Kris cheeks reddened. "Um, well, it's therapeutic."
Shelby broke out laughing. "Okaaay."
Kris grinned and shrugged. "What can I say?"
"Nothing. You just said everything." Shelby was still chuckling as she walked away, very happy her reaction to the fleeting kiss was not one sided.
When they arrived in the office, Kris pushed her chair next to Shelby's behind the desk. "Okay, first go to the Russian Embassy."
The analyst brought up the screen. "Okay, now what? Embassy personnel?"
"Yeah. See that guy, Gregor Koslov? He's the second in charge. Remember the night I told you I was outside talking to the guy following us?" When her partner nodded, Kris said, "It was him."
Shelby pointed to a picture. "That guy looks like the man from the grocery store."
"It is. He's officially a driver, but probably does some of their dirty work. He wasn't supposed to follow us into the store. Found that out when I questioned him."
"Then why did he?"
"Wanted some glory."
Kris pointed to Dimitri Pyetsky. "This is the guy I'm gonna bring down. His name is really Sergei Pavlovich Yanov. If the Company had any idea he was in the country, they'd probably grab him and charge him with spying. They'd be right, too."
"When did you find out he was here?"
"I checked this file last week. I wanted to see who was running the show. Never expected to see Sergei."
Shelby nodded and read the short biography on each of the Russians assigned to the embassy. "Now go to Sergei?
"Yeah. You need to understand just how ruthless this guy is. He's very bad news."
Shelby quickly located his file, opened it, and looked at his picture. "He dyed his hair and grew a beard. No wonder no one made the connection."
"He's a master at disguise. This isn't anything compared to what he can do."
She began reading along with Kris. Sergei had distanced himself from the KGB during their reorganization to allow himself more flexibility in accomplishing the goals of the new Russian Federation. He was an expert sniper, highly skilled with knives, and had a black belt in Karate.
He was known to be responsible for the deaths of three operatives and suspected of killing at least ten others. The Russian used any means at his disposal to extract information from captured agents, his favorite method being electrical shock, as evidenced by burns on the bodies of the few operatives that had been found. One agent had managed to survive the torture session, but had been mentally devastated.
It was suspected that he ran the Russian spies in America, but he'd never been spotted in the States. Sergei was also credited with the largest information coup in Russian history when he turned a high level CIA operative.
The full impact of what she'd read hit Shelby, and she realized just how dangerous their foe was. "You weren't kidding."
"No. I wanted you to understand what this guy is like and go into this with open eyes. I can't sit here and lie to you and say, 'Don't worry.' This is going to be really dangerous and if you want to change your mind about helping, I'll understand."
Shelby met Kris' eyes and held them. "I'm with you on this."
"There's one other thing I need to talk to you about." Kris looked away for a moment trying to figure out the best way to explain her own limitations. "Shelby, I will protect you in any way I can, and would give my life for yours in a minute. But...there is always the possibility that something I have no control over could happen...like the other night. If a trained assassin targets someone, and is persistent enough, eventually he or she could get lucky no matter how much protection you have. What I'm trying to say is..."
Shelby linked her fingers with the operative's. "Kris. It's okay. I know what you're saying. I would never hold you responsible if anything happened to me. I trust you to do your best. I know it's dangerous. So relax, okay?"
"Okay." Kris silently vowed to be extra vigilant in the coming days. There were too many unknown elements in the picture. "I'm gonna go see Earl. I'll bring us back some coffee."
"Sounds good. It's my turn to buy." Shelby pulled out a five and handed it to Kris. "I want the house blend."
Kris nodded and accepted the money. "I won't be gone long."
Shelby winked. "Good."
The operative walked out the door grinning, but the smile faded as she walked down the hallway. Inwardly sighing, Kris was careful not to take too deep a breath. The Aleve had taken the edge off the pain, but every time she stood up or moved suddenly, it hurt. She had tried to hide her discomfort from Shelby, but had seen the sympathy clearly reflected in her partner's eyes and knew the analyst wasn't fooled.
She smiled grimly. The beating had just been business as usual, but Sergei had made a huge mistake by turning it personal. Most operatives had a code of honor that wouldn't allow the targeting of innocents. The Russian had broken it and Blue intended to make him pay.
Earl glanced up when Kris walked in. "What's up?"
"Uncover the leak yet?"
"No. Not even a whisper. I've got ears everywhere and no one's heard a thing."
"That's what I figured. How many people know about the case?"
"Hell, I don't know, offhand. You two, me, Jeb, Dennis, Director of Ops, his boss." Earl paused, thinking. "That should be it."
"And secretaries?"
"Not the details, but they know you're here working on a case."
Earl leaned back in his chair. "Have a seat. I was going to call you later, anyway."
"I'd rather stand. I get enough sitting time on this case."
Grinning, Earl said, "Hey, how do you think I feel? We got the ballistics report back this morning. The bullet was too damaged to determine much except that it was fired from a rifle."
Kris raised an eyebrow. "Interesting."
"Care to tell me why?"
"You have to be good to fire a rifle from a moving car unless you have a driver. That bullet just missed. The silver Cavalier might've been coincidental. I could be wrong, but I got the impression there was only one person in the front seat."
"You ruling it out?"
Kris shook her head. "I'm not ruling anything out yet." Switching subjects, she asked, "You remember Michael Benton?"
"How could I forget that bastard?"
"I saw him in the canteen yesterday. Know what he's doing here?"
"No idea. Probably visiting his brother. You knew he was Jeb's brother, right?"
"I'd heard that. Jeb know why Michael was pulled from the field?"
"No, and he'll never know. That whole operation and the ensuing board inquiry have been sealed."
Kris nodded. "Why am I not surprised? I always thought he had friends in high places."
"I've wondered about that, too. Not much I can do about him being here. He is one of ours. How's the case coming? You going to be able to wrap it up by the end of the week?"
"Maybe. We've got nine names left. Just depends on how much time it takes to check each one out."
"Okay. Anything else? I've got a meeting with the Director."
"No, that was it."
Kris turned and left the office. She hadn't expected Earl to provide any answers, but found it interesting that the recovered bullet had been fired from a rifle. A short time later she returned to the office carrying two cups of coffee.
Shelby took the coffee cup and change Kris handed her, setting both down on her desk. "Thanks. Find out anything?"
"Not about the leak or Michael, but the ballistics report came back on the bullet. It was a round from a rifle."
Surprise covered Shelby's face. "I didn't think...I just thought..."
Kris nodded in agreement. "Does your stepfather have a rifle?"
"Not that I know of. He used to go hunting, but I think he borrowed a rifle or else he kept it at someone else's house."
Musing out loud, Kris said, "He spent 4 years in the Army."