Blizzard

Prologue

Prologue:

Chicago, 5:43 pm

A huge city, full of people, bustle and cars. Hiding here, blending in with the crowd, is not a difficult thing, especially if there is a goal and a reason for it.

The view from the window of a thirty-seven-story building filled with people, elevators, and offices is the most excellent for spying on a person. This panoramic window, made of durable glass, and the wind blowing slowly and coolly into the face of the observer on the eighteenth floor of the building, is not an obstacle to him, and to surveillance in general.

The person who is being monitored does not seem to have returned home yet, because the light in the window of the apartment that can be seen in the house located opposite the building from which the surveillance is being carried out is not on, there is no movement inside. Most likely this is because it is already evening, but the person living in this apartment has not returned from work. During these days of surveillance, the observer noticed that the target returns home at approximately 18:30, after work, the rest of the time is occupied by various things, from cooking food to watching TV.

But there was a nuance, the target had a relative who mainly interfered with the progress of the mission, and during all six days of observation, he did not leave the target anywhere for a long time. The person, who is a relative of the target, is a student at the local university, which is why he often returns home earlier than the target, which interferes with the progress of the operation.

Everything is ready except finding the target alone.

The man stood and watched from the window what was happening on the street. All the traffic and people going from one part to another. Everywhere people are fussing and rushing somewhere. This is the life of a metropolis.

"This is Davos, I'm monitoring the target's apartment, her sister is not in sight, do you copy?" the man muttered into the walkie-talkie. This time, there was one strange thing. The target's sister was not in sight. Usually she was visible at this time, but now she is not. If it is confirmed that she will not be in the building today, at least for some time, then the operation will take place today.

"Roger that, report everything you see, the squad is ready at any moment, out" a stern male voice sounded in the walkie-talkie. The man reached back for the radio. "Understood" he muttered over the communication channel.

Indeed, this time there was no sister, which could really mean the supposed success of the operation. The soldiers in his squad had been preparing for this for a couple of months, now all that was left was observation and the actual execution of the operation.

The man standing in the building was a long-time military man, a former US Marine, an excellent intelligence officer who had gone through more than one campaign, and operations that were given from above. The current operation meant something completely different, not the murder of some terrorist or drug lord, but the kidnapping of a person who is a very important person for the authorities and the goals of the organization.

He understood that there was nothing complicated here, because his squad had carried out other, more complex operations, but the current target must be kidnapped perfectly, without a single trace or problem. For this purpose, such surveillance was carried out, and the soldiers prepared for so long. Everything must be perfect.

The man turned around and walked away from the window, moving to a small tabletop against the wall to grab a bottle of water. The apartment in which the man was located was a small room without renovation, with one chair, a table, a small kitchen, a toilet and scattered junk in the corner of the room, including the equipment of a soldier observing a target.