry.”

Executive Action

Killsport

Conflagration

Storm Front

War Season

Evil Alliance

Scorched Earth

Deception

Destiny’s Hour

Power of the Lance

A Dying Evil

Deep Treachery

War Load

Sworn Enemies

Dark Truth

Breakaway

Blood and Sand

Caged

Sleepers

Strike and Retrieve

Age of War

Line of Control

Breached

Retaliation

Pressure Point

Silent Running

Stolen Arrows

Zero Option

Predator Paradise

Circle of Deception

Devil’s Bargain

False Front

Lethal Tribute

Season of Slaughter

Point of Betrayal

Ballistic Force

Renegade

Survival Reflex

Path to War

Blood Dynasty

Ultimate Stakes

State of Evil

Force Lines

Contagion Option

Hellfire Code

War Drums

Ripple Effect

Devil’s Playground

The Killing Rule

Patriot Play

Appointment in Baghdad

Havana Five

The Judas Project

Plains of Fire

Colony of Evil

Hard Passage

Interception

Cold War Reprise

Mission: Apocalypse

Altered State

Killing Game

Diplomacy Directive

Betrayed

Sabotage

Conflict Zone

Blood Play

Desert Fallout

Extraordinary Rendition

Devil’s Mark

Savage Rule

Mack Bolan ®

www.mirabooks.co.uk

To be prepared for war is one of the most effective means of preserving peace.

—George Washington

1732–1799

My battle plan remains a constant: that I be prepared to wage war until a threat is neutralized. I don’t see peace breaking out anytime soon.

—Mack Bolan

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER TWENTY

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

A tail could make any number of mistakes, and Mack Bolan, aka the Executioner, knew most of them.

This time his followers had been in a hurry not to lose him in Boston’s morning rush hour, and they got too close in the sudden logjam of traffic caused by road construction. Bolan had spotted the vehicle with two men in the front seat as he left the rental agency at Logan International. But what made him suspicious was when a second vehicle identical to the first, occupied by two different men, came up behind him. With their suits and sunglasses, all four were either government types or trouble.

Bolan bet the latter.

Fortunately, it didn’t come as much of a surprise to him. A request from Hal Brognola at Stony Man Farm had brought the soldier to Boston. The President of the United States deemed it of some importance, a fact Brognola had pointed out when briefing Bolan less than eight hours earlier.

“The man we’re interested in is Bogdan Lutrova,” Brognola had said.

“Who’s he?”

“He’s a Russian citizen who was caught by Customs agents attempting to enter the country under a false identity,” Barbara Price, Stony Man mission controller, had answered.

“And what we know about him,” Brognola continued, “is much less than what we don’t.”

“Meaning?” Bolan asked.

Brognola pulled an unlit cigar from his mouth, an old habit that wouldn’t seem to die, and sighed. “We suspect that Lutrova is a member of the Russian Business Network. You’re familiar with this organization, I presume.”

Bolan nodded. Yeah, he was more than familiar. The RBN was a multifaceted enterprise with its hands into just about every form of cybercrime imaginable. They ran child porn sites, botnets, spam scams and virtually any other internet fraud money could buy. The RBN had been elusive, nearly impossible to destroy, given their size and wealth. A large number of intelligence sources were keeping tabs on the RBN’s operations, but none ever seemed solid enough to get close to its heart. For some time now, Bolan had considered launching a full-scale blitz again the RBN, but he knew it would have required the full resources of Stony Man, not to mention weeks or even months of surgical strikes against key sites. When Brognola called and hinted at the possibility he might have an alternate way to get at the group, Bolan jumped at the chance.

“We don’t have any proof Lutrova was here on a mission for the RBN,” Brognola stated.

“What else might have brought him here?” Bolan asked.

“Well, it’s possible he’s on the run and he came here looking for sanctuary,” Price said.

“At least that’s the song and dance he gave Customs officials,” Brognola added. “Lutrova fed them some story about business associates who were unhappy with him. He demanded legal representation and asylum. In return for information, of course.”

“But since he’s not an American citizen,” Price said, “Customs agents were only required to assign him a liaison from INS.”

“Which really just means an interpreter,” Bolan said. “So why not deport him and make it a public show? If the RBN is after him, as he claims, you’ll know soon enough whether it’s true.”

“We considered that. Unfortunately, some analyst in the CIA picked up on the fact that Lutrova had been caught trying to enter the country illegally, and immediately filed a special report that wound up in the President’s daily brief. That, in turn, filtered down to a request by the Man that we investigate Lutrova’s claims.”

Bolan shrugged. “So you want me to go to Boston to question him? That sounds more like a job for Justice Department types. I’m not sure how I can help in this.”

Brognola sighed. “Striker, you’ve been telling us for a while now that the RBN is becoming bigger and more dangerous by the day. After this latest incident, I’m inclined to agree with you. And I’ve told the President as much on more than one occasion. Now, it could be that Lutrova’s just jerking our chain, and if that’s the case then there’ll be hell to pay. But there could be more hell to pay if we don’t give this a closer look. In either case, I can’t think of anyone who can get to the bottom of it faster or better than you.”

“Not to mention you’ve been studying this group,” Price said. “You’re the closest thing we have to a subject matter expert. Not even our contacts at the NSA could give us any definitive answers.”