Buslenko went through all the intelligence they had on Vitrenko and his operation. Buslenko told his team that Vitrenko was believed to have his base in Cologne, and still controlled much of the vice in Hamburg. The scope of his operation was vast, covering everything from luxury car rings to protection to electronic fraud. Buslenko wound up the briefing by laying out a map of Cologne marked with the three properties from which they would run their operation; a second map highlighted known Vitrenko-controlled operations. He then handed each member of the team a folder containing their individual mission objectives and responsibilities.

‘By the way, Vitrenko would kill you for the information you now have in your hands. He is desperate to find out how much has leaked to us from the Molokov side of his organisation and from other sources. He is on a traitor hunt.’

‘Is this everything we have on him?’ asked Olga Sarapenko. She was sitting by the lodge’s window and the light accentuated the blue of her eyes. When Sasha had recommended that she be brought on board Buslenko had seen the value, but now he found increasingly that her beauty distracted him.

‘That’s everything we’ve been given,’ he said abruptly. ‘The Germans have more information. A lot more, probably, but they are reluctant to share it with us. Like most Westerners they believe “Ukrainian” is synonymous with “crooked”. They’re worried about leaks.’

‘You can’t entirely blame them,’ said Olga. ‘We could have nailed Vitrenko in Kiev if Peotr Samolyuk hadn’t sold us out.’

Buslenko nodded, but he still found it difficult to believe that the Spetsnaz officer had betrayed them for money.

‘Before we wind this up,’ he said, ‘there are two wild cards in the pack that you should know about. They’re not likely to be an issue, but it’s best that you’re aware of them.’ He clicked the mouse. ‘This is Senior Criminal Commissar Maria Klee of the Polizei Hamburg … and this …’ he clicked the mouse again, ‘is her boss, Principal Chief Commissar Jan Fabel, chief of the Hamburg murder squad. These two are the only people to have come close to nailing Vitrenko. The price they paid included Vitrenko using Klee as a delaying tactic, leaving her with a near-fatal wound that Fabel had to deal with. And Vitrenko left two dead cops behind him.’

‘But you don’t think they’re still after Vitrenko?’ asked Olga Sarapenko.

‘The price you pay for coming close to Vitrenko is high,’ Buslenko said, closing the lid of his laptop. ‘Jan Fabel has quit the police and Maria Klee is a basket case.’

8.