Read 24: Deadline (24 Series) for Free Online

assassination…” Ekel hesitated. “Suvarov will not find a warm welcome waiting for him at home.”
    They had all heard the rumor, and it irritated Bazin that others were discussing it as if it were already fact. He drew himself up and fixed Ekel with a hard gaze. “The prime minister and his friends in the Duma … Those men are politicians, my friend. But Yuri Suvarov is a leader . We follow the orders of the latter, not the former. What does or does not occur when he next sets foot on Russian soil is not your concern. We have been given an order by our commander-in-chief and it will be obeyed. We have been tasked to find and terminate an enemy of the Motherland. Unless that order is countermanded, we will proceed in that intent.” He got to his feet and the rest of the team did the same.
    As his second-in-command, Ziminova issued the next set of orders. “We will proceed to a staging area to pick up weapons and equipment. From there, we will break into teams and commence the operation. You will coordinate directly with our operator here in the consulate via encrypted communication.”
    The three men nodded and walked out, leaving Bazin to stand at the end of the long, high table. He pulled a smartphone from his pocket and began to tap out a text message.
    Ziminova watched him from the doorway. “Sir,” she began. “I know it goes without saying, but we must operate with the utmost care from this point onward. If any of our assets are exposed as we track down Bauer, the fallout could be considerable.”
    “You are afraid to give the world more reasons to hate us?” Bazin sniffed. “We are Russian. That has never mattered to us. But do not be concerned. I am going to call in a local contractor to assist.”
    “Is that wise?”
    He continued to work at the tiny touchpad. “She has worked for us before. I have every confidence.”
    The woman hesitated. “Sir. Ekel made a salient, if clumsy point. President Suvarov wants Bauer dead not for political reasons, but for personal ones. This is about revenge. His motive is no different from the American’s, when he killed Pavel Tokarev.”
    Bazin eyed her. “You have read Bauer’s file.”
    “Just the high points.”
    “And there are so many of those. Even from the incomplete picture we have of this man, one thing is abundantly clear. Jack Bauer is a tenacious, single-minded enemy. Against odds, against reason, Bauer has shown he has no mercy for those he believes have wronged him. That list now has Yuri Suvarov’s name on it. Others who have found themselves there are already dead.” He shook his head. “The man is too dangerous to be allowed to roam free. Even his own masters have conceded that. You were brought up on a farm collective, Galina. Tell me, what did you do with a dog gone too wild to come to heel?”
    Her eyes narrowed. “I put it down.”
    “Just so.” Bazin’s phone beeped as an acknowledgment flashed up on the screen, and he smiled thinly. “Ah. And so we begin.”

 
    03
    Jack ditched the battered Toyota near Eighth Avenue and pulled up the grey hoodie over his head, hunching forward to alter his body language. It would be dark soon, and while nightfall might make it easier for him to get lost among the city’s population, he couldn’t allow himself to drop his guard, not even for a second.
    Fatigue made it hard, though. A deep, heavy weariness had settled in his bones and he could feel it slowing him down. How long had he been pushing himself over the past twenty-four hours? Even with his training, Jack couldn’t go on and on without the effects making themselves known. Four days, they had told him in Delta Force. A fit man of good health with food and water could make it past the seventy-two-hour mark and still keep his wits about him. He wondered how that number changed when you added in variables—such as recovering from being shot less than two hours earlier, or forced on the run.
    But it wasn’t staying awake and on his feet