Chapter 2 The House

The temperature was very frigid, which shocked Hansen. However, he still had to keep on going, so he closed the window and got onto his belly, and crawled under the SUV. A cell phone was removed from the sack and Hansen stuck it in between two pipes. Now, Sam and Ben could track the locations from Third Echelon and do further missions here if needed. As he got out, he crossed the ten foot walk to the door and took out his lock pick. This one was tricky at first, but in just a few seconds opened as though a key had been used.

"Okay, now Sam, please tell me there's no guards here." Hansen asked, and slowly opened the door.

"All it seems to be is guards on the outside, and nothing inside. Just check your corners, and you'll be golden." Fisher said, driving around the perimeter and ready to pick up Ben.

Ben opened the door all the way, and it was dark. He saw a room with a small fireplace on the right, a couch on the left and a T.V. further back. There was also a staircase right by the sofa and a doorway, that was open, the lead to the kitchen. No one seemed to be here, so he crossed the carpeted floor and crab walked up the stairs causing very little sound.

He came to two doors, one was wide open and lead to a full bathroom. Like the kitchen, no one was there, so he put his ear to the other door and heard someone tossing and turning. Hansen slowly opened the door and peeked inside. The man and his prostitute were laying naked on the bed, all with white sheets. He jumped on the naked pair, knocked out the hooker and grabbed the screaming gang leader by the throat. He tossed him off of the bed, and then jumped onto him.

"Damn it. Tell Vlad I'll buy him the best vodka of his life if you let me live!" The target screamed at Hansen and was slapped.

"No. I what I want is information. The drugs you've been getting have found their way into water supplies and into the air. What are you doing with the money?" Hansen asked.

"Aw, come on man! It's money! All the cocaine, slutty women and beer you can dream of!" He yelled.

"No it isn't. I know you've been getting local weapons from S.W.A.T. and hiring foreign mercenaries. Why?" Hansen demanded.

"I see, I see. The local gangs have been getting tougher and we need Vlad's men to take them out." The gangster claimed and was still jerking.

Hansen shoved the gangster to the ground, and called Fisher.

"Hey, this guy isn't talking. Something about Vlad, which I assume is a Russian mercenary contractor. Want me to take him in?" Ben asked Sam.

"Get some more information and kill him." Sam stated, as he continued to drive, and finally confirmed his suspicion. There was a tail.

Hansen picked up the gangster and said, "Where is Vlad?"

The gangster gave him the location and Hansen punched him in the throat, and he fell down to the ground. Hansen shot him in the face, and looked at the hooker. She was beautiful, but Hansen knew he couldn't let his feelings get in the way, and this girl probably had AIDs. A round punched in her the head and Hansen reloaded.

Ben had climbed outside of the window, and went back to the side walk from before. He could see the blood from the fight, but noticed no one was out and about. The shady parts were just as bad, but he had no idea what was going on.

"Sam, no one is here. Anything going on?" Ben asked.

"I've a car of gangsters behind me, and I can see them loading machine guns. Hurry up, before this gets dirty." Sam told Ben, as he took a sharp curve and he drove back around, losing the tail.

Hansen ran now and got back to where he had gone over, and did the process of sticking his knife into the wall and using it for support. He swung his legs over, and got into the trees. A thump was made when he fell, so he sprinted and got back to where Sam had dropped him off, and saw the car speeding.

"I'll slow down, open the passenger door and get in as fast as you can. They popped a shot at me." Fisher stated, and Hansen jumped into car.

"So, how did it go?" Fisher asked, as he sped down the road and the tail followed suit.

"I killed the gangster and his prostitute. The guy surely wasn't going to give me any easy information. Surprised he didn't offer to buy the goggles." Hansen said, as he rolled down his window, "If they shoot, I'm popping them."

Hansen looked out at the tail, and they started shooting. Ben's head slammed back into the seat, and he aimed his pistol and shot a Uzi out of someone's hand. Even with one man down, the fire from behind was just overwhelming and Hansen felt a nine millimeter round graze his elbow.

"Brace." Sam told Hansen, and he pushed down on the brake and the car behind him crashed into the trunk.

Hansen ripped off his goggles and opened up the door and stepped outside, readying his pistol. The driver stepped out too, holding a .44 magnum in his hands. "Hey, what the hell? We just wanna talk!" He exclaimed, but Hansen had shot the man before he had finished and killed everyone else in the car almost instantly. He picked up the .44 magnum and spare ammunition and pit into his sack.

As Ben got back into the car, he heard something hit the floor, like a rock but with a bounce to it. Fisher had hollered about a flash grenade, but Hansen felt the full effect. He slumped over the door, but he drew his pistol and rolled out into the street. He tried to stand up but he tumbled, and his vision started to come back. He could see someone with green goggles, but not Sam. His ears were ringing, but he finally stood up and leaned on the car. "Don't move Ben!" A female voice ordered, and Hansen turned. The figure turned out to be a female, who was wearing denim shorts that were cut off a few inches from her knee and a long sleeved tank top.

"Oh, shit." Hansen heard Fisher exclaimed, as he could hear handcuffs snap.

He walked over the car, but the girl shoved the barrel of a SC3000 and forced him onto his back and cuffed him as well, then kicked him in the side of his chest. As he could hardly breathe, he recognized who it was. Maya Valentina was her name, and with perfect golden skin and blonde hair, she was as beautiful as she was deadly, and this operation had proven it.

"There years and already got Third on me." Sam sarcastically stated as she walked them to the side and into a green jeep.

"Cut it out Fisher. You can run ops, but stealing supplies won't make you liked." Maya countered, and made sure they both were strapped in tight.

"Maya, come on. You, Anna and whoever else knows we're not killing anybody good here." Hansen said, trying to get out of the situation.

"You should have checked in first. That girl you killed was giving the local police information. She was saving lives and risking her own every day. You can only shiver at what would have happened to her." Maya informed them, as she started the jeep and went to the road.

"Tell Anna she should have informed me and that girl could have gotten extracted with Hansen." Fisher said, now wishing he had not told Hansen to kill witnesses, "But hey, I didn't do anything. Ben did the crime." He added.

"Save it Fisher, you're an accomplice. Now Hansen, I can't tell you for sure, but you're status of Splinter Cell is going to get revoked. I expect paper work for you. Sam, your vacation is over for sure. Welcome back to the leagues." Maya said, with a little intensity to make both men upset.

"I'm fifty-three years old and I got some good info. Russian mercenaries and a plot to addict millions of people to an illegal drug. Don't we get any bonus points?" Sam asked.

Valentina was silent at that, and simply sighed and continued driving. Hansen tried to find a way out, but with his hands tied behind him, he couldn't do anything. Sam knew that an escape was fruitless, as he had done this to so many people in his decade of service. He closed his eyes and started to drift off into a sleep.