Vladivostok, Russia
Peter Krieg marched double time into the security office. Working on their computer consoles punchy from ceaseless activity and no sleep, Jerry and Ben couldn't muster the energy to stand up for their boss.
"Any leads?" asked Peter.
"Accessing all carrier phone records show no calls to Port Charles," said Ben.
"Nothing from our informers," added Jerry. "We are continuing patrols tonight."
"Stop the patrols. Wherever she is, she is staying there in this weather," said Peter. "Get some sleep tonight. I've called for reinforcements. They will be here tomorrow morning. A squad of six people from our special client. Give them access to everything but the medical and research databases. Make sure that there is at least one of our people with them at all times."
"Yes, sir," said Jerry.
"Prepare tranquilizer darts and distribute them to all. I need Robin alive and not harmed in any way," said Peter.
"About Port Charles and-" began Ben.
"I have contracted out that assignment. Do not concern yourselves with it. However, keep monitoring the call records," said Peter. "She will call when she gets desperate enough and then we'll have her."
Crack! RUMBLE!
The porthole filled with light for an eye blink, darkened then another flash of lightning came. Thunder resounded. Robin stirred in the cargo hold that was her hideaway. She pulled the blanket down and stretched her arms upward. Her watch said it was well past midnight but not yet dawn. She covered up again.
"Too cold," she muttered. Under the blankets, she rubbed her forearms up and down. While the hold was not cold enough to see her breath in the air, it was chilly. "Need to warm up. Fast."
She retrieved her backpack and rooted through it before coming out with her knit cap and wool cardigan. The cardigan she placed over her chest under her jacket. The cap slipped neatly over her head.
"There! I feel warm already." She glanced at the door. Her crates were still in their place at the door. Her ears picked up no sounds beyond the creaking of the ship as it gently floated on the rough waters and the howling weather outside.
Suddenly, the ship lurched to the side. Robin grabbed at the top bar of the dune buggy's frame as she was knocked out of her seat. Her fingers barely touched the bar. She fell to the floor hard.
"Ow!" she cried out.
The boat swayed again. Loaded down with heavy mechanical odds and ends, the buggy still moved an inch towards her. Wincing at a twinge of pain in her side, Robin clambered back into the buggy seat. It was safer in the buggy than out of it.
Crack!
Shivering anew, Robin drew the blanket around her midsection and made sure her waist pack was cinched tight. She took a sip from her water bottle.
Crack!
The boat swayed more violently than before. Robin held on to the buggy's frame until the undulations subsided. Anxiety won out over exhaustion. She fretted through the rest of the night.
In the parlor resuming the interview with Mrs. Hartford, Anna gasped and reached for her left side. A faint sense of nausea swept through her. "I need some air. Excuse me, please," said Anna. "Alex, Mac, could you continue with Mrs. Hartford?"
"Something wrong?" asked Alex.
"Just ... felt ... something odd. I'll be right back." Anna left and went out the front door. She leaned against a post on the porch while breathing heavily of the bracing if cold Maine air. She had been feeling off her usual game for several days. Could it be more than stress, she thought. "Oh, god, no. I can't get sick. Not now."
Her phone rang. A face appeared on the display screen. It was Robert.
"Hi, snug in for the night?" asked Robert.
"No. Pursuing a lead," replied Anna.
"At this hour?"
"Are you sleeping?"
"Just about to. I'm knackered," said Robert. "You need your sleep, luv. Go get some, huh."
"I slept a little on the plane over. I'm fine," said Anna. "How are things on your end? Ready for tomorrow?"
"The team is. They're pushing themselves hard. I'm proud and ... and humbled," said Robert. "Felicia's been practicing the course for hours. She can do the thing blindfolded. Heloise has the extraction timed to the minute. She's got three options in case Plan A doesn't pan out. Vincent's getting more and more hyper by the hour."
"Vincent?"
"Nerves I think. He hasn't exactly done this sort of thing in a while. Finding people and assaulting a facility are two different things. I'm trying not to think about what Edgar and Shane are capable of if let loose. I've run Nyssa ragged the last two days but she's keeping up," said Robert. "One more thing. I hadn't realized you hadn't told Holly about Andrew."
"Who's had time? It's only been a few months since I found out myself," said Anna with amusement. "You told her? How much?"
"Less rather than more. Just enough. I told her you'd fill in the blanks."
"Thanks very much."
"She's wants to meet him and I told her about our engagement."
"I see."
"I was thinking that this time 'round I should plan the wedding with help from Maxie and Andrew. You can handle the honeymoon."
"How can you be thinking about that now? With everything going on?"
Robert sighed. "The Hardy boy told me that I needed a positive anchor. Something to think about when I'm sinking into a bad mood."
"Your personal happy place?"
"Yeah. It's both an anchor and something to focus on so I can go forward. Not stop or, worse, regress."
"Wedding planning is it?"
"Indirectly. It's thinking about you. Us," said Robert. "Whatever ... whatever happens about Robin, there's still us, right?"
"I love you, Robert, now and every day after," said Anna. "I want an us more than ever. How's that for positive reinforcement?"
"Every little bit helps."
"LIttle?"
"Well, only so much can be ... expressed over the phone line. I can wait for more substantial therapy when I see you," said Robert. "About the wedding, I was thinking of having it at the Villa. I'll take care of everything. All you have to do is show up."
Anna laughed softly. "Don't you want to hear my terms first?"
"If I must."
"I want a minuscule wedding, indoors, nothing too fancy, please. With our closest family and friends only."
"That's what I was thinking too. I've gone off on big weddings."
"At our age a big bash would be rather ludicrous."
"At our age, we need to pace ourselves. Save our energy and not waste it on the ceremony," corrected Robert. "There will be no trains to St. Tropez or long flights en route to our honeymoon. Agreed?"
"I promise to keep the waiting to a minimum but reserve the right to make whatever arrangements as I see fit," said Anna.
"Am I going to be in trouble?"
"No comment," said Anna. "77-91-09 forever. Goodnight, Robert."
Vladivostok, Russia
Six men stood at casual attention in front of Peter. Their faces were expressionless. Their focus was absolute. Each man were dressed in nondescript suits and black trench coats with darkened spectacles and gray caps. The only sign of identification were the gold outlines of stylized hourglasses that served as a small logo on their jackets' front pockets. It was the logo of the Gem Group.
Peter addressed the first man in the row. "I have briefed my people on working with your team, Mr. Hunter. You have everything you need?"
"Our dogs will need some article of clothing used by the target. Despite the weather, it's likely the target has been moving. Any movement will create a trail of some kind," said Hunter. "The clothing will also help us better gauge the target's proportions."
"Her caretaker, Hilda, will provide you with any personal effects you may desire," said Peter. "Tranquilizer guns are being prepared for you."
"Will that be necessary?" asked Hunter.
"My wife has attempted to escape before. This time she's planned her ... adventure quite thoroughly," explained Peter. "She should be falling ill by this point. It's been nearly forty-eight hours without her medication. Not in her rational mind, she may refuse to cooperate and, perhaps, be violent. The use of tranquilizers is for her safety and yours."
"I see. I understand now."
"What is your initial plan?"
"You have the public institutions well covered such as the airport, hospitals and the ferry. Given the lack of a visa and funds and the local language, your wife will find it difficult to move by conventional means. Therefore, we will begin to search in unconventional places and means," said Hunter.
"Such as?"
"Local transportation such as taxis, cars for hire, buses. There is a very expansive dock area. That will take time to search. Will we have access to that area and maybe some of the ships?"
"Jerry is working on getting access for us," said Peter. "It may take some time to secure the correct permits and, um, cover identities but you'll have them."
"That's fine. We're going to work the street angle first," said Hunter. "You said that she's under medication for a chronic condition. Can you tell me what it is?"
"She's HIV positive and, due to an accident years ago, she experiences delusions where she believes she is someone else. This psychosis is so ingrained that she can be very convincing," said Peter. "We've learned to ignore her ravings."
"Hmm, I should let you know that we've never dealt with an HIV case."
"It's another factor in the use of tranquilizers. With them, we are able to subdue her from a distance. When she's agitated she may bite, kick or scratch and that's not a optimal for the caregiver's safety is it?"
"She bites?"
"My wife is spirited. Her psychosis makes her relentless and motivated. But she's clever, too. Do not underestimate her."
"Sounds like a challenge. We like challenges," said Hunter. "We'll get started, Doctor Sinclair."
Vadsel Castle, Budapest, Hungary
Before dawn, a large van trundled through the castle gates headed for the highway and Vienna. Inside, the extraction and distraction teams were using the time to get to know each other and talk about anything else but the mission. Artfully hidden in recesses under the floor were their mission equipment. The same materials that they had to pretend no knowledge of until they had passed through the border inspection routine. As long as the vehicle wasn't weighed or inspected too closely, they would be all right.
"How did you meet Grant, I mean, Andre?" asked Holly of Heloise.
"Accidentally on my part and, I believe, by design on the part of my future father-in-law Jacques. He asked me to assist a friend opening a small clinic. Said friend was Andre," said Heloise. "I found him curt and bitter yet powerfully attractive. We spent months fighting the attraction."
Holly let out a merry laugh, "I'm sorry for laughing. It's just you're night and day from Andre's first wife."
"That's what he tells me so it must be true," said Heloise. "What happened between them is their business. Her loss is my gain but I do not wish to speak ill of your friend, Holly."
"I'm not blind to her, um, shortcomings but she is a loyal friend in her way," said Holly. She flipped through Heloise's IPhone and the various pictures of the Garnier family. "Your son looks so much like Andre while your daughter is a miniature you."
"The similarities are only on the outside. Sandrine is entirely her father on the inside. She has a craving for adventure that I fear will not be satisfied easily," said Heloise.
"Isn't that a prerequisite for our lifestyle?"
"It is but things have changed. It is a far more dangerous business than before. Then there were certain unspoken rules that everyone followed," Heloise sighed. "Now, everyone in one's family can be a target even the children. What used to be a gentleman's game is now full of ambitious and ruthless people who do not believe rules apply to them. Better that the children are steered towards saner vocations. If they must, they can indulge in risks on weekend expeditions to climb mountains or go sailing. I shall sleep better."
"Safety, security and the chance at a full and happy life that what we all want for our children." Holly pointed at the phone screen. "Who's this handsome fellow with Marcel?"
Heloise leaned forward. "That is Andrew taken two years ago. He's much taller now."
Holly enlarged the picture. "He does favor Robert and Mac. He has the Scorpio eyes."
"And Devane enough to both amuse and irritate Robert to no end when he was younger," said Heloise. "He hero worships his real father."
"Real father?" asked Holly perplexed.
"I'm sorry. It is a habit I must change. You shall have to ask Anna for the full story."
"That's what everyone tells me." Holly paused at a candid picture of Robert, Andre, Jacques and Andrew. "Is Andrew the reason why Robert disappeared for so long letting us all believe he was dead?"
Heloise took a moment to respond. "His reasons were sound for that time and circumstance. It was not an easy period for him not for a minute. I would have to say that his decision was the correct one despite the costs being so high. Fortunately, things have turned out better than could be expected."
"I have got to get the entire story out of Anna. Any ideas how I can do that?"
"My sole suggestion would be to make Andrew an ally. He's her weak spot."
Holly giggled. "I'll keep that in mind."
Robert shot a look at Andre as he double-checked the operation packs they would need for the coming mission. Methodically, all the items were laid out on the table and then individually checked off as he packed them in. But it wasn't Andre's packing that was arousing Robert's curiosity. It was Andre's new look - nearly bald head, clean shaven chin and brown contact lenses.
"Why the makeover, mate?" asked Robert.
"I thought it was obvious why."
Robert shook his head. "Not to me."
"I thought Robin would have vivid memories of Grant Putnam. I'd hate to find her only for her to see me, run in the opposite direction or shoot me on sight."
"That's right! You left just before Robin came to town. You do look too much like Putnam, especially the eyes," said Robert. "Thank you for thinking ahead."
"The less chances we take, the better." Andre looked out the window to the sheltered courtyard where the inside team was practicing landing options. "I disagree with such a large team, Robert. Vincent and I can handle it."
"Your gentlemanly instincts getting the best of you?"
Andre crossed his arms in front of his chest. His now brown eyes glinted with steely resolve. "You've given me carte blanche once inside. I'm not going to think twice about any decision. Scarecrow rules apply, Robert, starting right now. You understand what I'm saying?"
"I see you've decided. I understand," said Robert. "As much as I want to get everyone out, that may not be an option. I trust you to make the call, whatever it is. No second guessing from me."
"Mission objectives before personnel," said Andre.
"Are you absolutely sure about this? This is a point of no return for both of us."
"Jacques let the Scarecrow die years ago. I didn't agree. Maybe if I had been more assertive and didn't follow his directive, he would still be alive," said Andre. "We need someone to do the really dirty work and serve as a potent counterstrike option. We need the Scarecrow. This time I'm back to stay."
"What does Heloise say?"
"It was her suggestion. The old way is the best way to protect our kids. I agreed with her." Andre held a hand out to Robert. "The Scarecrow needs an Abelard as a front man. You were Jacques' choice you know."
"I didn't know but I'm honored." The two men shook hands.
"You're going to have a really big target on you when the news leaks that the Scarecrow's come out again."
"Jacques always handled it like a duck letting water slide off its back. No effort at all. I'll do my best," said Robert. "Besides, I've handed off a lot to Anna. I'll watch your back. No worries."
Andre grinned. "Our ladies are exceptional, aren't they?"
"That they are. They're the reason we can do what we need to," said Robert. He picked up a micro Uzi and checked that the safety was on. "We all agree on our true primary mission objective - cripple the Foundation."
"And we both stay behind and cut the head off any way we can," finished Andre.