that she never thought they would check her vehicle. She should have burned the page she tore from the atlas, not shoved it down between the seats.
It didn’t matter. All that mattered was that Teplov and his men knew where Harvath was headed and that they had been saved from a massive wild-goose chase.
Now, they were going to get a chance to drag her through the center of town before putting her on one of the helicopters. Seeing their beloved Doctor Volkova dealt with so sternly would help solidify any cooperation they might need going forward.
And God help her if they needed it. If she had lied to him again, the beating she had received inside her uncle’s house was nothing compared to what would be coming. If they went through all the trouble to load the bird and fly out to Friddja, only to find no one had even seen Harvath, there’d be hell to pay.
Teplov had radioed ahead. He knew whom he wanted with him and how to make the biggest spectacle in order to draw the most attention.
He planned on leaving a sizable stay-behind contingent, just in case Doctor Volkova had lied again. The contingent would continue searching for Harvath in and around town.
The fresh ski tracks they had found outside the uncle’s house, though, were a good sign. They led in the direction of the village he was allegedly headed toward.
He had sent his men to follow them, but with the wind and blowing snow, the tracks had quickly disappeared. Their best hope now was to fly overhead and catch Harvath en route, or to isolate him on the ground in Friddja and capture him there.
The moment they arrived at the town square, the cargo helicopter came alive. As its engine began to roar and its rotors started to spin, townspeople, including all of the patrons inside the bar and café, were drawn to the windows around the square. He had their attention.
They had previously witnessed the beating his men had doled out to the bar patron who had refused to cooperate. Now they would see their doctor, beaten and bloody, dragged out of a vehicle, placed in the helicopter, and flown away.
It was yet another SS tactic he found useful. You always dealt harshly with those who showed initial resistance. Afterward, it was often necessary to make an example of a highly respected member of the community—someone whom people looked up to and who was seen as being above reproach.
Pulling up outside, he saw all the patrons, just as before, glued to the windows. He parked his SUV right in front and had his men remove Doctor Volkova.
She refused to comply as they tried to parade her forward. Teplov ordered his men to let her be.
When they stood aside, he walked over and punched her in her lower back. Her knees buckled and she fell to the ground, where she spat blood into the snow.
People inside the bar and the café gasped. It was barbaric, what was happening outside. None of them, though, dared to react. They had no doubt that the soldiers would shoot them dead on the spot. Instead, they did the only thing they could do. They cowered inside and watched it all unfold.
Teplov grabbed Christina by the hair and pulled up her head so everyone inside could see her face. Several of them turned away in horror, unable to watch what was happening.
Letting go of her head, Teplov stood and commanded his men to walk her to the helicopter. If she refused to walk, she was to be beaten until she complied.
Christina had suffered enough. When the soldiers helped her to her feet, she did exactly as she was told. With a man holding each of her arms, she allowed them to guide her forward and then up the ramp.
Once Teplov and his people were all present and accounted for, the spinning of the rotors increased and the helicopter lifted off, throwing snow and ice in all directions and pelting all the vehicles parked around the square.
It banked to the north, hovered briefly over the uncle’s home, and then made its way west toward the Sámi village of Friddja.
As the helicopter slowly flew, the crew scanned their instruments for any signs of Harvath. Attached inside, heavy black ropes sat coiled on the floor, ready to be kicked out the doors if the Wagner mercenaries needed to rappel down and grab him.
When out of the darkness the village appeared up ahead, the