“Back to the Wilson scenario. If Kozlov indeed passed his name, he would have done it for the express purpose of exposing SITE ZERO. Wilson oversaw the program for most of its years,” said the general.

“But she never found it,” said Pichugin.

“Exactly. She nosed around the lakes for several years, but never located it,” said the general.

“Remind me again why we didn’t kill her years ago?”

“Because she was kicked out of the CIA for obsessing over a possible Russian sleeper conspiracy. We were afraid that her untimely death might trigger a serious look into her theory,” said the general. “And we never got any real indication that she’d uncovered any of the FIREBIRD families outside of the two names she had been given. She’d vanish for weeks at a time, but nobody reported anything unusual. Not even Wilson.”

“I think we might have underestimated her,” said Pichugin.

“On some level, yes. Which brings me to the worst-case scenario, which I don’t believe is in play—but we have to consider,” said the general. “Kozlov gave her the whole list.”

“I don’t think so,” said Pichugin. “The CIA would have taken a list like that seriously. They would have investigated the families, like the other two, and determined they had a serious Russian sleeper agent problem on their hands. There’s no indication that this occurred. Helen Gray was working alone when she kidnapped Wilson.”

“Agreed. I think we need to assume that Helen Gray discovered Wilson on her own years ago, based on some publicly available connection to one of the two names Kozlov provided,” said the general. “And that she eventually figured out the greater pattern that the CIA overlooked—the kids. She could start a list of politicians or government types that fit the age group and work backward.”

“No evidence of grandparents,” said Pichugin.

“A dead giveaway. Not conclusive, but a start,” said the general. “My guess is that she’d put together a list and wanted to run some names by Donald Wilson.”

“The timing couldn’t be worse. We’re too close to the endgame to have this unravel on us,” said Pichugin. “I want you to alert the entire FIREBIRD network. Basic surveillance and security precautions for now. We have to assume that other FIREBIRD assets have been identified by Devin Gray and his new friends.”

“I’ll instruct Gusev to send the alert when I get back to Moscow,” said the general. “We’ll also bring US National Security Agency and law enforcement support on board to locate Gray for your mercenary team.”

Gusev ran one of the most tightly guarded secrets in Russia from a nameless, ultrasecure compound on a sprawling estate west of Moscow—known only as CONTROL to the agents it directed in the United States.

“Contact Gusev from my secure line, after we finish lunch,” said Pichugin. “We need to get the ball rolling on this.”