by Alex Lukeman
"Maybe four hundred kilometers southeast of St. Petersburg."
"Can you get across the border to Finland?"
"I don't know. Perhaps. They will be looking for me everywhere."
"Valentina, I have to think about this. Of course I will help you, but I have to talk with Nick and the others."
"I understand. I will call you again in a few hours."
"Wait..."
Valentina disconnected.
Selena set her phone down, the hot chocolate forgotten. She went into the bedroom. Nick lay on his side, the covers half off. She leaned down next to him.
"Nick. Nick, wake up."
Nick had long ago learned the art of waking up instantly. Sometimes it meant life or death. Now he sat up, wide-awake.
"What's the matter? Is it the twins?"
"No. I just got a call from Valentina. She wants to defect and she wants us to help her."
"You're kidding."
"No, I'm not. She didn't tell me what's wrong, but she's in trouble."
Nick's feet hit the floor. He stood and limped over to a chair in the corner, where he'd tossed his pants the night before. He stepped into the pants and shrugged on a shirt. He left it unbuttoned.
"I need coffee."
Selena followed him as he walked barefoot into the kitchen. He put water on and got out a cup and filters. He liked to make coffee one cup at a time, dark and strong.
"Is your leg hurting?" she asked.
"Some. It's all right. Where is she?"
"She said four hundred kilometers southeast of St. Petersburg. I asked her if she could get to Finland."
"What did she say?"
"She wasn't sure. She said they'd be looking for her everywhere."
"Four hundred kilometers is a long way in Russia, if they're looking for you."
When the water boiled, Nick took it and poured it over the coffee. He waited for it to drip through.
"We have to help her," Selena said.
"We'll call Harker."
Nick picked up the filter holder and cup. He went to the sink, put the used coffee grounds in the trash, and sat down at the kitchen table.
"Come on, sit down," he said.
"How can you be so calm?" she said. "Making coffee. This is my sister we're talking about. "
"Will it do any good if I start jumping up and down? We'll call Harker and figure something out. What do you think we should do?"
"We should go get her."
"Okay, but we can't go into Russia and get her out. If she can make it across the border somewhere, that's a different story."
Selena wanted to argue with him but she knew it was true. Going into the Federation and extracting Valentina wasn't in the cards.
"You call Harker," Nick said. "It's better if you wake her up."
Elizabeth was sound asleep, curled under the covers in her Georgetown brownstone. She was dreaming about bees, large black and gold bees. One of them kept buzzing around her head. Then she realized the buzzing sound came from the phone on her night table.
She fumbled for the phone.
"Yes."
"Elizabeth, it's Selena. I'm sorry to wake you but it's important."
"Who is it, Elizabeth?"
The voice belonged to Clarence Hood. He sat up in the bed.
"Is somebody with you?" Selena said.
"What is it, Selena? What's important?"
"Valentina called me. She wants to defect and she wants us to help her."
Elizabeth's first thought was how valuable Valentina would be as a source of intelligence. Her second thought was that it was a trick.
"Is she in Russia?"
"Yes."
Next to Elizabeth, Hood listened to her end of the conversation.
"We can't go and get her there."
"I know," Selena said. "If she could get across the border into Finland we could pick her up."
"Why does she want to defect?"
Hood got out of bed and started getting dressed.
"I don't know. She said everyone would be looking for her. Something happened, I don't know what."
"Can you call her back?"
"No, her number was blocked. She said she'd call back in a few hours."
"All right." Elizabeth made up her mind. "Call the others. Tell them to come into headquarters. We'll talk it over."
"Thanks, Elizabeth."
Elizabeth got out of bed and put on a robe.
"What's up?" Hood asked.
"Selena's half-sister wants to defect."
"Valentina? She'd be a real gift."
"She has to get out of Russia first."
"If I can help, let me know."
"Selena knows someone was here. She'll probably figure it out."
"Maybe it's time for us to stop pretending there's nothing going on," Hood said.
"Is something going on?"
Elizabeth's voice was teasing.
"Definitely," Hood said.
He came over to her and kissed her.
"I'd better go. Keep me posted, and remember what I said about helping."
After he was gone, Elizabeth stepped into the shower. Images of her night with Clarence kept breaking into her concentration. With an effort, she put them aside and turned her attention to the problem presented by Valentina's call.
Something told her it was going to be a long day.
CHAPTER 39
It was four in the morning by the time everyone showed up. Stephanie had the coffee machine going full blast. Selena repeated what Valentina had said on her call.
"There's nothing we can do until we hear from her," Elizabeth said. "In the meantime, we have to think about where and how we're going to pick her up."
"We can't decide where until we know what she's doing," Nick said.
"What if she can't get across the border?" Ronnie asked.
"Then it's a problem. We can't go into the Federation to get her out."
"Why not? Not like it would be the first time we went in without them knowing about it."
"Much as I'd like to agree with you, we can't risk an incident. We don't even know why she's on the run. If something happened, I couldn't get you out."
"We need more information," Nick said.
"She said she'd call back in a few hours," Selena said.
"She was heading toward St. Petersburg?" Lamont asked.
"She said she was about four hundred kilometers southeast of there. She has to get to the West."
"How about Finland?" Ronnie said.
"Freddie, are you listening?"
Yes, Director.
"Please put a map of Finland on the monitor, with the neighboring section of Russia."
Certainly, Director.
The map appeared on the monitor.
Nick looked at the map and shook his head. "She'll never make it by way of St. Petersburg. Look how far she has to go, even if she makes it through the city. To get into Finland, she'd have to go through the border checkpoint at Vyborg. I don't care how good she is, that's not going to happen."
Elizabeth said, "She could steal a boat and cross the Gulf, maybe land near Kotka."
"Where we think she is, Estonia is a better bet," Selena said. "It's closer than Finland. Look at the map. She could cross somewhere south of Narva. If she's got GPS, we could zero in on her with no problem."
"What's the border like there?" Nick asked.
"In dispute," Elizabeth said. "There's an agreement between Russia and Estonia but it's never been ratified."
"Any barriers?"
"A wire fence, with border crossings and checkpoints."
"Should be easy to get through a fence," Lamont said, "long as it isn't electrified."
"All the roads will have checkpoints," Nick said.
That is not entirely accurate, Nick.
"What do you mean, Freddie?"
There is one road which does not have a checkpoint. It goes from Estonia through Russia and back into Estonia. It is located in the Saatse Boot
.
"What the hell is the Saatse Boot?" Lamont said.
It is an extension of Russian territory that crosses road 178 in Estonia.
"And there's no checkpoint on this road?"
That is correct.
"Freddie, expand that section of the map please."
Road 178 ran through Russian territory for a short stretch between two small villages in Estonia near the village of Saatse.
"Man, I wouldn't want to live there," Lamont said. "You go out to the next town for a pizza and end up in a Russian jail."
"They don't have pizza in Estonia," Ronnie said.
"Sure they do. Everybody's got pizza."
"Not in some dinky little town like that. Only you would think about getting pizza in Estonia."
"Hey, I like pizza."
"Boys," Elizabeth said. "Let's stick to the subject."
"It does look better than trying for Finland," Selena said.
Selena's phone vibrated. She looked at the display.
"I think that's her now."
"Freddie, can you put it on speaker?"
Yes, Director.
"Hello."
"Sister. I can talk now for a little while."
"Valentina. I'm with the others. What's happening? Why are people after you?"
"I was riding with General Vysotsky. We were ambushed. Vysotsky is dead. It is because we wanted to investigate one of our senior officers, Admiral Petroff. They will look for me because they know I was in the car. If I am arrested, I will be killed or interrogated. Perhaps both."
"Are you all right?" Selena asked.
"I am wounded, but I am all right."
"Why were you investigating Petroff?"
"His aide was giving money and explosives to terrorists here. Vysotsky believed Petroff was responsible. He's a traitor, but I don't know why."
"Ask if she knows anything about Status 6," Elizabeth said.
"I heard that. I do not know about this. It is very secret."
"Where are you? Can you activate a GPS?"
"I am south of Novgorod. I have GPS, but it is dangerous to turn it on. I do not want them to find me."
"Valentina, we think you should head for Estonia. If you can get across the border, we can pick you up."
"Latvia is closer."
"Yes, but the border is strongly fenced and heavily patrolled. There is a place on the Estonian border with no checkpoint, a road that goes for a short distance from Estonia into Russia and back again. Get across there and we'll extract you."
Selena told Valentina about the Saatse Boot.
"I have heard of this place. An oddity, no? Even there, there will be patrols. At least it is not near one of our cities."
In Russia, Valentina coughed. Pain shot through her chest. She tasted blood.
"How long will it take you to get there?" Selena asked.
Valentina had driven the battered limousine as far she dared, then hidden it in an abandoned barn. For the moment, she was on foot.
"I'm not sure. Perhaps several days. I have to find transportation."
Elizabeth said, "We need to be able to contact her."
"Valentina, how can I call you back?"
Valentina gave her the number and code.
"Do not call unless it is essential. This is General Vysotsky's phone. It is possible they can track it. We have been talking too long. Goodbye, sister."
She was gone.
CHAPTER 40
Valentina waited until all light had gone from the sky. Her face was hot with beginning fever and the makeshift bandage on her side was clotted with blood. She tried to keep her breathing shallow. If she took a regular breath, it felt as though someone had driven a knife into her side. She tried not to cough. When she did, there was blood in her mouth.
There was nothing to do but fight the weakness trying to overwhelm her, the urge to lie down somewhere and sleep.
She couldn't go to a doctor or a hospital. If she did, she'd be arrested. She guessed she might have another few hours at most before they discovered Vysotsky wasn't at his dacha. After that it was only a matter of time before his body was found and the hunt for her started. She had to be out of the country before then. At least, close to the border.
She looked up at the stars to orient herself, left the barn and the useless car, and began walking.
She was in farm country, flat fields of beets and potatoes, the rural road empty at this time of night. She needed to find someplace to rest. She needed food, water. It wouldn't be easy. Farms usually had dogs to ward off intruders. She kept her pistol ready as she walked.
An hour before dawn she came to a farmhouse set back from the road. No lights showed. Valentina could make out a wooden barn behind the house. She headed for the barn, hand on the butt of her pistol. A single large door was closed and barred on the outside. She walked around to the side and found an unlocked entry door.
The barn was about fifty feet long, with a packed dirt floor. It smelled of dust and hay and animals. One side was given over to stalls. Three had cows in them. Water dripped from a rusty pipe at the end of a watering trough. Valentina turned on the faucet and drank. In the state she was in, the water tasted better than champagne.
At the end of the barn a homemade ladder rose to a loft filled with hay. One of the cows looked at her as she started up the ladder. It was difficult to climb. She took one rung at a time. She made it to the top and moved unsteadily to the back of the loft, then slid down with her back propped against the wall. No one would see her from below unless they climbed up into the loft. Even then, she was well hidden behind the hay.
Valentina fell asleep.
CHAPTER 41
"You have to take me," Selena said. "You don't speak any of the languages. How are you going to communicate? Sign language?"
"I've got one of those translator gadgets," Nick said. "You speak into it and it translates what you say so the other person can understand it."
"And when the Russian border guard tells you he's going to shoot, what are you going to do? Fiddle around with your translator thing so you can tell him not to?"
"Damn it, Selena, it's less than two months until you pop. You want our kids to have Estonian citizenship?"
"I am not going to pop, as you so quaintly put it. I'm going, and that's all there is to it. You need me, admit it."
"She has a point, Nick," Elizabeth said. "She has to go with you."
Nick threw up his hands. "Okay, I give up."
"Don't worry. No one's going to be shooting at us."
"Somebody always ends up shooting at us."
"Not this time. We're not going into Russia. We'll wait on the Estonian side of the border. When Valentina gets across, we'll come home. It's not complicated."
"I hope you're right."
"I am, you'll see."
"What about weapons?" Nick asked.
"No weapons," Elizabeth said. "You don't need them. Estonia is a friendly country."
"Director..."
"No weapons. That's final."
When Elizabeth decided to send the team somewhere she didn't mess around. She gave them the Gulfstream. By afternoon of the next day they were in Estonia. They refueled at Tallin for a connecting flight to Tartu, the nearest airport to the rural area where Valentina would cross. Estonia wasn't a big country. At Tartu they rented a Hyundai SUV. From the airport they took route 61 south through the Estonian countryside to the town of Voru. They reached Voru an hour later and turned east toward the village of Varska, the Saatse Boot and the Russian border.
They were supposed to be tourists. Harker had booked rooms for them at the Varska sanatorium. It had all the facilities of a modern hotel and featured saunas, pools, and natural mineral baths. It was the logical place for a tourist to choose, in a rural area where most accommodations ran to basic cottages and bunks.
The main building was shaped like a wide V. Two wings four stories high were connected to a central section that added an additional story. The buildi
ng was flat roofed and painted a soothing combination of tan, pale blue, and gray.
They parked and entered the hotel. The woman who checked them in looked at the bulge in Selena's belly and began chatting away with her in Russian. The two women talked for a few minutes. The clerk cast a knowing glance at Nick and said something. Selena laughed. The clerk gave her the keys.
"We go this way," Selena said. "The rooms are on the second floor."
"What were you laughing about?" Nick asked.
"When I told her it was twins she said you must wear me out in bed."
Lamont and Ronnie laughed.
Lamont said, "They have a restaurant?"
"Yes. She told me there's a bar and café in the spa building. She said it's a short walk from the hotel."
"Good. I'm hungry."
"You're always hungry," Ronnie said.
"Maybe they've got pizza."
"You never give up, do you?"
They climbed a set of stairs to the second floor and walked down the hall.
"Here's our room." Selena handed Ronnie and Lamont their keys. "You two are down the hall, next to each other."
Nick said, "I want to do a little recon while there's still light. Meet in the lobby in ten minutes."
The room was a suite, with a balcony that looked out over a lake. An enormous planter with a large drooping fern was positioned by the window. The walls were painted a light magenta color. The floor was covered with thin, blue industrial carpet. A beige faux leather couch and two chairs clustered around a blonde coffee table. Dark blue curtains hung near the window. The bedroom featured more of the blondish furniture. The bed was covered with a dark purple blanket. A bathroom with a shower and two small flat screen TVs completed the room.
"Universal hotel room," Nick said. "View's nice. What's the name of the lake, do you know?"
Selena held up a brochure about the hotel. "It's called Lake Lämmijärv."
"I'm not even going to try and pronounce that. How are you doing? We've been traveling all day."
"I'm fine, Nick. You need to stop worrying about me."
"I'll stop worrying once the twins are here."
Selena laughed. "That might just be the beginning of worrying. You know they're going to be a handful."
"I can deal with that." He kissed her. "Let's go down. I want to check out that road into Russia."
