choice but to follow through on his orders from above. He’d heard about what happened to field agents who swam against the tide and probed into their superiors’ affairs. He didn’t need his helicopter to mysteriously crash in the mountains like one of his colleagues on another of Crenna’s teams did last year after doing wet work in Latin America. At least that’s what Von suspected. He continued rubbing his neck as the satellite image refined its search and zoomed in on the fleeing Land Rover which was headed towards Germany. Von grinned at the thought of heading to that country. He remembered a college semester abroad in Stuttgart—when the world seemed so good. Before he signed away his life to the agency and their claws became embedded in his soul.
Chapter 8 After arriving in Vienna on the Gideon company jet, Dev had arranged for a Mercedes Benz SUV to be waiting at the airport so she and Mitch could immediately head to Yin’s location. She didn’t want to bring an arsenal of weapons with them in case they had to quickly ditch their gear and flee the estate so she opted for two HK pistols, spare mags, and suppressors. An hour and a half later, Mitch drove the rented black SUV along a narrow road until it emerged at the edge of the forest and a large field. Two hundred yards ahead was a three-story estate where Yin was supposed to be located based upon the plates of a stolen Land Rover Dev had been tracking. The spacious grounds looked to be well-maintained under the moonlight and the opulent home was nestled amongst a backdrop of groomed spruce trees. There was a single light on in the first-floor window, casting a soft glow onto the eerie scene of lifeless figures sprinkled around the lawn. “This looks like the place,” said Dev, peering through a night vision device at the grassy area near the side entrance. “I count six men down and a disabled vehicle—quite a party they had here.” Mitch approached cautiously in their SUV, pulling to the right of the Audi. He and Dev quickly exited, their pistols in hand. Dev studied the scene, noting the precise headshots of the deceased and the large caliber entry wounds which had splintered a few of the skulls. There appear to be two different groups of men with some being Caucasian and the others dark-skinned, possibly Filipino. If I was able to track Yin down then others can do the same. Just a shame they got here first. She and Mitch did a quick sweep of the inside, finding another dead body in a third-floor bedroom. Then they retraced their steps and scanned the grounds once more. She saw Mitch kneeling down near a muddy swath of exposed ground beside the door. “Got something?” she said. “Mmm…just an unusual boot pattern—the tread is different from the rest.” He pointed to the zig-zag pattern etched in the soil. “This reminds me of my old jungle survival boots. I used to refer to these as Charlie Brown boots because of that design with the Z-pattern.” She gave him a puzzled look. “Who the hell is Charlie Brown?” “It’s an American cartoon with Snoopy, Pig-Pen, and…” He stopped, shaking his head. “Never mind. It’s hard to explain.” Dev rolled her eyes. “So, aside from that fascinating insight, what can you tell from the tracks?” She watched Mitch as he got up and followed the boot prints down the driveway with his redbeam flashlight, stopping abruptly at a thick patch of brush not far from the treeline. “Looks like he got in another vehicle and headed off to the north.” Mitch backtracked towards the estate and examined the bodies again. He squatted beside one of the men who looked Malaysian. Mitch shined his flashlight on the face and then down at the hands. “You’re a long way from home, son.” He noticed a tattoo near the wrist. Sliding up the black sleeve, he saw a red-and-green tiger on the inner forearm. He bit his lower lip in faint recognition, trying to recall where he’d seen the image