Chapter 2
Twelve hours later they arrived at the safe house, a small cottage a few miles outside the small town Inverdun Castle was officially a part of, after an uneventful flight and a lengthy car ride. The house was empty, Agents Brandt and Lei out on last preparations.
After they had dropped their luggage, all but Skye left, too, which suited her just fine. She had spent most of their flight catching up on much needed rest and now took the time to internalize the many details crucial to playing her role convincingly.
While Luther had recruited Benji to help him set up their communications and surveillance equipment, Ethan took Bray to have a look at their target area and store the equipment they would need later but wouldn't be able to bring in inconspicuously during the party.
The museum was still open, so they bought tickets and entered as visitors. They took separate ways through the building, which was already getting prepared for the evening with staff-members setting up tables and decorations. Although they walked slowly, pretending to admire the different artworks, they soon met up in the target room.
Elaine was already surveying the room when Hunt came in, and he noticed that her focused gaze had sought out the three anchor points for their rope rig. He let his eyes wander around the room to make sure there was nobody nearby, then he looked at her. "What do you think?"
"Not much space." Her reply was short, matter of fact.
"Can you do it?" he asked.
"We'll have to."
Ethan wasn't sure if he had heard evasiveness in her voice. He decided it didn't matter.
Meanwhile Agent Bray had located the trapdoor leading into the tunnels. It was a square piece of metal, obviously more modern than the rest of the room, and located along one wall, right underneath the only security camera in the room, so it was quite nicely located in a blind spot. Also it was not only not locked, but also opening sideways so that they could open it without risk of accidentally setting off the alarm.
It was a five and a half foot drop into the tunnel underneath, which was built out of roughly hewn stone. It had a vaulted ceiling and was so narrow the two agents only just managed to stand next to each other.
Ethan dumped his backpack on the floor, switched on a flash-light. While Elaine did the same next to him he closed the hatch above them. "Let's make sure this tunnel goes where it's supposed to go," he announced and started off in the direction where the exit would be according to their map.
Bray followed right behind him, when suddenly light fell onto them from behind, followed by a clang of metal on stone. Both agents turned around sharply, just in time to catch the man jumping down through the hatch in the beams of their flash-lights.
The man was almost immediately joined by a second. They both wore casual clothing, but almost identical outfits, and both agents instantly spotted the almost hidden shoulder holsters under their slightly too large sports jackets.
Elaine reacted first, since she was closer to them, and swung her heavy Maglite at the goon next to her. She first hit the man in the chest, then shoved the thinner end into his stomach. Her opponent took a step back but seemed otherwise unimpressed, and once he got hold of the flash-light, wrung it out of her hands.
Meanwhile Ethan had closed the gap between him and the second man. His adversary had managed to draw his gun in the meantime, but the agent was faster and smashed the hand into the wall before he could take aim. There was a sound of something breaking and the gun clattered to the floor while the man cursed loudly.
Before he could land another punch though, Hunt found himself strangled from behind, a strong forearm around his neck, belonging to a third man who must have just come down behind him. He managed to squeeze in one hand under his attacker's elbow, but the grip was relentless, and since his adversary was taller than him he was in the position of power.
He could already feel his windpipe giving way when he leaned back, using his attacker's grip as leverage to kick the first man in the face, when suddenly the sound of a gunshot echoed through the tunnel and his adversary broke down behind, or rather underneath him. Ethan found himself on the floor, but free, and quickly rolled over, away from his attacker.
A dark blood-stain had started to form on the man's shirt, around where his rib-cage ended, but he was still conscious and trying to get to his feet. But before he had a chance, Hunt had gripped his head with one hand and one shoulder with the other, and moved them against each other in a way that quickly and effectively broke the man's neck. Then he looked around.
Hardly a second had passed. His first adversary still lay on the floor, half against the wall, either dead or unconscious. But on the other side of the tunnel, Agent Bray was caught in a struggle.
Elaine was hanging rather than standing, her body turned towards Ethan, but her head held in a similar strangle-hold as he had just escaped by the man she had first attacked. With his other hand the goon had twisted her left arm somewhere out of sight, while her right arm was stretched out, still grabbing the gun-hand of a fourth attacker.
Hunt realized that the gunshot must have come from there and the bullet that had taken down his opponent had probably been meant for him. The goon was trying to adjust his aim now, but the agent was faster and pushed the gun away with one hand while he rammed the other into the man's face. The back of his head met the wall and with the added resistance Ethan's hand broke his nose into a pulp. When he retracted it, the goon sank to the floor and didn't get up.
With her left hand no longer tied up, Elaine, meanwhile, had managed to first push the last attacker into the low ceiling, then thrown him over her shoulder into the opposite wall. The man made an obviously dazed attempt of getting up, but Bray was already there and crushed his windpipe with a well-aimed foot.
"Are you alright?" Ethan asked and almost earned a fist in his face for it.
The other agent stopped short just in time and her hand sunk to her side. "Yes," she answered shortly, although he could see she was carrying her left arm stiffly, supporting it with her hand in her trouser pocket.
But Ethan let it go for now. Wordlessly he helped her back through the hatch, before he pulled himself up. They closed the trapdoor again, pulling the rug back over the metal surface. Then they left the museum and headed for their safe house.
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
They arrived at the cottage almost simultaneously with the technicians, and Benji gracefully held the door open for everyone. As Elaine passed, he frowned. "What happened to your arm?"
"Just sprained," she answered curtly and hurried on.
"What happened?" Brandt asked from his spot on the couch next to Lei, joining in on the frowning.
"We ran into trouble," Ethan replied and flopped down next to the analyst.
"What kind of trouble?" Luther inquired. There was something almost like threat vibrating in his voice.
"Czechs, four of them," the team leader explained. "They were also looking for the tunnels, and armed. We got into a fight."
"Damn," Brandt muttered.
On the other side of the room Benji meanwhile had persuaded Elaine to let him look at her arm. "That's going to need a splint," he stated and started rummaging in the closet for supplies.
Brandt's frown deepened even more. "Can you still make the exchange?"
Elaine held out her left arm that seemed to be dangling loosely from the elbow joint down. She looked at it with a mixture of annoyance an disgust, then sighed. "No."
"So much for the plan," Luther put in.
Ethan stared at the table without actually seeing it. "We'll change the plan," he stated, but didn't sound convinced, then almost flinched, when Benji cleared the table with one sweeping motion before he set down a bundle of medical supplies.
The technician complimented Bray into a free armchair, then started applying layers of cotton-wool, bandages and fibreglass splint material to her injured arm.
Zhen was watching with interest. "Where did you learn that?"
"I took advanced medical training a while back," the Brit mumbled in reply, focused on his task.
If anyone had been paying attention to her, they could have seen Elaine nodding her approval. Meanwhile Skye only tried to hide her glare, as she emerged from the bedroom.
"What about those Czechs?" Brandt changed the topic. "Are they going to be a problem?"
"They won't." Ethan put stress on the first word. "But if they've been working for anyone, their boss might."
"But we don't know that," Zhen stated.
"Well, I don't think it matters if we don't fix our plan," Luther put in.
"Can you make the exchange?" Brandt asked, turning to Hunt, who shook his head.
"We still need three people on the ground to work the rig."
"I could jump in for you," Luther offered.
"We need you to take care of the cameras," Ethan insisted. "Besides you're taller than me, and I'm taller than Bray, and we're working with limited space as it is. It wouldn't work."
"So you're saying we're screwed anyway," Brandt summed up, but Hunts gaze was somewhere else. "Ethan?"
The team leader was looking at Elaine, then at Skye. "Can you make the exchange?"
"I think so," the Dane replied. She stepped forward and sat down in the last free armchair.
"But we still need the countess," Brandt put in.
Ethan smiled slightly. "Elaine?"
"I would have to wear a dress," Bray replied less than enthusiastic.
"Actually," Zhen chimed in, jumping up, "I saw one earlier that might just fit."
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
Sceptically Elaine regarded first her mirror image, then the fabric Zhen was holding up against her shoulder. "I have to wear that?" she asked.
"It is a nice dress, " Lei put in. "And since I don't exactly look like English royalty, I guess we're all out of options."
"Not my fault," the smaller woman mumbled, but proceeded to peel herself out of her more comfortable usual clothes. Even with Zhen's help it was a lengthy and complicated procedure. Elaine kept cursing mentally, and a few times aloud. She hated having to be helped. Nevertheless she sat down patiently, while the other woman put on the finishing touches.
Half an hour later Zhen regarded her with satisfaction. The dress was made of strong, night-blue fabric with a glossy, shining quality. The top had a high back with short sleeves which only just covered Elaine's shoulders and the violet bruises that had started forming there, with the hint of a collar that ended in a V-shaped décolleté. It had the optic of a wrap-around tunic over the front that ended on the right side of her chest, the seams lined with small, shimmering pearls and a flower embroidered in sequins just over her left hip.
The skirts were made of silky satin, falling down nearly to the floor in several interlacing layers that picked up the wraparound optic, and were dotted with the sparkle of occasional small gemstones stitched in, adding some extra glimmer without making it look too much.
Matching the dress, Zhen had given her a simple, but professional makeup with a solid foundation that darkened her teint a little, blue eye-shade that was slightly lighter than the color of her dress, and a dark but not too intensive wine-red lipstick. Additionally she had painted her fingernails in a fitting shade of blue.
Elaine's hair was sticking out somewhat more, quite literally. Her head was turned into a hedgehog, leaving only a slim portion in the front that ran over her forehead and down the side of her face in a kind of fringe, all glued into position with at least half a bottle of hairspray and other things she had lost track of in the process. Her look was completed by a tight necklace with a small, shiny flower and two short lines of even smaller flowers dangling from her ears.
The dress was nice, and astonishingly comfortable, Bray admitted silently as she regarded herself in the mirror. Then she caught sight of Zhen and shoes she was holding.
"What's wrong?" Lei asked when she was greeted with a grimace.
Elaine nodded at the footwear. It was a pair of black plateau shoes with three broad straps across and a line of obsidian pearls running down the middle."Do I have to?"
"It's the best I could find in your size, I'm afraid," Zhen replied. "Any smaller and you'd be stepping on your seams, and we don't have a shorter dress that fits you."
Bray sighed, but sat back down to let the other agent slip the shoes onto her feet.
"You don't like high shoes?" Zhen asked sympathetically while she fumbled with the clasps.
"I don't like dressing up," Elaine replied. Once the shoes were secured, she stood up and took a moment to get used to her new height. Then she sighed. "Let's get this over with."
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
Everyone's focus was immediately on them as they reentered the living-room. Zhen made a half bow while holding open the door, then announced in a mock-official tone: "I present Harriette Olden, Countess of Tor."
There was a quiet whistle from Benji, who didn't notice the dark look he gained from Skye in return, and Elaine answered it with a deep curtsy. When she looked up again, Brandt was standing in front of her, done up in a tuxedo, his hair slicked back, offering her his arm. "Milady," he said with a half bow and a half hidden smile.
Bray linked her arm with his, and they turned to the door, followed by Luther who was wearing a plain black suit, like a chauffeur or security guard. "Let's get this show rolling."
