CHAPTER 56
John studied the man who’d arrived at the house where he and Monica were hiding.
He was tall and thin with a nearly Spartan vigor.
His hatchet-like face was clean-shaven and seamed with wrinkles.
The teeth were abnormally white, the eyebrows crescent, the skin spotted with café-au-lait, as if someone had spilled coffee with milk.
A battered felt hat covered a nearly bald pate, a few tufts of gray fluff sneaking out at the edges.
There were no introductions, but after a knock at the door Monica whispered that he was known as Aleks, top-level SVR, and key to their survival.
“Moscow is not happy,” their visitor said with a thin contained voice, in perfect English, surely for John’s benefit. “This entire endeavor is a fiasco, beyond comprehension, and needs to end.”
“But you got what you wanted,” she said. “The codex has been destroyed.”
“That is the only saving grace to what is otherwise an embarrassment. The Americans are now making official inquiries. People in the Kremlin are wondering what is happening here. How long will it be before Franko himself becomes involved? That is never a good thing. A member of the Swedish royal family is dead.”
“An unfortunate occurrence.”
Aleks’ voice seemed carefully controlled, the face like stone. “Unfortunate? That seems an understatement. Your exploding the house accomplished nothing. The body survived the fire and is now in the possession of the Swedish military.”
News to him. “Lysa was not burned?”
“Not enough to matter. They have her corpse.”
Monica seemed unfazed. “But they have no evidence of anything. She was drowned with no marks, and everyone associated with the operation is dead.”
“I have been instructed to add the two of you to that list of casualties.”
“That would be a grave mistake,” Monica said.
John admired her courage. She was not backing down.
“You and I have worked together a long time,” Aleks said. “You are a competent and aggressive operative. Sometimes reckless. But never stupid. So please, explain yourself.”
John stepped to the window and glanced past the sheers. Four men stood out on the grass beneath the trees. None looked friendly. Aleks had not come alone. Yes, Monica, do explain yourself.
“Princess Lysa has been our asset for over a decade,” she said. “Her husband, that man right there, took the blame for her actions nine years ago so we could continue to use her.”
“And he has been handsomely rewarded for that gallantry.”
“It was time that our association with the princess ended,” she declared.
Aleks shook his head. “That was not your decision to make.”
“I disagree.” He watched as Monica’s face tightened into a determined look he’d seen before.
“I needed to be rid of my wife,” John said.
“Really? Are there not less violent means of accomplishing that?”
“None with such finality.”
Aleks apprised him with a hard stare, then said, “By my count three of our operatives are dead, along with a freelancer that was used to impersonate an old man. Three more outside contractors are likewise dead. I am not sure why any of that was necessary, save for, of course, the personal motivations that seem to be at work here.”
“Are you a hunter?” John asked.
“Not of animals.”
“I am. I quite love it. In the Russian Far East, sandwiched between China and the Pacific Ocean, caribou and wolves roam free. It was once a nearly perfect habitat for Siberian tigers. Amazing creatures. Five hundred pounds. Ten feet long nose-to-tail. With impressive agility. Years ago there was a poacher out there who shot and wounded a tiger, then, foolishly, stole part of that tiger’s recent kill for himself.
A caribou, I think it was. Incredibly, that injured tiger hunted the poacher down, staked out the man’s cabin, then waited for the man to come home.
This was not an impulsive response. The tiger held that idea in his brain for almost forty-eight hours.
When the poacher finally appeared, the tiger killed him, dragged the body into the bush, and ate him. ”
“Sounds like the tiger was out for revenge,” Aleks said.
“In reality, the tiger was just being a tiger. Unfortunately, the tiger was hunted down and shot. To do that hunters had to anticipate what the animal’s next move would be, then get there first. Think about it.
Human beings and tigers hunting for the same prey in the same territory.
There are bound to be conflicts, and if the tiger had not been wounded by the poacher, there would have been no story to tell. ”
“You are the tiger?” Aleks asked.
“In a manner of speaking. You stole my life. For nine years I have done as you asked. Now here we are, hunting for the same thing.”
Aleks motioned at Monica. “I am told that you two are romantically involved.”
She nodded. “I too am tired of chasing shadows and fighting ghosts. I want more from life. I want out. What has occurred here over the past two days was designed to make that happen.”
“Really? This whole thing seems at an end. Except, of course, for the death of the two of you.”
“You are forgetting the story,” John said. “To kill the tiger, the hunters had to anticipate what the next move would be, then get there first.”
“And you are ahead of me?” Aleks asked.
“By leaps and bounds,” Monica said. “First off, your information is flawed. The codex was not destroyed. It was not even inside that van. The Americans made a switch at the national library.”
“And you know this, how?”
“I received a call a little while ago that informed me of the deception. I was also told that the codex was taken secretly to a regional airport where it is about to be flown away.”
“To Prague?” Aleks asked.
“Doubtful. The Americans did not go to all that trouble just to give the book away. My guess? They are going to keep it, along with the defector.” Monica’s lips formed a thin smile.
“Human beings and tigers hunting for the same prey in the same territory. We both hunt for the defector. But I found him. I am assuming his elimination is far more important than my or John Westlake’s errors. ”
The wiry Russian stood silent for a moment before saying, “The princess’ British handler was arrested during the night.”
Monica shrugged. “Thanks to your defector. He pointed them that way. I know that for a fact too.”
“Your source is credible?”
“Beyond reproach. I can tell you where the defector and the codex will be in the next hour. It will be an easy matter to eliminate both at the same time. All I want—”
“Is your freedom.”
“Precisely. Seems a simple trade for such a great service to the motherland.”
Aleks turned toward John. “And you?”
“We are a package deal,” he said. “I am out too, but my businesses are left alone. Everyone gets what they want. Moscow should be thrilled.”
Aleks pinched back the sleeve of his shirt and read his watch. “I will need to make a call.”
“You do that,” Monica said. “But do not take long. What you want will soon be gone, and your opportunity to act will be gone with them.”