“Roger that.”
The director of operations left Bradford alone in the Cabinet Room. Bradford’s mind still reeled with what the Russians were doing. Nothing seemed to make sense. Finally, he shrugged and left the White House.
39
The night crossing from Venezuela to Aruba had been an arduous adventure for Karl, since he wasn’t exactly a seasoned sailor. He and Maya had been bounced around in the small fishing vessel, with Maya getting extremely sick and puking up what little she had inside her stomach until she was empty and in dire need of water. But that was the last thing that she wanted.
Alone at the wheel and tracking his course across the dark sea by GPS, Karl had plenty of time to think about what had happened to him in the past week or so. He was sure that the Russians had used him in some way — perhaps with his relationship with Maya. She was working both sides, but Karl wasn’t entirely sure of her true allegiance. He would let the Agency debrief her and discover her motivation. That decision was far above his paygrade.
Since getting to Aruba, he had gotten a few secure encrypted texts from Roddy at the Agency. Roddy told him about the high seas standoff between a Russian sub and a U.S. Navy destroyer. Then there was the SEAL assault on the Russian merchant ship Magadan, where the SEALs had discovered the new SS-20, or whatever designation the U.S. would place on this missile. With this new knowledge, Karl was sure the Russian plan was far more complex than he first thought.
The two of them had checked back into their old hotel, with a room on the fourth floor viewing the pool and the sea to the south. Maya was asleep on the bed, still feeling queasy from the boat ride. So, Karl went into the bathroom and ran the shower while he used his SAT phone to call his Agency contact.
“How is Aruba?” Roddy asked.
“Hot and sticky,” Karl said.
“Where is Maya?”
“Sleeping in the other room.”
“Good. You need to get her to the airport at fourteen-hundred. There’s a Gulfstream waiting to take you back home.”
Karl shook his head. “I can’t be seen getting onto an Agency jet.”
“Seen by whom?” Roddy asked.
“Anyone. I’ll drop her off and fly back commercial.”
“You need to be debriefed.”
“I know. Meet me at my second alternate location.”
Roddy agreed, and then said, “This is probably for the best anyway. She’s been in contact with the Russians.”
Karl figured that much. “Where are they now?”
“We tracked her contact’s phone by GPS to your location. You might want to get out of there.”
He watched the steam rise up from the shower, the mirror completed fogged by now. “No. They still have no idea who I am.”
“Unless she told them,” Roddy reminded Karl.
Smiling to himself, Karl said, “She doesn’t know who I really am. Do you know what she told her Russian contacts?”
“Just her location.”
“Good. Then we’re golden. Text me when they come for me. See you soon.”
“Wait. How do you plan to deal with the Russian officers?”
“I’ll think of something.” Then Karl cut his call short and turned off the shower.
Since the shower was still running, Karl quickly stripped off his clothes and showered. Then he got onto his phone and checked on the flights out of Aruba. Now, his only problem was trying to decide which passport to use. The Russian and Spanish passports were out. He would need to get new ones with those countries. Once he found a good flight, he held off booking it until he got to the airport. How to deal with the Russian officers?
Karl went out into the hotel room naked and checked the door, releasing the security bar. He found new clothes and quickly got dressed. Then he found his gun, and sat in a corner chair in the darkness. Maya slept in the bed in her undergarments. She had not even found the strength to slip under the covers.
His wait was less than an hour. He got a text from Roddy saying they were coming.
The first to enter the room was Sergei Zubov. He was followed closely by his associate, Polina Kotova, who quietly closed the door behind them.
“That’s close enough,” Karl said, startling both of the Russians. He clicked on a floor lamp, exposing himself, along with his gun.
Sergei smiled. “I’m sorry. We saw you come back to the hotel and decided to surprise you for lunch.”
Karl noticed that neither of the Russians had a gun visible. If they were there to kill him and Maya, he guessed they would have silenced guns exposed. He couldn’t let them know that he knew who they were, otherwise they’d know he was more than just an oil company representative. Of course, they had to guess he was an intelligence officer of some sort. Hopefully, Maya had not blown his cover entirely with them. According to Roddy, that had not happened yet.
Keeping his gun aimed at the Russians, Karl gave the pair a skeptical glance. Maya stirred to his left, but had not woken yet.
“Is this some sort of sexual swapping thing?” Karl asked, giving the Russians an out.
“Would that interest you?” Polina asked seductively. She was barely wearing a sun dress, her breasts threatening exposure at any moment.
Shifting his head to the left, Karl said, “I have a girlfriend.”
“Can we dismiss with the games?” Sergei asked. “We know that you are CIA. And we are impressed with what you did in Venezuela.”
Maya startled awake now and sat up in bed. When she saw the Russians, she covered her body with the bedsheet.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Karl said. “We just got back from Bonaire late last night.”
Sergei smiled.
Polina simply stood with her hands on her hips.
But Sergei spoke first. “We know that you are the man from Murmansk. A Spanish exchange student, I believe. Well, I don’t believe.”
This was going nowhere fast, Karl thought. “We’ll have to agree to disagree.”
“We don’t have to be enemies,” Sergei said. “The Cold War is over.”
Karl almost laughed at that notion, especially given the fact that the Russians had just tried to place a nuclear missile within quick range of America. Yet, deep down, Karl knew that this gambit was simply a ruse to see how America would react. And he had played right into their plan. Perhaps a more seasoned officer would have come to this conclusion quicker. Someone like his father. Now, it was what it was. The Russians had played a strong hand, but they had not accomplished their goal.
“I’m not who you think I am,” Karl finally said. “I’m a consultant for the oil industry.”
Sergei kept his eyes on Karl, but Polina’s gaze shifted ever so briefly toward Maya. Her eyes told Karl that Maya would tell them a different story.
“If you are not CIA,” Sergei said, “then why the gun?”
Karl finally lowered his gun to his lap and said, “In America everyone is armed. It’s our God-given right.” He didn’t want to mention that he knew the Russians were also armed, based on the signature of the gun under the man’s flowered shirt, and by the way the woman held her little purse, which was open and ready to draw a small gun.
Sergei simply smiled now. Then he backed up toward the door, which moved Polina to put her hand on the lever. Sergei hesitated before leaving and said, “Nice work. Maybe we’ll meet again.”
Saying nothing, Karl simply glared at the two Russians as they left as quietly as they had entered.
Once they were gone, Maya threw down the covers and got to her feet alongside the bed. “What the hell was that about?” she asked.
He didn’t want to overplay his hand, so he said, “Obviously, the man wants to bone you.” Karl got up and put his gun into its holster at the small of his back.