Edwards checked his dive watch; it was time to go.
‘Admiral, Angel will be on station at oh-nine-thirty and awaiting your signal.’
‘Good hunting, Angel,’ Dawson replied, loud enough for the entire squad to hear.
One by one, the SEALs stepped off the stern jump deck and into the water. Smith and Martin Kilkenny looked on. When all seven were in the water, Edwards flashed a thumbs-up at Dawson and the two elderly men. Then the SEALs disappeared into the lake.
56
‘Zdrávstvuyte, Bartholomew Georgievich,’ a squat thickset man said as Kilkenny and Cooper entered their suite at the Metropol. ‘How was your flight?’
‘Fine, Iggy,’ Cooper replied warmly. The two men embraced in a Russian bear hug. ‘It’s good to see you again.’
‘Da. Like old times, but better.’
‘Iggy, I’d like you to meet Nolan Kilkenny. He’s the guy I told you about, the one who’s helping me out on this. Nolan, this is Igor Sergeevich Fydorov of the FSB.’
‘A pleasure,’ Kilkenny said, offering his hand.
Fydorov grasped it firmly with his thick-fingered paw and squeezed, all the while grinning and looking Nolan in the eye. Kilkenny smiled and returned an equal amount of pressure in what was obviously a test of strength. The bushy mass of hair that formed a single brow over Fydorov’s brown eyes furled as he bore down on Kilkenny’s hand. Kilkenny matched him and returned a tense smile.
‘Enough, you two,’ Cooper said, amused by the spectacle. ‘Call it a draw.’
Fydorov and Kilkenny released simultaneously, both relieved that it was over.
‘Your friend has quite a grip,’ Fydorov said as he massaged the blood back into his reddened fingers.
‘The same could be said for you, Mr Fydorov.’
In a friendly gesture, Fydorov slapped Kilkenny hard on the back. ‘Call me Iggy.’
‘Is everything set for our meeting with Orlov?’ Cooper asked.
‘Da, everything is as we discussed. When I get your signal, Alpha will move in.’ ‘Alpha?’ Kilkenny asked.
‘Alpha is a Special Forces unit, like your SEALs or Deltas. The KGB developed the Alphas for use in Afghanistan. I was part of the unit that attacked the presidential palace in Kabul,’ Fydorov said proudly. ‘We spearheaded the Russian invasion in 1979. When that first mission began to go badly and we came under heavy fire, Brezhnev ordered that we be abandoned and left to die.’
‘Couldn’t stomach the disappointment?’ Kilkenny asked.
‘Politicians,’ Fydorov replied with disgust. ‘We escaped from that betrayal and became the KGB’s elite Special Forces unit. During the Battle for the Russian White House, when Yeltsin launched an eleven-day siege against Rutskoi and the Russian parliament, two Alphas entered the White House under a flag of truce and informed the rebels that they had thirty minutes to surrender, or Alpha would attack. The rebels surrendered immediately.’
‘Politicians,’ Kilkenny said.
‘When the KGB was broken up,’ Fydorov continued, ‘the FSB inherited Alpha, and we use them as a counter-terrorism assault unit. In their role as the government’s enforcer, Alpha recently took it upon themselves to remove a Mafiya chieftain who boasted of being untouchable by the government. As he walked from the steambath to his armorplated Mercedes 600, surrounded by bodyguards, a sniper nestled in a fifth-story window put two bullets in his head and one in his heart.’
‘Given that Orlov has surrounded himself with operators like Leskov,’ Kilkenny remarked, ‘it’s nice to know the cavalry will be there when we need them.’
‘Cavalry?’ Fydorov questioned, not understanding Kilkenny’s comment. ‘Oh, like in cowboy movies. Yes, we are the cavalry. Is there anything you require?’
Kilkenny shook his head.
‘No,’ Cooper replied. ‘I think we’re all set here. Nolan and I just need to get ready for our meeting with Orlov.’
Fydorov checked his watch. ‘It’s time for me to go as well. I have a taxi waiting for you — one of our drivers. He’ll make sure you get there. Good luck, to the both of you.’
‘Thanks, Iggy,’ Cooper replied.
‘We’ll see you when all of this is over,’ Nolan promised.
57
After a quick shower to wash off the twelve-plus hours of travel and wake him up, Kilkenny emerged from his room in khaki pants, an open-collared button-down shirt, and a tweed blazer.
‘You look like a model for L. L. Bean,’ Cooper said.
‘Thanks, and judging by that old suit you’re wearing, Mr GQ, I’d refrain from making any more fashion statements. Glass houses, you know.’
‘Very funny, but we’ll pass for amerikanski biznesmeny,’ Cooper said with a wry smile. ‘Let’s get moving.’
At the main entrance of the hotel, the doorman escorted them to the curb and waved for one of the queued taxis to pull up. A battered yellow Lada stopped at the curb, and Cooper and Kilkenny got in.
‘The FinProm building on Prospekt Mira, da?’ the driver asked, confirming the instructions given him by Fydorov.
‘Da,’ Cooper replied.
The driver expertly negotiated the medieval maze of streets in Moscow’s core out to the Sadovoye Koltso. He followed the former garden beltway until it reached Prospekt Mira, where he turned and drove into Moscow’s northern periphery. In the distance, Kilkenny saw a three-hundred-meter-tall obelisk of polished metal.
‘What is that?’ Kilkenny asked.
‘What?’ Cooper replied absently. ‘Oh, that’s right. This is your first trip here. That tower commemorates Soviet achievements in space travel.’
‘They’re not much on subtle gestures, are they?’
‘Not when it comes to bragging rights.’
A few minutes later the driver guided the Lada up against the curb in front of a stark, concrete-and-glass building. A westerly breeze pulled at the deep blue flag mounted near the roof, exposing the outstretched wings of a golden two-headed eagle. Beneath the flag, mounted to the face of the parapet, the building bore the name VIO FINPROM. Kilkenny noticed surveillance cameras discreetly mounted on the parapet and near the main entrance.
Cooper slipped the driver an American twenty, both as a courtesy, since the driver actually worked for the FSB, and to make the transaction appear ordinary, in case anyone inside was watching. Kilkenny grabbed his soft-sided briefcase and exited the taxi.
A giant of a man stuffed into an ill-fitting suit unlocked the vestibule door as they approached.
‘Cooper and Kilkenny?’ he asked, as if he’d memorized the line.
‘Da,’ Cooper replied.
The large man opened the door wide and allowed them to enter; he then locked it once they were inside. In the lobby, Dmitri Leskov stood leaning against the reception desk. Leskov took scant notice of Cooper, focusing instead on Kilkenny with a venomous glare that would have looked more appropriate had he been aiming a pistol.
Kilkenny leaned close to Cooper and whispered, ‘Looks like he remembers me.’