CHAPTER 80

“TELL ME ABOUT YOUR countersniper setup, ” Reece said.

The three Americans were standing on the roof of a large apartment building in the midst of renovation that overlooked the colonnade. A Secret Service sharpshooter, dressed from head to toe in black BDUs, was setting up what looked like an AR-10 on the roof parapet. A giant pair of well-worn 1980s-vintage Steiner binoculars sat nearby. Next to the American was another black-clad sniper wearing a matching beret with a colorful badge. His rifle, a black chassis-style bolt-action with a Nightforce scope, was cradled in a tripod mount alongside a separate tripod that held both a Leica spotting scope and a pair of rangefinding binoculars. It wasn’t lost on Reece or Strain that the Russians seemed to have superior equipment to the Americans’, at least when it came to optics.

“Well, it depends on where we are but, in this case, we have our guys paired up with Russian counterparts from the FSO, one U. S. shooter and one Russian, ” Kim explained. “In some countries, our folks aren’t permitted to carry weapons, but they always at least shadow the local shooters so they can coordinate with the PPD. ”

“Don’t your people usually work in pairs? ” asked Freddy.

“Generally, yes, but not on this trip. This arrangement was a negotiated deal between the Russians and the Ukrainians. Besides, budget cuts hit us hard. We’re low on agents as it is. This allows us to spread our people over a wider radius. ”

“Sounds like a recipe for disaster, ” Freddy commented.

“Let’s hope not. ”

“What rifle is that, Freddy? ” asked Reece.

“I think it’s called a Tochnost. It’s Russia’s new sniper rifle. Supposedly a great gun, but I don’t have any experience with it. ”

“What about assaulters? What assets do we have on the ground? ” Reece asked, beginning to pace.

“CAT, that’s our Counter-Assault Team, will be near the stage. Their job is to cover the PPD while they get Umbrella to safety. The Russians have their own team with a similar role. Neither is going to divert away from their principal. If there’s a threat somewhere that we need to move on, the Ukrainian Alphas will be the ones to do it. ”

“Forgive me for bringing up the elephant in the room, Kim, but don’t the Russians and Ukrainians hate each other? Russia is occupying Crimea, for Christ’s sake, ” Freddy pointed out.

“Our threat assessment teams analyze all that. Us agents, we leave the politics to the politicians. ”

“That reminds me to check in with Andy. ” Freddy stepped away from the countersnipers and made a call. Reece and Kim followed and leaned in to hear the conversation.

“This is Andy. ”

“It’s Strain, anything new? ”

“I was actually about to call you. I just heard from a contact at State. During his speech today, President Zubarev is going to announce that they’re giving back Crimea. In exchange, the United States will drop its sanctions against Moscow, and the EU will buy a bunch of Russian natural gas. Our president praises Russia, and everyone shakes hands and sings ‘Kumbaya. ’ ”

“That doesn’t sound like it’s in line with Andrenov’s vision, ” Reece chimed in.

“Not at all. This is the kind of move that would make him want to take out a president. And if I know Andrenov, he’ll find a way to spin it to his advantage. ”

“How so? ”

“If President Zubarev goes down, the new president will have the support he needs to retaliate. That means he’s going to blame it either on the Ukrainians, Azerbaijanis, or someone within their own borders that they want to take out, probably Muslims in the Caucasus. When Russian tanks start rolling farther into Ukraine or Turkey on another land grab, they’ll be able to wave around a photo of their dead president as justification. Like I told you when you were here, this is the last gasp of a dying empire. Desperate people do desperate things. Hell, if our president was hit as well, we might even support them! And I’m just giving you my best guess as to what’s going on. We’re not perfect; we thought Iraq had WMDs, remember? ”

“That rings a bell, ” Reece said. “Keep working it. I’m going to see if Agent Scheer can get you a list of the local security forces. Maybe we’re overlooking someone there. ”

“I’ll have PID send them a full list, ” she confirmed.

“Okay, thanks all, out here. ” Freddy ended the call.

“I think we just checked the motive block, ” Reece observed.

Agent Scheer looked at her watch. “I’ll pass all this along but we’re going to need more. Umbrella lands in less than an hour. ”

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