Latvala Royals: Darkest Hours Read online

  Erick and Eliana were there, too, conversing in whispers and pointing at the notes. He noted Eliana’s attire and immediately wondered if this was some sort of mission Sander had left behind for them all to take care of in his absence.

  “What is all this?” he asked as he joined his siblings.

  “We don’t know yet. Mom’s going to explain now that you’re here,” Erick said. Unlike Eliana’s solid black attire, Erick wore jeans and a plain long-sleeved shirt of hunter green.

  “I’ll get straight to the point,” Chey said as she approached the whiteboards. “Because of the attacks on Imatra and the warnings delivered to Somero and Latvala, I’ve decided to launch private investigations into the councilmen, the advisors, and the top members of security in the castle. After the spies we caught here last fall, I don’t want to take any chances that there have been more waiting in the ranks for Russia—or whoever—to try and invade. It’s possible we won’t turn up anything at all. I’m hoping for that outcome, actually. But in light of the recent events, I just don’t think it’s wise to sit here and do nothing.”

  Elias frowned again as he listened. He found it ironic and coincidental that he’d spotted Alvar acting so strange that very day, and now his mother intended to look deeper into the councilmen and advisors. Had she also witnessed something similar to himself, or was it nothing but experience and wariness that had driven her to act?

  What was more, did his father know?

  “I can see investigating the guards and security,” Eliana said. “But the councilmen and advisors? Most of them have been in their positions forever.”

  “Which is the perfect opportunity for any who are compromised to hide under the guise of trust so that we don’t suspect them. None of us suspected anything was amiss with the guards who would have launched an attack here in Kallaster to kill all of you and me as well. They had gone through regular interviews and passed with flying colors, and look what happened there. I just think it’s prudent to make sure that everyone working on the council or as an advisor is there for the right reason,” Chey said.

  “It’s possible you’re on to something, Mom,” Elias said. He stepped forward, pacing along the front of the room while meeting everyone’s eyes in turn. “Earlier today I came across Alvar speaking conspiratorially with two guards, and when I approached, they broke apart in what I can only describe as a guilty manner. I mentioned it to Pop before he left and he gave me permission to look into Alvar further.”

  “You’re kidding,” Erick said. It wasn’t a question.

  “Alvar has a mistress. It may have something to do with that,” Eliana said.

  “That’s what I told Pop, too. It’s probably nothing more nefarious than him skulking around for a tryst so he doesn’t get caught. Still, I’d like to know for sure what he’s up to.” Elias leaned against a table.

  “That’s amazing timing,” Chey said, clearly taken aback at the news.

  “Either way, I think it’s a smart move. Pop is gone right now and all the councilmen and advisors know it. It’s a perfect time for secret meetings and phone calls—if there are going to be any.” The more he thought about it, the more Elias agreed with his mother’s plans.

  “So what do you want us to do?” Erick asked.

  His mother stepped forward with an answer before he could arrange his thoughts. Elias listened closely.

  “Like I told Emily, use your position to your advantage. You can go places other staff members can’t. If you see the councilmen gathering for an unscheduled meeting, walk in on it. Or listen in if you can without them knowing. Track their movements and, like what happened to Elias, if you see something that doesn’t fit in with the regular routine, come up here and leave a note under a name. We can all check in several times a day and be caught up rather than speaking out in the open. As you can see, I’m also keeping track of incidents under each country. Attacks and warnings and whatever else might happen. So that we can recognize a pattern if one emerges.”

  “Excellent idea,” Elias said. He’d already taken note of the two attacks on Imatra. It was an easy way to visualize what was going on in what country.

  “It’s better than sitting around waiting for word from Dad,” Eliana said.

  Elias read between the lines of Eliana’s grumpiness. She’d hoped to go along on the mission and had, for one reason or another, been denied.

  “I’m going to go ahead and see if I can figure out what Alvar is up to. I’ll be checking back several times a day,” Elias said.

  “Here. I had extra keys to this room made for you all so there’s not one key to share between.” Chey handed out small key rings with one key attached.

  Elias accepted his and slid it into his pocket before departing the room.

  There were places to be and people to spy on.

  Chapter 5

  The helicopter landed five miles from the Imatran-Russian border in a field surrounded by trees. Night shrouded the landscape in shadow, but the pale glow of the moon aided the men as they disembarked the chopper and headed toward a pair of dark SUVs parked not far from the landing spot.

  Sander took the driver’s seat this time, preferring to be in control of the vehicle at the outset. Leander joined him on the passenger’s side, along with three guards in the back. Mattias, Jeremiah, and the other two guards took the vehicle behind.

  The terrain was as rough as Sander expected it to be, full of dips and potholes and bowling-ball-sized rocks. He drove slowly, with the headlights off, until they entered a path between the tree line. It was a narrow passage, barely able to accommodate the SUV. Branches and leaves brushed against the paint job, leaving scratches along the sides.

  At the end of the pathway, well before they broke into the open, Sander brought the SUV to a halt and cut the engine.

  The vehicle behind did the same.

  With weapons in hand, Sander led the team from beneath the canopy of trees into the open. Ahead, military-style tents rose above the ground in two rows of three. A lookout tower stood to the right of the encampment, giving anyone inside a bird’s eye view of the terrain between the Imatran and Russian border. How the attackers had gotten past the tower guard was anyone’s guess. It could have been a matter of disguise or distraction.

  Once they reached the tents, Sander gestured for the men to examine each one. He and Leander took the nearest, entering through an open flap.

  The team Aleksi’s military had sent to retrieve their dead had left a mess of any evidence and, after a thorough search of every tent as well as the tower, Sander and his crew found nothing noteworthy. Their search area was limited to what they could see under the glow of the moon; he didn’t want to risk turning on flashlights to alert anyone else who might be nearby.

  “Across the border?” Leander asked. “There’s a half mile gray zone that belongs to no one. Once we cross it, we’ll be in Russia.”

  “Let’s go.” Sander didn’t stop to talk himself out of it. They weren’t going to find any information on Imatran soil.

  He led the way into the waist-high brush, crouched low to make less of a spectacle of himself. Pockets of trees provided better coverage, but always broke away to open areas again.

  Twenty yards past the last tree, Sander brought the team to a halt. He made a gesture with his hand that he wanted the men to fan out and do a search. They were not in Russian territory quite yet.

  Close, though. Very close.

  In stealth mode, he crept through the tall brush, taking care where he placed every footfall. He searched the ground for signs of trespass; spent shells, trash, a scrap of material. Within a twenty foot radius, he found nothing unusual.

  He doubled back on a different trajectory and ran across a small trail that could have been a deer path or one made by men. There could be no denying several beings had passed through. The brush along the trail itself had been smashed flat or was missing altogether. Sander turned to walk the path, knees bent to absorb the shock of each step. He kept his
gun out in front, the muzzle swinging left to right.

  After patrolling perhaps a forty yard area, he pressed forward through the neutral zone and officially into Russia. There was no hard demarcation line but his spatial awareness rarely failed him, and that awareness dictated that he’d traversed the necessary gray area from one country into another. There were no fences or lookout stands or other buildings within the vicinity. They’d checked before departing where the nearest border patrol might be and it was hundreds of miles from the point of attack.

  When people talked about being in the middle of nowhere, this was what they meant. Hinterlands and rough terrain stretched in all directions, the land overgrown and as barren as it came. Except for Imatra’s temporary barracks and the hastily built tower, there were no other signs of life.

  A half mile beyond the border, the trail ended in a large patch of dirt and rock. He found no tire tracks in the earth and no signs that men had pitched tents or built fires.

  If the attackers had come from Russian territory, they hadn’t come in this direction.

  He split the air with a bird cry, sending a message to the others on his team to retreat to their vehicles. No one else had found anything, either, or the night would have been disrupted with a different call.

  The trek back took less time despite his caution. He navigated the tents and entered the tree line at a different spot than he’d exited. The gleam of metal from one of the SUVs drew him toward the rendezvous point. He spotted Mattias, Leander, and two of the guards on approach. The men were surveying the woods, waiting for the others to return.

  “Looks like the attackers came in from a different angle,” Sander said when he was within earshot. He spoke quietly, attention swinging wide to the trees like the others.

  Mattias and Leander nodded in unison, agreeing and also conveying that they’d thought the same.

  Movement near a larger tree trunk proved to be one of the guards returning. A moment later, Jeremiah eased into view from a shadow. The other two guards appeared shortly after. With everyone accounted for, Sander made a gesture to embark the vehicles and return to the clearing. The helicopter would be waiting to fly them back to Thane’s private runway where they would board their jet for Latvala.

  He rounded the front of the SUV and reached for the door handle.

  A bullet slammed into the gleaming black paint less than a foot from Sander’s arm.

  Elias had gotten no farther than the second floor when his phone chimed. He reached into his pocket and answered without looking at the caller ID. “Yes?”

  “Elias, it’s me.”

  He paused in the hall, instantly alert at Inari’s shaky greeting. “Inari, what is it?”

  “I wanted you to be the first to know. A small village in the hinterlands was attacked an hour ago. Out of sixty or so people who live there, only eight survived. Several of the survivors insist that the attackers wore fatigues with a Russian flag embroidered on the arm.”

  “That makes two countries now that have been attacked. It appears we weren’t imagining an escalation. What does your father say?” Elias backtracked through the hall to the stairs. Alvar would have to wait.

  “He’s behind closed doors with his advisors at the moment. I don’t know yet what move he’ll make, if any. But he’s angry.”

  “As he should be. Those were innocent lives. Are you someplace safe?” Elias experienced a mild flash of frustration that he couldn’t fly to Somero and be with Inari as more news came in. But it was paramount that he remain at Kallaster; if the attackers remained true to their modus operandi, Latvala was next in line to be hit.

  “Yes, I’m at the castle. My father ordered all his children into the safe room for the time being as a precaution.”

  “Good, good. Do you have any other details about the attack?”

  “Only that it happened out of the blue and appeared to target the civilians specifically. None of the survivors thus far has been able to put a number on how many attackers there were or where they went after the siege was over. They could still be in Somero for all we know.”

  “Thanks for calling, Inari. Pop has the military here on alert already, but I feel like the threat level should be raised after this. I’ll call you later, all right? I need to make arrangements.”

  “I’ll call back if we learn anything more. Be careful, Elias. I don’t like all this,” Inari said.

  “I will. Stay safe.” He ended the call and put his phone away. Minutes later he was back in the strategy room. Everyone else had already departed, which required him to dig his phone out again to send out a flurry of text messages. While he waited for the others to return, he wrote up a note and stuck it on the board under Somero.

  That made three total attacks. Two on Imatra and one on Somero. Visually speaking, it sure as hell seemed like Latvala was next.

  When his brother, sisters, and mother arrived, Elias wasted no time explaining the hit on Somero.

  “Because I’m convinced Latvala is next, I’m going to have the alert level raised. The citizens of Latvala have not been notified yet of trouble, a fact I intend to rectify right after I tell the liaison to contact our military,” Elias said.

  “Are you sure that’s what Pop would want you to do?” Erick asked. “Once you make that kind of announcement there’s no going back. It could cause panic.”

  “It’s what I feel is the right thing to do under these circumstances. If we don’t say anything at all and people die, and they find out we knew there was a threat to the outlying villages, that could come back against us.” Elias looked from one face to the next, gauging reaction to his decision. Erick seemed doubtful, Eliana and Emily appeared concerned, and his mother looked contemplative.

  “You’re the one making the decisions in his absence, Elias. I think you should do what feels right,” Chey said at length. “If your gut is telling you to make an announcement, then make an announcement.”

  “Well, let’s be realistic,” Eliana added. “News of the attacks on Imatra and Somero is only going to remain under wraps for so long. I’d bet rumors are already making the rounds of staff and other royal employees. It’s a matter of time before the media gets wind. The more I think about it, the more I think Elias is right. Better to warn the people and at least let them try to defend themselves if they come under attack.”

  “While I do that, I think you should all continue with our original plans,” Elias said. “Because I can tell you one thing: If Latvala is attacked, then it’s a very good bet that someone high up in the council or the security detail has been compromised. I doubt whoever is doing the attacking would take these steps if they didn’t have inside help.”

  “We’re on it, Elias,” Erick said. “From times past, I know the most important thing is for us to support each other, so if you need one of us to stand with you while you’re making an announcement, just ask.”

  “That’s not a bad idea. Emily, since she’s next in line to the throne.” Elias made the decision almost without thinking. It made sense in his mind to have the heirs in succession be visible to the public.

  “Remember, if your father doesn’t get back before you do this, the media will demand to know where he is,” Chey said. “Have some kind of answer so you’re not caught off guard.”

  “I will. Be prepared for an early morning announcement, Em,” Elias said. “I’ll go inform the media liaison of our plans and rouse the councilmen.”

  Halfway to the door, his phone chimed with an incoming message. Elias expected it to be Sander.

  It wasn’t.

  He frowned as he scanned the text.

  Latvala is under attack.

  Chapter 6

  Sander hit the ground as a hail of bullets erupted from the trees to their left.

  “Down!” Sander called. He rolled onto his side and sent a barrage of gunfire into the tree line to give his companions time to find cover. Someone—Jeremiah or Leander, he couldn’t be sure—returned the favor, allowing him an op
ening to scramble around to the other side of the SUV.

  “I think the shooters are on only one side,” one of the guards said. “The gunfire is coming from the west.”

  “He’s right,” Mattias replied. “We’re not totally surrounded. Yet.”

  All five guards crowded around Sander, providing a flesh shield between him and the bullets.

  “It won’t be long until they use the cover of the woods to fix that,” another guard added.

  “I hit one of them,” Mattias said somewhere to Sander’s right. “But only one.”

  Pinned down along the side of the SUV, Sander took stock. He saw Jeremiah and Leander beyond the circle of guards, which meant their whole team was alive and accounted for.

  “Any idea how many there are?” Sander asked.

  Another four or five shots pinged off the other side of the SUV. Sander cursed under his breath. It didn’t appear that the gunmen had shot out the tires, but it wouldn’t be long before they did. Escape after that would be all but impossible.

  “I’d guess at least six,” one of the guards said. “Maybe as many as ten.”

  “I agree,” Mattias said.

  “All right. Cover me. I’m going to lob a flash-bang.” Sander reached for the device located in a pocket on his vest.

  “You should let me do that,” Leander said, moving inside the protective circle of guards.

  Sander considered arguing, but only for a second. Leander was quick and accurate and capable. He put the device into Leander’s hand.

  “Be quick,” Sander warned. “Rather than attempt to capture them or get into a bigger gunfight, I want everyone in the SUVs so we can get the hell out of here before reinforcements arrive or they think to shoot at the tires.”

  Better to live and fight another day under these circumstances. He would have preferred to try and take the combatants alive—or at least one of them—for questioning. He didn’t always get what he wanted and everyone’s safety trumped an all-out war.