April 24, 1975

 

Sally Ann was up feeding and bathing Christina at 6:30 AM. She put Christina back in her crib. She called Jake and said, “Christina and I are going out. You’re the babysitter. I need some things from the pharmacy and while I’m out I’ll pick up some groceries, anything you want?”

“Yes. Look for the good sausage brand we liked in St. Cloud.”

“Okay, I’ll try. Make Jack some scrambled eggs and jelly toast.”

“Drive carefully.”

“No one would dare put a scratch on my new car.”

Sally Ann felt at home in Latrobe. The people are nice. It is much smaller than Ottawa or even St. Cloud, but it has all I need and it is only a few hours to Pittsburgh. It was good to get out for a little private time and who wanted their husband trailing along in the cosmetic section, anyway? She knew Jake was still worried about their safety but she could feel herself relaxing more each day. Surely they could hide in a country as big as the United States.

She found a good parking spot just outside the entrance to the pharmacy she liked, picked up a drowsy Christina, and went through the automatic doors.

Yuri was in the cruising car with the driver. They had just entered the small cluster of shops for a quick drive through and then on to the next shopping area when he saw a black Cadillac Eldorado pull into a parking place practically in front of him. He told the driver to move on and park 20 yards away from the Cadillac. Yuri called the other teams he had and ordered them to join him, but to stay in their cars and be prepared to conduct a three-car surveillance of the Eldorado when it left. “I will direct all movements. Discreet is the word.”

Sally Ann came out of the pharmacy and made a quick look around the way Jake had taught her. There was nothing to be seen. She put Christina in her seat and started up the Eldorado for the mile drive to her favorite grocery store. She never noticed the skillful maneuvers of the three cars tracking her. When she left the grocery store pushing a cart with one hand and holding Christina with the other, the three KGB cars began their surveillance ballet. Again she saw nothing. When she turned into the farm driveway, they all kept going past with no pause.

Yuri left one car in position to watch the driveway while the other two cars moved a quarter-mile farther and pulled off on the shoulder. Yuri called the other car to join them and worked out an assault plan.

Sally Ann beeped the car horn to signal Jake they were home and to get some help carrying in the groceries. When she struggled in with Christina and one load, she saw a note on the kitchen counter.

 

“Took Jack to the Exxon station to fill up the wagon. Back in an hour or so. Lunch date for pizza?

Love, Jake”

 

How could you stay mad at a husband like that? Sally thought. Maybe this idea of arranged marriages has some good points. Neither one of us had any choice. I feel fulfilled and very lucky. Getting out from behind the iron curtain is much better than I ever believed. This is what life is about. Without individual freedom, there is no freedom or justice. I’m ashamed of how my parents live a life of privilege while supporting an oppressive regime.

She was cleaning up in the kitchen when she heard a car coming down the loose gravel driveway. Good, Jake and Jack are home. She ran her fingers through her hair while running to the front door. Instead of Jake’s wagon she saw three other cars coming quickly toward the house. The last car blocked the entrance to the driveway. She knew immediately they were KGB and ran to get her 9mm Browning and Christina. Snatching Christina from her crib, she raced to the back door.

Bursting out on the back porch, she surprised two men who were coming around the house. She shot twice at the nearest man and knocked him down. The second man couldn’t get a clear shot at her and was firing blind. Sally Ann stepped out and emptied her magazine of 11 more rounds at the second man, hitting him several times. Slamming another magazine into the butt of the 9mm, she began to think, We may get away if I can just get to the wood line 30 yards from the porch. She took off running hard to the tree line.

Sally Ann had been 200-meter sprinter in college and could still nearly outrun Jake. Another two men came around from the front of the house armed with assault rifles. Both dropped to one knee and began full automatic fire. Sally Ann was almost in the tree line when the first bullets hit her in the back and legs. She went down and rolled over on her stomach to protect Christina and return fire. Her vision was going but not before she hit another pursuer. Everything went black. She never knew Christina was going with her. Neither had escaped the hail of bullets.

Inside, Yuri and two men were searching the house for Kalin and the stolen money. Yuri quickly realized Kalin wasn’t here or else he would have been in the firefight. A quick search of the house and barn revealed nothing of interest to him. He took a picture of the white Ford pickup, then checked Sally Ann’s and Christina’s bodies. He confirmed their deaths and didn’t bother to search any further.

He had two dead men and one with a bad stomach wound. Without hesitating, he held the man’s hand and shot him twice in the head. They could not take care of any severely wounded and none of his men could be taken alive by the local police. He searched the dead for any identification they might have carried against protocol.

Yuri left the dead where they fell and all his team and cars were out of the driveway on the way back to their motel operations center. They had been on the Kalin property for six minutes. The farm was isolated enough that no one responded to the gunfire. Yuri assumed the local people were used to guns being fired for practice and for hunting.

Maybe we were lucky, Yuri thought. If Kalin had been there, we all might have been killed. As it was the woman carrying a baby killed three of my team, the last one after she was nearly dead. She died fighting and trying to protect her child. I’m through with trying to trap Kalin. I’ll leave one car and one person here to watch the driveway for Kalin. The police may come before he returns. No way we can hang around Latrobe any longer.