Keeping her eyes fixed on her screen, she replied, “Lots. Too much.”
“Even by narrowing the parameters?”
She nodded. “I’ve gone through trace requests, our databases, NSA, Cheltenham Sigint”-she sighed as she slammed shut the laptop-“and even open source material. Thousands of Mikhails. .”
“Mikhail is a popular name within the Russian mummy fraternity.” Peter sat on the edge of the table. “You think he might pay Miss Petrova another visit? If so, might be worth briefing her so that she can try to get a surname.”
Will shook his head. “He won’t go back to her because he knows that she’d clam up. His agenda is to retrieve the paper and take Yevtushenko back to Russia. He made that clear to her.”
“Bit silly of him. Should have kept his powder dry and lied to her.”
Will disagreed. “She’s smart, and I think Mikhail knows that. No matter what he said to her, she’d have worked out that the Russians were going to punish her lover.”
“So why did he visit her?”
“That question invites another.”
Peter frowned, then jumped down from the table, strode up to the whiteboard, and wrote:
Why did he tell Alina that his name was Mikhail?
Will smiled. “Exactly.”
Peter’s mind was racing. Speaking more to himself, he said, “To put her at ease? Hope not, because that means the name’s been plucked out of thin air. Maybe because the name could mean something to Yevtushenko? Possible, but that’s only of value if Alina was privy to that information.”
Suzy added, “We can’t rule that last possibility out. If there’s a connection between Yevtushenko and Mikhail, then Mikhail might have been hoping to use that connection to get her to work with the Russians.”
“Quite.” Peter studied the whiteboard. “But if that was the case, why didn’t Mikhail hammer that connection home to her?”
Laith emerged from the hallway, wearing only a towel around his waist, his hair wet. The ex-Delta Force operative’s expression looked thunderous, and as he walked to the kitchen while rubbing his face, he muttered, “Coffee.”
Adam entered the room, fully dressed and yawning. “We’re on in fifty minutes.” The former SAS soldier also made for the kitchen, and said under his breath, “If it’s another day of just sitting on our arses, I’m going to shoot someone just to liven things up.”
Peter moved right up to the whiteboard and jabbed a finger against the latest question. “Why, why, why?”
Laith reentered the room holding a steaming mug, thought about sitting, decided it was too risky a movement with the towel he was wearing, and withdrew a thin white tube from his waistline. He puffed on it, and the tube emitted a tiny bit of odorless smoke.
Will frowned. “What on Earth is that?”
Laith gestured toward Suzy. “We got a child on the way. I only found out yesterday. In here, I stick to electronic cigarettes.” As Adam joined him, Laith asked his colleague, “Lobby, or circuits of the exterior?”
Adam said irritably, “You can do the lobby today. I don’t care how cold or wet it is outside. I need the exercise.”
Laith shrugged. “Okay, I’ll bring a good book.”
“Here.” Suzy tossed the CIA officer Will’s purchase. In a sarcastic tone, she said, “Find out if ‘having a life’ means trawling databases for some guy called Mikhail.”
Laith seemed unfazed as he turned the book over. “Sure. Anything else?”
“Yes. See if it says anything about why I’m so darn tired.” She shook her head and said to herself, “I hate this feeling. I’m not normally like this.”
As Laith and Adam left to go to their respective rooms and make final preparations for their shift at the Grand Hyatt, Will called to them, “I’m coming with you. I need to speak to Roger and Mark.”
“Fine.”
“You’ll be the highlight of their night.”
Will asked Suzy, “How long have you been up?”
Peter answered on her behalf. “Since this time yesterday. You’re a tough girl, aren’t you, Suzy. And bloody stubborn.”
Will said quietly, “We’re hitting a dead end on the name. Get some rest.”
Suzy seemed unsure.
“Please.”
She sighed. “Just a few hours’ sleep, then I’ll do some more searching. There’re other leads to pursue, though I’m not hopeful.” She stood, arched her back while rubbing her tummy, and began walking toward the bedrooms.
Will looked at the whiteboard. A thought suddenly occurred to him. “Suzy, what parameters are you using for the search?”
She stopped midway across the room. “Approximate age, obvious intelligence activities that we know about and reference someone called Mikhail, diplomatic listings of Mikhails who’ve been in posts that are known SVR covers, and I’ve managed to get some-not nearly enough, mind you-of the flight rosters of carriers that entered Germany during the forty-eight hours after the Gdansk operation. I’ve checked the handful of Mikhails that we know entered German airspace during that time. All are wrong.”
Will remained motionless. Speaking quietly, he said, “I want you to narrow it down much more than that. When you wake up, you need to focus solely on our databases, and within that focus only on our Russian double agent files. In particular, I want you to see if a Mikhail crops up in any cases during the last five years where one of our agents has been compromised and captured or killed by the Russians.”
Suzy grinned, turned, and started to walk back to the table. “Now you got me all revved up. Sleep can wait.”
“No it can’t, Suzy!” Will faced her and said in a more sympathetic tone, “This is so vital that the agent files can wait a few hours until my best analyst is fully reenergized.”
Suzy looked unsure, then beamed. “You shouldn’t be trying to charm a pregnant, married woman, Mr. Cochrane.”
Will laughed softly. “Off to bed with you. Both of you.” He frowned. “Boy or girl?”
“Too early to tell.”
“Have you thought of names?”
“Not yet.” Suzy paused, then smiled. “If it’s a boy, I could call him Mikhail. Seems it’s a good choice.”
After she left the room, Peter moved close to him and asked quietly, “Why the double agent files?”
Will pointed at the whiteboard. “Let’s assume that the SVR officer did give Alina the name ‘Mikhail’ for a specific reason. Perhaps there’s a connection between the two Russians. Alina doesn’t know what that connection is, but that doesn’t matter.”
Peter seemed to be following Will’s train of thought. “Because Mikhail suspects she’s in contact with Yevtushenko and will pass him the name?”
Will nodded.
“Doesn’t get us anywhere nearer to understanding what the connection is, though.”
Will considered this. “Yevtushenko’s a conduit to, as you call him, Number 1.”
William.
“SVR officer gives Alina the name ‘Mikhail’; Alina passes the name to her lover; and lover boy passes it to Number 1. Exactly as the SVR officer hoped.”
Peter frowned. “A message?”
“It could be.”
“But the connection. .?”
“What if there is no connection beyond the fact that while Mikhail may not be known to Yevtushenko, the defector will certainly know of him.”
“Mikhail’s the big SVR officer’s real name?”
“It’s conjecture at present. But Suzy can help on that.”
“But why would he want Yevtushenko to have his real name?”
“To unsettle him.” He walked up to the board, and grabbed a marker pen. “Here’s a thought: the crown jewel is stolen, Russians are going to do everything they can to get it back, so they send the one man who can achieve that objective.” He momentarily glanced back at Peter. “A man who has identified and grabbed Russian double agents in the past.” He looked at the board. “I think Mikhail knows who Number 1 is and needs Number 1 to understand who he’s dealing with.”
Peter stood next to him, his eyes also staring at the board. “Could be a pincer movement.”