“That’s the best of all. Didn’t cost me a dime. You’re one cheap date.”
“Good-bye, Jerry.”
“No, not good-bye, baby. This is just hello.”
Paddy came back on the phone. “Okay, Jerry, you’ve exchanged your pleasantries. Now it’s time for business.”
“Where and when? And don’t say in front of the White House or the Washington Monument or some Hollywood bullshit like that or the deal’s off. For me agreeing to leave your ass alone I want privacy.”
Paddy said, “They’re building a new ballpark in town near the Anacostia River.”
“So I heard. What’s that got to do with anything?”
“They’re tearing down a bunch of buildings and neighborhoods around there. Lot of abandoned places. At eleven o’clock tonight I’ll call with the address of an old parking garage. There’ll be a white van parked on level two. Inside that van will be Annabelle tucked neatly in a roll of carpet. The keys will be in the van.”
Bagger hung up and looked at his men.
Mike Manson said, “This could be a setup of some kind, boss.”
“Gee, Mike, you think so? Not that I believe for one minute that Paddy Conroy is working for anybody other than Paddy Conroy, but I’m not stupid. He may have a big beef with his daughter about Mom getting killed. And that may be why he’s willing to hand her over to me so I’ll leave him alone. But nothing’s for sure with that son of a bitch.”
“So how do we do it?”
“We wait for the address. Then you guys are going to do the pickup at midnight. Bring her to a place where I’ll be waiting. A place that’s a lot more private than an abandoned parking garage.”
“And we just drive off with her? What if they tail us?”
Bagger smiled and picked up his newspaper. “Says in here there’s a World Bank conference today downtown and then fancy dinners and speeches all over the city. Big muckety-mucks flying in from all over the globe.”
“So?” Mike said.
“So I say that’s some great timing if you got the right exit strategy.”
CHAPTER 75
CARTER GRAY HAD RISEN from his bunker once more and wondered if his beloved Agency had grown so weak and incompetent that he was going to have to pull the damn trigger himself on Lesya and her son. After a fruitless nationwide search they’d had a wonderful, absolutely golden opportunity at the nursing home in upstate New York of all places, and it had come to naught. The room was empty, mother and son gone. And a third person had been seen with them. Something told Carter Gray that John Carr had gotten in his way once again after losing Gray’s men and getting to Himmerling. And Gray now had to change his original plan to bag all three.
The description of the old woman left no doubt in Gray’s mind that it was Lesya Solomon. Age had not been kind to her; she was no longer the beautiful, enticing Soviet spy. But it was Lesya, Gray just knew it.
Yet what would John Carr have been doing with the very people who wanted to kill him? Had he lied about his identity? Had he taken them by force? Had they teamed up? That might actually make my job easier.
Gray looked out the window of the chopper as it soared over the Virginia countryside on its way to Langley. With the overpowering force of the president’s authorization burning a hole in his pocket, he would take command of the search. No questions would be asked. Still, the mission required delicacy, stealth and, when the target was sighted and then fixed, an unstoppable show of force. He would one-up the military on what shock and awe really meant.
He studied the topography below. Carr, Lesya and her child were down there somewhere. Only three people marshaled against him, one of them a woman in her seventies. Gray had unlimited people, assets and money. It would only be a matter of time. David P. Jedidiah’s son was now being sought with the combined might of America’s intelligence empire. And there was another way to speed up the process. As soon as the chopper landed at CIA, Gray started implementing his attack.
With Finn driving they crossed into Maryland that evening. Lesya sat in the backseat looking tired and frightened. Stone heard her keep muttering in Russian, “They will kill us all.”
He glanced over at Finn, who was staring ahead, but Stone noted that his eyes kept checking the rearview mirror.
“You have a family?” Stone asked.
Finn hesitated and then said, “Let’s stay focused on the task at hand.”
Lesya leaned over the front seat. “And what is that? What are we focusing on now? You tell me.”
“Staying alive,” Stone answered. “And with Carter Gray after us, that’s not going to be easy.”
“They dug up your grave,” Finn said as they traveled around the Capital Beltway.
“Gray’s doing, to flush me out.”
“He knew you were alive?”
“Yes. We reached an understanding of late. He left me alone and I left him alone.”
Lesya pointed an accusatory finger at Stone. “You see, you see? They are allies, son. They are working together. We are in the hands of the enemy.”
Stone turned around in his seat to stare at the woman. “Lesya, you were one of the greatest spies the Soviet Union ever had. It was said that you turned more foreign agents than anyone ever had.”
“I am Russian. I worked for my country. As you did yours, John Carr. And you’re right, I was the best.”
He was silent as he saw the pride creep into her hollow features. He allowed her to feel it for only a few seconds before he snapped. “Then start acting like it. Stop with the hysterical and stupid comments, because we’re going to need all the help you can give us if we’re going to survive this. Or are you just going to sit there and let your son die?” he finished bluntly.
She stared coldly at him, the sudden anger narrowing her eyes. And then her expression cleared. She looked at Finn and then back at Stone. “You are right,” she said matter-of-factly. “I am being stupid.” She sat back. “We need to formulate a plan, keeping in mind that Carter Gray has enormous resources at his disposal. Only sometimes, enormous resources cannot move with agility, while we can. They may find that we have a trick or two they didn’t anticipate.”
Finn stared at his mother in the mirror. He had never heard this tone of voice, seen this calm confidence before. Her Russian accent was completely gone. It was as though she had taken thirty years off her life. She was even sitting up straighter!
Lesya continued, “They may not know of my son’s involvement, at least not yet, but they will before very long.”
“How?” Finn asked.
“They will check the flights into the airport today. Match descriptions. It is a small place, it won’t take long.”
“I didn’t use my real name. I had a fake ID.”
“Video surveillance at the airport,” Stone said. “They’ll match your face to some database. I assume it’s in at least one.” Finn nodded. “Then your family may be compromised.”
“Call them, now!” Lesya urged.
Stone could see the enormous pressure the younger man was under as he gripped the phone.
In a shaky voice Finn spoke into the phone. “Please, honey, no questions now. Just get the kids and take them to a motel. There’s a cell phone in my desk drawer. Use that to call me. No one can trace it. Get cash out of the ATM. Don’t use your credit card or your real name at the motel. Stay there. No school, no baseball games, soccer or swimming, nothing. And don’t tell anyone. Please. I’ll explain later.”
Stone and Lesya could hear the woman’s frantic responses.
A bead of sweat slid down Finn’s forehead. His voice dropped still lower and finally his wife calmed. “I love you, sweetie. I will make this all right. I swear it.”