Rags occupied a lot of space in a far corner, from which it had access from several directions. The signs were modest, but the prices were not. Large brown easy chairs were scattered about, with magazines on tables, to help husbands wait while their ladies tried on different outfits and were tended with care by professional seamstresses and the sales staff.
Swanson told the woman at the cash register in front that he had an appointment with the owner, and Anneli repeated the request in Estonian. They were pointed to a hallway cluttered with racks of garments. The door at the end opened and a willowy blonde sailed out on a big smile, calling out loud enough for others to hear, “Kyle! You are a scoundrel for not calling me earlier! And Anneli, too! How delightful to see you again. Both of you get in here.” She threw her arms around Kyle and leaned close enough to whisper, “I’m Calico.”
She hustled them into the office and shut the door, then turned to Anneli, and her character changed. “Oh, you poor girl. You poor thing,” Calico said as she wrapped the bewildered girl close to her in a hug. “You poor, poor thing. You are safe now. You are safe.” The tight, protective wall that Anneli had built around her emotions since the previous afternoon burst at the outpouring of sympathy, and the two women clung together, crying. Calico stroked the girl as if comforting a kitten.
She was tall, even taller in her stylish heels, and wore a soft cotton dress of Spanish blue that touched two inches above the knees. A gold wedding band twinkled on her left hand. She let the weeping Anneli cry for two full minutes before releasing her and guiding her to a sofa. Calico sat beside her, still holding her hand, but turned to business.
“We don’t have much time. I want to get Anneli under cover as fast as possible. A bit more advance warning would have been helpful.”
“There was no time. It is what it is.” He had skimmed the office while the women were in consolation mode and noticed that beside the trappings of a busy business in the clothing trade, there were no personal mementoes, family pictures, diplomas or certificates on the walls or the shelves. “Who are you?”
“My name is Jan Hollings, and I was given only a short brief by our people here and from Helsinki last night. Your reputation is that you are a package of problems, Swanson. You like to work alone, even if it screws everybody else.”
Kyle took another chair and leaned forward. “I get results. Plus, Anneli here was worth my trip to Narva. She is a brave and very intelligent kid who has already figured out that we are with the Central Intelligence Agency.”
Anneli finished dabbing her eyes with a paper tissue. “Are you with the CIA, too, Mrs. Hollings?”
Calico gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. “Call me Jan, and yes, I am. Does that bother you, dear?”
The dark-haired girl’s lips were in a tight line and her eyes were pools of determination. “No. Not at all. Will you help me find my boyfriend?”
“I cannot promise that we will be successful, but I can promise that we will try to find Brokk, and we have a lot of tools. Will you help us find him?”
“Yes! Anything you want, I will do! I must find him.”
Swanson choked back a laugh. Calico was slick. She had signed up Anneli as a new recruit in less than five minutes, a catch who was going to pay large dividends with her language skills, intimate knowledge of the Estonian culture and the people, and a hatred for the Russians that flamed white hot.
He studied Anneli. She was ready to move on. “Okay, then. I’m going to leave you with Jan. I have to get back to the States.”
The girl jumped to her feet with a look of alarm. “When will you come back? When will I see you again?” The thought of losing her security blanket was startling.
“In this business, who knows? I hope so. You take care of yourself, and I will keep tabs on how you’re doing.” That was a lie. He did not plan to ever return to Estonia. “Good luck.”
She launched herself at him and began crying again. Calico watched the interplay between them and would include it in her report. The girl genuinely admired Swanson, who, although kind, did not return the affection. He just wanted out of there. Anneli gave him a kiss on the cheek, and disengaged. “Thank you,” she said. “You saved my life.”
“I hope we find Brokk. I liked him,” Kyle said. He gave her hand a final squeeze and walked out. He had ten minutes to get back to the hotel and meet the shitbird colonel, Thomas Markey.
“Mister Swanson.” The hotel concierge greeted him in the spacious lobby as Kyle was heading for the breakfast buffet restaurant. “Your guests have already arrived.”
Guests? Kyle asked himself. Probably the two CID bird-dogs are with the big guy. The room was long and comfortable, and a few customers were eating and reading newspapers or fiddling with their portable computers through the hotel’s free Wi-Fi. A steaming covered buffet table was along the near wall. At the very back, beside the kitchen’s swinging doors, four men were at two tables. The CID types were in front, quiet and as inconspicuous as a pair of concrete gargoyles. Behind them were two other suits, and one waved to him. Kyle poured a cup of coffee at the buffet, went over and took a chair at their table. No one offered a handshake.
“I am Deke Cooper, the local chief of station. This is Colonel Tom Markey, U.S. Army.” Cooper was a short, slim man with an old-style crew cut that was going gray.
“Why are we meeting in a public place right by the kitchen doors?” Swanson watched a waiter burst through the swinging portals carrying a tray for the hot table.
“Elite spook tradecraft, my boy. With all of the noise and pot-banging and shouts in that kitchen, eavesdropping is impossible. Anyway, it’s good to finally meet you, Swanson. Everything go well with Calico? She’s one of our best. Like you, she is a legitimate business executive who has established an incredible network. Trots all over Europe, even into Russia.”
“We are talking about confidential matters in front of this colonel?” Kyle was puzzled. The man might be an army officer, but he was still an outsider.
Deke Cooper laughed. “Set your mind at ease, pal. We are the CIA, but we don’t have any secrets left, thanks to Mister Snowden and other traitors over the years. Truth be told, we probably have not had a real secret since about 1956. The colonel has more than the necessary clearances, and Calico is his wife.”
“Jesus Christ Almighty,” Kyle muttered and drank some coffee. “I’m going to get something to eat.” He needed to buy some time to think, so he went to the buffet and grew hungry as he went down the line. He loaded up and went back to the table. More coffee.
After a few bites, he said, “Colonel, she introduced herself as Jan Hollings. Not the same last name as you.”
“For the sake of her job, she didn’t take my last name.”
“So how can I help the U.S. Army today?” he asked after tasting a warm slice of local bread.
“Ivan Strakov,” replied ColonelMarkey. “My old enemy, Ivan Strakov.” The voice was soft but filled with purpose. He had intelligent brown eyes, a militarily correct posture, and a thick wave of sandy hair. “You are going to debrief him during the coming weeks, and I want you to let me know what he says. Through back channels, of course.”
Swanson ate some eggs that had been scrambled with cheese and a mild spice. He shot a glance at Cooper. “Sorry, Colonel, I can’t do that. I don’t know what you have been told about me, but it’s wrong.”
“You work for the CIA, Mister Swanson. Deke has cleared my request.”
Kyle swallowed the food and chased it with coffee. Then he pushed back a bit from the table and checked the surroundings before speaking. The kitchen roar was continuing. “Now, guys, that is technically correct, but not exactly accurate. Things have gone off track. I do work with the CIA, but I am neither a spy nor an analyst, and Deke is not my boss. The only person to whom I answer is Martin Atkins, the deputy director for clandestine services, back at Langley. I do specific special assignments on rare occasions, and that is all. This whole thing of coming to visit Estonia was a surprise to me, and I don’t like surprises. I will be going back to the States as soon as possible.”