BooksBarbecue
Back The Asset
Chapters (86)
  1. Foreword
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. 5
  7. 6
  8. 7
  9. 8
  10. 9
  11. 10
  12. 11
  13. 12
  14. 13
  15. 14
  16. 15
  17. 16
  18. 17
  19. 18
  20. 19
  21. 20
  22. 21
  23. 22
  24. 23
  25. 24
  26. 25
  27. 26
  28. 27
  29. 28
  30. 29
  31. 30
  32. 31
  33. 32
  34. 33
  35. 34
  36. 35
  37. 36
  38. 37
  39. 38
  40. 39
  41. 40
  42. 41
  43. 42
  44. 43
  45. 44
  46. 45
  47. 46
  48. 47
  49. 48
  50. 49
  51. 50
  52. 51
  53. 52
  54. 53
  55. 54
  56. 55
  57. 56
  58. 57
  59. 58
  60. 59
  61. 60
  62. 61
  63. 62
  64. 63
  65. 64
  66. 65
  67. 66
  68. 67
  69. 68
  70. 69
  71. 70
  72. 71
  73. 72
  74. 73
  75. 74
  76. 75
  77. 76
  78. 77
  79. 78
  80. 79
  81. 80
  82. 81
  83. 82
  84. 83
  85. 84
  86. Afterword

“Vasily Ustinov. Second in command there.”

“Dagestan.”

“Yeah, but go for the woman first.”

“Good fighters in Dagestan.”

“The woman’s our best bet.”

“You’re sure of that?”

“Someone got that vial to Tatyana. My bet is it was her.”

“We’ll see.”

“It beats walking in and blowing shit up, as you put it.”

“All right,” Lance said. “And you got the schematics there?”

“As much as we could find.”

Lance looked at Roth. The old man looked like he was struggling with the situation. As far as Lance knew, there had never been a breach of Roth’s system before. Not in all the years the group had been in operation. There would be repercussions.

“Hey,” Lance said. “They can’t be thinking of shutting you down. Not with this going on?”

“I don’t know what they’re thinking,” Roth said. “The president spends all his time with Mansfield now, and Mansfield has been trying to eat up our operation for years.”

“Yeah, but Mansfield’s a blowhard. If he gets the job, the Russians will walk all over us. The president knows that,” Lance said.

“Times have changed, Lance. Mansfield’s the top dog now. And if he gets his way, the CIA will be relegated to a second tier agency. And my group will be the first thing he cuts.”

“They can’t replace you that easily,” Lance said.

Roth nodded. “We’ll see,” he said.

Lance finished his coffee. “I’ll go to Yekaterinburg. But you find Laurel. I’m not coming home without her.”

“All right.”

“I mean it. I could give a shit about the rest of it. I want her out. She deserves that much from us.”

“I’ll find her, Lance,” Roth said. “You have my word. By the time you’re done in Yekaterinburg, I’ll have a location for you.”

Lance nodded. “And get the other assets there too. We’re going to need all the firepower we can get.”

48

Tatyana had a fever. She had to clean her wound every few hours. She woke frequently during the night, and didn’t always know where she was.

Twice, she heard footsteps outside her door and reached for her gun. Both times it was just hookers plying their trade.

In the backpack she had antibiotics, weapons, cash, and clean ID.

When morning finally came, she went into the bathroom and examined the wound carefully. Thankfully, it looked like it was going to heal.

But she still needed rest.

There was a kettle in the room and she made herself some tea. Then she sat on the bed, sipping it, and thinking.

This was it, she thought. The time had come. She’d always known, somewhere deep down, that eventually she’d be on the outside. The things she did at the GRU, the people she’d killed, the men she’d pleasured. She’d been in survival mode her entire life.

And this was her act of defiance.