A couple of minutes later Matt’s phone rang.
"This is Greg O’Brien. Sorry about that, you can’t be too careful" said O’Brien honestly.
"I understand. No problem. I am trying to find a guy that you noted as a person of interest in a case about ten years ago."
"That’s a long time ago. What case was it?" asked O’Brien.
"It was a missing person case of a girl called Geraldine Flynn from M.I.T." explained Matt.
"Wow! That was a long time ago. My partner back then was buried just last week. Yeah, I remember that, we had to drop the case after a couple of days. There was not enough evidence to continue the investigation" explained O’Brien.
"The guy I need to know about is Kamal Pashwari, a Saudi Arabian national. He was noted in your report" said Matt.
"There was a guy we interviewed, but I just don’t remember the details. Sorry, but the name doesn’t ring a bell. It was so long ago."
"Please try to remember, this is very important" implored Matt.
"Ok, it was a weird case. This girl college girl just vanished. There one day, gone the next. We spent a couple of days asking around, but we never found her. I am not sure if she ever turned up. We had to drop the case after a couple of days. Too much to do, and too little evidence."
"How was Pashwari involved?" asked Matt.
"I’m sorry, but it was just so long ago, I just don’t remember much about the case" explained Detective O’Brien.
"This is really important, I need anything at all that you know about this guy" pleaded Matt.
"I tell you what. My notebook from back then will be filed here in the station somewhere. Give me a couple of hours and I will try and find it. Maybe I can get something for you."
"Thanks Detective, I can’t stress how important this is. If I’m not in the office, press 1 and it will divert to my cell phone."
"Ok, what was the case file number?"
"LM89714"
"I will get back to you. Hopefully I can find something."
Chapter 98
"Come on Matt, where are we going?" asked Natasha.
"I told you it was a surprise dinner. We are going to my favorite restaurant. But the cuisine is a secret."
About twenty minutes later Matt pulled into a small car park next to Shanghai Nights restaurant.
"I am told that this is the best Chinese food this side of Beijing. Many of the diplomats and trade delegates come here to eat" said Matt.
"I bet there is nothing like this in Russia. Don’t worry, I am sure I can get a spoon for you!"
They were met at the door by the owner who opened the door for Natasha.
"Ni hao. Lao ban sheng-yi hao ma?" Said Natasha. This was the equivalent of Hello boss, how is business?
Matt’s jaw dropped as Natasha had a fluent conversation in Chinese with the owner.
"So I guess you don’t need a spoon" said Matt as soon as they were seated.
"I guess not."
"Ok, I apologize for assuming you don’t use chopsticks. Where did you learn to speak Chinese?"
"It was my sub-major at University. Don’t forget that Russia and China share a four thousand kilometer border."
After dinner Matt leaned in close "now that was really something. I would never have dared to order any of that stuff. Is there anything else you need?"
"Actually darrrrrling, I would love some ice cream."
"Mmm, me too. Lets grab the check and grab some take-out on the way home."
Chapter 99
Matt decided that it was best just to drive home and then walk to the local store.
Matt did a dive straight for the ice cream, but old habits were hard to break for Natasha. She stationed herself mid-store so she could look at the security mirrors.
They had walked half way home when Natasha spotted two men walking towards them. One was glancing around, the other just kept looking at his friend.
Matt was eating ice-cream and did not notice the guys at all.
Part of Russian GRU training was in psychology. Natasha had aced the course, but she did not need it to know that these guys were trouble.
She wished that Matt had not insisted on them locking their guns in his safe before they went out for dinner.
As they got close, the younger guy walked straight into Matt who dropped his ice-cream. He was about to yell at the guy to be careful when he felt a knife under his chin. The other guy held back, so Natasha figured he was armed.
"Give me your money quick!" said the knife guy.
"Gentlemen, this is a mistake go home before you get hurt" said Natasha is a quiet controlled voice.
"What are you going to do, beat me to death with an ice-cream spoon?" laughed the guy with the knife.
Natasha had the ceramic knife out of the sheath under her handbag and stabbed the guy right in the bicep. He dropped his knife with a howl and doubled up in pain.
The other guy had just managed to remove the small automatic out of his pocket. He noticed Natasha throw something at him and felt a loss of breath and looked down at his chest in surprise. Natasha’s knife was buried deep in his chest cavity and he was sucking air through the open wound.
Almost immediately a police squad car appeared out of nowhere. They saw all the blood and called for an ambulance before they got out of the squad car. One guy was sitting in the gutter holding his arm. The other was prone on the ground.
The two police split up.
"Miss, please come with me" said the younger officer. He took Natasha out of earshot to interview her.
"Sir, please stand up and move away from the man on the ground. Put your hands on your head" said the senior officer. When he saw the knife poking out of the body on the ground, he pulled his gun.
"I am with the CIA. Can I get my ID out of my pocket?" asked Matt.
"Slowly please, with your left hand."
Matt very slowly grabbed his wallet from his jeans pocket and passed it over to the policeman who studied it carefully.
"You can put your hands down Mister Peterson. What went down here" said the officer as he holstered his weapon.
"These morons tried to mug me and my partner. Unfortunately, we left our sidearms in my safe at home."
"The girl is your partner? Why can’t I get a partner with tits like that?"
"I was eating an ice-cream when the little guy over there stuck a knife under my throat. My partner grabbed a knife from her bag and hit the guy in the arm. The other guy grabbed for his gun and Natasha threw the knife at him. I think he is dead."
"They sure picked the wrong targets tonight" said the officer shaking his head "but she should not have been carrying a knife."
"I know officer, but she is KGB, she doesn’t even go to the bathroom unarmed."
"KGB! Are you kidding me?"
Matt shook his head.
The officer called to his partner "Hey Dillon, bring the girl over here."
"Look Matt" said the officer after checking the name again "I don’t need the paperwork from this. It will be a nightmare. If the girl can convince me she is what you claim, you can get out of here before the medicos arrive."
"Miss, what happened here?"
Natasha explained, but the officer was skeptical.
"She doesn’t sound Russian to me" announced the young officer.
Natasha let fly with a string of swear words in Russian.
The senior officer held up his hand "that’s enough lady. My grandmother was Russian and she used to use some of those words on me when I was a kid."
The policeman moved close to Matt and quietly said "I will tell the injured guy that if he keeps quiet I won’t charge him. The other guy was the victim of a mugging. Get going before the ambulance arrives."