“Why do you think I am a hero?”
“I was read in on your dossier to prep for the op. As I studied you, it felt like I was reading my own history. You spend a lot of years doing your thing for the USA, snappin’ necks and cashing checks, and this is the thanks you get? The shoot-on-sight against you is bullshit. I could no more be involved in your assassination than I could in my own. We’re both good guys in a bad world.” He held his shot glass out for Court to clink it. “Two brothers.”
Court did not reach for his glass. Instead he asked, “Did you tell this Babbitt guy about these reservations of yours concerning the shoot-on-sight?”
“Fuck no. They would have just fired me as unreliable, and they would have sent someone else. Court, I’m not looking for a pat on the back, but if I hadn’t been the guy here in Tallinn tonight, you’d be dead.”
“Thank you.” Court said it flatly. He was having a hard time understanding this man’s motivation. The cynic in him could not allow himself to believe Russ had gone through all this just because he thought Court was being treated unfairly.
“You’re welcome,” said Russ. Then, “I’ve got to admit, I’m surprised to see the tremor.”
“The tremor?”
“In your hand. As much action as you’ve seen, I didn’t think it would affect you like that.”
“Just cold,” Court said again.
“I don’t get the shakes,” Russ declared. “Never did really. All the shit I’ve been through.” He held his right hand up over the table. “Nothing. The Agency had me tested. My blood pressure stays low through high-stress events; my pulse is unaffected. It gives me an advantage in combat.”
“Lucky you.”
“What’s your secret? I’ve read over your ops. How do you survive everything that has been thrown your way?”
Court shrugged. “I don’t have any superpowers like you, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“Don’t sell yourself short. I’ve seen the after-action report on Kiev.”
“Kiev?”
“Oh, please.”
Court said nothing.
“The analysts at CIA don’t believe you did the Kiev op alone. I don’t believe you’d work with anyone else.” Russ waited for a response, but when none came he said, “So I think you did it alone. But, I have to admit, I don’t have a fucking clue how you did it.”
“I didn’t do it at all,” Court replied.
Russ rolled his eyes. “You can tell me. Confidentially, of course. C’mon. Satisfy my curiosity to pay me back for pulling your ass out of the fire tonight.”
Court just shook his head. “I wasn’t involved with the Kiev thing. I’m always getting blamed for shit I didn’t do.”
Russ stared at Court a long time, but finally he let it go with a sigh, finished his drink and reached for the bottle of Redbreast. Court thought he was going to pour another, but he pulled the bottle to him, then grabbed the cork from the table and closed it.
“We need to scoot.” Russ pulled out his phone. “If you give me your number, we can get in touch tomorrow.”
“Look, I appreciate what you just did. I don’t understand it, but I appreciate it. But I don’t know you. Why the hell would I give you a way to trace me?”
Russ put his phone down; he did not seem surprised by Gentry’s reluctance to give Russ a way to contact him. With a shrug he reached into his backpack, pulled out a scrap of paper, and handed it across the table. Court opened it and found a fourteen-digit phone number written in pencil. Below it was a website URL.
“What’s this?”
“My phone number and a link to MobileCrypt. It’s an app you load on your phone. It’s how I can keep from being listened in on or traced. You can do the same thing, and you can be sure I don’t know what phone you are using or where you are calling from. We’ll go our separate ways right now, but call me tomorrow, as soon as you’re clear of the area.”
Court put the paper in his pocket. “You want to catch a movie or something?”
Russ pressed down on the bandaging covering his hip to mute the pain that grew there. “Look, here is what’s going to happen. I leave here, skip town, find a secure location, and then I call in to Townsend House.”
Court was surprised by this. “I am not exactly an expert on good employee/employer relations, but I think your boss is going to be pissed about you killing a bunch of your coworkers.”
“I’ll be fine. And in order to keep you safe from them, I’ve got to work within the system. They are going to be after you with a bunch of bodies and a ton of high-tech shit. You check in with me and I’ll keep you informed on their hunt.”
Court almost yelled his next question. “Why? Why are you making it your job to protect me?”
“Because very soon I’m going to leave Townsend. I have something on the horizon, something big, and it does not involve them. I could use your help, and it’s your kind of job.”
Court’s eyebrows rose. “Ah. Now comes the sales pitch.”
Whitlock said, “Yes. I do have a sales pitch for you. Let’s work together. You and me. Fucking unstoppable.”
“I retired after the Sidorenko hit.” Court wanted to immediately quell Dead Eye’s enthusiasm for this stupid idea.
“Bullshit. That’s just nerves talking. You’re a little burned out, but you won’t leave the game until you make peace with CIA or catch a round to the brain stem, whichever comes first. No, this is in your blood, same as me.
“Let me ask you something. You ever feel like you’re swimming against the tide?”
Yes, Court thought. That was exactly how he felt.
“Go on.”
“You’ve made more enemies in the past couple of years as a freelancer than you ever did working for Langley. But what you’re doing is important. I know you are looking for the next righteous op. I know your objective is to do good. To fight the good fight.” Russ put his hand over his heart. “That’s me, too. I want to be a part of that.”
Court remained cynical. “And we split the take? No thanks.”
Russ shook his head adamantly. “Don’t bullshit me, dude. You aren’t in this for the money, and neither am I. We can do good, man. Twice as much as you could alone. We need to stick together.”
Court rolled his eyes. “Like Batman and Robin?”
Russ snapped back angrily, “I’m not talking about some Batman and Robin shit. We operate independently, of course. I am just talking about coordination. We can watch out for each other, help each other.”
Court did not respond.
Russ said, “Anyway, call me tomorrow when you’re clear. We’ll talk about details. You owe me that.”
Court took out the paper with the phone number on it for a moment, then slid it into his fleece. “Fair enough.”
Whitlock eyed Gentry’s face long and hard. Looking for any signs of deception. He smiled a little, then stuck out his hand, and Court shook it.
Both men were back out in the snow a few minutes later, separating in the dark, running away from a dawn and a manhunt that was only just beginning.
EIGHTEEN
Mossad targeting officer Ruth Ettinger turned away from the path in front of her and leaned her face close to the face of the man sitting next to her on the park bench. He moved in as well, and their lips closed to within a half-inch separation. She shut her eyes and brushed her lips against his playfully, and they kissed, lovers accustomed to each other’s every move and every thought. Her tongue reached out and brushed the inside of his mouth before she pulled away an inch, slid her fingers into the hair behind his neck, and opened her eyes with a soft smile.