Inside the corner office was a portly man in his forties who strode over to her with an outstretched hand. As he got closer, she could see evidence of the Australian’s recently implanted hair plugs.
“Ms. Bedova,” he said with a smile. “It’s always a pleasure to see you.”
“Mr. Hull.” She shook his hand and sat.
“May I offer you a drink?”
“No, I don’t have time.”
“Ah, business only. Unfortunate. To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?”
“You’ve spoken to Vladimir Colchev recently.”
Hull didn’t look away, but his smile faltered ever so slightly.
“I’m afraid I can’t discuss my business with other customers.”
“Even if that business was conducted with money stolen from Russian coffers?”
“It’s no matter to me where the money comes from,” Hull said. “Surely you can see that having to worry about the source of the funds would be bad for business.”
“I need to know what you got for Colchev.”
Hull laughed. “There’s nothing to tell. Besides, even if there were, I wouldn’t stay in business very long if my clients felt that their trust in me could be violated so easily.”
“Your business will be even more short-lived if my superiors feel that you are dealing with our rogue agents behind our backs.”
The smile vanished. “My understanding was that Mr. Colchev resigned and is now operating independently.”
“Oh, he’s operating independently. With funds he stole from the SVR. How much business do you conduct with Russian arms suppliers?”
Hull remained silent at the rhetorical question. She already knew that more than half his income came from supplying Russian arms to rebel groups across Asia. If her country were to turn off the spigot, he would be hammered by other dealers vying to take his place.
“What are you offering?” Hull said.
“Besides your continued good standing with the Russian state? If the lead you give me results in the capture or death of Colchev, you will be paid five hundred thousand Australian dollars.”
Hull shook his head. “If you fail and Colchev finds out I led you to him, he’ll come after me. That would also be bad for business.”
In addition to the phalanx of guards she’d come through, Bedova could see that the penthouse was clad in glass thick enough to withstand an RPG blast.
“All right. I’m authorized to make an upfront payment of a half million.”
“Plus a bonus? Double, say?”
Bedova paused, then nodded. “That should pay for your security for quite a while.”
“Hmmm. One million dollars. You must want him badly. Why?”
“His departure didn’t go well, and he had a high-level clearance. If one of your key employees suddenly left and took your greatest secrets to a competitor, what would you be willing to pay to stop him?”
“I see your point.” He pursed his lips in thought, then said, “All right. I agree to your terms. But I require the deposit before I tell you what I know.”
Bedova nodded confidently. She made a call and had the $500,000 wired to Hull’s account. In reality she was authorized to pay only a total of half a million dollars. She’d figure out what to do about the bonus payment later. When he was satisfied with its completion, he turned from his computer.
“Now tell me what you know,” Bedova said.
“Three weeks ago, Colchev came to me with an urgent request. He’d had difficulty securing some materials he needed.”
“What materials?”
“ANFO. Detonators. Primer cord.”
“How much of the ANFO did he buy?”
“Forty tons of it.”
Bedova eyes widened. “Did he say what he planned to do with it?”
Hull laughed again. “No, and I didn’t ask.”
“If he’s plotting a terrorist attack, weren’t you afraid of it being traced back to you?”
“That’s a risk we always take in this line of work, but my involvement was merely as a facilitator. I simply paired him with a seller, a treasurer at a mining company in the Northern Territory who had a surplus that he was trying to get rid of.”
“Where is the attack taking place?”
“That I don’t know.”
“Where did he tell you to have the ANFO shipped?”
“To a warehouse in Alice Springs.” He gave her the address. “The last shipment arrived yesterday morning.”
“So the attack could happen at any time?”
“I suppose so.” He paused. Bedova could see he was trying to decide whether to tell her something else. “It’s obviously in my best interests for you to succeed.”
“You know more?” she asked.
“Colchev may be gone when you arrive.”
“If we miss him in Alice Springs, we may lose him for good, so you better share what you know.”
“I don’t think his ultimate objective is in Alice Springs.”
“Why?”
“Because he asked me to put him in touch with someone in the Baja cartel.”
Now Bedova was even more confused about Colchev’s intentions. “The Mexican drug gang?”
Hull nodded. “And before you ask why, I don’t know.”
Bedova had her suspicions why. If Colchev needed something smuggled into the US, no one had a better system than drug runners.
She leaned forward in her chair. “Did he mention Wisconsin Ave?”
“No.”
This wasn’t making sense. Why would Colchev need Icarus for any of this?
“If you’re lying to me,” she said, “I will find out. Your suppliers will dry up, and your customers will know you are persona non grata.”
Hull put up his hands in acquiescence. “I assure you that’s all I know. If you can’t find him, I think that says more about the Russian intelligence forces than it does about me.”
Bedova looked at him for several seconds. Hull was a skilled liar. If he was holding back, she would never know. But she didn’t think he would give her a false lead.
She stood. “One more thing.”
“Yes?” he said, coming around his desk.
“If you attempt to warn Colchev that we are coming, you won’t live to the end of next week.”
“No need to threaten me, Ms. Bedova. I’m fully invested in your success. Literally.”
She nodded and walked out. While she rode the elevator down, she texted her team.
Find out how quickly we can charter a flight to Alice Springs.
FOURTEEN
“I don’t care what it costs,” Jess said to Tyler and Grant, putting her phone away and taking a seat on the sofa next to Fay. “We need your help.”
While Jess had taken a call, the rest of them had moved to the living room for coffee and gone over Fay’s story twice more. The tale was the same all three times, so Tyler was confident Fay wasn’t lying. Whether she had all the facts right was another matter. Memories could grow hazy over that stretch of time.
Jess seemed surprised that Tyler hadn’t jumped at the chance to join them on their quest. “Come on? What do you say? Want to have an adventure?”
Tyler glanced uncomfortably at Grant, who shrugged as if to say, “Why not?”
“Don’t you think a private detective would be a better choice?” Tyler said. “We’re engineers.”
“But you’re also investigators. Who else would I hire? Some local PI who tracks down ex-husbands late on their child support?”