“Your father was a traitor to his country,” Morozov said. “The only reason he switched sides was because he wanted to save his own skin. He got caught. He was bad at it. He didn’t follow the proper precautions like I had taught him. Once the CIA and FBI knew that they could use him, your father cut a deal with them. Before that, I had been giving him everything. His aerospace company would not have been nearly as successful without the documents that I provided him.”
“Come on, Pavel. We both know that the Russians stole everything from the US military back then. Not the other way around.”
Morozov smiled. “Tsk-tsk. Revisionist history. Of course that is what the American textbooks say. But the truth is malleable. And the CIA, along with your own press, has changed the story of what really happened at the end of the Cold War. Your father wasn’t a hero, Max. He was a traitor. And he was responsible for your mother’s death.”
Max’s face reddened.
“He probably told you that it was me, right? Of course. Then why didn’t he ever come after me? Hmm? Why didn’t he go to the authorities? That is what any reasonable person would have done. What any real man would have done. But your father? He kept quiet. He covered it up, along with the CIA. Ask yourself — why?”
Max clenched his fists but stayed silent.
Pavel smirked. “The real reason your mother died? Because your father betrayed me. He knew the penalty for crossing me. And he didn’t care. Your father only wanted to protect his baby. Not you, Max. His precious Fend Aerospace. That was what he really cared about. He was willing to sacrifice anything to grow that business. Even your mother.”
He spoke with conviction. Like he’d had years of practice manipulating others. He had, Max reminded himself. As a KGB operative during the Cold War, Morozov’s two main jobs had been to squeeze information out of people, and to insert false information.
Max couldn’t play the game anymore. He couldn’t stomach it. “You’re a sad little man,” he said.
“Nothing hurts like the truth. I don’t need you to believe me. I have gotten you and your father to do exactly what I want. Now it’s just a matter of executing.”
“So you’re still planning on stealing the Fend 100 technology? Are you an imbecile, Pavel? Everyone knows what you’re planning. It’s not going to happen. There are probably US law enforcement officers listening to us right now.”
“I doubt it. They think I’m on my yacht, which is docked south of St. Augustine, quite a ways from here.”
“How do you know what law enforcement believes?”
“The information is all out there, if you know the right people.” Pavel turned to the older man sitting next to him. “Enough of this. Vasily, are you satisfied? You heard him, correct? He said steal the technology. That is what they think I am going to do. May I dispose of him now?”
The old man studied Max and nodded. “Da.”
Pavel made a whistling noise and gestured to his security guards.
“Wait,” Max said. His mind was racing. Pavel and this other Russian were planning something else. They didn’t intend to steal the Fend 100 technology. “You let me live because you wanted to mislead MI-6? The CIA?”
Morozov smirked. “And you just confirmed that we were successful.”
The guards stood over him now. “But you must have intended for me to upload your software into the Fend 100 with the thumb drive. If you’re going to kill me, then how are you planning to access the Fend data?”
Pavel Morozov’s expression darkened. “Now, Max, there’s no reason for you to know that.”
“You’re pathetic. My father beat you at your own game back during the Cold War. He humiliated you. He let you provide false information to the USSR on his defense projects. And you believed him, you Commie bastard. Now you’re trying to get revenge on him by sabotaging his company. They know what you’re doing, Pavel. No wonder the Soviet Union collapsed. It was filled with morons like you.”
Pavel looked at Charlotte. “Miss Capri?”
“Yes?”
“I am ready for you to take our guest away.”
“Very well.”
Pavel breathed in deeply and exhaled. “Max, I bid you farewell. Rest assured that your death and subsequent blame for what happens tomorrow will allow you to live on in infamy.”
Morozov nodded to his security men, and they grabbed his arms.
Max struggled against the guard’s grip. He needed to create options. He kept trying to dig. He wanted Morozov to get emotional and slip up. To give him some tidbit of information that he might find useful.
“You’re walking into a trap, Morozov.”
Pavel smiled, but didn’t say anything.
“This is reckless, even for you. Revenge on my father isn’t worth spending your life in an American prison. Think about that. They’ll know what you did. They’ll know you killed me.” Max didn’t see any reaction from Morozov.
The men began dragging him away. “You think this will make you feel better about losing the Cold War for your country? This won’t change anything for you. You’ll still be just another stooge for your president.”
At that, Morozov’s face went red, and he held up his hand. “Wait.”
Morozov walked over to Max. The guards held him tight. Pavel shot a leathery hand out and seized Max by the jaw.
“Say that again.”
Max tried to seem as insolent as possible as he choked out his words, staring down Morozov. “That’s right, Pavel. There’s only one leader in Russia, and it ain’t you.”
Morozov nodded slowly. “Okay.”
He let out a weird snort. Then he unleashed a furious blow into Max’s stomach. His eyes nearly burst out of their sockets, and all the air shot from his lungs. The pain was excruciating. Max couldn’t breathe.
Pavel whispered in his ear as Max’s mouth remained open, empty gasps trying to suck in air.
“I know that I may be vain, young man. But I am not stupid. And you don’t have enough respect for me, or where I came from. Yes, the Soviet Union collapsed. But I didn’t. My people are everywhere. My plans are often years in the making. For this operation, you were just my personal cherry on top, as they say. But I’m happy to exclude you if it means that everything else will flow smoothly. Tomorrow your father’s life’s work will be destroyed, and you’ll take the fall. But a man like me wouldn’t go through all this trouble just to exact revenge upon your father. I have a much grander vision than that.”
Destroyed?
Max’s thoughts were a swirl of activity. The way Morozov was talking — it didn’t fit with what they knew. Something was wrong, and it was staring him in the face.
They started to drag Max away, and then it clicked. Max’s eyes widened. He finally knew what they were really up to. Holy shit. Of course…
“You aren’t trying to steal the data at all, are you, Pavel? That was just a ploy…”
Vasily looked uncomfortable. “Pavel.”
Morozov waved him off. “Relax. He’ll be dead soon.”
“It won’t work. We know who your insider is.”
Morozov scoffed. “Who, then?”
Max thought about guessing, but in truth, he hadn’t a clue.
A wide smile formed on Morozov’s face. “The desperate words of a condemned man, I think.”
Then he said something in Russian to his men, and they took Max away.
19
Renee had seen the Russians’ SUV pull into the parking lot of the Amelia Island Ritz-Carlton. Renee had parked about one hundred yards away, near the resort’s tennis courts. There were lots of cars. She was pretty sure she wasn’t noticed.