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

Together, they trudged through the forest, leaving footprints in the snow.

“Where does it lead?” Piotr said.

The moon was out and the sky was so clear Laurel thought she’d never seen stars so bright.

“See for yourself,” she said, pointing ahead.

A few hundred yards up the path was a clearing. It formed a simple airstrip, and in the center of it was a small plane. The lights of the plane were on and illuminated the runway, where two men in pilot’s uniforms were inspecting the snow. They carried flashlights and snow shovels.

Piotr was about to raise a hand in greeting when Laurel stopped him.

“Wait,” she said.

They crouched down and crept closer to the plane, staying out of sight of the pilots.

When they reached the plane, Laurel pulled herself up to the cockpit and opened the door. Two women were in the passenger cabin, huddled under blankets trying to keep warm.

One of them had a gun pointed at Laurel.

“Whoa,” Laurel said.

“Who are you?” the woman said in Russian.

“I’m Laurel Everlane. Roth sent me.”

The woman lowered the gun.

“Who are you?” Laurel said.

The woman looked relieved. “My name is Sofia Ivanovna,” she said. “This is my friend, Olga.”

“Are we cleared to take off?” Laurel said.

“I think so. As long as it doesn’t start snowing again we should be all right.”

Laurel nodded. She could see that Lance wasn’t there, not that she’d allowed herself to get her hopes up. She’d seen the way that chopper went down. She refused to think about it, but she knew no one could survive that.

She wouldn’t be seeing Lance Spector again.

84

Tatyana finally saw someone walk toward the building.

She could tell immediately it was Igor. She would have recognized that silhouette a million miles away. He walked up to the door, looked over his shoulder, then let himself in.

She threw her cigarette out the window and checked her gun.

She was in Tverskaya, one of the better neighborhoods in the city, and there was a fair amount of foot traffic on the sidewalk. The building was solid. It had a certain utilitarian, Stalinist charm to it, and was expensive enough to afford a guard in the lobby.

Tatyana decided to wait for Igor to come back down. She knew he’d be coming back down. There was no way he was going to settle in for the night, not after what had happened at the Kremlin. He was home only to get something, and she prayed she was correct in what she thought that something was.