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

Transcript

Igor Aralov: You know what I want.

Tatyana Aleksandrova: The same thing everyone wants.

Igor Aralov: And you want to give it to me?

Tatyana Aleksandrova: I want to serve my country.

Igor Aralov: Then come closer, my dear. If you want to serve your country, this is the best way.

Tatyana Aleksandrova: [Indistinct].

Igor Aralov: Don't be shy.

Tatyana Aleksandrova: Like this?

Igor Aralov: That’s it, my dear. You know how.

Tatyana Aleksandrova: You like that?

Igor Aralov: Yes.

Tatyana Aleksandrova: [Indistinct] Oh, baby. [Indistinct].

Igor Aralov: Oh god, oh god.

Restricted Database

Igor felt his face redden. He’d taken liberties with many of the women under his power, but that was the only time he’d done it with Tatyana. For some reason, he hadn’t ever been able to bring himself to repeat it. It brought him too much embarrassment when he looked at her afterward, too much shame.

But he knew that wasn’t the encounter that would matter to the top floor. They’d marked the ones they were interested in with red flags, including Tatyana’s most recent trips to Istanbul and New York.

Igor ordered the entries chronologically and opened the very first file on the list. There was a red flag next to it.

Identifier: CI_050303

Target: Tatyana Aleksandrova

Agency: Main Directorate

Location: Hotel Europa, Damascus, Syria

Restricted Database

This was the oldest thing they had on her. He checked the date. It was four days later that Igor’s actions with his secretary had gotten him into trouble and the top floor assigned Agniya to his desk.

This was the reason.

If anything marked the beginning of Tatyana’s downfall, the beginning of her being put onto the radar of whatever agency had created this database, it was this incident.

And it was a mission Igor had sent her on. Her first overseas mission. He remembered it clearly. It had been a complete failure. The target was a Syrian military commander, a nasty piece of work named Hammoud Hassan, and Tatyana came back empty handed, reporting that she hadn’t been able to get the man to so much as look at her. That had surprised Igor. He remembered being suspicious about it. Hassan had a well-documented fondness for prostitutes. Dark features like Tatyana’s were his favorite. For her to completely fail to even catch his eye didn’t add up.

He remembered thinking that maybe Tatyana wasn’t cut out for the job. It wasn’t unusual in their business for a girl to lose her nerve. Some of them just weren’t built for it. Her being so new at the time, with so few successful jobs to her credit, made him question her abilities, her commitment to the cause.