CHAPTER 43
Cotton could see that Ivan was serious.
This man wanted to defect. But the intelligence officer inside him urged caution. Take it slow. Sort it through and be sure you’re not being used or deceived.
“The Czechs are playing the game correctly,” Ivan said. “They wait until they in control, when they have the thing Sweden wants most, then apply maximum pressure. Moscow pleased by that.”
“You mean Franko is pleased?”
“Correct. He encouraged the Czechs. But others do not see it that way. They oppose Franko in all he does. But not in the open. That is fatal.”
He fully understood what that meant.
“Russia has changed,” Ivan said. “I not know it any longer.”
Konstantin Franko had definitely altered the landscape.
And not for the good. It had once again become an aggressive military state with eyes on its neighbors and the consequences be damned.
Repression of political opposition had returned as the norm.
In response the West had imposed crippling economic sanctions but Franko remained unfazed. Any dissent was met with violence.
“The world is no longer what Franko thinks it be. He assumes he can do as he wants and that the army can conquer all. But our forces are weak. Disorganized. Putin and Ukraine showed that. Also still poorly led by men loyal to Franko. The best generals, the smart ones, he killed.”
They remained within the hangar, alone, the cargo plane still being readied. Odd place to be having this conversation, but he thought it as good as any.
“You are a ranking member of Directorate S,” Cotton said. “That’s pretty high up the flagpole. You defecting is not going to be taken lightly by your bosses. They will come after you.”
“No doubt.”
“Do you have a wife? Children?”
Ivan shook his head. “Wife died five years ago. No children or other family for them to hurt. Just me.”
Which made things easier. No question.
But it also made him even more suspicious.
Ivan pointed to his balding scalp. “This brain full of information. You can have it. I care not anymore. It is all pointless. Franko has to go.”
Okay. So he asked, “Explain to me what is happening here in Sweden.”
“That field officer I mentioned, Monica, pitched a plan to S Directorate. The princess for the codex. She and Westlake are close. She said he could deliver the princess and she would, unknowingly, work with us, just like she has for long time. The husband will make that happen. Some of us thought it too much. The risks too many. And all was good as it was. Princess runs in some big circles. Talks to lots of important people. They tell her things. She repeats them to us. You know the game.”
That he did. “And you can learn a lot from someone who likes to talk.”
“No doubt. She has provided good intel to us. Politicians love to brag. Make people think how important they are. Princess a good listener. No one would ever suspect she is foreign asset, especially since she has no idea she is. So they talk. I was told princess a good asset they want to keep. So the operation was denied. But others, higher in command, approved it. So Monica went ahead.”
“Do you know where the princess is being held?”
“I do.”
“Providing that location would go a long way toward establishing your credibility.”
“I know, and once across that line, no going back.”
He told himself to be careful. Defectors nearly always came with “salable stories,” the more exclusive, shocking, or emotional the better.
They also generally had done their homework and knew what the other side most wanted to hear.
Sure, there were ways to confirm any information through cross-examination or by consulting other sources, but those took time.
Most did not worry about small factual mistakes, so long as the big picture drew the right amount of attention.
Here, Ivan knew what the big picture entailed.
But the minutiae were vitally important.
“Getting to princess is but one part of this,” Ivan said. “We have to secure codex too.”
“Why can’t we just let it go to Prague?”
Ivan shook his head. “You not understand. SVR is going to deal with codex. It will never reach that plane out there.”
“And Monica and Westlake?”
Ivan shook his head. “They are working both sides. Playing all angles. They have different plans in mind. For them, this is personal.”
Which was never a good thing. “Who is killing all the assets?”
“Oligarchs. They sent team here to eliminate SVR people. Will make it harder for them to be caught screwing Franko. Monica has been helping them.”
“This is a friggin’ three-ring circus.”
Ivan chuckled. “Our circus has but one.”
“This kind of anarchy is not something often seen within the SVR,” he said.
“I suspect that be the whole idea. Stir it all up so much that no one can be blamed.”
He was having trouble making an accurate assessment of this supposed defector.
His previous dealings with this burly Russian were all dubious.
But why would Ivan be lying? For what? To throw them off guard?
Send them on a folly that led to nowhere?
Possible. But not likely. Still, as someone once told him, life was like a jar of jalapeno peppers.
What you ate from that jar today could burn your ass tomorrow.
So be careful.
“You do know I don’t have the power to grant you anything?”
“But your old boss does.” Ivan pointed to the phone he still held. “Make the call.”
He tapped the screen. Stephanie answered quick and said, “I hope you have good news.”
“I think I hit the jackpot.”