Chapter 15
CHAPTER 15
R onnie sat in the library next to Con, watching him go through the bags. He thumbed through a file, then looked over at her to ask, “Do you speak or read Russian?”
She shook her head. “But I have it on good authority there’s an asset in country who can.” Her father had told her Val and Smith or Malice would be assigned as backup.
“You should get them on the hook. We can take this to them.” He handed her the file. “I could run a program, but it would take forever to scan them in and then translate them.”
She smiled at the way he suggested they take the documents to the asset and not have the asset come there. She picked up her phone and dialed Val’s number.
“Hey. Long time, girl.”
“I need your Russian language skills. Can you come over?”
She watched as Con’s eyes narrowed as he went through the other items in the bag. He didn’t say a word, which gave him A-plus marks in her book.
“I’d love to, but we didn’t get the call. I think Malice and Anya are in London.”
“No problem, I’ll contact him. How’s that husband of yours? I heard he was shot.”
“Stubborn as a mule,” Val drawled, and she heard Smith laugh in the background.
“I’ll see you later. Keep him in line.” She hung up and used a contact number she’d never used before. It was programmed into her phone, and she hit the button.
“Yes,” a deep voice rumbled.
“I don’t know if you remember me or not. We met when you were coming to an island, and I was leaving.”
“I do. What can I do for you?”
“I need help with some Russian text.”
“I can arrange that. My wife will be with me, but she has a clearance now. She’s a native Russian speaker as well. Fury can vouch for her.”
“I’ll call him while you’re on your way. I’ll text you the address.”
“We’ll leave immediately.”
Ronnie hit her earpiece. “Fury, are you online?”
“Unfortunately,” the man drawled.
“Malice is needed here. Is his plus one authorized?”
“She’s been cleared and is authorized up to a point. He’s well aware of what she can and can’t be exposed to.”
“Thanks. We’ll get back to you as soon as we figure out what’s going on with these documents.”
“Make it sooner rather than later. I’m clear.”
“Grump,” she huffed, then moved to see what Con was studying. “What’s that?”
He shook his head. “It looks like a step-by-step plan to do away with all things digital.” He flipped the page. “This …” He looked up from the book. “This has very specific actions. Give me a couple of minutes. Would you go through the other bag while I try to understand this thing?”
“Sure.” She grabbed the other bag and started unloading the undeveloped film. Fifteen in total. A thick binder was next. She thumbed through the pages and pages of negatives. She pulled one out and held it up to the sunshine coming through the window. “Documents of some kind.” She put the binder down and pulled out a key. Definitely a safe deposit box. She put that to the side and withdrew several notebooks. Sitting down, she started to thumb through the first one. “Well, this is interesting.”
Conner’s head popped up. “What?”
“This is his day planner of sorts,” she said, flipping through the pages. “Or maybe a journal. Where he goes, what he does.”
Con left his book and scooted over to her in the wheeled chair. “How far do the dates go on that? Perhaps we can find something about the embassy or why he was meeting with Trueman.”
“This one goes … No, this goes to December of last year. Hold on, there’s another one.” She grabbed the other notebook and flipped to the last page with writing. “It goes to the day before he left London for Australia. I’ll read backward and see if it has anything.”
“Yeah.” Con stood and crossed his arms over his chest. “Eisenberger was the world’s loudest fatalist about losing access to digital entities. Internet, ATMs, banking, comms, everything. The outline I’m reading is a step-by-step diagram of what will happen after an inciting event.”
“He’s probably thought a lot about it. His ideas of what will happen aren’t necessarily true, right?” Ronnie put the planner down and concentrated on what Con was saying. Obviously, he was trying to piece together information and was missing something.
“No.” He walked over to the book and handed it to her. “This is detailed information and statistics that include governmental responses, and it references different publications.” He tilted his computer to her. “Publications that are authentic and obtainable.”
“So, you think this is some kind of plan? Why would he be a part of doing what he decried?”
“I don’t know.” She gave him the book back, and he continued to read it, interspersed with random searches on his computer. She read the journal backward, looking for any kind of clue Eisenberger could have left regarding the trip to Australia and the meeting in Monaco.
The chimes of her doorbell rang, interrupting their conversation. She walked across the room and pushed a panel. It opened, and she took out a forty-five, locked and loaded a round, and walked to the front door.
“I’m telling you, that is seriously hot!” Con shouted after her.
She rolled her eyes but smiled, nonetheless. She checked the monitor of her alarm system before opening the door. “Malice.”
“Yes, and this is Anya.” He put his arm around a tiny blonde woman with big blue eyes.
“I can wait in the car if necessary.” Her Russian accent was very pronounced.
“No, not at all. Fury cleared you.” She opened the door. “Please come in.”
Anya’s mouth dropped open as she entered the home. She said something in Russian, and Malice chuckled. “She wondered if all the czars in Russia had such a beautiful home.”
Anya slapped her hand over her mouth and shook her head. “I’m sorry. You do have a nice home. Sometimes, I speak in Russian when I am surprised.”
“Completely fine. Thank you for the compliment. We’re set up in the library.” She led them across the grand foyer into the library.
“Con, you lazy son of a bitch, how’ve you been?” Malice grabbed Con’s hand and pulled him in for a bone-crushing bear hug.
Con laughed and did the man hug thing, beating on Malice’s back, too. “If I’m lazy, you’re in sloth mode. Glad you’re here. We’ve got a heck of a situation going on.”
“What do you have?” Malice asked, instantly focusing.
“Would you like to have a look around the house?” Ronnie asked Anya because the men were in their own little world.
“Don’t you need to do …” Anya motioned to where Malice and Con were leaning over the book he’d been working on.
“Actually, no.” She shook her head. “That’s not my forte, and as I don’t speak or read Russian, I won’t be of any help.”
Anya looked back toward Malice again. “If you’re sure?”
“Absolutely, they won’t miss us, and it’ll just take a few minutes.” Ronnie led her through the apartment. Her father’s contractors were exacting, and the detail was something to be admired.
“You work for Guardian, yes?” Anya asked as they circled back to the library.
“Part-time,” she admitted.
Anya glanced around her again. “This is from Guardian?”
“No, this is from family money.”
“Ah.” Anya nodded her head. “Now, this makes sense. Guardian is a good employer, but this … this is … wow.”
Ronnie laughed. “I forget how over the top it is sometimes.” She gazed around her gilded home. She saw the historical details her mom had researched, the safety and security measures her father had demanded, and the love that had gone into the rebuilding of her home.
“There you are,” Malice said as he exited the library. “Anya, I’m afraid I’ll need to take you back to the hotel.”
“Ah. Over my clearance.” She turned to Ronnie. “Thank you so much for the tour of your home.”
“I hope you’ll come back after all this is over. I’d love to have you both over for dinner before you go back to the States.”
“That would be wonderful.” She turned to Malice. “I’m going to go shopping while you’re gone.”
Malice threw back his head and laughed as he put his arm over her shoulder. “Babe, when you shop, you look; you don’t buy.”
“Maybe I’ll buy something today.” Anya laughed with him.
Malice waved at Ronnie from the door. “Be back as soon as possible.”
Then Ronnie went to the door after he closed it and locked it before she went into the library. “All right. What’s going on?”
Con looked up from the diagrams on the desk. “Malice found a paragraph describing this device.”
Ronnie frowned and walked over to where he was. “What did it say?”
Con ran his hand through his hair and stared at the diagram. “According to what’s written here, it’s a platform that, when launched, is capable of emitting a massive high-altitude electromagnetic pulse.”
“What would cause that? The pulse, I mean?”
Con lifted his eyes to hers. “An explosion.”
“They’d have to launch a lot of them, then.” Ronnie pointed to his book. “To hit all those cities and areas, right?”
Con drew a deep breath. “Not if it’s nuclear.”