by Ethan Jones
When Volkov was finished, Max looked in the rearview mirror and asked Volkov, “Will the ghost find Zlobin?”
“If he’s still alive, they’ll find him.”
“Do you think he’s alive?”
“Considering the evidence, I’m about seventy percent certain Zlobin is alive. But we still don’t have anything tying him to Tupolev and to his master, whoever that was.”
“Once we find Zlobin, it should be easy to establish the connection,” Ava said in a voice full of conviction.
Volkov shook his head slowly. “I wouldn’t be so fast. The man at the top level who’s pulling the strings would have used a number of expendable envoys. No one runs such an elaborate operation without having such measures in place. When we find Zlobin, the work isn’t over; it has just started.” He handed Max one of the burner phones. “Your turn.”
He sighed as he took the phone. He dreaded the call, not only because he’d have to talk to his loathed boss, Yezhov, but also because Max’s preference was to deal with him in person. That opportunity was unavailable, at least for the moment, and it was necessary to prepare the terrain for their meeting. So Max nodded reluctantly and dialed his boss’s direct office line.
The phone rang four times, before Yezhov answered. “Who is this?” he said in his trademark gruff and impatient voice.
“This is Maximillian Thornichinovich,” Max said in as firm a voice as he could.
“Thornichinovich … You have the guts to call me after all you’ve done?”
Max shrugged. “Sir, I’m not going to argue with you over the phone. What is done, is done. But there were very good reasons—”
“What reasons? What good reasons are there to kill your own team members and to protect a traitor? Do you still have him?”
Max snorted. “One question at a time, shall we? The reasons are clear: They tried to kill me and Volkov. I had to protect him and my mission and—”
“Your mission was not to—”
“Do you mind if I finish?”
“I do mind, if you’re telling me lies…”
“I will send you evidence and testimonies that confirm my words. There are police reports, all over the United States, about the shootings—”
“Shootings that you started, to assist in the traitor’s escape.”
Max sighed. “How about you look at the evidence, before jumping to conclusions?”
“Are you telling me how to do my job, Agent Thornichinovich?”
“No, sir, absolutely not. But I’d like you to take a moment to review the files I’ll be sending you. Then, we can meet, and you can ask all the questions that you want…”
“Do you know what will happen to you as soon as you step foot into Russia?”
Max stopped himself from laughing, but a smile curved the right side of his lips. “Yes, and I’d rather not go to prison while this case is under investigation.”
“You know that doesn’t depend on me…”
“Right, but if you have my back—”
“I can’t have your back, after everything you’ve done, and all the people you’ve killed.”
“Like I said, please consider the evidence before you make up your mind. Would you?”
A moment of tense hesitation, then Yezhov said, “Send everything you have. Now, do you have the traitor?”
“Yes, he is in my custody.”
Max glanced over his shoulder.
Volkov gave him a sideways glance and muttered the word “custody” with an entertained expression on his face.
“Where are you?”
Max said, “Does it matter? Will you send a team to pick me up?” He wanted to add that if he did, they’d meet the same end as the SVR team in Maryland. But Max felt he was making progress with Yezhov and didn’t want to risk everything.
Yezhov didn’t reply right away. He drew a deep breath, then said, “I want to know he will not escape…”
“He will not escape, and the authorities will not find us. When I send the files, there will be something there about Volkov and the false claims that he was a traitor. Once you read them, it will change your mind.”
“Like it changed yours?”
“No, not quite. You will understand why I did what I had to do. Volkov isn’t a traitor. If anything, he’s a patriot.”
Volkov offered Max a small grin, but it was clear he was pleased with his son’s words.
“It’s not up to you to make that decision.”
“Clearly, but it will explain my actions.”
“Okay. When are you sending the files?”
“Right away. You have until tomorrow at this time to make up your mind.”
“Twenty-four hours may not be sufficient…”
“That’s all you get. You have the resources to analyze everything.” Max’s voice rang firm and with conviction. He was surprised at himself. Only a short time ago, he would have barely answered back to Yezhov. Now, he was giving him orders.
Tense silence followed for a long moment, and Max wondered if he had overplayed his hand.
Finally, Yezhov said, “Either way, I’ll call you by the deadline. Will this number be good?”
You wish. “No, I’ll call you. Now, look for the email.”
Max ended the call and let out a sigh of relief.
“You’re a natural at this.” Ava tapped Max on the shoulder.
Volkov said, “You did well. Yezhov will make the right decision.”
“I hope so. It would be nice not to have to fight everyone, for a change.”
“We’ll have our hands full with the captain and the director…” Volkov said.
“Yes, and the captain is next.” Max looked through the windshield at the back of a truck carrying logs. He accelerated, passed the truck, and returned to his lane.
They drove in silence for the next two minutes, then Max dialed Captain Kasparova’s number. The last time he had talked to her was shortly after they’d left the safehouse in Washington, DC, after they had loaded Ava and Volkov in the black Escalade. It had only been a few days, but it felt like ages.
The captain responded right after the first call. When Max identified himself, Captain Kasparova said, “I don’t think I should talk to you, Agent Thornichinovich. Not until you’ve come in, and we’ve clarified your involvement in this affair…”
“Captain, that’s what I’m trying to do, and that’s why I called you. I want to clarify my position, but I don’t want to do that from behind bars…”
“You’ve killed GRU agents—”
“In self-defense. Let me explain, would you?”
“Go ahead.”
Max gave her a detailed account of what had taken place. He told her about the attack en route to the airport, and how Feliks had lost his life. Then Max briefed the captain on how the SVR operatives had attempted to eliminate him and the detainees at the Hampton Inn & Suites in Maryland. Max stressed more than once the fact that Deputy Director Blokhin was the only one who knew about Max’s location. He concluded that there were only two possibilities: Either the SVR agents had operated on their own initiative, or worse, they were following Blokhin’s orders.
Captain Kasparova listened without many interruptions, apart from a couple of times, when she sought more information about the attack at the hotel. She wanted to confirm, “beyond any doubt,” that no one else was aware of Max’s whereabouts. “I only talked to Blokhin,” Max said. “He asked me specifically if I had informed you, and I told him that I hadn’t talked to you. The deputy director asked me, no, he demanded that I shouldn’t call you under any circumstances, and that I also shouldn’t take your calls.”
Volkov and Ava had huddled closer to the phone. Max had thought about putting the captain on speakerphone, but she might be more reluctant to speak if she knew Max was not the only one listening.
Max continued, “So, technically, I’m disobeying his order.”
“Have you talked to him since the hotel … incident?”
“Yes.”
“And what did he say?”
“He denied having anything to do with it, justifying it as some kind of a mistake … Then, he threatened to kill me if I disobeyed his order to bring the detainees to the airport in Baltimore.”
“Wow, he actually said that?”
“He did. He let me know in no uncertain terms that I’d be punished, eliminated.”
A long moment of silence followed. Max could hear the captain’s mental gears at work. Then she said, “I don’t know what to say … I’ve heard one side of the story, and everything you’ve said makes sense.”
“Did you know about what Blokhin was planning?”
“No, of course not. I had no idea.”
Max nodded. The captain sounded genuine in her reply, but he wasn’t about to decide on her innocence based only on those words. He asked, “Is this something he would do?”
“If you mean is Blokhin capable, the answer is ‘yes.’ Everyone is capable of causing great amounts of evil and inflicting immense pain. Although the question is, did Blokhin give the kill order?”
“What do you think?” Max glanced at Volkov. It was the question he had requested that Max ask the captain, the question that would resolve at least a part of the Solomon’s dilemma.
“At this point, I don’t know. I’ll have to see the evidence, talk to Blokhin, hear what he has to say. I can’t pass judgment on the spot.”
Volkov nodded and a small smile appeared on his face. It was the answer he had expected, since he had always suspected Blokhin was the one trying to kill them.
Max returned Volkov’s nod. “All right, Captain. I will send you everything I’ve collected. I have the eyewitness testimony of the detainees, who observed everything. I also have police reports from the scene of the incident and information about someone trying to frame Volkov, making him appear as a traitor, when he’s nothing like that.”
“What? Who’s trying to do that?”
“I’d rather not discuss that on the phone, but I’ll send you all I have.”
“Good, I’ll review everything carefully. How long do I have?”
“Twenty-four hours.”
“That’d be more than sufficient, Thornichinovich. Thanks for contacting me and trusting me with this information.” She hesitated for a moment, then said, “And don’t do anything rash…”
“I won’t.”
He ended the call without another word, then looked at Volkov. “What do you think?”
“She said all the right things.”
“But you’re not convinced.”
Ava said, “He’s not easily convinced. But as expected, she didn’t blame Blokhin.”
“Or you,” Volkov said. “And she didn’t rush to conclusions … Still, she might be in this along with Blokhin, and she’s trying to buy some good will…”
“You mean save her life?” Max said.
“Yes, that. Regardless of what she says, she’s not in the clear. But we’ll see what Blokhin says. Then, we’ll have a better idea.”
“But we’re not calling him, right?”
Volkov shook his head. “No, we’ll deal with him in person. He threatened to take your life. We’ll see if he’s really man enough to follow through with his threats.”
Chapter Twenty-five
Moscow, Russia
The Next Day
SVR Deputy Director Blokhin had never been a patient man. He hated waiting, whether it was in line for a cup of coffee, at his favorite steakhouse, or for a meeting to begin or to end. So he was visibly frustrated when he got out of Mikado, the Japanese restaurant on Zlatoustinskiy Bol’shoy, and didn’t see either of his two guards waiting for him. The black Mercedes-Benz was parked about a dozen or so feet to the left, in front of a three-story yellow building, but there was no one in the driver’s seat. Where did they go? Did something happen?
He remained on the stairs, just outside the restaurant’s entrance. His hand almost instinctively went to the pistol on his waistband. He unbuttoned his black felt coat as he looked around. He saw nothing suspicious, but he couldn’t relax.
The phone in his inside pocket buzzed with the arrival of a call. He retrieved it and glanced at the screen. It was his driver. “Where are you?”
“We … we got a flat tire,” he replied in between heavy breathing.
“Coming right away.” He returned the phone to his pocket and turned toward the Mercedes. He had only taken three steps on the sidewalk, when a slender silhouette stepped from around the corner of a back alley leading to the rear of another restaurant. Blokhin was able to turn only halfway toward the black-clad woman, just as she jammed a pistol into his left side. “Don’t move; don’t make a sound.”
Blokhin nodded slowly and remained perfectly still and calm. He had been in numerous situations where a gun muzzle had been pressed against his forehead or his temple. He was still here; he would be able to work something out. He always had. “What do you want?” he asked the woman in a low, neutral voice.
“This way.” She disarmed Blokhin and shoved him through the back alley toward the black, wrought-iron gate.
He noticed the gate was slightly open. Further in the back, about twenty yards away, he noticed another black silhouette. It was tall and thicker. A man. The woman’s accomplice.
Blokhin slowed his feet and didn’t look around. The pair acted like professionals. They would have overwhelmed his guards, perhaps even dispatched them. He shook his head slowly. No, I don’t think they want to kill me. The woman would have done so, if that was their intention. If they don’t want to kill me, what is their goal? “What do you want?” he asked again.
“I want you to be quiet and walk faster.” The woman kept the pistol thrust into his back.
They crossed the distance separating them from the silhouette, who still had his back toward them. Blokhin’s gray eyes went to the side. His two guards were sitting handcuffed and gagged further back, near a small shed. One of them was bleeding from the left side of his face. The other one had a blackened eye, and his face was twisted in pain. The silhouetted man turned around, and Blokhin recognized him.
It was FSB Operative Thornichinovich.
Blokhin said, “You … How dare you take me at gunpoint, as if I were a common criminal?”
“Shhhhh. Keep it down, or she will shoot you.” Max nodded at Ava. “Or I will shoot you.” He held his pistol down and next to his body. “Blokhin. I’m giving you the courtesy of an opportunity to explain yourself, something that you denied to me.”
All the color left Blokhin’s rosy face. He felt shivers going through his body, recognizing this situation was more severe than he had first read it. He tried to calm himself with the thought that they still wanted to talk. Perhaps I can find a way out of this situation.
Blokhin hesitated for a moment, then said, “Look, a lot of things happened since you were given your assignment. There were many variables … information coming in, which I … we couldn’t assess right away … or inform you on what was going on…”
Max stepped closer to Blokhin. “I’m asking you now, Blokhin. What was going on?”
He didn’t reply right away, thinking and rethinking his words, knowing that at this point, one single misstep could mean his death. “The situation evolved after you were dispatched to bring in Volkov. The captain … Captain Kasparova, if you remember her … she insisted that we send in a redundancy team, in case something went wrong. I asked … asked her for specifics, but she had nothing concrete. ‘Operating more on a hunch,’ as she’d like to say. Little did I know that she was preparing an ambush…”
“Really? So you’re telling me that this was all Captain Kasparova’s fault?”
“No, not all, I have my blame as well. I should have learned about her tricks and informed you sooner…”
“Her tricks … If I remember correctly, when I called you from Maryland, you threatened to kill me. You said that if I disobeyed your order—which was to bring Volkov alive straigh
t to the airport as per my original assignment—I’d be punished in the most severe way. Now, do you deny saying that?” Max stood inches away from Blokhin’s face and pointed the pistol to his chest.
“No, I did say that, but you know only half the truth…”
“What is the other truth?” Ava said.
Blokhin seemed to struggle for an answer for a brief moment. “I … those were my orders, the captain’s orders—”
“You outrank her. How come you’re taking orders from her?” Max said.
Blokhin shrugged and brushed back his charcoal hair. “Things have changed, at least for this operation. The captain was, still is, in charge. I … I just—”
“You just followed orders…”
“Yes, but I wouldn’t have killed you. I would have never done that.”
“Even though you had orders…”
“I … I would have found a way. Besides, the orders were to frighten you, to force you to return Volkov and … and her.” He turned his head slightly toward Ava, who was still behind him.
“Is that so?”
“Yes, yes. You have to believe me. I would have never killed you.”
Max nodded slowly, but the suspicious look remained on his stern face. “All right, let’s say we believe you. What about the team that stormed the hotel room? You told them where to find us. You sent them—”
“No, I did not.”
“Are you telling me that they went rogue and acted on their own?”
Blokhin shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. The captain must have somehow convinced them.”
“The captain? I never called her; never gave her the location. How would she know?”
Blokhin dropped his eyes to the ground. Deep wrinkles creased his forehead. “I told her. Shortly after we talked, I called … I informed her. I … I never thought she’d convince the team to eliminate you…”
Max narrowed his eyes. “You truly had no idea?”
Blokhin shook his head vigorously. “No, no, I swear to God. I couldn’t have known…”
Max nodded. Blokhin sounded truthful, but many did when staring at the business end of a gun. “So, what you’re telling me is that this is all the captain’s doing?”
