Near Dark (Scot Harvath #20) - Brad Thor Page 0,105
points are not always the same as with men.”
“You can be the captain, not just of the boat, but of the entire interrogation,” he had said with a smile. “I look forward to watching you work.
“Speaking of which,” he added. “Just going on what I saw in Vilnius, bullet holes in the Contessa could very quickly end up being bullet holes in the boat. Just going to throw that out there. I’m not a very good swimmer.”
“I have always heard that about America’s Navy SEALs. Good with flight attendants. Bad with swimming.”
She was fun to spar with, but they had still had a lot of work to do. In addition to going over the drone footage and charging its batteries, he had come up with a different approach to the Contessa’s interrogation—one that, if they were lucky, wouldn’t have to involve getting rough with her.
“I’m all ears,” Sølvi had said. “What are you suggesting?”
“It has already worked once. How about we make her another offer that she can’t refuse?”
The NIS operative listened as Harvath had laid out his thinking, and she agreed that it was worth a try. They could always revert to harsh interrogation methods, and if needed, even worse.
The ball was going to be in the Contessa’s court. How things unfolded would be completely up to her.
If she was intelligent, which by all accounts she was, hopefully she would do the right thing. Under pressure, though, sometimes people made very bad, very dangerous decisions. They would have to wait and see where the Contessa took them.
The one thing Harvath knew was that if she took them down the danger road, if she imperiled him or Sølvi, he’d put a bullet in her without thinking twice.
CHAPTER 41
At the appointed time, everything appeared to be in place. The boat was bobbing in the water, Sølvi was behind the wheel, the drone was floating in the air, and Harvath was in his hide site. All they needed now was the Contessa.
When she did show up, Harvath and Sølvi would see her before she saw them. There was no question.
Out on the lake, the Riva drifted with its engines and running lights off. Harvath watched the park and the dock via the drone’s night vision camera. Sølvi surveilled the shoreline through the night vision goggles he had given her.
She picked up on the headlights before Harvath did. “Vehicle approaching,” she said. “Southwest corner of the park.”
“Roger that,” said Harvath. “I see it. Our guest of honor has just pulled in, or a drug deal is getting ready to go down.”
Moments later, another car pulled up, parked alongside, and it did actually look, via the drone, like a drug deal.
When the cars departed a minute later, they were back to waiting for the Contessa.
This time, things looked a bit more promising. While the Contessa could have driven to the park, it was within walking distance of her villa. That wasn’t enough to determine if it was her, but it was a start.
The figure strode down the park path, not too fast, not too slow, and headed toward the dock.
“This is her,” Harvath said, convinced.
“Roger that,” Sølvi replied. “Any tail-gunners?” she asked, using a term sometimes applied to criminal accomplices who lagged behind, out of sight, waiting to strike if a job went south.
“Negative,” said Harvath. “I don’t see anyone. It appears she’s on her own.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“Wait until she’s at the end of the dock and gives you the signal. Then you can come in.”
“Roger that,” Sølvi said. “Standing by.”
The figure walked down to the end of the dock, pulled out her cell phone, and turned the flashlight feature on and off three times.
Harvath didn’t need to say anything. This was the part where Sølvi took over. Starting up the engines, she put the Riva in gear and headed in toward the shore.
As she piloted the craft, she did everything via the night vision goggles, never activating the running lights, thereby denying an advantage to any ambush that might lie in wait.
Pulling into the shore, there was enough ambient light that her night vision goggles were no longer necessary. She peeled them off and tucked them into the compartment next to her as she blinked her eyes, adjusting to the new situation.
It took only a moment to see the lone figure at the end of the dock. Sølvi agreed with Harvath that this was most likely her, but until she had