“Sure,” Victoria replied. “And Jack...” She hesitated. “Thank you for everything you’re doing.”
“Don’t thank me,” I said. “I owe it to Karl to find out the truth.”
“What did she say?” Dinara asked from the back after I’d hung up.
“He lost his parents young and went into care. He took steps to get his childhood history sealed.”
“Either he suffered things as a child that he wanted to keep secret,” Leonid remarked, “or he’s a spy.”
“My thoughts exactly,” I said.
“I may have a way for us to find out what was going on at that base,” Leonid said. He was leaning back in the passenger seat, which he’d set to recline, and looking at him made me think of a lazy snake. Languid and patient, but lightning fast and deadly when the time came to strike.
“It will involve us doing a deal with the devil,” he revealed.
I shot him a skeptical look.
“Let’s go,” he told me. “I’ll explain on the way.”
I put the truck in gear and we headed into darkness.
Chapter 73
Leonid Boykov yawned and shifted in his seat. He’d told Dinara and Jack his plan during the drive back from Volkovo. He’d billed it as a deal with the devil, but that was melodramatic. In truth, he planned some mutual backscratching with a Moscow cop, and Jack had approved the idea.
They’d arrived back at the Residence shortly after midnight, and Leonid had resisted Feo’s invitation to join him and a few reprobates in a backgammon tournament. Instead, Leonid had gone straight to bed.
He’d risen at 5 a.m., feeling tired and dull, but a coffee and the short walk to his car that had filled his lungs with ice-cold air shocked him awake. He’d driven through the quiet city to Zhitnaya Street and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. He’d parked nearby, and had gone inside. After introducing himself to the officer on duty, he’d taken a seat in the grand lobby and waited.
A call to an old colleague had revealed Anna Bolshova’s shift started at 6 a.m., and when she arrived ten minutes early, she looked tired and miserable. Her mood darkened further when she caught sight of Leonid. He intercepted her as she crossed the expansive lobby.
“Whatever it is,” she said, “I don’t have time.”
“I’ve got something for you,” Leonid replied.
“Really,” Anna said, feigning interest. “I’m so lucky to have you in my life.”
“You are,” Leonid responded.
Anna’s mood soured. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done? They’re talking about sending me back to regular duty for destroying an SVR investigation.” She picked up her pace. They were almost at the security barriers.
“It’s a big one.”
Anna stopped in her tracks and turned toward Leonid. He felt waves of anger radiating off her.
“What have you got for me this time?” she asked. “Are you going to get me to raid the Kremlin? Or perhaps round up the government?”
“You’re going to like this,” Leonid said.
“No, I’m not,” she replied. “Leave me alone, Leonid Boykov.”
She turned away from him and marched toward the security barriers. She pulled a pass from her pocket and was about to scan it, when Leonid spoke up.
“What if I could give you a Black Hundreds recruiter?”
Anna stopped and looked at him skeptically. The offer had even managed to get the duty officer’s attention, but he quickly went back to the paperwork he was doing at the front desk.
Anna slowly retraced her steps. “How?” she asked.
“He’s got his chapter running a sideline,” Leonid revealed when he and Anna were toe to toe. “Selling narcotics.”
She whistled. “Even Black Hundreds’ supporters within the force won’t try to protect him if that’s true.”
“Exactly,” Leonid said. “It’s an easy win. You can arrest the entire ring, put away some rotten apples and do it without fear of political interference. The Black Hundreds might try to kill the man, but they certainly won’t protect him.”
“Who’s the recruiter?” Anna asked.
Leonid smiled, and Anna backed away, exasperated.
“And here’s me thinking this was payback for sabotaging my career,” she remarked.
“What’s one thing got to do with the other?” Leonid asked. “This is a new favor, and a new favor deserves a new reward.”
“What do you want?”
“Your assignment to the Interior Ministry gives you access to information beyond the reach of a normal police officer,” Leonid replied. “I need you to find out what Boltino Army Base was used for.”
“Tell me who the recruiter is,” Anna replied.
Leonid slipped a card into her hand. “Here’s my number,” he said. “Call me when you’ve got answers.”
He backed toward the exit.
“I should have you arrested,” she said.
“But you won’t,” he responded. “Find out what was happening at Boltino, and I’ll give you a name that will put you back on the command fast track.”
Chapter 74
I was in the library with Dinara when Leonid returned to the Residence. We were checking through the photographs Justine had sent us of Karl Parker as a child. Victoria had taken his album of childhood pictures to Private New York, and Justine had had them scanned and sent to Dinara’s secure email.
There were baby photos, pictures of Karl as a young child, then there was a gap that started when he was around seven years old, the same time as his parents’ accident. The pictures resumed when he was a teenager, maybe fifteen or sixteen years old. I wondered what had happened to my friend in those intervening years, and kept returning to the image of him, Elizabeth Connor and Ernie Fisher in the Novoko Bar in Volkovo.
“I made the offer,” Leonid said, taking a seat at the neighboring table. “Then I checked on the surveillance team watching Erik Utkin. They say he’s definitely supplying the dealers. He has eight teams selling drugs throughout Kapotnya.”
“They documenting it?” I asked.
“Of course,” Leonid replied. “Gathering everything they can on camera.”
“And will Anna Bolshova get us what we need?” Dinara asked.
“I think so,” Leonid replied. “She needs a win to get out of trouble with her superiors.” He looked at his watch. “Anyone hungry?” he asked. “Lunch finishes soon. Or do you just live on clues and paperwork?”
Dinara smiled and got to her feet. I was about to follow when my phone rang. It was Justine.
“Go ahead,” I told them. “I’ll catch up.”
They left the library as I answered.
“I managed to get hold of the chief of police of Clarion,” Justine said. “He was the officer on duty the night Karl Parker’s parents died. I’ve got him on the line now.”
“Patch him through,” I said.
“Hold on.”
The line went dead, and a moment later I heard a voice.
“Mr. Morgan?” a man said.
“Yes.”
“This is Chief Wilson. Your colleague, Miss Smith, left a message for me to call yesterday,” he said. “I got tied up with one thing or another, so my apologies. You’re first on my list today.”
“Thanks for phoning, chief,” I said. “Must be early.”
“Six a.m.,” he replied. “But you know what they say about a man being early to rise. Apparently it should make me wise as a hooting owl. How can I help you, Mr. Morgan?”
“I want to ask you about an accident that happened thirty-five years ago,” I said. “The Parkers.”
“Your colleague mentioned something about it in her message. I remember it vividly. It was the first fatal accident I attended as a rookie. You never forget your first fatality.”
“Was there any evidence of foul play?” I asked.