Pavel nodded. “When I met with him, he mentioned you weren’t married, if you know what I mean…”
Nikolai reached out to Pavel. “Why should I marry when I can hold my partner’s hand?”
Pavel shook Nikolai’s hand away. “This is no time for jokes!”
“Why not? It’s boring as hell sitting here.”
“It won’t be boring for long,” said Pavel. “If the Horvath brothers were involved in a plot with their cousin, and if Juli Popovics is involved…”
Nikolai interrupted. “Maybe the Gypsy Moth cousin will show up before nine o’clock.”
“That’s another thing,” said Pavel. “Komarov implies all kinds of things, as if he is purposely trying to upset us. He says perhaps Detective Horvath is the Gypsy Moth. He says things about plutonium and air samples. Everything is ambiguous except to be precise about our timing.”
“Why all this exactness with the time?” asked Nikolai.
“How the hell do I know? All I know is, Komarov said to pick Juli Popovics up exactly at nine and have her at KGB headquarters exactly at ten.”
“Relax, Pavel. We can do it.”
“It’s easy for you to be relaxed,” said Pavel. “You weren’t personally threatened. My wife, too. All of us back to Pripyat and even up on charges if we don’t do this right.”
“If Detective Horvath is dangerous and if Komarov wanted to guarantee Juli Popovics be brought in without a hitch, why didn’t he simply assign more men?”
“Finally you understand,” said Pavel.
“It’s a game,” said Nikolai. “We’re simply not used to Komarov’s methods.”
Pavel looked at his watch again, touched the bulge of the shiny new Makarov 9mm pistol in its shoulder holster. “All right, enough.
It’s time to go.”
Nikolai touched his own Makarov in its shoulder holster, put the Volga in gear, and drove slowly down the street to the house at the dead-end.
“I hope she doesn’t scream or fight,” said Pavel.
Nikolai laughed nervously. “Be brave. One woman against two men.”
“Don’t forget the old woman.”
When Pavel got out of the car and began walking through the arbor to the front door, he heard Nikolai call to him from the car.
“Pavel, look!”
“What?”
“Out in the field. I think I see Detective Horvath’s car!”
Pavel stepped back to look around the side of the house. “Holy Mother of God! There’s someone inside the car!”
For a second, Pavel acted like a man on a high wire, not knowing which direction to go. Finally he ran to the front of the house, trampling the flowers as he peered into the front window. He saw the old woman staring back at him. She was on the phone.
Nikolai had restarted the Volga’s engine and was gunning it.
“Hurry! She’s in the car with Horvath! I saw her!”
The front door opened as Pavel turned back to the Volga. The old woman shouted to him. “Wait! Stop!”
“What is it?” shouted Pavel.
“I have to tell you something!”
Pavel hesitated.
“Come on!” screamed Nikolai. “They’re driving away!”
Pavel screamed back to the old woman. “What do you want?”
Aunt Magda waved her hand in disgust. “I’m going back inside.
If you want to know what I have to say, I’ll be in here.”
“What if she’s not in the car?” said Pavel. “What if she’s in the house?”
“I saw her,” said Nikolai. “At least I think I did.”
Pavel ran to the house, banged the door open. “Where is Juli Popovics?”
Aunt Magda looked about. “Who?”
Pavel held up a clenched fist. “Your niece! Where is she?”
“I tried to tell you. You don’t have to worry because I’ve already called the militia. He took her away. A man named…”
Pavel ran out the door.
“Wait! Don’t you want to know his name?”
When Nikolai and Pavel drove into the field, a cloud of dust was all they could see. Back at the house, Aunt Magda stood at the front window, her hands folded and her lips moving rapidly as she prayed to herself.
The car bounced violently, and Juli held on tight. She turned in the seat to look out the rear window, but saw only dust churning behind them. When the bouncing lessened, she realized they had left the field and were now on a gravel road.
“I hope Aunt Magda is all right. Was calling the militia really part of your escape plan?”
“No. If she calls the militia, she won’t be in trouble.”
“What’s your plan for us?”
“I don’t have one yet.”
Juli looked out the rear window again and saw the black car pursuing them through the finer dust of the gravel road. “I see them!
What will we do?”
They slid sideways as Lazlo turned onto another gravel road heading west, the morning sun behind them. The sun kept its distance, but the black car was catching up.
“They’ve got a faster car!” shouted Lazlo. “If they stop us, I’ll go on foot across the field. You tell them I kidnapped you.”
“I can’t!”
“You have to, Juli! They’re going to catch us!”
“But you said there was danger!”
“There is! But if we can’t get away…”
“Maybe they’re simply following us.”
“They’re too close! In a moment they’re going to pass! I’ll let them. Stay down. When they get alongside, I’ll try to force them over. The ditch is deep here. If I can hang them up…”
Nikolai gripped the wheel with both hands, his fists pumping, a boxer holding off an opponent. Dust from the Zhiguli seeped into the Volga and danced on the dash. The Volga rocked back and forth, its powerful engine taking them closer and closer to their prey.
“We’re almost up to them!” shouted Nikolai. “Quit looking at your damned watch! The time won’t matter after what’s happened!”
“If we catch them soon, we can still make it back to Kiev on time!” shouted Pavel.
“What should we do with Detective Horvath?”
Pavel took out his pistol. “We’ll take him with us!”
Nikolai glanced at Pavel. “Don’t wave your gun around! I’ll try to run them off the road!”
Chunks of gravel from the Zhiguli banged against the metal and glass of the Volga as Nikolai drove closer.
“Shit!” shouted Nikolai.
“What?”
“We should have radioed in!”
“Look!” shouted Pavel. “You can pass now!”
Nikolai pressed the accelerator to the floor, and the Volga moved alongside the Zhiguli.
“I’ll force them off…”
Pavel raised his pistol and pointed it at the Zhiguli.
“No!” screamed Nikolai. “Wait!”
An explosion of glass slammed Pavel sideways onto Nikolai’s lap. Nikolai braked, and as the Volga skidded to a stop, he looked down at his friend Pavel. Pavel’s eyes were open. Pavel was smiling despite blood gushing from his temple.
When the car stopped, Nikolai let go of the wheel and held Pavel’s head in his arms. The gush of blood wet Nikolai’s trousers.
“Pavel!”
Pavel did not react. After a few moments, the blood stopped gushing, but Pavel still smiled up at his friend.
“Pavel!”
Finally, recognizing the grin of death, Nikolai hugged his friend to his chest and wept.
After firing the shot, Lazlo drove on for a few seconds, but then slammed on the brakes and turned their car around. Juli saw the grief on Lazlo’s face. When they drove up, she saw the driver of the Volga holding the other man.
Lazlo picked up his gun from the seat and opened the door.
“Stay here.”
Juli stayed low, watching as Lazlo approached the Volga carefully, his pistol aimed at the driver. After Lazlo opened the door and stared inside for a few moments, he lowered his pistol and bent over.
Obviously the driver was not a fighter. Lazlo placed his hand on the driver’s shoulder and spoke to him. The driver handed two pistols out of the car butt first, and Lazlo put them into the pockets of his jacket. The driver, visibly upset, got out, and Lazlo helped the driver carry the man who’d been shot to Lazlo’s Zhiguli. The man’s arms swung limply, and there was a lot of blood. When they came closer, Juli saw the tears streaming down the driver’s cheeks.