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

“Who blackmailed me,” the man said.

“Did she have any defining features?”

“What do you mean?”

“What did she look like?”

“She had dark hair, dark eyes.”

“What else?”

“What do you mean, what else?”

“You know, in bed.”

The man thought for a second and said, “She had a birthmark.”

“Where?”

“Inner thigh.”

“Which thigh.”

“I don’t remember, I swear.”

“How big was it?”

“About the size of a bottle cap. Looked a little bit like a heart. I thought it was attractive.”

Lance’s phone started ringing. He picked it up and the man made a move. He leapt to his feet like a panther and dove into Lance’s torso. Lance brought an elbow down onto his head as he fell backwards onto the bed. The man was on top of him and they struggled for position until the man managed to get his hands on Lance’s throat.

Lance swung his body around the man and got him in a choke hold between his thighs. He held him, deadly tight, and felt the man get weaker and weaker. After about five minutes the man wasn’t struggling anymore.

Lance checked his pulse. He was alive but unconscious.

Lance checked his phone and saw the call had been from Roth. He called him back.

“Someone just tried to kill me,” Lance said.

“What?”

“Two guys. My apartment. They attacked in the elevator.”

“How did they find you?”

“I don’t know, Roth. I was going to ask you that.”

“Listen,” Roth said, his voice frail with stress. “We’re in free fall. You’re on your own.”

“What do you mean?”

“Do what we discussed. Go to Russia. Take out these bastards. The group’s been compromised. Don’t contact anyone at Langley.”

“What do you want me to do with this guy?”

“What guy?”

“This guy they sent. He’s still alive.”

51

Igor felt as if all the oxygen had suddenly been sucked from the room. He looked at the screen.

The Dead Hand.

Evgraf Davidov.

He’d suddenly entered very dangerous territory. The Dead Hand was something people in Igor’s position knew about, but no one ever talked about it. It was a part of the Russian intelligence community that even senior GRU officers were afraid to mention. Its existence had never been officially acknowledged.

And the reason was simple. Talking about the Dead Hand, or showing any kind of interest in its activities, was a death sentence.

In normal military parlance, a dead hand was an autonomous defense system, something that activated automatically, even if the people responsible for it had all been killed.