Free JET - Sanctuary by Russell Blake Page B

understand.”
    “I’m heading back to the safe house. Call me with updates every ten minutes.”
    “Okay. It looks like they’re heading north. Into the mountains.”
    Bastian frowned. “There’s nothing there.”
    “Maybe that’s the point. They’ve already gained maybe half a kilometer on us. They’ll probably gain another before I call you again. They’re going to try to outrun us.”
    “Keep after them. I’ll make some calls and see if we have anyone up in Cabildo or La Ligua who can come the other way and cut them off.”
    “There are a lot of smaller roads once we’re in the mountains.”
    “Don’t lose them. Between the Sotos and the woman, this is the biggest payday we’ll ever get.”
    Bastian’s final call went out to Antonio, who was not only still awake but alert, in spite of the hour, which didn’t surprise Bastian. This was arguably the most important night of his life: the culmination of months of planning and the effective change of power in the entire nation’s underworld in a matter of hours. Bastian told him about the woman and the Sotos, and while Antonio tried to sound calm, Bastian could tell that he was annoyed that the attack hadn’t gone as planned, as well as excited that they’d located the woman so quickly.
     
    Leonid awoke from a sound sleep and gazed groggily around his hotel room before his eyes landed on his cell phone, which was glowing and vibrating on the night table. He reached over to it and sat up as he answered.
    “Yes?”
    “ Señor Ross? This is Antonio. I’m sorry if I woke you.”
    “No problem. What can I do for you?”
    “We’ve found your mystery woman.”
    Leonid switched on the bedside lamp and threw the sheets off, now fully awake. “Where?”
    “She was involved in a gun battle at a hotel. We’re in pursuit of her now. There’s no way she can get away. She and her accomplices are on a mountain road with nowhere to go.”
    “Accomplices? What are you talking about?”
    Antonio gave Leonid an abridged version of the events at the hotel. “I hope to have good news for you soon.”
    “Antonio, listen to me very carefully. This woman is not to be trifled with. She’s more than a match for anything you can throw at her. No disrespect, but I thought my instructions were clear. I was to be notified–”
    “Which you have been. Unfortunately, your agenda doesn’t align with mine. The men in the car with her are of considerably more importance to me than she is, and watching them from a safe distance wasn’t an option. As you say, no disrespect, but do not come to my country and lecture me on how to best proceed. I have my priorities clear. I’ll call you when I have more information.”
    Leonid fumed at the crime lord’s arrogant dismissal but bit his tongue. It would do no good to anger the man who had his quarry in sight.
    “Very well. I’ll wait for your call. I can’t tell you how…disappointed I’ll be if she gets away.”
    “Thank you for the reminder. I’ll be in touch.”
    Leonid found himself staring at the cell phone, the line dead in his hand.
    Idiots . They had no idea what they were dealing with. The woman had scaled a twenty-story building in Moscow, defeated advanced security systems, killed one of the most powerful oligarchs in Russia and escaped from an army of elite ex-commandos seemingly without breaking a sweat. Now it sounded like she’d painted a hotel with the blood of Antonio’s top execution squad.
    He took deep breaths to calm himself. Things were out of his hands. He could only pray that she made some critical mistake, because otherwise his money was on her escaping just as she had in Argentina.
    Leonid hoped he was wrong but afraid that he was right.
    He stood and paced as he called the other members of his team in Santiago and filled them in, and then contacted the remaining group in Mendoza. He wanted them in Chile at first light – they were to drive their rental cars over the pass and meet him in the