Page 7 of Kane (Ghost Ops #4)

“I honestly don’t believe Dima Smirnov will live much beyond the moment he sets foot on Russian soil.

He’s been playing both sides, and he’s angered not only Viktor Dashevsky but the powers that be in Russia as well.

If Putin doesn’t have him executed, Dashevsky will.

He won’t be a threat to Ms. Crowell ever again. ”

“But they know about her.”

Her expression remained unconcerned. “What they know is that Smirnov is incompetent. He targeted someone who didn’t have the access required, a woman he was personally interested in, because this is what men do.

He wanted to sleep with her, so he groomed her and he assured his bosses he’d found a way in.

Maybe he thought he did, but he was wrong. ”

Kane could feel Seth’s anger radiating from him. “That’s not what happened. She didn’t—. They did not— ” He scraped a hand over his face. “Christ.”

Kane wouldn’t have believed Diana could feel sympathy if he hadn’t been looking at her face. She actually cared that Seth was upset over what she’d implied.

“I know that’s not what happened,” she said gently. “I said it’s what his handlers believe. That’s an important distinction, right?”

“I think what Agent Corbin is saying,” Ghost added, glancing at her, “is that our side has pushed that narrative. When Smirnov is released, and if our counterintelligence has done its job right, nothing he says in his own defense will penetrate the disinformation we’ve planted.”

“That’s correct.” She actually looked serene. How did the woman do that?

Seth growled. “If you’re wrong, if anyone comes for Callie—I’ll fucking blow this shit sky high if anything happens to her. Unless you kill me first.”

“Well, if that’s what—” Diana began.

“No,” Ghost said, his voice a chainsaw slicing through the tension.

“We’re all in danger until this is done, but we’re on the same side here.

And just so you know, Agent Corbin, the six of us are a unit.

A team. You hurt one of us, you hurt us all.

And that extends to the people we love. You keep those motherfuckers out of this country and away from Callie Crowell or you’ll lose every single one of us.

And I don’t think you want that. I really don’t. ”

“Noted,” she said with a regal tilt of her head.

“And yes, we’re on the same side. You’re here for a reason, the president trusts you, and I’m just trying to do my job.

I came to tell you about Smirnov so you’d know.

” She reached for the messenger bag she’d set at her feet.

“I’ve brought the gun he used when he took Nikki Crowell hostage.

We can’t trace it. I thought maybe you could. ”

She took a Glock 19 from the bag and placed it on the table.

“You’re the FBI,” Ghost said. “Of course you can trace the fucking gun.”

She huffed a breath. “Okay, let me put it another way. We can and we have. To a point. A large shipment of weapons was reported as never received by the dealer about a year ago. The container was shipped via cargo vessel and there was a storm. The shipping company reported that several containers went overboard and were unrecoverable. That happens with sea transport sometimes, unfortunately. But the serial number on that gun matches one of the weapons from the manifest.”

“And how does your boss feel about you bringing the gun to us?”

“He doesn’t know because he’s written it off as a typical weapons trafficker move. Claim lost shipments, sell the guns to criminals and terrorists. He sent this one to the evidence room to be stored. I borrowed it. I’ll need it back, but I don’t think anyone’s going looking for it anytime soon.”

“Noted. And why are you so intent upon this line of inquiry?”

“Dashevsky trades in weapons. His suppliers are global, hidden behind chains of shippers that go deep. I want to know where this gun came from once it reached this country because it could lead us to one of his suppliers.”

Ghost shook his head. “I’m gonna assume the dealer checked out so it’s not him or her you’re interested in. But Smirnov could have bought that Glock on the street. It might not have anything to do with Dashevsky. We have plenty of homegrown criminals of our own that trade in illegal weapons.”

“But what if he didn’t? What if that shipment was meant for Dashevsky’s people?

His reach is global. Somebody received the weapons and sold them on again—and I want to know who that is, because you’re right that the dealer checks out.

His record is impeccable. It wasn’t him.

Someone with the shipper was probably paid a good deal of money to reroute the shipment. ”

Ghost looked annoyed. Never a good sign.

“You know, this sounds like a lot of work. Why don’t you ask your fucking uncle?

Or your good friend Mr. Lewis? Surely they have more access than a group of military operators on a secret mission do.

” Ghost flung his hands out. “Look around you, Agent Corbin. This isn’t the fucking FBI headquarters.

We have a limited capability, and we’re focused on one thing.

Saving this nation from a nuclear event by making sure Athena launches on time and successfully.

There’s nothing more important than that.

You saw how close our enemies were to getting access to the command system. Is that what you really want?”

Diana forced out a breath, the first time Kane had seen her feathers ruffled today.

“I can’t ask them. It’s not that easy.” She sat with her lips tight and her brow furrowed.

And then, as if she’d made a decision, the tension eased a fraction.

“Smirnov isn’t the only member of the Dashevsky Group we’re watching.

You have to know that. Viktor Dashevsky is amassing his own private army, because that’s what psychopathic oligarchs with God complexes do.

He’s recruiting people everywhere, not just his home territory.

There are followers here in north Alabama, and they’re quietly gathering weapons and materials.

We don’t know for what yet. I want to know who’s supplying them. ”

“Great,” Seth said. “A fucking army.”

“Exactly,” Diana replied. “And they aren’t all a bunch of redneck Bubbas, either.

There are professional people who’ve bought into Dashevsky’s vision.

Military, law enforcement, people with experience and knowledge.

It’s a dangerous movement and we need to stop it.

That starts with this gun, or so I hope. ”

Ghost picked up the weapon and turned it over in his hands. “I don’t know what you think we can find, but we’ll take it apart and study it. I have to assume your people did that already.”

“They did. The trigger has been modified to allow for faster shooting, and there’s a diamond pattern etched on the inside of the modification?—”

Before she could finish what she was saying, Ghost broke down the gun. Then he examined the trigger mechanism. “I’m not familiar with that marking. Surely your people have a list of these kinds of things.”

“They do, but it’s not on there. Could be a new player to the game. And they might not be the weapons supplier, but merely a cog in the wheel. I still want to know where this gun has been.”

“There are a lot of aftermarket companies for Glock,” Kane said. “It’s an easy gun to swap out and customize. Could’ve happened at any point after the shipment landed in the US. Or, hell, Smirnov could have swapped the trigger himself.”

“Did he strike you as the sort of man who would take the time to swap a trigger on a gun he intended to use for killing?” Diana shook her head. “I think it happened earlier, before the guns were distributed.”

“I don’t disagree,” Kane said. “But the point is that swapping a trigger could happen at any time. What you need are more guns from the same shipment with this modification and the diamond etching.”

Ghost reassembled the gun and handed it to Kane. “You’re the Glock man. See what you can find about that trigger when we’re done.”

“On it, boss.”

Ghost turned his attention to Diana again. “Anything else for us or you done making me into your errand boy?”

Her gaze darkened. “I thought you could help, Colonel Bishop. Excuse me, Mister Bishop. I thought you’d want to stop those terrorist assholes before they get a bigger toehold in this country than they already have.”

“It’s not that I don’t, but like I said, we’ve got a job. So do you. The FBI, ATF, and Homeland Security should be handling this kind of shit, not us.”

She got to her feet. “In an ideal world, true. But in case you haven’t noticed, there’s a lot about this situation with your mission and Dashevsky’s personal ambitions that intersect.

I may have access to sources high above my pay grade, but that doesn’t mean I want to go running to them every time I have a gut feeling.

I can only take so many indulgent pats to the head before I start kneeing people in the balls. ”

None of the guys winced, but they probably all wanted to. Kane did anyway. Any man who’d ever taken a hit to the ’nads, which was pretty much all of them, didn’t need a fucking reminder how much that shit hurt.

Diana shouldered her bag, the picture of unruffled elegance. Except for the tight lines at the corners of her mouth.

“I’ve read the secret reports about you,” she said, aiming her gaze directly at Ghost. “You went rogue to help your commanding officer, ran military ops from a residential basement, and saved this country’s future by preventing a presidential assassination and the dismantling of your unit, which was critical to national security.

That’s why I’m here with you and your handpicked team.

Why I’m trusting you. Because you can’t be bought, or corrupted, or diverted from the right path. ”

“I’d ask how you got access,” Ghost growled. “But I imagine this is one time that you were happy to press the fam for a favor.”