Reilly hugged the sidewalk adjacent to the traffic circle at Avenue Louise and Chaussée de Charleroi. He made a tight left around a travel office and raced at full speed along a line of high-end stores and a garage, barely avoiding a car exiting.
“Clair! Clair! Out of the way,” he shouted.
Now in sight, two escape routes that he fully expected to be there: the Chaussée de Charleroi passageway to Steigenberger Wiltcher’s. Ahead, forty feet down the street, the back service entrance to the hotel.
If Lenczycki didn’t get Miklos inside, Reilly counted on him coming out one of these two ways. Or at least he hoped so. He took the middle ground, caught his breath, and faced the buildings.
Lenczycki jumped off the loading dock. The Russian was just twenty feet ahead. “Stop!” he shouted.
Miklos ignored the warning. Lenczycki raised his gun, but he had a low percentage shot and faced a big chance of hitting a car or pedestrian. He yelled, “Stop!” again.
Reilly turned to the sound of the voice, which he recognized. It came from the service entrance to his right.
A young couple, oblivious to what was going on, sauntered along the other side of the street. The woman was on the arm of her lover and talking on her cell.
The Russian needed a diversion. He’d create one. And he needed a phone.
Using a passing trolley for cover, he charged across the street.
Lenczycki emerged from the driveway. The Russian ran up to the couple, wacked the man with the butt of his gun, and grabbed the woman. She shrieked.
“No!” Lenczycki shouted. He’d seen this before. In Potsdam, all those years ago. A woman and a man dead because of Andre Miklos. Dead because he hadn’t prevented it.
Lenczycki planted his feet and aimed. He still didn’t have a good shot, but he needed to try.
Where the hell’s Reilly? he wondered as he squeezed the trigger.
His shot went slightly wide, through a bank window.
Suddenly, another shot rang out. This one found its mark. Reilly’s aim was true.
For a moment, the Russian wobbled, then staggered with the woman still in his grip. He dropped his gun and held out his hand for her phone. The woman, in shock, gave it to him.
“Merci,” he said uncharacteristically.
Reilly sped up as Miklos slowed. But the assassin concentrated on his mission. He ended the call she was on and desperately entered the numbers he’d memorized. With one digit left, he looked down. A pool of blood was forming at his feet.
Miklos took in a deep breath.
“No!” Reilly cried out. Time to end this.
Reilly couldn’t have missed at this distance, even without his recent training at the range. He fired just as the killer touched the last number in the sequence. A nine.
The FSB agent rotated 180-degrees from the force of the shot and pitched forward. His skull cracked on the pavement. An ATM outfacing camera recorded his last expression. It wasn’t a smile.
86
ONE HOUR LATER
Brussels Politie took control of the crime scene. A search of Andre Miklos’ pocket produced a Latvian passport under the name Mihails Kajinsh and a phone number that linked him to a fiercely anti-Russian, pro-Riga nationalist group. The other man, Frederik LaPorta, had the same number in his wallet. Both were false identities.
The first officers to arrive held Reilly and Lenczycki and confiscated their weapons. But a call from Washington to NATO Command, which passed over to the chief of Politie, and on to the commander of the 1st Division, got them released. Washington also put a gag on talking about the identities of those killed.
Reilly and Lenczycki walked the half mile back to the hotel. All traffic had been diverted off the major avenues to make room for SWAT teams, city and NATO bomb squads, and oncoming fire trucks, ambulances, and other emergency vehicles. Two blocks short of the hotel they were stopped by four enlisted men from the Belgian Armed Forces brandishing FN FNC M3 standard issue assault rifles. Yellow police tape cordoned off the sidewalk and street.
“Entrée interdite! Vous ne pouvez pas aller plus loin,” ordered the Belgian Armed Forces soldier closest to them.
Reilly got the gist. He produced his hotel ID. It took a conversation with a lieutenant, then a captain, before they were allowed through. Past the military barrier, Reilly and Lenczycki broke into a run. Reilly feared the worst as more emergency vehicles, sirens blaring, passed them.
They darted around abandoned cars and people who had evacuated the area. Three more blocks and they rounded a corner and finally saw the Kensington Diplomat Hotel. It was completely cordoned off, but it stood tall.
Liam Schorel intercepted Reilly.
“The bomb? How—?” Reilly was baffled.
Schorel gestured with his thumb, pointing over his shoulder. A man emerged from the crowd.
“Hello there, Dan! Whatcha been up to?”
Reilly shook his head. Alan Cannon. “You didn’t … ?”
“Hey, it’s not like I disarmed the damn thing. I’m not that crazy. But it’s amazing what a whole roll of aluminum foil from the kitchen wrapped around a potted tree can do to block cell signals. A Faraday cage. My son Jake taught it to me! The pros took over from there.”
The next morning CNN International carried two stories. The anchor reported that overnight, NATO mobilized an unprecedented 12,500 troops into the Baltic nations, Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia, with the largest contingent already on Latvian soil. A release from NATO command explained that the rapid deployment exercise was a routine test of NATO’s capabilities and was not intended as a provocation.
There was no news report about another intervening event. President Alexander Crowe’s phone call to Nikolai Gorshkov. It was short and definitely not sweet. A warning: “Do not test America and NATO resolve over the Balkans. Do not test me.”
It was the latest hand in a dangerous game of political poker. Crowe realized the win might only be temporary. War didn’t break out, but the war of words was not over.
The Kremlin issued a statement of its own. The text rolled across the screen.
The Western Military District of the Russian Federation condemns NATO’s military exercise and its operation within five kilometers of the Russian border. The maneuvers threaten the peace of the region.
Another paragraph followed with surprisingly uncharacteristic contrition.
However, in the interest of good will and to avoid any misinterpretation, troops from the 76th Air Assault Division and the 6th and 20th Guard Armies, currently conducting their own exercises near the NATO operation, though fully within the legal border of the Russian Federation, will be airlifted back to their home bases in the Russian Federation.
Moving to a roundtable discussion, the CNN anchor speculated that NATO’s exercise was designed to dissuade Gorshkov from pursuing any action against Latvia. He also advanced unconfirmed reports that the Latvian president was about to issue executive actions to ease the barriers to citizenship for ethnic Russians. Seen together, the anchor posited that Russia’s withdrawal was a measure of its desire to create peace in the area.
Meanwhile, further up the channel choices, the Fox News anchor concluded his telecast with a commentary.
“To Russia, its Kremlin ministers and President Nikolai Gorshkov, tonight this commentator offers you congratulations. You have responsibly chosen to de-escalate a potentially volatile situation. For that, all fair-minded Americans will take you at your word. You saw risks ahead and you stopped short of a line that history has so often called the Rubicon. Rather than crossing it, you pulled back. Bravo.
“Without a doubt, there comes a point in any conflict, potential or developing, where serious rational thinking becomes a powerful tool in the hands of enlightened leaders. Your awareness of this essential geopolitical fact is abundantly evident. Though you termed it merely an ‘exercise,’ we commend you for recalling your air assault divisions and ground armies from your Baltic borders. So without further questionin
g your motives or expounding on eminently consequential historical footnotes, we simply say, with a spirit of good will, ‘Mr. President, damn smart move.’
“Now a warning to our own president. A show of force is good. But let’s not force a show.”
EPILOGUE
WASHINGTON, DC
CAPITOL HILL
KENNEDY CAUCUS ROOM
SIX WEEKS LATER
“Mr. Reilly, we’ve called you back in consideration of the thwarted attack on your corporation’s hotel in Brussels.”
Senator Moakley Davidson peered at Reilly over his reading glasses. Then he paused to take in the packed hearing room. The mood was definitely different than during the previous sessions. So were the members in attendance.
Flanking Reilly to his left were Alan Cannon and Chris Collins, and Lou Tiano was to his right. Behind Reilly, just over his left shoulder and visible to the C-SPAN camera covering him was an even more formidable member of the Kensington Royal team—Edward Jefferson Shaw.
Beside Shaw were the CEOs and presidents of three other major American hotel corporations. Collectively, they represented more than 225 billion dollars, which, through their own profits and the salaries of their employees, annually contributed to a significant portion of the US tax coffers. That point wasn’t lost on most of the committee members. Neither was the political clout these titans of business could wield.
Yet, despite the turnout, Senator Davidson couldn’t resist grandstanding, especially with a larger television audience. Ever arrogant, ever the bully, he went where instinct directed.
“According to the report I’ve read, there was only one explosive device found at your hotel. One, Mr. Reilly, not two or three or four or five. One was found in a restaurant within the Kensington Diplomat Hotel.”
“That’s correct, Senator,” Reilly replied.
“And it caused no damage. No one was harmed.”
“Two terrorists were killed, sir.”
“Yes, yes. I know that. But not part of any known group. And not in your building.”
Reilly didn’t respond.
“Oh, and this one bomb was found and defused by hotel security.”
“To be accurate, it was discovered by a member of the hotel staff, but bravely defused by the Brussels bomb squad.”
Davidson ignored Reilly’s response. Waving a half-inch file, he continued.
“Other than the death of the two suspected terrorists and descriptions of the bomb, there’s little detail in the intelligence briefing. This committee is not working with much.”
“Quite to the point of my past testimony, Mr. Chairman. Information.”
Davidson glowered at Reilly. “It does include the fact that you were on the scene.”
“Yes, sir. I was.”
“I would like to understand how you were there, Mr. Reilly.”
“Mr. Senator, we had suspected the hotel was surveilled weeks prior. As a result, our team worked with the mayor, Brussels police, and NATO command. Again, for the record, I am vice president of International for Kensington Royal. I spend most of my time on the road and not behind a desk. It was my job to be there. We got lucky this time.”
“And were you, at any time, acting outside of your duties? There is cell phone video. You were seen running in possible pursuit of a suspect. It could be construed that you were armed and chasing one of the men that was subsequently killed.”
“I ran after one man until the police took over.”
In so far as to what Reilly testified, he did not lie. No footage had publicly surfaced of him shooting Miklos. He certainly wouldn’t volunteer his involvement now. CCTV footage had been withheld at the request of the Central Intelligence Agency and NATO. The Latvian passports, viewed as a cover, simply disappeared. As they often do, eyewitness reports presented conflicting versions of the event.
“Is that typical of your duties?”
“No it’s not, Senator. May I ask what your point is?”
Davidson didn’t really have a point to make other than to taunt Reilly and look good to his constituents.
“Mr. Reilly, it’s my job to ask the questions. Yours to answer. But returning to the testimony from your last appearances, you seemed to do very well without the help you requested from this committee. Isn’t that true?”
Low murmuring spread throughout the hearing room.
For Reilly, under oath, this was something he had to answer very carefully.
Was he fishing or did he know? Reilly wondered. A leak somewhere?
“As I said, we got lucky this time. We had the full cooperation of Belgium and NATO authorities and the city government. All foreign nationals. Allies of the United States. All who expect us to effectively and safely run our businesses.”
The chairman realized he wasn’t getting anywhere and his time was nearly up. He leaned into the microphone, but Reilly continued.
“Sir, you are quite correct, this is my third appearance before this committee,” Reilly said, raising his voice for impact. He sensed the camera zooming in. “The third, Mr. Senator, to request this committee’s support. Support that will provide open help from our intelligence services to fight terrorism.”
Open was the operative word.
“Mr. Reilly—”
Reilly spoke right over the arrogant senator.
“There were Americans in the hotel and the restaurant, Mr. Davidson. Americans who could have been killed. The American public is watching this hearing, perhaps many on a computer booking a trip right now. We, the members of the industry represented here today …” The cameras panned the room. Each of the key CEOs and presidents were identified on screen. “We request that you fund the apparatus for America’s intelligence services to work with us. Without it, you, sir, are very clearly telling Americans citizens that you don’t care whether they’re safe when they travel. Is that your intention, Senator Davidson? You don’t care if they’re safe abroad or safe here at home where the threat against our industry is equally real? Is that your intention, Senator Davidson? Because if it is, it is the most shameful lack of judgment I have ever seen.”
The audience erupted in applause. Davidson tried to gavel down the gallery. He couldn’t. Even members of Davidson’s committee nodded approval. Republican and Democrat. The bully’s objections were drowned out until the bully gaveled the hearing to a close and left with his papers.
LONDON
Marnie Babbitt switched off the TV in her London office. She contemplated calling Reilly to congratulate him on his appearance, but reconsidered.
He’s still got doubts, she thought.
She’d made a mistake coming on too fast. Of course it appeared more than coincidental. She’d have to go slower. Take more care. Give him a little encouragement, but not push too hard.
A simple text would suffice. She typed, “You were magnificent,” and hit send.
Reilly’s phone beeped instantly. He read Marnie’s message. It didn’t require an answer, but he had one. “Restaurant or room service?”
Now the bigger question. Whether to send it?
WASHINGTON, DC
TWO WEEKS LATER
Little in terms of hard facts got out, but reporters pushed for critical answers. In the course of discussing Russia’s pullback from the Baltic nations with National Security Advisor Pierce Kimball, the morning MSNBC anchor turned to the issue of NATO’s future and with it a pointed question.
“Sir, right or wrong, NATO nations should fear dissolution? Or at the very least, fracturing?”
Kimball appeared via a satellite hookup from Washington. He gave his response in a measured tone and the fewest possible words.
“The United States remains firmly dedicated to our commitments. The president of the United States remains dedicated to our commitments.”
“Yes, but isolationist voices in the US and in numerous countries in Europe are becoming louder, more brazen,” said the network anchor. “Especially in those countries that see no upside to defending t
he Baltic nations should Russia attack, as was rumored this summer.”
“Those voices are a small chorus and have no political standing.”
“Neither did those who were in favor of Great Britain’s withdrawal from the EU until they did it,” the host countered.
“We’re working with our allies to strengthen NATO,” said Kimball. “That is what Europe requires. That is our avowed mission in Europe. It doesn’t take high-level intelligence to figure that out. Look at the recent exercises near the Russian border. We, and our NATO allies, have added troops and equipment. The Russians have pulled back.”
“But Russia’s nationalistic goal is to have those former Eastern Bloc countries returned to their rule, or at least their dominion,” the host added.
“And that will not happen on this president’s watch.”
“But there will be other presidents,” the MSNBC anchor said, putting a button on the reply. “But while we’re on the subject of intelligence—”
“I’m afraid I really can’t comment if you go down that road,” Kimball replied.
“Fair enough. No secrets. Just a comment. American corporations with holdings abroad, particularly in the hotel industry, have testified before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs. Chairman Moakley Davidson has insisted that corporate America shouldn’t be given access to warnings.”
The host called for video of the heated exchange between Reilly and Davidson.
The sound bite ended with Reilly asking, “Is that your intention, Senator Davidson? Because if it is, it is the most shameful lack of judgment I have ever seen.”
“Sir,” the anchor continued, “in the face of hotel bombings, Davidson’s stand looks patently ridiculous, particularly when he walked out on the last hearing and hasn’t called for a committee vote. So tell me, what is the White House’s position in this debate?”
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