“Do you plan on bringing Colonel Moshenko fully onboard?”
“Only with your permission, Mr. President. Otherwise, I’ll only request details from him of KGB activities that could help in this op. Grigori won’t ask any questions once he understands this is top secret. I can assure you of that.”
“All right, Grant. I’ll trust your judgement. You do whatever you deem necessary. Anything else?”
“Sir, do you know if the NSA has picked up any transmissions that might give us some direction?”
“Nothing’s been reported, but I have a feeling you’ve got something in mind.”
“This guy’s going to stay quiet right now, but he’s got to make a move soon. My first thought was he’d try and get the weapons out by plane, the Russian Embassy plane. But now I’m not so sure.”
Carr wondered if he should make his own suggestion. “Grant, you know we can’t inspect in any way, shape or form, anything marked as a ‘diplomatic pouch.’ But I can have the plane put under surveillance, keeping an eye out for unusual packages. We can’t stop it from leaving, though.”
“Anything will help, sir. We’ll have to depend on getting accurate intel on a flight plan.”
“I can take care of that, too.”
“Mr. President, may I suggest you ask NSA to flag any unusual traffic, especially if it’s coming out of the Med?”
“Will do. Anything it picks up, I’ll make certain it gets to the analysts as soon as possible.”
“And our own ships should listen especially for ship-to-ship and ship-to-shore transmissions. I understand the Minsk and Kiev have been operating together in the Atlantic and Med before being assigned to permanent ports. They both carry KA-27 choppers which could be used for … ”
“Wait a minute, Grant. Refresh my memory. Wasn’t that the same type chopper you brought the POWs out of Russia with?”
“Uh, yes, sir. It was.”
“You were saying?”
“A chopper could be used to pick up the weapons from another craft like… ” Grant went quiet.
“Grant?”
“Sorry, sir. I had a thought that I’ll need to discuss with Agent Mullins.”
“How do you keep track of all those ideas?”
“With great difficulty, Mr. President.”
Carr smiled. “Can you tell me what you plan on discussing with Agent Mullins?”
“Of course. The other craft I was thinking of might be a Russian cargo ship. Maybe that’s where the weapons were flown that night.” Grant started pacing, wondering if his idea was plausible. “But … ”
“Yes, Grant?”
“I was just wondering if the thieves would put all their ‘eggs in one basket.’ Maybe they’d separate those crates, loading each one on different modes of transportation.”
“So, you’re thinking a plane and a boat?”
“I’m just trying to cover all bases, Mr. President.”
“Do you have anything to substantiate your request regarding the NSA?”
“No, sir, but those folks may need to listen for traffic from here, also.”
“I’ll call General Prescott, and I’d better let Secretary Daniels in on this conversation. SECNAV will have to be briefed.”
“One final question, sir.”
“Go ahead.”
“I know you want the weapons returned to the States, but what if we don’t have any option and … ”
“Grant, we have no way to tell whether blueprints or specific instructions for their use were included. But I don’t want those ten falling into the wrong hands again, so you do anything you have to so that doesn’t happen.”
“Yes, sir. We’ll take care of it either way.”
“If that’s all, Grant, I’ll let you get back to work.”
Grant detected a smile in Carr’s voice, and he responded, “Thank you, Mr. President.”
Carr hung up. Swiveling his chair side to side, he considered everything Grant reported, everything he asked for. The situation had taken a turn for the worse. A mole. A ‘sleeper.’ “Jesus,” Carr mumbled, as he loosened his tie.
It was a known fact that spies worked out of the Russian Embassy. But how long had this guy been in the States, waiting to act? Where was he working, living? A chill ran up the President’s back, as he wondered how many more ‘sleepers’ could be in the U.S.
It was time to make those phone calls.
As soon as Grant ended the call, he phoned Moshenko. “Hey, Grigori. It’s me.”
“My friend, how are you?!”
“I’m good. Listen, Grigori, don’t want to talk on the phone. Can we meet someplace, say in an hour?”
“Of course.” Moshenko walked to the front window, checking the weather. Blue sky was beginning to break through fast moving clouds. “The park at the end of my street is a good place. There is a gazebo on the south side.”
“Sounds good. See you later.”
Moshenko hung up. Standing by the window, he rolled the Davidoff Grand Cru cigar between his fingers, wondering about the upcoming meeting. Since he and Alexandra had been in America, he and his good friend never had any secretive meetings. If the meeting concerned Alexandra and him, Grant would have been more specific.
Noises and aromas from the kitchen told him Alexandra was preparing their upcoming meal, beef stroganoff and noodles. As he walked to the kitchen, he continued wondering about the meeting.
Diaz, James and Adler stood near the sofa. Grant was on the phone with Mullins. “Fax that to me, Scott,” Grant said, as he motioned Adler toward the machine.
“Before you ask,” Mullins said, “I made contact with the Coast Guard’s Command Senior Chief Phil Borrman in Baltimore. That command handles the Chesapeake Bay region. He and Tony were acquaintances, so I took a chance to see if he could offer up some info not already published in the news. But he couldn’t tell me much more. They still had their chopper and a boat searching off the coast. Heavier sections of that Huey sunk, and any pieces that hadn’t already been collected had probably drifted away in the Gulf Stream. They’re almost positive, though, that some type of explosive took it out.”
“Bodies? Weapons?” Grant asked, hoping he’d get some positive feedback.
“Some body parts, but identification won’t be easy. There’s a possibility something, or pieces of something, might eventually wash up on the eastern seaboard, but don’t count on it.”
“Shit!” Grant said, rubbing a hand briskly over the top of his head.
“Look, I asked Borrman to contact me if they find anything. Okay?”
“Yeah. By the way, NSA is gonna start flagging all unusual or suspicious transmissions. The President will most likely be contacted first. See what you can do to get on that contact list.”
“I’ll make a call right now.”
“One more request.”
“Gotta sharpen my pencil,” Mullins laughed.
“Find out if any Russian cargo ships were steamin’ that day between Maryland and North Carolina, maybe no more than a hundred miles off the coast. There had to be something going or coming out of Cuba.”
“Loaded or empty?”
“Could be either.”
“Will do.”
“Gotta go. And thanks, Scott. I know you’re doing your best.”
“I’ll be here if you need anything else.” End of conversation.
Adler held the fax toward Grant, who felt as if he finally had something to go on. He perused it briefly before handing it to Diaz. “Looks like we know what those bastards transferred the weapons to.”