BooksBarbecue
Back The Asset Save as PDF
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

He shook his head. In that moment, none of it mattered, not the virus, not Roth, not the Russians. Not even a plague and a war.

“Laurel,” he said, as she moved to the edge of the chopper.

She stepped out onto the landing skid and was ready to jump. She looked back at him.

“There’s something I never told you,” he said.

“What?”

The chopper jerked and he struggled to stabilize it.

“This is it, Lance.”

“You have to jump now,” he said.

“What did you never tell me, Lance?”

He was focused on the controls.

She looked down again.

She said, “Can’t you get any lower?”

“This thing’s going to go into a spin any second.”

She looked at him a final time, their eyes locked, and then she jumped.

As she fell, she looked up and saw the chopper fall into a tailspin from which there could be no recovery. It was going down, she knew it, and there was no way he was getting out.

78

Tatyana felt very strange, passing through customs at Sheremetyevo airport with a Swiss passport Roth had given her. She kept expecting one of the guards to take her aside and lead her to an interrogation room.

“Purpose of your visit?” the guard said to her at passport control.

“Visiting an old friend,” she said, speaking Russian like a foreigner.

The guard looked at her. She’d altered her appearance, Roth had known exactly what was needed to trick the Russian facial recognition system, and her pulse sped when the guard leaned closer.

“Male or female?” the guard said.

“Excuse me?”

“Your friend.”

“Oh,” she said. “Male.”

“Well, if you don’t mind me saying, your friend is a very lucky man.”

Tatyana smiled. “Not so lucky,” she said as he waved her through.

The airport was north of Moscow and she rented a sleek Mercedes from one of the desks in the arrival hall. In Moscow, it never hurt to have a car that made you look important.

From the airport, she drove directly to the address Roth had given her. It was for a cheap hotel north of the city center. She parked outside, went through the lobby straight to the room number he’d given her, and knocked on the door.

79

Sofia sat by the window and gazed out. Mist gathered around the streetlights and gave the night a dull, depressing air. A blood red Mercedes pulled up beneath one of the lights and she admired the woman who stepped out. She reminded her of Audrey Hepburn, with her stylish coat and an Hermes silk scarf in her hair.

The hotel was in a poor neighborhood, an area for bootleggers and black marketeers. If you wanted a fake Gucci purse, or DVDs of old Sylvester Stallone movies, it was the place.

The room itself was functional, clean enough, with two twin beds and a bathroom with shower, but Sofia and Olga were beginning to get restless.