“Rumors,” said Berg, shrugging.

He got the hint. Time to change the subject.

“I assume Marnie is clear to book the Airbnb?” asked Devin.

Berg looked as though the question had caught him off guard.

“Yes. They ran a passive radio frequency sweep of her vehicle and actively pinged for a possible long-haul device. Her Jeep is clean. They watched the coffee shop, followed her to Whole Foods, and one of the operatives ghosted her inside the store. Nothing. She can proceed with the booking. Let her know they need the address as soon as she has it. They’ll likely get there ahead of her to watch for any suspicious activity while she’s checking the place out with the owner and immediately afterward.”

“They’re extremely thorough,” said Devin. “That’s for sure.”

“They’re extremely paranoid and thorough. That’s how they stay alive in this business,” said Berg. “Which brings us to the most important condition of my continued participation and theirs.”

Devin cocked his head a bit. He wasn’t going to like what Berg had to say. That much was obvious from his tone and the fact that he’d waited this long to give an ultimatum he probably could have led with last night at dinner.

“What’s the condition?”

“We do this my way,” said Berg. “I don’t say that because I’m a control freak. I say that because I’ve learned a thing or two about the Russians over the years. One of them being that they don’t play by the rules or respect any conventions. You leave the rule books and the referee manuals behind when you’re dealing with the Russians.”

“Fine,” said Devin.

“It’s not that simple,” said Berg. “Some of the time, my way will not resemble your way—at all. In fact, I can guarantee you we will reach a point, at least once or twice, where you find my way to be the antithesis of everything you thought you stood for. You’ll be repulsed by it, but it will be the only way to effectively deal with the Russians.”

“I think I understand,” said Devin.

“You can’t, yet,” said Berg. “I just need you to trust me when your instincts are screaming otherwise. Once we reach a certain point in this little venture, we can’t turn back without catastrophic results for everyone.”

Devin didn’t need to ask what that meant. It certainly didn’t mean standing in the unemployment line with a black mark on your résumé. It meant ending up facedown in the Chesapeake Bay with your throat slashed or buried in a field somewhere off the beaten path with a bullet hole in your forehead. He asked the next logical question.

“When do we reach that point?”