Agent Rising

by Ethan Jones

  “Is the detainee dead?”

  “No, both Volkov and Alexandrova are all right.”

  “Oh, that’s good,” Blokhin said, but Max thought he noticed a hint of disappointment in the SVR official’s voice. “So, what is the bad news?”

  “Agent Khasilik attacked me and Agent Feliks Katin.”

  “What? Why?”

  “I don’t know, but I can come to only one conclusion—”

  “They wanted to free Volkov.”

  “Yes. Now they’re both dead.”

  “Dead … Tell me how it all happened,” Blokhin said in a somber tone.

  Max gave him a brief account of the events, starting with his and Feliks’s arrival at the safehouse in Washington, DC. Blokhin asked a series of clarifying questions, then, when Max was finished, asked, “Have you talked to Captain Kasparova?”

  “Once, just as we were leaving the safehouse. I confirmed we picked up the detainees.”

  “Good. Don’t call her under any circumstances, and also don’t take her calls.”

  Max flinched at the sharp tone of Blokhin’s voice and the strictness of his order. “Do you think the captain is involved in the attempted escape?”

  “No, I wouldn’t make such accusations without absolute proof. However, until we get such proof, or we find out the captain had nothing to do with this, it’s better if you don’t communicate with her.”

  “Does that mean you will inform her?”

  “Yes, I’ll tell her about what happened and ask her to investigate. We’re also going to look into this,” he said more as an afterthought.

  Max nodded and said nothing.

  “Where are you now?”

  “En route to the airport, but I’m stopping at a hotel on the way there.”

  “Which one?”

  “Hampton Inn & Suites in southeast Columbia, Maryland.”

  “Why there?”

  “I didn’t want to stay any closer to Fairland. By now, the police probably have found the Escalade…”

  “Good thinking. I’ll send a backup team from the airport. Three men. One will take the body; the rest will assist you to get the detainees to the airport.”

  Max wasn’t sure what to say. He certainly could use support, but whether he needed it or not, that was another question. Blokhin had given Max no reason to be suspicious. The SVR deputy director had been the one who had handpicked Max for this assignment. Still, Max was ill at ease about giving Blokhin the hotel’s location.

  Blokhin said, “Are you still there?”

  “Yes, I’m here.”

  “Thirty minutes. The team will be at the hotel in thirty minutes. What room is it?”

  Max gave Blokhin the suite number.

  “Good. Wait there, and, like I said, don’t call the captain or anyone else for that matter.”

  “I won’t.”

  “Hold in there. You’ve done a great job so far. With a bit of help, you’ll finish it without a flaw.”

  “I hope so.”

  “You will. I have no doubts you will.”

  Blokhin ended the call, and Max returned to the Ford. When he got in the driver’s seat, Volkov said, “Did you ask for help?”

  Max didn’t reply.

  Volkov said, “It was a bad idea.”

  Max shook his head. “No, considering who’s after you and what we’ve been through, it was the right decision. As much as I hate to admit it, I can’t do this by myself…”

  “No shame in knowing your limitations, but it’s prideful not to accept help.”

  “I have people coming…”

  “I mean not accepting help from me and Ava.”

  “What? Why would you help me, and what makes you think I’ll accept it?”

  “Because we want the same thing.”

  “You want to return to Moscow and get shot in the back of your head?”

  Volkov grinned. “Far from it. I just want to return to Moscow and have a chat with a friend.”

  “What friend?”

  “I can’t tell you right now. All you need to know is that he’s very powerful and can get us both out of this situation.”

  Max shrugged. “All you need to know is that I have this situation covered. At the hotel, you’ll tell me everything, in clear terms. No riddles. Don’t hide behind excuses that it’s not the right time. If you want to convince me, you have to come clean. You’ve got to tell me everything I need to know.”

  Volkov nodded. “Why wait until the hotel?”

  “Because I’ve got to concentrate on this mission and get you safely to the hotel. The police can’t be far behind. Once they find the Escalade, the next logical stop is the rental place. Then, they’ll be looking for a white Ford.”

  Ava said, “We should have stopped someone and taken their car.”

  “No. Then we’d have a new set of problems…”

  Ava shrugged. “The police would have never found the bodies…”

  Max shook his head.

  “Trust me. I’ve done this before.”

  “I’m sure you have. But there’s this little matter of trust…”

  “You’re a difficult man, Max.”

  “No, not really.”

  “I showed you I have no intention of killing you or Feliks.”

  “What if you were trying to win my trust?”

  “What if you were wrong?”

  Max shrugged. “I can live with that.”

  “I hope you can live.”

  Max didn’t like the sound of Ava’s last word but decided against arguing. Instead, he focused on driving and studying every single vehicle in the lanes around them.

  Thankfully, they reached Columbia without running into any police or highway patrols. Max drove through the southeast part of the city, following the Old Columbia Road. They crossed the Patuxent Freeway and made their way to the hotel. Max parked as far away as he could from the door, then scanned the Hampton parking lot. There were about twenty vehicles parked around the hotel and about a dozen or so near the Marriott Hotel on the right. Max wondered if the SVR team had already arrived. Blokhin had said thirty minutes, and the Baltimore Airport was only twenty minutes away. Max smiled. He’d do it in fifteen, ten if needed.

  “We’re here,” he said to Volkov. “I’ll uncuff you now—”

  “We’ll behave,” Ava said.

  Volkov nodded. “We have no intention of escaping.”

  They walked in front of him across the parking lot and through the main doors. At the front desk area, Max showed his ID to the clerk, filled out the required form, and received the key to their suite. Then they walked around the corner and took the stairs to the third floor.

  Max used the magnetic card to open the door and said, “It’s the only room they had.”

  “I like it,” Ava said. “Spacious.”

  Volkov walked to the kitchenette and uncapped a water bottle. He filled a glass for himself and a second for Ava. “Here you go.”

  She drank it in one long swig, then tossed a water bottle to Max, who had finished looking through the blue curtains. He caught it and drank a couple of sips.

  “Now what?” Ava sat at the edge of the king-size bed across from a long dark wooden desk.

  “You have ten minutes before the team arrives.” Max looked at Volkov and gestured toward the couch on the other side of the desk. “You said you’re tired of running and would gladly go back to Moscow. Why?”

  Volkov refilled his glass and sat on the couch. “I’m not glad to go to Moscow, as the outcome is uncertain. But you’re right: I’m tired of running. I’m not sure how much they’ve told you about me…”

  Max remained standing by the window almost in between Ava and Volkov. “Give me what’s relevant for this op…”

  Volkov nodded and sipped his glass. Then he placed it on a corner table by the couch. “You know about my background and my work. I came to the US two years ago, to be with my daughter, who had moved to New York about seven years before that.

&
nbsp; “At first, everything was great. No problems, just enjoying life, being close to the ones I loved.”

  “Then you started to get cozy with the CIA…”

  Volkov grinned. “Cozy … that’s an unusual term. Did I have contacts with the CIA and the FBI? Of course I did. I had contacts even before arriving in America. They did help process my paperwork at record speed. I won’t deny that. It pays to know people. But I’ll strongly deny that I gave any secrets, or anything else for that matter, in return.”

  “So they were just being nice to you?”

  “I guess so. Now, I know they wanted intel in return; no doubt about it. So they paid it forward. But I gave them nothing. I would never sell out my country; not for money, not for citizenship, which isn’t worth much to me.” Volkov shrugged.

  “Citizenship ensures no extradition,” Max said.

  “I have no need for that.”

  “You would, if you betrayed Russia.”

  Volkov waived a dismissive hand. “Like I said, I never did, nor plan to do. But, as you may know, the killings started.”

  “The assassinations of the SVR agents?”

  “Yes, a year after I arrived in New York. If that was my work, why would I wait a year?”

  Max shrugged. “For the right moment. Lying low at first, until people got bored and stopped watching you.”

  “No.” Volkov shook his head. “That wasn’t my work. First, that’s not my style. It looks too much like the KGB.”

  “It does.”

  “Yes, so why would I draw attention to myself, by making it so obvious?”

  “Maybe you were trying to send a message?”

  “Like signing my own death warrant? That’s way too stupid. Second, I wouldn’t leave the bodies lying around. That draws too much attention.”

  Max shrugged. “What if you were going for attention?”

  “I’m not, but once these started to happen, I couldn’t just sit still. I knew this would come back to me.”

  Max frowned. “So what you’re telling me is that you had nothing to do with these assassinations, you’ve never betrayed our homeland, and someone else is trying to frame you?”

  Volkov nodded. “Exactly.”

  “Very convenient.”

  “And true,” Ava said.

  Max thought about his next words. “It will be very difficult to prove the negative; that you were not involved at all…”

  Volkov nodded. “Right. But I’ve put everything together, documents, intel reports, to clear my name.”

  “And that’s why you want to return to Moscow—”

  “Yes, to save my life. The people who want me dead, they won’t stop until they bury me.”

  “But back in Russia you’ll be safe?” Max’s voice took on a doubtful tone.

  Volkov grinned. “I know what you mean. But yes, in Russia, I have connections, people who can protect me, who can do things that can’t be done here.”

  “Okay, say I believe your story. Who is the one framing you?”

  “I still have to confirm a couple of things, but it seems he’s someone I worked with in Berlin, back during the Cold War.”

  “And maybe this person is working with Tupolev?”

  “I think so.” Volkov nodded and reached for his water glass.

  Max glanced at Ava, who gave him a small smile and a reassuring nod. “For all it’s worth, he’s telling the truth.”

  Max tried to make sense of the new developments. The new intelligence made sense but cast too much of a good light on Volkov. Does he really have nothing to do with this situation? That’s a hundred-and-eighty-degree turn, going from traitor to completely innocent and being made a scapegoat?

  Before he could say anything, a sharp knock came at the door.

  Max drew his pistol and cocked it. “Who is it?” he said in English.

  “Friends you’ve been expecting,” a strong man’s voice said in Russian.

  Volkov shook his head. “Don’t open the door.”

  “It’s my backup team.”

  Ava said, “This is going to end badly.”

  Max stepped toward the door. “Maybe for you.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Hampton Inn & Suites

  Columbia, Maryland

  United States of America

  The first agent from the SVR backup team eyed Volkov like a hungry owl would look at a fat rat scurrying through the field. The agent marched toward Volkov, but Max grabbed the agent’s arm. “Hold on. I’ve got him.”

  The agent nodded and stopped, but stared at Volkov.

  The other two men walked around Max. One of them stood next to Ava, while the third headed toward the bathroom.

  Max turned his head toward the third man. “What’s going on?”

  “I need to use the facilities. Is that alright?”

  Max didn’t like the agent’s tone or the look on his bearded face. Max said nothing, and the agent went into the bathroom, locking the door behind.

  Max turned his attention to the first agent, who was dressed in a black suit. He grinned at Ava, then said to Max, “How about we cuff them?”

  “That’s not necessary. We outnumber them, and they’re not going anywhere.”

  “Is that what they told you?” said the second agent, who was wearing a gray sport’s jacket.

  “That’s what they always say,” the black-suited man said.

  Max shrugged. “This time, I believe them. So no need to cuff them.”

  The gray jacket man grinned. “You’re the chief. But if they try to escape…”

  The man in the black suit made a pistol gesture with his hand and pointed it at Volkov. “Bang, bang.” He turned his hand to Ava and repeated the words in a loud throaty voice.

  Max said nothing. “As soon as your friend comes out, we can leave.”

  He stepped closer to the bed. The bathroom door was now to his left.

  The man in the gray jacket walked across the room and got to Ava’s left side. He was now standing by the window, Max’s spot until he had opened the door.

  A couple of moments of tense silence, then Max heard the bathroom door open with a low creak. No flushing? That man must be really disgusting… He looked at the small mirror hanging on the wall across from the bathroom door … and saw the agent coming out holding a pistol in his left hand.

  “Down, down,” Max shouted at Volkov and Ava.

  The agent turned his gun toward Max, but he grabbed the agent’s wrist with the left hand and, at the same time, punched the agent in the head with the right one. The pistol still went off, the bullet whizzing inches from Ava’s head.

  As if awoken by the close call with death, she pounced on the gray jacket man. He had already pulled his pistol, but Ava drove her shoulder into the agent’s midriff, throwing him against the wall. She threw a quick jab at the agent’s jaw, followed by an uppercut. The agent dropped to his side but still held the pistol in his hand.

  Volkov had better luck with the man in the black suit. Max’s warning—or perhaps Volkov’s instincts—had him jumping to his feet before the agent could pull out his weapon. Volkov struck the man in the face, then in the stomach. The man, who was about half Volkov’s age, returned a swinging blow, but he stepped back, and the man caught only air. Volkov threw his knee at the man, knocking the air out of him. The man lowered his head, and Volkov hit him hard with an uppercut, sending him flying against the door.

  Max was still fighting with the agent, trying to wrestle the pistol out of his hands. They collapsed on the floor and exchanged blows. Max was on top of the agent for a couple of moments, but the agent hit him with a hard elbow that caught Max above his right eye. Blood came gushing, blinding him for a moment.

  The agent took advantage of the situation, flipping on top of Max. He tried to throw him off, but he couldn’t. The agent head-butted Max, and he felt blood come out from another cut. Max pushed the agent’s hand away, but he was stronger. He was turning the pistol toward Max’s body. No matt
er how hard he tried, he couldn’t seem to stop the inevitable…

  A gunshot rang out.

  The agent’s hand fell back, as if someone pulled a string. He then dropped to the side, against the bedframe.

  Max drew in a deep breath and looked at Volkov standing over him. The man was holding a pistol in his hand, and it was now pointed at Max.

  He sighed, resigned to his fate. “Make it quick,” he said, expecting those to be his last words.

  “Get up. We’ve got to go,” Volkov replied in a warm tone.

  Max blinked back his surprise. “What? You … you’re not going to shoot me?”

  Volkov smiled and shook his head. “Max, I’d never do that.”

  “But why?” Max shook his head.

  “Max, look, no time to explain now. But … I’m your father.”

  Max couldn’t believe his ears. “What? What did you say?”

  “We should go.” Ava walked away from the window. “The police are here.”

  Volkov offered Max a hand. “Get up.”

  When he was on his feet, he noticed the gray jacket man’s neck was twisted at an unnatural angle. He didn’t seem to be breathing. The man in the black suit wasn’t faring any better. He was bleeding from his mouth and was slumped against the wall by the door.

  Ava went through the agents’ holsters and pockets and collected their weapons, wallets, phones, and keys. “Now we’re good.” She headed toward the door.

  “Those are traceable,” Max said.

  “We’ll disable them,” Ava said.

  “And we’ll gather intel.” Volkov gestured for Max to follow them.

  He hesitated for a moment.

  Volkov said, “Would you rather stay here and explain this to the police?” He waved his hand around the room.

  Max shook his head.

  Volkov said, “Look, Max. The GRU betrayed you. The SVR set you up. You have two options: You can run alone, or you can come with us. And three seconds to decide.”

  Max looked deep into his eyes and saw the same warmth as when they had first met at the safehouse. “Are you really my father?”

  “Yes, and I’ll explain that in the car. If you’re coming with us…”

  Max hesitated for another moment, then nodded.

  Volkov smiled.

  Ava said, “Made the right decision.” She handed Max one of the pistols.