Kornev looked away from Kara’s angry eyes. He decided that looking back down at his cuffs was easier than the fire flashing like lightning in her eyes.
Kara continued, “But now I’m not the one who’s going to be doing the talking — you are.”
Kara pressed the RECORD button on her cellphone she recovered from the plane, and said, “I want you to tell me who killed my parents.”
“I don’t know who killed your parents,” Victor said defensively, as if the mere suggestion was beneath him.
“Beeeeep, wrong answer,” Kara said, making a game show buzzer sound. “Two more wrong answers, or two more non-answers, and the game is over,” Kara told Kornev.
“What are you going to do, kill me?” Kornev asked, fear lacing his voice.
Kara thought he sounded more scared than angry.
“Wait one second,” Kara said, getting to her feet. She began walking down the tunnel. It was a long tunnel, and it took her a little time to reach the end. She followed the light cord until it terminated where it was plugged into an outlet. She pulled the plug from the wall and immediately plunged the tunnel into complete blackness.
Kornev was preparing to yell words of protest until he saw the flashlight from Kara’s cellphone snap on. She was walking back towards him. A moment later, she sat.
“You know, I really don’t believe in Heaven,” she told Kornev in a matter-of-fact tone. “But I’m good with that because I don’t really believe in Hell either. But if I did believe in Hell, I wouldn’t really buy into the fire and brimstone version we have been told exists. You know, like the center of the earth, with hot molten lava and all that crap. Hell, to me is emptiness. Hell, to me is eternal complete darkness and eternal consciousness. Hell, to me is loneliness, like not having a family — like the family you stole from me. I think Hell would be a lot like this.”
Kara turned off her cellphone’s light, and the tunnel eclipsed into total darkness…again.
Speaking in the darkness, Kara asked Kornev, “What does your Hell look like, Victor?”
Kornev said nothing.
Kara said softly, “Being down here is almost like being buried alive. Remember when you told me that you could scream and scream or even shoot a gun down here, and no one would hear you? Well, I believe you. Being down here like this is like being buried alive, and no one knows you are here.”
Kara stopped talking and just listened. Maybe she heard the faint rumble from a car passing on the street somewhere. She could feel a tiny vibration in the soil. It was almost nothing.
Kara said, “You asked me if I was going to kill you. To answer your question, the answer is no. But if you don’t tell me what I want to know, I’m going to leave you down here.”
Kara snapped back on her flashlight so she could see his reaction. It wasn’t pretty. Kornev looked as though he had seen a ghost — or very soon would see one.
“You don’t like that idea, do you?” Kara smiled. “Yeah, this is your version of Hell, too. I can tell.”
Kara pressed the RECORD button on her phone and said to Kornev, “So this is what I need from you. First, I know most of the locations of many of your safe houses and gun stashes and go-bags around the world. As you may not know, ever since I met you back at the hotel in Volna, I bugged your phone. The CIA has been getting a dump of your texts, phone calls, e-mails — basically all the business you’ve conducted on it for months. But, I want you to tell me all the locations and
addresses just the same. If you miss any of the safe houses or go-bags I already know about, then it’s bye-bye, nighty-night for Victor.”
Kara switched back off her phone’s light and waited. Kornev said nothing, so Kara made sounds like she was getting back to her feet.
Kornev began to talk and provided a long stream of countries and cities and addresses. When he was done, he stopped talking, and Kara turned back on the light.
She said, “Second, I want to know not only the group who was responsible for killing my parents, but I want to know the name of the person as well who pulled the trigger on the missile.”
Kara waited patiently for Kornev to spill his guts.
“I don’t know the name of the man who killed your parents,” Kornev said.
Kara shut off the light again and moved her feet around on the dirty floor.
“I don’t know the name of the man, but I know the name of the leader of the jihadi’s sect. And that man knows the name of the person you want.”
“And what is the name of the sect and the name of their leader?”
Kornev told her.
“The last thing I need to know is the phone number of your friend. You know, the doctor that we visited here in Termez.”
Kara got back to her feet, turning back on the light.
“Why do you want that information?”
“Well, someone has to let you out of here, don’t they?” Kara said with a smile.
“How long are you going to leave me here?”
“Wrong answer,” Kara said, turning off the light.
Realizing that it was in his best interest to provide Kara with the information she requested, Kornev quickly recited his friend’s phone number. Kara pressed the button on her phone to stop the recording.
She didn’t thank Kornev for the information. Instead, she requested his car keys, cellphone and wallet. Kornev awkwardly reached into his front and back pockets, producing the items. Kara took them from his cuffed hands. Kara put her phone up in front of her, so the light was shining on her face. She wanted to make sure that Kornev could clearly see her.
“You’re a slimeball, Victor, and I wish I had the green light to kill you. And believe me, I would do it in a New York minute. You need to understand that Marshall Hail wants you dead, even more than I do, if that’s possible. If I give Hail the go-ahead some quiet night a flying mechanical mosquito would bite your arm. Within minutes, or maybe after days of suffering, you would die. I advise you to against trying to find me. Also, don’t tell the CIA or Hail what you know. As far as you know, I got back on the first plane out of this God-forsaken place. Do you understand?”
She couldn’t see Kornev nod in the semidarkness.
She began to walk towards the end of the tunnel.
“Wait!” Kornev called after her. “I told you what you wanted to know. Cut me loose.”
Kara kept walking and yelled down the hall, “I’ve got the phone number of your doctor friend here in Termez. Once I’m safely out of the country, I’ll give him a ring and have him come get you. Until then, chill out.”
At the end of the tunnel, Kara began climbing the stairs.
She felt a wetness on her face and realized they were her own tears, and she didn’t understand why. She wasn’t particularly sad, but this deviation from the norm would not go unnoticed or unpunished by her boss. At this point, there was no going back to who she had been for the better part of her life. And Kara realized she was finally adapting to this new lifestyle. Before The Five, she had been a pampered daughter living in a loving and supportive family attending college. When that life had been erased by Kornev and his clientele, she had become a CIA loner. Now, she could scratch out the letters CIA, and she could simply be referred to as a loner. Being a loner was, well, lonely. Maybe the tears reflected an understanding she was now all alone and very well would live a solitary life from this point forth.
Once Kara had reached the garage, she wiped the tears from her face with the back of her hand. She set both her cellphone and Kornev’s cellphone behind the Hummer’s back tires. She climbed into the Hummer, opened the garage door and backed out, crushing both cellphones. This removed the only link to anyone who still cared about her. Kara turned toward the airport, and she hit the gas in hopes she wouldn’t have to wait long for a plane destined for anywhere but Uzbekistan.