One Child by Jeff Buick Read Free Book Online Page A

benevolent part was a lie. Alexi Androv was skilled in weapons most people had never even heard of. And he was ruthless. Androv was the man Trey Miller went to when someone had to die.
    "You look wonderful," Androv said. "Life in Paris must be agreeing with you."
    "It is. It does," Maelle said. She smiled, but it was detached. She knew Androv's true nature. Knew it all too well. She had seen too many men die at his hand to ever see him for anything other than what he was. A vicious, psychopathic killer. His presence as one of the team members didn't resonate well with her, but Trey had picked the men for specific reasons.
    Trey sat down in a chair facing the river and the stadium. The sun was setting and thousands of streetlights were blinking on. A shimmering glow settled in over the massive city. After five minutes of small talk, the group ordered dinner and got down to business.
    "Thanks for coming," Trey said. "I have something that I think will interest you."
    "Your jobs always interest me," Besovich said. His beer arrived and he drank half and waved to the server for another one.
    "This is strictly confidential, as always," Trey said, and when they had all nodded, he continued. "I have a client who wants to disgrace the promoter of the upcoming U2 concert."
    "Dimitri Volstov ," Androv said matter-of-factly. The event was big news and Volstov 's name was linked to it as the man who had made it happen.
    "Yes, Volstov . They dislike each other intensely, and my client is incensed that Volstov is a hero to the Russian people for bringing U2 to Moscow. So, we need to be inventive here. This needs to look like the promoter screwed up. That he didn't think about the immense draw the concert would have on the electrical systems. We need to crash the grid - cause the lights to fail just as the concert is starting - but do it in a way that will never be discovered. It has to look like an overload on the system from a lack of planning."
    "I doubt Volstov would take on any project without proper planning," Petr said. "He built Murmansk-Technika from one gas well into Russia's leading energy provider. Volstov is all about planning. He's brilliant and he doesn't make mistakes."
    "I'm sure he makes mistakes," Trey said. "He never lets anyone see them."
    Alexi was looking the calendar on his phone and he shook his head. "The concert is on the 25 th . Today is the 3 rd . That's twenty-two days. Today is pretty much over and we'll have no time to do anything inside the last twenty-four hours. So that means we have less than three weeks. It's impossible."
    "Difficult, but not impossible," Trey said. "And the pay is good."
    "How much?" Besovich asked.
    "Eighty thousand US. Each."
    "What sort of risks are we looking at?" Androv asked.
    "We'll be in the sewer system cutting into the electrical conduits, which means it will be dark, wet and cold. There might be an occasional city worker around. And we need to get in and get out of the sewers without being seen. It's probably best if we rent an apartment or main-floor business from which we can access the underground. We have to be careful that no people come into the space we rent and see the hole. And there will be some level of security around the concert itself. A firm named Details Matter handles the security for the band while they're on tour. They'll have people on the ground in Moscow in advance of the show, but most of the muscle will be local guys hired to stand around in T-shirts and look tough."
    "That's it?" Besovich asked skeptically. "Pay seems pretty good for such an easy gig."
    Trey shook his head. "No such thing as an easy gig. I'm not telling you anything you don't already know. We've both seen the wheels come off and everything go wrong on assignments that looked easy. We need to be ready for anything."
    "What will we be doing?" Androv asked.
    "Petr will review the schematics and identify where we need to splice into the main lines to maximize the damage. Then all of us will