Sam rose early the next morning and went for a run through the streets of Smolensk. Traffic was light and the run helped relieve the stress and clear his mind. He'd gone over the plan a thousand times; today, he would see the actual lay of the land and make any alterations needed to ensure their success. As he coasted up to the hotel entrance, he reminded himself, "The only easy day was yesterday."

When Sam entered the lobby, Garrison was waiting for him. "Good morning, Cecilio. You're up early."

Sam replied with a thick Cuban accent, "Good morning, Garrison. Yes, I always try to take a morning run. It prepares you for the day ahead."

"I agree."

"Going out?"

Garrison nodded, "I've been told the coffee house down the street has a good cup of espresso. Would you like to join me?"

"I would, but Elena and I are taking a drive through the countryside today."

"It's a good day for that. Don't miss the Katyn Forest. The history is not good, but the forest itself is beautiful."

Sam nodded thoughtfully, "I'll tell Elena. Enjoy your espresso."

"I hope to see you when you return," Garrison said as he left the hotel and walked down the street to the coffee house. Once he had his cup, Garrison took a seat and perused the local papers. Later, he would visit the local morgue.

Upstairs at the hotel, Sam knocked on Anna's door. When she opened it, he noticed immediately that she had washed the brown rinse out of her hair; she was a blond again. She smiled, "The brown was good for Cheryl but not Elena."

Sam stepped into the room, but the door remained ajar. "Just remember: they may already know Anna by sight, so you should keep your head covered."

Anna reached behind her, grabbed a scarf off the bed, and wrapped it fashionably around her head. "Brings out the brown in my eyes, don't you think?"

Sam smiled, "It does." He then stepped out of the room, "I'll be down in ten. You ready to go?"

"Absolutely."

"Wait for me here." Sam's words were still hanging in the air as he disappeared up the stairs, taking steps two at a time.

G was once again in a familiar position—suspended from the rafters in the hangar only this time his toes barely touched the concrete floor. And the handcuffs had been tightened so that they bit into his wrists. The older man stood in front of him, and when G opened his eyes, the man struck him hard across the face and spoke with undisguised sarcasm, "You're very lucky we found you when we did, Agent Callen. A few more hours, and you'd probably have died in that forest."

"If you're waiting for me to say, 'Thank you,' I have to be honest," G replied, "I'm just not feeling all that grateful." He prepared himself for another blow. It came and then the older man took a step back. He had never lost his composure like this before. Something about Agent Callen infuriated him, and he felt himself losing control. Did Agent Callen want to be killed? If so, he wasn't going to be disappointed, but he—and not Agent Callen—would decide when and how.

The drive to Belarus was uneventful. Sam kept careful track of the time the trip took beginning with their departure from the hotel. When they reached the Belarusian border, they were briefly stopped while a border guard checked their passports.

Anna handed her passport to the guard and began a conversation in Russian, "We expected the crossing to be busier." The guard only nodded, so she continued. "Maybe visitors come over later in the day or at night?"

"Visitors seldom come. The commercial traffic comes early and leaves late."

"Well, I'm glad we missed that," she said as he handed her back her passport.

Sam looked at her as they drove away from the border crossing. "He didn't even say 'Welcome to Belarus' or 'Enjoy your stay.' No wonder they don't get many visitors."

Vitebsk was located in the region known as the Border Zone—which allowed the authorities to stop anyone without cause and was semi-restricted to non-citizens, so Anna drove well within the posted speed limit and conscientiously observed all traffic signs. As they approached the exit for E95, the road that led north to Vitebsk, Sam kept focused on the highway, but as the traffic was light and Anna was driving so conservatively, the exit was easy to spot. Sam noted the exact number of miles from the border to this exit and the time it took to get there.

In another hour and a half they had passed through the city of Vitebsk and were on the smaller road that led to the decommissioned air base. The road started out in relatively good condition, but as they drove further north, the road deteriorated into broken asphalt and potholes. Sam was driving now and he was taking it slow; they could ill afford to break down because they blew a tire or damaged the oil pan.

"According to the information that Eric sent, the airbase should be approximately 300 yards ahead on this road," Sam said as he pulled the Renault off the road and onto what looked to be a small, overgrown dirt path or fire road. He drove another 100 yards—well out of sight of the road behind them—and parked. He turned to Anna as he opened his door, "We walk from here."

"Let's go," she said getting out and stepping in behind Sam as he led the way. Their progress was slow. As they crept forward, Sam kept a watchful eye out for possible booby traps or devices designed to warn of someone approaching. So far, he'd seen nothing. Hetty seemed to have been right when she said that Sergey felt very safe in his location. And then he got a nagging, horrible knot in the pit of his stomach: What if G wasn't here? What if their intel was wrong? What if Hetty had misinterpreted the message, and G was somewhere hundreds of miles away? He stopped so suddenly that Anna almost bumped into him.

"What is it? What's wrong?"

Sam looked at her and for just a split second she saw the confusion in his eyes. "Nothing," he said and moved forward again.

She put her hand on his arm and stopped him. "I worried, too, that we might have got it wrong, that maybe Callen isn't here."

Now Sam didn't bother to hide the desperate fear that gnawed at him, "And if we did get it wrong and he's not here?"

Anna answered with a strength and steadiness that she did not honestly feel, "Then we start again and find him—wherever he is. But I don't think we got it wrong, Sam."

Sam looked at Anna and saw a little of what G saw in her. "We didn't get it wrong," he said with confidence, and then they moved forward until they could get an unrestricted view of the air field and its structures.

Back in Smolensk, Garrison finished his espresso and then visited the local morgue. The coroner was on vacation, so Garrison spoke with the assistant coroner, a young woman who had been working in the morgue for a little over six months. Garrison addressed her quietly and with obvious discomfort, "I have tried reaching Ivan for several months, but without success. If he had family, I would have called them, but he had no one but me. I should have checked on him sooner."

The assistant coroner spoke to Garrison in a comforting tone, "Please, do not blame yourself. It may be that your friend is perfectly well and there is some other reason he has not been in contact with you."

"I've checked the local hospitals, but they have no patients by his name or matching his description." He paused, "I understand this is a strange request, and if you are unable to oblige me, I understand."

"It's not as strange as you might think, and I can oblige you" she smiled. "If your friend is here, then you will be able to grieve, and if he isn't, then there is the possibility that he is fine and will be in contact with you again."

"I appreciate your help very much. You have such a pleasant manner, it is a shame that you do not work with the living instead of the dead."

"Even the dead need compassion," she said with genuine feeling as she ushered Garrison behind the counter and led him into a back room. She turned on the light. Five bodies draped with white body cloths lay in rows on racks along the wall. "These are the unidentified bodies." She and Garrison moved along the rows and at every body, they paused and she gently pulled the cloth back from each and Garrison soberly glanced at every face. When she replaced the cloth over the fifth body, he turned to her.

"Perhaps you are right. There may be another reason Ivan has not returned my calls. None of these men are him, so there is a little hope."

"I trust you will hear from your friend soon," she said as she escorted him to the front door. He thanked her again and she watched him walk away down the street. "So sad," she whispered to herself and then went back to work.

Sam and Anna crept through the forest and approached the air base from the southwest. As they moved to the edge of the forest that bordered the base, Sam motioned for Anna to stop. Just like the layout Eric had provided, Sam and Anna were now approximately 400 yards from the hangar. Two SUVs were parked in front of it and smaller outbuildings were located on either side. The hanger's main door was open and Sam and Anna watched as two men—one older and apparently the leader, Sergey—exited the hangar and got into one of the SUVs. They were followed by two other men. After a few instructions to the men who were obviously staying behind, the SUV pulled out and left the air base, taking the road that Sam and Anna had recently driven. Once their SUV was out of sight and the men had returned to the hangar, Sam and Anna moved further north in order to get a clear line of sight into the interior, and after another thirty minutes or so, Sam and Anna had their view inside. Sam put the scope to his eye and there was G, suspended from the rafters like he had been in the video. He looked a little more beat up, but at least he was still alive.

"Is that Callen?" Anna whispered.

"Yea. We didn't get it wrong." Anna put out her hand for the scope, and Sam handed it to her. She looked through it longer than Sam had, and when she handed it back to him, her hand shook ever so slightly.

"We could get him now, Sam. They're only two of them." Anna was almost pleading.

Sam put the scope away and turned to her. "We could, Anna, but that's not the plan. If we don't do this the right way, they'll just come after him again. You know that, I know that, and G knows that. We're gonna do this one time and we're gonna do this the right way and we're gonna do this tomorrow."

"You're right, Sam, I know, but we're so close and he . . . .," her voice trailed off.

"Anna, he'll survive until tomorrow. I promise." Anna offered a half-hearted smile, and Sam continued. "Let's finish our surveillance and get back. We have to be there when Garrison makes the call."

With that, Sam and Anna turned their attention back to their primary purpose and finished their assessment of the air base and surrounding area, Sam stopping often to check distances and sight lines through his scope. By the time they returned to the Renault, Sam knew exactly where he wanted Garrison and Anna to be tomorrow for the exchange because he had a very good idea of where he would be. It depended now on the phone call, Garrison's power of persuasion, and Sergey's interest in completing this job.