“Mister, why are you here telling me this?”

“Because I want you to invite me into your house so I can ask you some things.”

The man shrugged. It was as if he’d gone limp. Lance could read it on his face. Some men were defeated before you ever got to them.

“I just want you to know, I never betrayed my country,” the man said.

“That’s fine by me,” Lance said. “I’m not here about anything like that.”

“I never targeted Americans. The woman, your agent, that was never supposed to happen. She opened fire on me first.”

Lance entered the house. He didn’t bring up the cab driver or the innocent bystander who’d been shot on the street.

“Who’s this?” the mother said from the kitchen.

“It’s nothing, Ma.”

“Why’s he coming in?”

Lance took a seat on the sofa and acted like he didn’t hear her.

“He’s from the VA, Ma.”

“What do they want now?”

“It’s work. I’ll be back in a minute.”

He came into the living room and shut the door to the kitchen.

“You always lived with her?” Lance said.

“Not always. Now what did you want to talk about?”

“You shot my colleague.”

“Like I said. She shot me first. Through the windshield. I had no choice.”

“All the same,” Lance said.

The man sighed.

“So, just so you know,” Lance said, “I’m going to have to make that good.”

“I understand.”

“You understand?”

“I always knew my time would come. You don’t get into this line of work thinking it will end well.”

“No you don’t,” Lance said.

The man looked toward the kitchen door.

“So, what are we dealing with?” Lance said.

“She ain’t dead, if that’s what you’re wondering.”

“Where is she?”

The man sighed again.

“Just tell me.”

“I’ll tell you what. I don’t want to die here today.”

“Well, you lead me to my colleague and maybe it won’t come to that.”

“I never killed Americans. That was the thing I told him. I’d do his dirty work, but I’m not a traitor.”

“Who gave you the orders?”

“Some creep in Moscow. His name’s Timokhin. Fyodor Timokhin.”

“Never heard of him.”

“Sure you have.”

Lance shrugged. “What did he get you to do?”

“Honestly, it was mostly killing other Russians. They have more leaks than a sieve. He had someone he wanted me to take care of every few months.”

“And you did it?”

“Sue me. I fucking did it. It paid.”

“What did he tell you about your target the other night?”

“She was a Russian agent. She was meeting someone. They wanted me to find out who she was meeting.”

“And kill them?”

“I already told you, they opened fire on me first. That was a fuck up.”

“A fuck up?”