“I have a sneaking suspicion we’re dealing with two groups tonight. Pulled by the same strings,” said Berg.

“When we run the photos taken of the group that boxed you in by the intersection, my money is on matching a few of the faces to Russian embassy or consulate employees from DC and New York City. The rest are probably nonofficial cover types. Tourists flown in for this job or Russian nationals that work or study in the US. That’s the new thing. No need to build up an alias to run missions in the US. All you need is a nonimmigrant visa, which isn’t hard to come by.”

“This felt like more of an assassination team,” said Devin. “And not a subtle one.”

“Not a good one, either,” said Rich. “Neither of you should have made it out of the car. You certainly shouldn’t have been able to take out the entire team that pulled up behind you.”

“We managed just fine,” said Marnie. “For a while, at least.”

“My friend has a point,” said Berg. “They threw a junior varsity team at you. Probably all they could put together at the moment. They thought it would be enough, but you surprised them. Unlike Rich, I give credit where credit is due.”

“Some consolation,” said Marnie.

“So if they saw the two of us walk into the town house together, why didn’t they try to take us both out?” said Devin. “What good am I dead, when someone else obviously knows about their secret plot?”

“They just wanted your phone,” said Rich. “They could have hacked your location data and figured out where your mother’s apartment is located. That’s why one of them grabbed it in the middle of a gun battle.”

“Makes sense,” said Devin. “Then what about the other team?”

“I’ve been trying to put my finger on this,” said Berg. “The team that has been following you—”

“And me,” said Marnie.

“And you,” said Berg, pausing as though he might say he was sorry. “That team looked and acted old school. I mean, all in their mid- to late fifties? They’ve been around for a while, probably doing low-level stuff to stay off the radar. SVR or GRU illegals planted right after the Soviet Union collapsed, probably in the early nineties—when our guard was down.”

“Still is down,” said Rich.

“Good point,” said Berg.

“This is kind of odd,” said Devin, remembering the crew he put in the hospital a couple of weeks ago. “I think I’ve run into this crew before.”

“The group following you?” asked Berg.