CHAPTER 72
John sat in the car.
The expansive lot was less than a quarter full, and he was concerned.
So many variables were at play. All out of his control.
The only thing that brought him any solace was that the location was surely secure.
Every place had metal detectors, especially public museums. That should minimize the risk of weapons making their way inside.
Hopefully, Aleks’ interests were confined to Monica’s source and not to her.
He hated everything about the spy business.
Loyalties were paper-thin and changed by the second.
He firmly believed that the only reason the Russians had left him alone for the past nine years was visibility.
Being rich came with benefits, one of which was that a lot of people knew who you were.
Moscow had apparently decided that those benefits were not worth challenging.
Just leave well enough alone. All that changed, though, when he and Monica decided to thrust him back into the limelight and onto the SVR’s radar.
A car entered the lot beneath the tall trees, thick with their summer foliage.
It parked closer to the front doors than where he sat.
He heard car doors open, then close, and wondered if this might be Monica’s source.
He glanced back to see Aleks and two of the men who’d been with the Russian earlier out on the island.
He shrank down in the front seat out of sight.
The two men toted backpacks and headed off across the lot, avoiding the main entrance and rounding the building.
Where were they going?
Aleks walked straight for the glass doors and entered the museum.
Stephanie stood before the bank of closed-circuit monitors. Thankfully, the museum’s interior was well covered, and they were able to easily watch as Monica Butler-White passed through the metal detector. Cassiopeia had supplied a detailed description that fit the woman perfectly.
Monica made her way into the center of the museum and seemed to be admiring the Vasa’s intricate seventeenth-century carvings and robust framework.
There were also a variety of exhibits, meticulously arranged, and Monica moved from one to the next, surely assessing the geography, trying to fit in, studying the huge ship and the museum’s upper levels—all visible thanks to the building’s open design.
Not a lot of places to hide. But so many vantage points.
Something on one of the other wall screens caught her attention.
“You see that?” she asked Koger.
“Yeah. We just got a whale in the aquarium,” Koger muttered.
She knew the face of the man walking through the metal detector and collecting his wallet and cell phone. A seasoned SVR operative high up in the command chain. Rarely seen in the field.
“Grigory Vaino,” she said. “Code name Aleks. I’ve dealt with him before.”
“So have I.”
They’d intentionally kept this entire operation to corral Monica and Sandra close, involving no one outside their immediate working circle.
That had been done for a number of reasons, primary among them the fact that this whole thing was off the books, with no official sanction.
Also, they had at least one leak in Koger’s camp.
Were there more? The White House had been informed of Ivan’s defection, but they knew nothing about Sandra or anything else.
Langley was another matter. Koger had told her that inquiries had come and that he’d just ignored them.
Nothing unusual there. The hope was to get Ivan and the codex away safe, and Monica and Sandra in custody, all of which would go a long way toward smoothing over the rules and regs that had been broken. But—
“This just took a new turn,” Koger said.
“I agree. The Russians know we know about Sandra. He’s here for a reason, and it’s not good.”
“So let’s get him too. Just one thing.”
She knew.
He almost certainly had not come alone.
Cotton was up on the second level, staying back from the railings. Koger had just told him that Monica was in the building, on the ground floor, along with another man, whose description was provided.
A Russian SVR big deal, code name Aleks.
“We’ll keep a close watch on them,” Koger said in his ear. “But new plan. We want all three.”
No problem. The good thing? Neither of the two below were armed, as they’d both made it through the metal detector unscathed. And both he and Cassiopeia carried weapons. But this was not his first rodeo.
“Did he come alone?” he asked Koger.
“Unknown. But not likely. Do we need the cavalry?”
“Not yet,” he whispered. “Let’s see if we can keep this party contained. Any sight of our leak?”
“Not yet. But I’m told she’ll make her appearance shortly.”