Chapter 22

David made his way back to the hideout. He emptied out the Jetta, then painfully took off his jacket, vest, and shirt.

He looked in the mirror, observing the large, deep red bruises the bullets had caused on his middle and upper right chest, plus his left shoulder blade. It felt warm and tender to the touch.

“Man, am I ever glad I wore you!” He remarked, kissing his life-saving vest.

He washed up and was hungry, but first, he wanted to text Pam.

“Russian asset, Anton Kirill, eliminated, plus a second. Nikita Federov wounded saving my life, and helped kill assets. Please, for me, do what you can to help her. She is at the Poltava Central District Clinical Hospital with a gunshot wound to the left shoulder.”

Moments later, David received a reply. “I’ll do what I can for her. No guarantees. You may find the owner’s manual in your GTI quite rewarding. Lee is determined to eliminate you. Be careful; the skies are not friendly. Good luck.”

He examined the necklace, which doubled as a tracking device on him, trying to figure out how it was inserted inside. He didn’t want to tamper with it; should it let Heather Lee know he was on to her and placed it around his neck.

David did as Pam suggested, taking the owner’s manual from the glove box. He thumbed through it, and on the middle page were three debit cards. “Pam must be sure I’ll complete my mission and live. I’m holding three million euros in my hand.”

He was sore and tired from his battle with Kirill and the other one. He went to bed, spending a restless night, trying not to sleep on his right side.

He woke up midmorning, feeling the aches and pains from the previous night’s battles. The bruises on his side began to turn slightly yellow from healing. He paid another visit to McDonald’s for breakfast. The conversations he could make out from other patrons were about the two mysterious men found murdered at the container storage lot. Evidence proved there had been a gun battle with several explosions. Niether man had any identification but the weapons found were Russian made.

He returned to the hideout and made a list of the weapons he had at his disposal for tomorrow. Inside his GTI, he looked at the GPS for St. Nicholas Church on Lavrska Street.

“Now, if I were to try and kill the president, I’d want height, cover, and an escape route. I wish I could get a clear view of the church and surroundings.”

Then he thought of what was in the trunk, the drone. He needed to get closer, so he drove, based on the GPS, to the Park of Eternal Glory and parked amongst other cars. He opened the hatch door, placing the drone on the ground.

He started the laptop, establishing a connection with Starlink. He brought the drone to life, lifting it skyward. He flew the drone, looking at the screen to get a bird’s-eye view of St. Nicholas Church with its round blue roof, topped by a gold dome. It flew high above, the electric motors barely audible.

He moved it higher, in a southerly direction, to get an overview of the buildings facing the entrance to the church. Across an unknown street, he saw two potential positions and investigated them closer.

The first site was Our Lady “Joys of Sorrow” Church. It was three stories high with a gray metal flat roof. It had four fire escapes from the third floor down. The second was beside it, Hotel Lavra. It was also three stories high, with a green metal sloping roof. Window encasements protruded from the roof, offering a flat surface. There were several fire escapes going from the top to the ground.

David hovered low above each roof, looking towards the church. Both offered excellent views of the church’s courtyard, each with trees to obscure them from below. 350 and 400 meters were the approximate ranges. That was pretty close for an assassination attempt. 1,000 meters would have been better, but the trees and buildings obscured a shot at that range.

“If I’m choosing, I’d use the hotel roof to fire the shot. The parking lot would offer a quicker escape by car.”

“Now, to plan my escape route. I don’t want city street traffic to hinder me, so the highway would be quicker.”

He raised the drone even higher, pointing south. “I’d take the laneway behind the hotel, follow the curve of the road, enter the Naberezhne Highway, and head north.”