Chapter 31
As we arrived at the airstrip Maurice was refueling the plane for the trip.
I walked up and shook Maurice’s hand.
“Hey, Commander, Natalia. How are you?’
“Great, thank you,” Natalia answered.
“I’m good Maurice. Are you almost done refueling?” I asked.
“Copy that, I will be ready in ten minutes.”
“Very good.”
I grabbed Natalia’s bag with one hand and her hand with the other.
Maurice looked on as we walked hand in hand and boarded the plane.
He smiled at me with a raised eyebrow.
As the plane took off, I looked out of the window and had flashbacks of the events of the last forty-eight hours with Natalia on this beautiful island. I had shared with her my deepest and most private secret. I wish we could have turned around and stayed there forever. As I looked over at Natalia she was peacefully asleep while holding my hand. She was so gorgeous, dressed in her black leather pants and jacket with a white top that showed off her sexy toned abs. I lifted her hand and kissed it softly. I knew she was the one and I would never let her go.
After nearly a nearly a twenty-four-hour flight with a stop in China to refuel, we landed safely at a private airport in Moscow. I grabbed Natalia’s bag and her hand as we walked off the plane. Vince was there to meet us waiting in a black Range Rover.
“Hey, Commander and Natalia. How was your trip?” Vince asked.
“Very good thanks for asking smart ass,” I said.
“Hey Commander did you give her a cheeky squeeze for me like I asked?” Vince said.
“Indeed, I did Vince, now let’s get outta here!” I stated.
“Hey, are you two done? Let’s go!” Natalia said.
“Hey, Maurice what’s up man. Haven’t seen you in a while,” Vince said.
“I’m good man. Had a mission, you know down in Brazil which was a real bitch. But I made everything work out,” Maurice started to laugh.
“Yeah, Maurice I heard you blew up half of Brazil” I said.
“I got the job done, didn’t I, Commander?”
“Yes, but messy as usual.”
Natalia stood there smiling as Vince, Maurice and I exchanged our usual banter.
We had to drive for about an hour to reach the deserted cabin in the woods we were using as our headquarters for the mission. When we arrived, Chase, Nick, and Ryan were out front, loading gear into our communications vans for the mission.
Natalia and I stepped out of the black Range Rover and she walked around to my side and immediately grabbed my hand. As we walked toward the team, Ryan had a pleasant smile on his face. The rest of the team looked on in shock.
“Hey guys, how are all of you doing?”
“Well, not as good as you obviously, and it’s about damn time,” Nick joked.
“Nick this is no time for jokes. Okay everyone this new development doesn’t change our objective! Valchek is a priority one target. Which as you all know means he is a target marked for death. We must recover those files and eliminate Valchek once and for all. He has killed a lot of people and destroyed families around the globe.” I instructed.
Boris Valchek was the last of an old Soviet Union oil regime. He inherited his father’s failing petroleum empire back in the 1960’s and turned it into a multi-billion-dollar empire. He used the funds from that legitimate business to start his underground trafficking businesses.
Valchek provided weapons to terrorists around the world. He also was the most wanted human trafficker on the planet. Countries from around the world used Valchek’s services to purchase cheap slave labor to work in fields and factories. He provided high quality girls that were then forced into sex slavery. For years the CIA have tried to kill Valchek, but he always slipped away somehow. Not this time.
“Chase once we have retrieved the files and I give you the signal you take Valchek down!” I said.
“Copy that, Commander. I never miss,” Chase said.
“Nick and Vince the two of you are going with Natalia and I. Nick you will be a part of the wait staff and Vince you will be going in as an arms dealer looking to make a deal with Valchek for some new weapons. Ryan was able to digitally hack the guest list and get all of our names on the list. Maurice make sure to surround the perimeter with C4 because we will need a diversion for our escape.” I said.
“Copy that, Commander.”
“Make sure you all have on your vests tonight! We are going against our most vicious enemy. Ryan, make sure you have a strong signal from everyone’s body trackers in case there are any surprises.”
“Copy that Commander.” Everyone agreed.
Natalia went inside to change into her evening attire for the party. Ryan walked over to me and handed me my communications devices for the mission. I loaded the clips of both my 9mm handguns and threw them in a bag with extra ammo.
“I’m happy for you brother, but don’t you think this now complicates things?” Ryan asked.
“It does, but we’ll figure it out. We have to concentrate on the mission right now. Ry this will be my last mission.”
“Really? You’re out just like that? Why? For her?”
“Yes, for her. It’s time for me to face my demons and step out of the dark and into the light! I love her man.”
“I understand. I just wanna make sure your head is in the game,” Ryan said sounding concerned.
“Why Ry? You have never doubted me before. I’ve been leader of this team for over ten years and I never fail. I didn’t get the nickname “The Reaper” for nothing. I got this.”
“Brother this is the toughest mission of our lives. We have never faced an adversary like Valchek before.” Ryan said.
“I know what is at stake right now Ryan. If everyone does their job and we watch each other’s back then everything will be okay. It’s business as usual. I know Valchek is the worst, but he has never encountered me. Time to take him down.”