Assassin km-6

by David Hagberg

  “They’re in session now. Kabatov has the majority support, again only because he’s the lesser of any number of evils.”

  “Like Nikolai Yuryn?”

  Yemlin looked at McGarvey with wry amusement. “You would make a good Russian politician.”

  They walked for awhile in silence, the traffic on the avenue above seemingly more distant than before. McGarvey knew why Yemlin had come to see him. The trouble was he didn’t know what to do.

  “What really happened, Viktor?”

  “It was one of Tarankov’s men, as you suspected, though we don’t have much of a description yet, or a name. He got into the Kremlin by posing as a Presidential Security Service lieutenant colonel, planted a radio controlled bomb in the limo scheduled to pick up Yeltsin in the morning, and pushed the button when the president’s motorcade came across Red Square.”

  “He must have a good intelligence source. He probably was out of Moscow within an hour after the hit, long before the Militia could get its act together.”

  “He had a seven-hour head start.”

  McGarvey looked sharply at the Russian. “It’s that bad?”

  “You can’t imagine.”

  McGarvey lit a cigarette. “There’s a very good chance that Tarankov would have won the election. Why’d he take the risk?”

  “Yeltsin ordered his arrest. It was going to be an ambush next week in Nizhny Novgorod. A few thousand troops and helicopters against his armored train and two hundred commandoes. There was a leak, the information got to Tarankov and he had Yeltsin killed.”

  “Now Kabatov is stuck in the same position. He has to go ahead with Yeltsin’s order to arrest Tarankov and then do what? Try to bring him to trial in Moscow?”

  Yemlin nodded glumly. “It’d tear Russia apart.”

  “You’ll lose the country if you don’t. He’s another Stalin.”

  “We came to the same conclusions. If we arrest him the people will revolt. If we leave him alone he’ll win the election easily, or take over the Kremlin by force and kill everyone who opposes him.”

  “Who is the we?” McGarvey asked.

  “Konstantin Sukhoruchkin, who’s chairman of the Russian Human Rights Commission—”

  “I know him.”

  “And Eduard Shevardnadze.”

  “Anyone else?”

  “I’ve talked to no one else about it.”

  “Did you see Shevardnadze in person?”

  “We flew down there the night before last. No one knows about the real reason for our trip. But we’re all agreed on the correct course of action. The only course of action to save the Democratic movement in Russia. Yevgenni Tarankov must be assassinated by a foreigner. By someone not connected to Russia. By a professional, someone who is capable of doing the job and getting away. By you, Kirk.”

  “No.”

  The directness of McGarvey’s answer knocked the wind out of Yemlin’s sails, and he missed a step, almost stumbling. “Then all is lost,” he mumbled.

  McGarvey helped him to a park bench. Yemlin took a handkerchief out of his pocket and wiped his glistening forehead.

  “I promised only to listen, Viktor Pavlovich. I’m retired, but even if I wasn’t the job is all but impossible. Tarankov surrounds himself with a crack commando unit, his access to intelligence is very good, and he has the support of a large percentage of the population in addition to the military, the Militia, the FSK and even your own branch. Whereas the assassin would have no organization or backing because he would have to distance himself completely from you and the other two men. He would be operating in a country in which simply walking down the street could get him killed. And to top it all off, if Kabatov’s government got wind that an assassin was coming they might try to stop him. After all, if Russia wants to model itself after a nation of laws then it must abide by those laws. They would have to come after the assassin, who even if he was successful would find it quite impossible to get out of the country alive.”

  Yemlin looked bleakly at him, but said nothing.

  “Even if he did get away, then what?” McGarvey asked. “Nobody condones assassination. Even with a lot of money the places where the assassin could hide would be limited. Iran, Iraq, maybe a few countries in Africa, an island in the South Pacific. Not places I’d care to spend the rest of my days.”

  - “That’s assuming your true identity became known,” Yemlin suggested weakly.

  “That’d be the trick. But I’m not hungry.”

  “I don’t understand what you mean.”

  “What would you offer me? Whatever, it wouldn’t matter because I don’t need it. I’m not rich, but I have enough for my needs. Or maybe you’re offering me the thrill of the hunt.” McGarvey smiled sadly. “I’ve had my share of thrills. The thought of another does little or nothing for me. Or maybe what you’re really offering me is a chance to settle old scores. And there are a lot of those. But not so long ago I was told that I was an anachronism. I was no longer needed because the Soviet Union was no more. The bad guys had packed up and quit. It was time, I was told, for the professional administrators and negotiators to take over and straighten out the mess. At the time I thought he was full of shit. But maybe he was right after all.” McGarvey shook his head. “I have a lot of bitterness, Viktor Pavlovich, but no stirrings for revenge. You’re just not worth the effort.”

  McGarvey walked over to the low stone barrier that was part of the levee that sloped down to the water. A bateau Mouche glided past and some of the tourists waved. McGarvey waved back.

  Yemlin joined him, and took a cigarette. “Did you know that Marlboros cost less money in Moscow than they do in New York? You need hard currency, but that’s progress.”

  “I’ve heard.” “The contrasts between Moscow and Washington are stark. But here the lines of division seem softer.”

  “I didn’t know you’d spent time in Paris.”

  “A couple of years in the embassy,” Yemlin said. “In a way I envy you. If I had the money I might retire here. Or perhaps somewhere around Lyon, perhaps on a small farm. Perhaps a few acres of grapes. I’m not a stupid man. I could learn how to make wine.”

  It was such an obvious appeal that McGarvey couldn’t resist it. “You were a bad man in the old days, Viktor, for whatever reasons. But you’ve changed.”

  “We’ve all changed.” “I can’t help you—” “What if I offered you something more than money,” Yemlin said. He spoke so softly that McGarvey barely heard him.

  “What?”

  “I have something that you’ve always wanted.”

  The afternoon was no longer as warm as it had been. “What’s that?”

  “It is something I only recently learned. In this you must believe me.”

  “Will you give it to me if I still refuse to kill Tarankov?”

  “You must agree to consider the job. That much.

  Think about it, Kirk. If you give me your word that you will think about it, I’ll give you what I brought.”

  McGarvey felt as if he were looking at himself through the wrong end of a telescope. He felt distant, detached, out of proportion. “I’ll think about it, Viktor Pavlovich,” he said. His voice sounded unreal, down the end of a tunnel.

  Yemlin took an envelope out of his breast pocket and handed it to McGarvey. “This is your honor, Kirk. It’s not much, but I think that in the end it is all that we have.”

  “What—”

  “Your parents were not spies, Kirk. They did not work for us as you’ve believed all these years. They were set up.”

  SEVEN

  Paris

  Jacqueline Belleau arrived at the office of her control officer Alexandra Levy on the top floor of the department store Printemps after lunch on Monday. She’d spent an oddly disconnected weekend with McGarvey after the strange scene between them on Saturday. He’d returned to his apartment a couple hours after he’d sent her away, with a beautiful Hermes scarf. A present, he said, he could not buy with her tagging along.


  She was touched by the gift. It meant that their relationship was progressing faster than she’d hoped for. Yet she was disquieted by his behavior, which was more like something a spy would do than a lover. She supposedly worked for an attorney who maintained an office a block away, so he could have simply waited until today when she was gone to buy her the present. And for the remainder of the weekend he’d been quieter than normal, even a little moody, as if something were bothering him.

  “Don’t ever press him, Jacqueline,” Levy had cautioned her in the beginning. “He is a professional, and men like him can spot a plant a kilometer away. Just be yourself. Natural—”

  “Without appearing that I’m trying to be natural, c’est vrai, grand pere

  At sixty-three Levy was by far the oldest case officer in the Service. With his thinning white hair, weathered face and kindly features, everyone called him grand pere grandfather, but he didn’t seem to mind. “And don’t take your assignment lightly, it could get you killed.”

  “I understand,” she’d replied.

  Levy took her hands. “Most importantly, ma cherie, don’t fall in love with him. That too has happened before, and it will cloud your judgement.”

  LeVy and another man she recognized as Division Chief Colonel Guy de Galan were hunched over some papers and photographs spread on the conference table.

  “Ah, here she is now,” Levy said, looking up. “We’ve been waiting for you. Do you know Colonel Galan?”

  “Of course,” Jacqueline said. They shook hands.

  “We had a tail on you this weekend, did you notice?” Galan asked. He was an administrator, but with his dark, dangerous air he looked more like a Corsican underworld thug than the head of the American and Western Hemisphere Division of the SDECE’s Intelligence Service.

  “No, but I make it a point not to look for my own people,” she answered.

  Galan nodded. “That’s a safe thing to do.” He handed her a 20X25 em photograph of an older man, with thick white hair and a serious face, passing through passport control at what appeared to be Orly Airport. “Do you know this man?”

  She shrugged. “He is Viktor Yemlin, chief of the North American Division of Russia’s SVR. In effect his job is much the same as mine. He arrived in France Saturday morning, where he went immediately to his embassy. An hour later he left behind the wheel of a Citroen with civilian plates, no driver.”

  He studied Jacqueline’s reaction closely.

  “Did he come here to see Kirk?” Jacqueline asked.

  “He followed your cab to the Eiffel Tower, then waited in front until you’d finished lunch,” Galan said. “Did you notice anything?”

  “No.”

  “Well, McGarvey spotted him. After he sent you away, he and Yemlin met at the top of the tower briefly, then descended to the river. It took us a few minutes to get a team with a parabolic mike across the river, but by then it was too late.”

  “They’re both professionals,” LeVy said. “They make it a point not to have long conversations in public.”

  “Did you get any of it?” Jacqueline asked. She had a sick feeling at the pit of her stomach, but she didn’t know why.

  “Not much,” Galan said. He “handed her a single sheet of typewritten transcript.

  “… must agree to consider the job. That much. Think about it Kirk. If you will give me your word that you will think about it, I’ll give you what I brought.” speaker identified as yemlin. (See attachment A101.)

  THERE WAS A PAUSE.

  “I’ll think about it Viktor Pavlovich.” speaker identified as mcgarvey (See attachment A102.)

  YEMLIN HANDS MCGARVEY A SMALL WHITE ENVELOPE, NO MARKINGS SEEN.

  “This is your honor. Kirk. It is not much, but I think that in the end it is all that we have.” (A101.) “What…” (A102. Sentence incomplete.) “Your parents were not spies, Kirk. They did not work for us as you ‘we believed all these years. They were set up.” (A101.)

  “Go home.” (A102.)

  “Just think about my request.” (A101.)

  SUBJECTS LEAVE AREA. TRANSCRIPT ENDS.

  Jacqueline looked up into Galan’s eyes. He wasn’t smiling.

  “Considering who and what Monsieur McGarvey is, we think that the Russians have asked him to assassinate someone.”

  “He turned it down.”

  “He agreed to think about it, Mademoiselle. We’ll query Washington on this business about his parents being spies, but if the information Yemlin handed over to him is valid — Or if McGarvey believes it is — it may be the incentive he needs to take him from thinking about such an act, to doing it.”

  “There’s no mention who the subject might be,” Jacqueline said.

  Galan shook his head. “No. Nor do we know if the subject is here in France, but we must consider that possibility.”

  Jacqueline’s head was spinning. “Expel him. Kick him out of France, now, before he can change his mind.”

  “We won’t do that, and I’ll tell you why,” Galan said. “If McGarvey decides to assassinate someone here in France, kicking him out of the country would do nothing but drive him underground. If we keep him here, we can watch him.”

  “That is your job, Jacqueline,” Levy put in. “You must find out for us.”

  “It may have something to do with this book he’s writing,” Galan said. “I want you to get it for us.”

  “He has safeguards. I’ve inspected them myself. If I open that cabinet he’ll know.” “Photograph the safeguards and get the film to us.

  We’ll take it from there. Believe me, as good as Monsieur McGarvey is, we’re better.”

  Jacqueline nodded. She felt very small at that moment, her feelings confused, and contradictory. A part of her was excited by the new challenge. She’d been well-trained for exactly this sort of operation. Still another part of her felt somehow dirty. She was very mixed up.

  “When he finally came home Saturday afternoon, did he tell you why he sent you ahead?” Levy asked gently. He’d picked up something of her distress.

  “He wanted to buy me a present in secret. A surprise.”

  Levy and Galan exchanged a look. “Did you believe him, Jacqueline?” Levy asked. “Or did it seem odd to you?”

  She lowered her eyes. “It seemed odd.” She looked up defiantly. “But there have been any number of little oddities. Nothing significant, except that I think he may suspect what I really am.”

  “I would be surprised if he didn’t suspect,” Galan said.. “Why didn’t you contact your control officer if you had a suspicion that something wasn’t completely correct?”

  “Because I wanted to find out as much as I could. I wasn’t sure.”

  “Are you sure now,” Galan said. “I meant before you walked into this office and heard what we had to say, were you sure?”

  “No.”

  “Then you should have called, ma cherie,” Levy said.

  “Perhaps she should be pulled off the assignment—” Galan said.

  “No,” Jacqueline interrupted sharply. “There’s no time to get somebody new. He’d know that we were on to him.”

  “Probably. But by the same token we don’t want you to get hurt. Do you understand what I mean?”

  She nodded, though she wasn’t quite sure she completely understood. But she had a job to do. “I’ll get you the photographs of his failsafes.”

  “It’s very important that we know if he is taking this job for the Russians, and if the subject is in France. Could even be a Frenchman,” Galan said. “Or a visiting dignitary. We must know.”

  “I’ll do my best,” Jacqueline said.

  “Bon. I know you will,” LeVy said. He opened a small medicine bottle and gave her a capsule. “Before you leave, take this with some water. You’re going home for the remainder of the week with a light fever and a runny nose. This will induce the symptoms.”

  “Maybe he won’t want me near him if I’m sick.”

  Galan chuckled. “I don’t think Monsi
eur McGarvey is frightened of a few germs. Besides you won’t really be ill.”

  She nodded and turned to go.

  “Jacqueline, how do you feel about your American?” Galan asked, his tone surprisingly avuncular.

  She looked at him, but could read nothing from his bland expression. “I like him,” she admitted. “I think he is a good man who has worked too long in a very bad profession. He’s retired now, and he wants to remain so.”

  Galan nodded his understanding. “I sincerely hope that you are correct.”

  SDECE Headquarters

  Colonel Galan came to attention in front of the desk of the Director of the SDECET General Jean Baillot, and saluted smartly. The general, a taciturn old veteran of the French-Algerian troubles, was working on some paperwork. He motioned Galan to have a seat.

  Looking past the general out the leaded glass windows, Galan had a nice view of the Eiffel Tower. The office was palatial, furnished with genuine antiques, and was extremely comfortable. But he didn’t think Baillot ever noticed. He was a man, his subordinates noted, of very little amusement. He would have been just as content working in a tent.

  The general put down his pen and looked up. “Oui?”

  Galan handed him the report he’d typed himself, summarizing everything they’d learned to date, as well as Jacqueline Belleau’s orders to help them steal McGarvey’s manuscript.

  When he was finished, Baillot laid the report down, and once again looked up. “Why have you brought this to me, Colonel?”

  “I need your authorization to ask the American Central Intelligence Agency for help.”

  “You wish to ask them about Kirk McGarvey’s parents in order to see if the Russians are able to provide a motivation for McGarvey to do this job for them?”

  “Oui, Monsieur le General. I would also like to have their latest information on McGarvey and Viktor Year lin.”

  “Why?”

  “The CIA’s operation in Moscow is better than ours, and McGarvey was one of theirs. I want to know if they have any ideas who Yemlin wants McGarvey to assassinate.”

  General Baillot thought about the request for a moment, his penetrating eyes never leaving Galan’s. “Is there any person presently in France whose death would benefit the Russians?” “No one of any real importance, sir. Of course there may be upcoming state visits of a secret nature that my department knows nothing about.”