“Because it’s 1 a.m. and people don’t wear normal clothes at 1 a.m. unless they’re up to something no good,” Frank said, his voice sounding both bemused and slightly impatient. “If our guy has a tail, seeing you at the door is going to buy us a lot of time. You know this — it was in the ops plan.”
Maggie knew, of course, that Frank was right, but still really wanted to punch him in the face. She knew she was a better athlete, a better shot — a better soldier — than Ellis, probably better than Cal, too. Only Frank seemed to be much of a match for her, but Maggie also knew that having military experts whispering information in your head was quite an unfair advantage.
At least Cal had the decency to avert his eyes from her before heading upstairs to take his post; he was staking out the neighborhood from the roof of the building, a safe house purchased by the OSS in the wake of the German retreat and during the chaos of the initial Soviet occupation. Someone, Maggie knew, had been on the ball at OSS, because apparently there were safe houses like this from Sarajevo to Vilnius. She knew she’d probably visit a few more of them down the road. Maggie could feel Cal’s discomfort with the job from the first floor and most definitely got the sense Cal, armed with a suppressed pistol, wouldn’t use it, even if a whole army of Reds came down the street for them.
That was fine. She’d shoot enough for both of them. She’d be good at it, too, if they let her. She’d be better than Ellis, for sure, who was out back in the garage putting the final touches on the car.
A crackling sound from the radio interrupted her train of thought. “Somebody turning onto the street now,” Cal reported. “Looks like INSIGHT.”
Frank keyed his radio. “Thanks, Cal. Stay put and see if he has company. Ellis, come on in. He’s here.” He then nodded to Maggie as he stowed his map in his pocket and checked the sheathed knife he’d secured in his belt at the small of his back. “You’re up. Give it a five count before you go for the door. Then dazzle him.” He then wiggled his hand in a so-so motion. “If I do this at any point, take him down completely.”
The knock interrupted whatever retort she had in mind, so she simply flipped Frank the bird and counted to five before pasting a really fake smile on her face and slowly walking to the door — slowly, of course, because the four-inch spike heels were just far too impractical for anything else.
She opened the door to see the man who gave her the lighter in Istanbul. “There you are, baby,” she said, reaching out with her Enhancement to calm his surge of nerves even as she gave him a long hug and a very slow kiss on the cheek — with the door open, in case anyone was watching. “Come on in,” she purred.
Looking surprised and all too nervous, Yushchenko walked through the door Maggie held open. She didn’t get the sense that the Soviet would try anything funny with her, but the sooner she was able to drop the pretense, the better. “I have some champagne on the dining room table, if you want some,” she said before closing the door, hoping that if there was someone out there, they’d hear her.
The lock secured, she took a confused and scared Yushchenko by the arm. “In here,” she said brusquely. She led him to the dining room table — there was no champagne — and let Frank and Ellis step out into the open, giving the Soviet a bit of a start.
“Colonel Yushchenko,” Ellis said, extending his hand but not introducing himself.
Maggie went to close the curtains in the front room — another potential sign of intimacy — before joining them in the dining room. “I expected someone older,” Yushchenko said tentatively as he took a seat.
“I’m older than I look,” Ellis said; Maggie could read his irritation at the slight like a headline. “Now, you have some information for us.”
Yushchenko smiled. “I do. Have my conditions been met?”
Frank nodded. “We have a team on the outskirts of Leningrad, about a mile from your family’s home, and a fishing vessel that can get them to Finland in less than a day. Were you able to give them any kind of notice?”
“No, I have been very busy. And the phones have ears listening.”
“We figured as much. Are you ready to go now? Because we can get you out tonight,” Frank said.
Yushchenko took a deep breath and nodded. “I am. Tonight, yes.”
Here comes the hard part, Maggie thought as she settled down into a chair next to Ellis, reaching out to Yushchenko’s emotions. “You know, Colonel, it’s not easy doing all this for you. We’re going to help you out, but we need to know if you have what we need, too.”
Maggie layered sympathy and commiseration over her words, but for whatever reason, it didn’t seem to be having much effect. “Of course. And you understand I cannot give everything away here and now, for why then would you help me?”
Ellis smiled. “We’re Americans, Colonel. We don’t leave people hanging out to dry like that. If I say you’re getting out with your family, then that’s what’s going to happen.” He slid a letter over to the Russian. “This is from my boss. He went to our President to get this approved. You’ll see everything in writing. You can keep the paper, though frankly, I’d recommend you burn it when you’re done with it.”
Yushchenko read it over and nodded. “This program you wish me to help you with, this is what you call, what is the word, MAJESTIC?”
Maggie and Ellis traded a look before Ellis responded. “You’ll learn more about that when we get where we’re going. Right now, though, I need something from you that’ll assure me you have solid information for us. I hope you understand.”
Maggie, of course, made sure he understood.
“It is the Bekhterev Research Institute in Leningrad,” Yushchenko replied. “This is a medical institute, yes, but it is run by MGB, for people who are… powered? Empowered. That is the word. Empowered.”
Ellis nodded, his poker face well in place; Maggie could feel his emotions roiling, and even hers were getting a little bit of a workout — it was the same word used in the note they got in Washington. “All right, that’s something. How many are there?”
Yushchenko smiled slightly and shrugged, leaving Maggie frustrated. The threads of his emotions were awfully hard to grasp, and she had no idea why. “Please, you must understand, all I have is what I know, and I cannot just give—”
The radio crackled to life with Cal’s rapid-fire voice. “We got company. Two pairs of men, either side of the street, heading for our door. Suits, hats, and coats, walking fast. We gotta go.”
Frank bolted to his feet and grabbed the radio. “Get down here, Cal. Now.” He keyed off the radio and turned to a surprised Yushchenko. “Ellis, get the colonel to the car out back.”
The Ukrainian scrambled to his feet. “How did they know?” he stammered. “I was careful, I assure you!”
Ellis shrugged. “Doesn’t matter now, does it? Let’s go.”
“What about my family?” the Soviet demanded, his worry for them cutting through Maggie’s control as he resisted Ellis’s attempt to drag him away. “They will come for them!”
Frank nodded to Maggie. “Get the door, Maggie. Colonel, I’ll send the signal to the extraction team in Leningrad before we leave town, I promise. Right now, it’s time to go. Move it!”
Yushchenko growled, realizing that he was in no position to negotiate, and finally took off with Ellis toward the back exit. Cal came thundering down the stairs just as Maggie was adjusting her robe to look more disheveled and mussing her hair — like she’d been doing something quite different from an interrogation. “You need me?” Cal asked.
She graced him with a smile, for once. “You go help Ellis. I’ll be fine. Go on.”
Cal nodded and Maggie felt his relief settle onto him like a favorite blanket. Frank checked his weapon and positioned himself away from the windows, ready to fire cleanly at the open door. “Ready when you are, Mags. If you can’t make ’em leave, make ’em useless,” Frank said with a little smile.