guys get all the action?”
“The boss knows what he’s doing.”
“Yeah, well, so far I’m not that impressed. How long you known him?”
Southpaw took a deep breath and let it out noisily as Bolan watched him do some quick mental figuring. He finally said, “About two years, I guess.”
“You guess?” Bolan made a show of chuckling. “You don’t know how long you been working for the guy?”
“I just said about two years. You deaf or something?”
“What sort of missions have you done? See a lot of heat?”
“I’ve seen my share.” Then Billy added, “You know what, Frankie, I think you ask too many questions.”
Bolan raised his hands in a show of defense. “Hey, I don’t mean nothing by it. Just making conversation.”
“Well, just stop talking so—”
Volkov rapped on the passenger window and gestured for Bolan to roll it down. He did and Volkov stuck his head inside, his breath visible in the biting morning air. A quick look at the clock told Bolan it was almost 0820 hours, probably just before the first period began inside the school.
“Okay, here’s the deal. You come with us Southpaw. We’re going to need your very unique talents in providing a distraction while we do this. Igor and Keck will stay with the van while Southpaw’s doing his thing.”
“What about me, boss?” Bolan asked.
“You’re going to be our wheels.” He gestured toward a low, squat building that sat to one side. Bolan could see the reflections of sunlight on metal and the occasional movement of vehicles. “See that? That’s the front gate entrance. We’re going to send the van through, and the van’s going to pick up a very specific package for us. You’re going to provide a way for me and Southpaw to get out once that’s done. We’re hoping this will throw off the cops in case we run into trouble. You’ll wait right outside that front entrance. There end up being any problems, you take out the guard and then you wait for us. Everything goes off right, you still wait for us. Got it?”
“Simple,” Bolan said with a nod.
“You better learn something quick, Frankie,” Volkov replied. “There’s a big difference between simple and easy. The two aren’t the same. Got it?”
“Yeah, sure. I got it.”
“Keep in touch,” Volkov said as he tossed a high frequency radio on the seat next to Bolan. He and Southpaw then walked to the van and jumped in.
“All right, you reading me?” Volkov’s voice said a moment later.
“Reading you four-by-four,” Bolan replied.
“Let’s do this,” he said. “You lead us in and then park outside the gate, where you can make a break for it, if necessary. But you don’t move until we’re on board. ’Cause I promise that if you double-cross us, I’ll find you and kill you. You can be sure of that.”
Bolan decided not to reply, instead waving his hand so that Volkov understood he got the message. Fate had dealt him a decent hand on this one, making it possible for him to operate on his own. Now all he had to do was figure out what they had planned, then determine how to stop that plan and still keep anyone from getting in the line of fire. A full-blown fight on the grounds of a Catholic school would be completely unacceptable. He’d have to play this one very close to the vest.
Keeping his pace slow but steady, he approached the main entrance to the school. He’d obviously been right about the start time, because the place was absolutely packed with vehicles, some of them double-parked to drop off kids, while others rolled through the gate. The Executioner kept his eyes open for any running room, counting vehicles and spaces between them as the numbers ticked off in his head. A group of children traveled along the sidewalks, pressed Catholic uniforms gleaming in the morning sunlight as they proceeded toward their school. Others rode with their parents, a good number of vehicles ranging from BMWs to Mercedes to Bentleys, not to mention a gaggle of imports.
Whatever these guns-for-hire had planned, Bolan was almost positive this would amount to a grab. But of whom? Out of the few hundred, perhaps many hundred children that attended Saint Bartholomew’s, why would Godunov have ordered his mercenary team to target just one? Or perhaps two? Bolan’s best guess was that they needed these kids for leverage. Volkov had mentioned that Southpaw would be providing some sort of deception, that he would use his “very unique talents” to do that.
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