CHAPTER SIXTEEN
General Dimitri Plodic handpicked the five-man Serb Army Special Forces team to infiltrate Macedonia. The Serb Special Forces had been modeled after the Russian SPETSNAZ. Like the American Green Berets and the SEALs, the SPETSNAZ troops were the best and the brightest of the Russian military forces. They were paramilitary forces that could operate in almost any situation, no matter how extreme. All the men he selected were at least bilingual in Serbo-Croatian and Albanian. A couple also knew English. And each had years of combat experience and other qualities Plodic valued: a pathological need for action, fearlessness, and no conscience. The fact that a couple of the men were borderline psychopaths only served Plodic’s purposes.
The Serb Intelligence Agency provided each man with false ID and a fabricated personal history. Plodic told them not to shave, to look more like civilians, like refugees. They were to pass as Bosnian Muslims. The General personally explained the mission to the team’s leader, Captain Mikhail Sokic, making his options clear: Succeed and be national heroes, fail and . . .. He left the alternative to Sokic’s imagination.
“Captain Sokic, you have three weeks to prepare your men,” Plodic said. “Intelligence Service personnel are available to you at any time. Use them! I want you to know everything about the Kumanovo area and about the 82nd Airborne Division – its location in Macedonia, its mission, its weaponry. Everything.”
“Yes, General Plodic. We will do our best,” Sokic barked.
“I hope so, Captain. The President wants this American officer brought to him. My career and yours are on the line.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
The day had been filled with budget meetings, which had strained Bob’s patience more than usual. He thought more than once that, perhaps, he had come to the moment when he should put in his papers. At least that’s what Liz wanted him to do. Retire. He’d thought a lot about changing careers – maybe go into teaching at the university level.
He breezed through the outer office, gave a half-hearted wave to his secretary, and walked into his office. He dropped into his chair and noticed an envelope lying on the middle of the blotter. He noticed the APO return address and Michael’s familiar scrawl. Thank God! A letter, finally. He checked the date. It had been sent just five days earlier. Tearing the end of the envelope open and extracting the single sheet of paper, he walked to a window while standing in a ray of sunshine.
Dear Dad:
This is addressed to you alone because I have to get something off my chest. You can’t imagine how angry and disappointed I am that you would interfere with my assignment and my career. The embarrassment and humiliation you have caused me is unbelievable. While every other company commander has led missions into the hills along the border to sweep them clean of Serb units, I‘ve been kept behind the lines. While other companies do their jobs, mine stays in the headquarters area, safe and sound. And why? Because I have connections. Because my father has pull.
Never in my life would I have expected you to do something like this. I found out that someone at the CIA contacted the Pentagon about me. I must assume it was you.
Butt out, Dad! This is my life. Give me a chance to live it.
The letter was signed “Michael.” No “Love” or “Your son.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Michael got in the front seat of the Mercedes, next to Stefan’s son. Stefan, seated behind the teenager, said, “Captain, this is my wife, Vanja, and my son, Attila.”
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EVIL DEEDS
Mystery / ThrillerEvil Deeds is the first in a 4-book series that follows the Danforth family from the kidnapping of their 2-year-old son in Greece in 1971 to present day. The book (and series) is a roller coaster ride of action and suspense. This book, as with all o...
