Spymaster

CHAPTER 70

Mike Haney sat down on the outdoor terrace of the Hotel Mazurach, ordered a beer from the waitress, and once she was gone, filled Barton and Jasinski in on his brief reconnaissance operation.

“I’m actually more worried about the Polish side of the border than the Russian side,” he said. “Based on what I could see, they’re using a lot of high-tech equipment to detect illegal crossings — lasers, infrared, that kind of thing. There are also foot and vehicle patrols, including four-by-fours.”

“That’s because Poland acts as a border for the EU,” said Jasinski. “They’ve put a lot of money into security here.”

“You can say that again. All the buildings are brand-new. The difference between the Polish side and the Russian side is pretty stark.”

“How about the lake itself?” asked Barton.

“That’s the good part. All they have is a line of buoys marking the border. And a bunch of signs that say Do Not Cross.”

“Yeah, I’m not a very good reader.”

“Me neither,” said Haney. “Especially at night.”

“How about patrol boats?” said Barton. “Did you see any? Either Russian or Polish?”

“There’s no visible presence from either out on the lake, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. The Polish Border Patrol has a lot of cameras, though, so I imagine they’re keeping an eye on the water. But the Russians? Everything I could see looked pretty low-tech.”

“Did you get pictures?”

Haney smiled and patted his camera. “Tons. We’ll put them on my laptop and I can show you up in the room.”

“Great,” Barton replied, as the waitress set down Haney’s beer and went to take another table’s order. Once she was out of earshot, he continued. “As soon as it gets dark, we can start moving the equipment into place. Monika, you’ll come with me.”

“As a linguist only,” Jasinski replied. “I don’t have any jurisdiction over the border.”

“I’m sure if you had to, you could be pretty persuasive,” said Barton.

Haney shook his head. Barton would never need Viagra because his erection was permanent. The guy was a walking hard-on, and he’d been eyeing her since they first met.

“What about my idea for a distraction?” Haney asked, bringing the conversation back to the operation.

“For the record,” she stated, “I’m against any destruction of Polish equipment or property.”

“Duly noted. How about off the record?”

“Off the record, you’d have to be sure to take out any of their backups, or else what’s the point?”

Haney nodded and raised his glass. “So, it’s settled, then. You and Barton handle the equipment. I’ll be the official pain in everyone’s ass and handle the sabotage.”

Raising their drinks, Jasinski and Barton clinked glasses with Haney. If everything went well, they’d be back in twelve hours with the rest of the team, doing the exact same thing.

But when it came to complicated assignments, especially one this complicated, things rarely went according to plan.