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

There was some relief in that. They hadn’t been watching him. Whatever Tatyana had gotten herself involved with, it wasn’t something that implicated him. The top floor knew about it. They’d kept it from him on purpose. That was the only reason he was still alive.

He’d held himself back from accessing the files out of fear.

He had no desire to draw himself into something that could be avoided.

But he knew he was running out of options. He’d stumbled into this and he wasn’t going to be able to stumble back out. His best chance of coming through it alive was to arm himself with as much information as possible.

He left the window and went to the door, half expecting to see Agniya when he opened it, sitting at her desk the way she’d always been, facing him, her computer positioned so he wouldn’t ever see the screen.

He’d surprised the two guards and they shuffled themselves to attention.

“Leave,” he said to them.

He waited for them to shut the door behind them, then sat at Agniya’s desk and powered up the computer.

He pulled up the SQL terminal. This was it. There’d be no turning back from this.

He took a deep breath and entered the username and password she’d given him. The database was encrypted and he had to wait some time before anything happened. After a few minutes, a black screen appeared with a search box in the center, a cursor blinking inside it.

He hesitated another second, took a deep breath, then entered Tatyana’s name.

He hit enter.

Instantly, it found a match.

Identifier: RP_008374

Name: Tatyana Aleksandrova

Loyalty: Russia (compromised)

Agency: Main Directorate

Lead Agent: Igor Aralov

Status: Manhunt in progress. Kill on sight.

Restricted Database

Below the match was a list of entries, literally hundreds of them, going back years. They detailed Tatyana’s every movement down to the finest detail, her operational assignments, transcripts of phone calls, location coordinates taken periodically from her phone. Some of the entries had been made by Agniya, sitting at that very desk, but there were many others. Real field surveillance. Agents had been assigned to follow her, to monitor her every moment, both in Russia and abroad. Bugs had been planted in her apartment and hotel rooms. Drones had been requisitioned to watch her movements from the air. There were even transcripts of her meetings with Igor, meetings that had taken place between the two of them in the privacy of his office.

Agniya truly had betrayed him.

She’d listened to everything.

Everything.

There was a specific date he remembered and he scrolled through the transcripts and found it. He scanned it, looking for the part he was concerned about.