A moment of panic flared. Have Harold’s men finally bought off Demetrius? No, no, that’s foolish. Demetrius is loyal. I have to trust someone. Otherwise, I’d be all alone.
The warm air felt good. Chinese heaters always worked, and they were excellent designers of big cars.
The engine purred smoothly and the car pulled away from the curb. She glanced through the rear window, observing her bodyguard watch the car. Demetrius didn’t even shield himself from the hail. He watched the vehicle as if he’d never see her again.
“Hello Anna,” a man beside her said.
In alarm, Anna twisted around. She blinked in shock. A wizened old man with uncombed white hair sat beside her. Despite the car’s heat, Doctor Samuel Levin, the Director of the CIA, wore a bulky coat in keeping with Russian customs.
Anna glanced at the driver, a nondescript operative.
“What are you doing here?” she asked Levin. “Why did you pick me up?”
Anna used to work for the CIA as an analyst. That seemed like a lifetime ago. After she transferred to the White House during the Californian invasion, Levin and she had had a falling out.
Is he Harold’s man? I thought Levin was loyal to David. He was once… before the heart attack, at least.
“I’m here on business just like you,” Levin said smoothly.
“You mean you’re a figurehead just like me?”
“Bitterness doesn’t become you, Anna.”
She didn’t need his reproof. It made her bristle. Before she could stop herself, she said, “Treason never was your talent.”
Levin frowned, putting more wrinkles in his skin.
“I have a question before you tell me whatever your message happens to be,” Anna said. “Did Demetrius sell me out or did you trick him?”
“You’re working under false assumptions. I’m on your side, Anna. Or said more appropriately, we’re on the same side.”
“What side is that?”
“Time is short,” he said, becoming businesslike. “We’re headed for the Kremlin and—”
“Demetrius said I’m headed for the Catherine Royal Restaurant.”
“That’s what he was supposed to say, in case anyone was listening.”
“It was raining outside,” she said. “No one else stood near us.”
“I know you’ve heard about parabolic guns, listening devices.”
“Harold’s men are spying on me?”
“Of course,” Levin said. “So are Russian, Chinese and Iranian agents. You’re in grave danger, as I’m sure you know.”
“You think that’s why Harold sent me, as a target? Let East Lighting assassins kill me?”
“No. I feel as you do. Harold wants you away from the President, at least for a time.”
Levin’s words tightened her stomach. How did he know what she’d been thinking? It meant he’d been spying on her for some time. And David— I will not be afraid, she told herself, as a panic-attack threatened. Ever since her husband Tanaka’s death in Obama Park, she’d taken defensive training. Pulling her purse closer, she clicked it opened and put her right hand inside. Her fingers gripped a small pistol. If she shot Levin and the driver— “I’m not your enemy,” Levin told her. “So you can keep the gun in your purse.”
Heat expanded across her cheeks. “You like to think you’re clever, Doctor. You think you know what everyone is thinking.”
He gave a depreciating chuckle. “I am the spymaster, after all. The government pays me to know what dangerous people think.”
“I’m dangerous?”
“To some.”
“Who?”
“Harold and McGraw obviously head the list.”
“If you’re trying to draw me out—”
“Please, Anna, we don’t have much time. This is all so needless.”
She frowned, and she did some thinking. The conclusion startled her. “Are you suggesting that the only place you and I can talk privately is in a Chinese luxury car in Moscow?”
“You always were a smart girl. Now please, take your hand off the gun. You’re beginning to make me nervous.”
As the driver took a sharp turn, and she saw the Kremlin spires in the distance, she decided to trust Levin. With a sigh, she let go of the .22, removed her hand and snapped the purse closed.
“Much better,” he said.
“Why the cloak and dagger routine? We’re too old for this sort of thing.”
“My dear, you are far from old. You’re quite beautiful. Still, yours is a reasonable question. We practice these cautions because Director Harold is a dangerous man, both to us and to our country.”
“He claims to love America.”
“I believe he does—his version of it anyway, with him in charge, righting perceived wrongs.”
“You stopped his coup attempt last year,” Anna said.
“If you mean that little play under the White House—”
“It was more than a play. You forestalled his guards and possibly saved my life.”
“I suppose that’s true. It’s strange that the President refused to see Harold’s action for what it was.” Levin’s coat rustled as he shrugged. “For the sake of the country, perhaps the President made the correct decision that day. Harold is the Militia Organization, and his tireless work has helped stave off defeat.”
“Does that mean we allow him to rule as a dictator?”
“No,” Levin said quietly. “However, at the moment, there is little we can do about it.”
“Will the Russians join us?” Anna asked.
“No,” Levin said. “But I begin to wonder if Konev is playing a deeper game than I realize. The man desires Siberia.”
“I’m confused. If he grabs Siberia, isn’t that joining us?”
A soft smile appeared on Levin’s face. “Konev is canny. I’m not sure what he’s after. Like Putin before him, Konev yearns to revive the Russian Empire of old. Yet he does not want a bloodbath on the scale of World War II. A war with China would be that.”
“So what happens next?”
“That’s a good question,” Levin said. “Harold is willing to give away the moon in order to induce the Russians to attack Siberia. America needs a second front. Frankly, I’m torn about what we should do.”
“I’m not sure there’s anything I can do either way.”
“Yes there is. For now at least, you must placate Harold.”
“Why?”
“After your trip ends, stay by David’s side, fight to keep him alive. For a time, at least, Harold and McGraw need the President as a symbol. It’s after their victory…”
“You mean in Mexico?” Anna asked.
Levin cocked his head as if surprised at her. “There will be no war in Mexico.”
“We have to go in eventually. We can’t allow Hong to keep his soldiers on our border. It’s not over until we remove them.”
Levin pursed his lips. “I’m your friend, Anna. I’m the President’s friend. Will you remember that?”
She nodded, and she decided that whatever else happened, she was going to save David Sims from the power-hungry trio presently running the country.
-7-
Power Politics
Jake picked at his Militia uniform. It hung loosely on his scrawny frame, as he’d lost a lot of weight since the Red Dragon nuclear explosion. His hair had fallen out, too. Finally, a new growth prickled from his scalp. Insanely, he felt a surge of renewed hope with his growing hair.
Oklahoma had been a little over six months ago. After the Red Dragon strike, he’d been very sick with radiation poisoning, and he’d gotten sicker. He believed, due to the poor medical facilities here in the Detention Center West.