If he’d really been her target, ending things this abruptly might cause a little suspicion, but what did she care? The GRU had their kompromat. He’d learn soon enough what this had been about.

“What’s the rush?” he said.

She was applying underarm deodorant.

“I usually charge a thousand,” she said.

Goldin laughed. “What?”

“A Russian never works for free,” she said.

“I thought that was all you did.”

She smiled thinly. “You thought wrong.”

She was putting on her tights and he said, “I don’t have a thousand dollars.”

She shrugged. “Then get it. You can leave it in an envelope with the concierge. Room 4546. A thousand. Plus tip.”

“What is this?”

“What do you think it is?”

“In this country, we usually negotiate the price up front.”

“Well, you didn’t seem in the mood for negotiations when you had your tongue down my throat,” she said.

He couldn’t believe it. She was a real piece of work.

“What if I don’t pay?” he said.

She smiled again. “Someone who works for a senator would never walk out on a bill like this.”

“You slut,” he said.

She raised a hand. “Don’t make me angry, Sheldon. It won’t go well for you.”

He had to admit, he was impressed. It was effective. It would get him out of the room. It would piss him off but looked legit. And it would give her an envelope of cash. Something Moscow didn’t know about. She did that enough times, she could build up a nice little nest egg. That had to be useful to someone in her position.

It also reminded him of something he’d heard about Stalin once.

“Is it true,” he said, “that during the Stalin years, when the government killed someone, they sent the family a bill for the bullet?”

Tatyana looked at him for a second. “I thought you’d never been to Russia.”

“I haven’t.”

She pursed her lips. He shouldn’t have said anything.

“It’s a myth,” she said.

“It doesn’t feel like a myth.”

“That was the Chinese.”

“Really?”

“A bullet fee. The Chinese did it. And the Iranians.”

“But not Stalin?”

“You want to know about Stalin? Here’s some advice.”

Goldin looked at her. She had an answer to everything. He was genuinely sorry he had to kill her.

“Stalin said, if you’re afraid of wolves, keep out of the forest.”

Goldin chuckled. He wasn’t going to antagonize her. He needed her to feel like she was in control, that everything was going according to plan. He didn’t want to give her any reason not to make her rendezvous.

“A thousand’s kind of steep, don’t you think?” he said as he got dressed.

“Don’t be cheap,” Tatyana said, holding the door for him. “You did pretty well for yourself tonight.”

“You want me to leave the money with the concierge?”