Thick As Blood - Nestor Oceteva

25. Hold Fast

I watched the long procession of hearses line up as we exited the plane and thought of the 30 or so Russians rotting in shallows graves in no man's land along the border. The hearses were all tinted so you couldn't see the space what they were actually carrying. Alpa drove his van off the plane first before one by one the hearses reversed in and were loaded with weapons.

Mayans and soldiers hopped in the front seats replacing drivers and some had to lay down beside the crates. Francis was the only actual mortician that would be along for the ride. Bishop rose beside Francis while Nestor and I lay in the back of the same vehicle. I was busy on my tablet making sure the next steps were in all moving as they should be when we pulled up to the gates. Francis pressed the intercom button as the train of cars lined up behind us. I heard Simike, a maid, answer the bell in Russian.

"Do you speak English?" Francis asked.

"Yes, who are you?" She replied.

"Mr Corvin, I have a delivery of remains from America."

There's wasn't a response but the gates swung open and the long line of cars made their way up the long drive, across the bridge and reverse up to the front of the house. I opened the comms line to the ear pieces everyone had. We were waiting on Ivanka and Kirill to step out as they needed to be caught before they could alert anyone outside of the house. The last car had just parked when the pair emerged from their house. They got to the bottom of the steps and approached Francis who was going to show them to Tahlia's casket first.

"Go." I said as they opened the back door to the hearse we were in.

All the doors swung open and armed soldiers and Mayans poured out. I smashed the butt of my gun over Kirill's head as Nestor did the same to Ivanka. We quickly cable tied their hands behind their backs and tossed them in the car. Francis and Alpa stayed outside where it was safer while I followed Nestor into the mansion.

The men had already shot the staff and no one had any injuries. It was a surprise attack they definitely were not ready for and we had taken control in minutes. The team of soldiers had swept through the house and corridors quickly and the body count was 11, everyone was accounted for.

I left Francis and Alpa in the lounge to get comfortable while I set up ship. Some soldiers stationed around the property keeping a perimeter watch, some were busy unloading the weapons crates and the rest double checked there wasn't Russians left alive. Ivanka was moved into the foyer and secured to a metal chair where there would be constant supervision.

I took a small group with me into the West Wing of the mansion. It was essentially the business side of the building and what I needed Kirill for. I waved the soldier who was dragging him closer and pressed his hand to the pad. Next I raised his head and held his eyelid open while the retinal scanner did its job. The light above the door turned green and unlocked. I dropped Kirill unceremoniously in a heap on the floor and drew my gun. I stepped warily into the room, finding it empty. I holstered the gun and went to the security system that showed all of the cameras.

"The back up needs to be on a loop ASAP." I told the intelligence officer. "It goes to an unmonitored system but if any alarm goes off it will be looked at."

He got to work on creating a loop while leaving us to still see the live feed on our monitors. Next I moved down to Kirill's desk where his computer was sat. I plugged my tablet into the hard drive, picked up my phone and dialled the young woman I spoke to last night. I put her on speaker so I could type and talk.

"Ohayō Sakura, you ready baby?"

"Bitch you know it." Her sweet sassy Japanese voice replied.