“It is not that difficult to kill old, sick men. Even when they’re Soviet premiers.”
“On whose orders were they killed?”
“Your government’s.”
Finn stared at her in amazement. “That’s impossible. Under U.S. law it’s illegal to assassinate a head of state.”
She scoffed. “What does that mean when you’re trying to prevent a nuclear war that will wipe out the planet? Andropov and Chernenko were old men, yes, but they were hard-line Communists. They were in the way. No real change would occur under them. And the Soviet Union was crumbling. Its back was against the wall. There was growing talk of very desperate measures that the Communist Party leadership was considering taking to restore its place as a superpower. That could not be allowed to happen. Gorbachev had to be given a clear field. Because even though early on Gorbachev seemed to be the same as the other party leaders, we knew he was very different. We knew things would change under him. He was still a Communist and we knew he would not dissolve the Soviet Union, but we also knew that the threat of war would go down considerably with him in power. Then Yeltsin came along after Gorbachev. No one could have predicted that, but it was under Yeltsin that the Soviet Union was dismantled.
“But we had to get rid of the old Communist Party leaders. We had to! And we told the Americans our beliefs about this. They agreed with us. And Rayfield thought the same. He knew as much about the inner workings of the Soviet Union as any American alive. But we did not come up with the assassination plot. That was the Americans.” She eyed Stone. “You believe it’s true, don’t you?”
“Heads of state have been assassinated before,” Stone admitted. “But are you saying Gorbachev knew of the plot?”
“Of course not. Only a very few of us did.”
“How did your orders come on this?” Stone asked.
“From our contact on the American side.”
“Who was that?”
“Does it not seem obvious? Roger Simpson.”
“And you and your team killed Andropov and Chernenko?”
“Let us say we helped them to their graves prematurely, yes.”
“And Rayfield Solomon was involved?”
“Deeply. The Soviets thought he was working for them.”
“How do you know this was approved by the U.S. government?”
“I just told you. We received the instructions from Simpson. He was our case manager. And he reported directly to Carter Gray. And Gray to the head of CIA.”
“So you just followed orders, without question.”
“Yes.”
“And killed Andropov and Chernenko, two innocent men?”
Lesya and Stone exchanged a long look. “Yes,” she said slowly.
Finn said, “Why would the Americans kill my father and try to kill you if you completed your assignment successfully? Why would they try to paint you as traitors?”
Stone answered. “Because the American government didn’t order the assassinations. Possibly it was the CIA, or Simpson and Gray could have done it on their own. And once the deed was done they had to discredit and then get rid of anyone who knew about the murders.” He looked at Lesya. “Isn’t that right?”
“Yes,” said Lesya. “And what do you think they would do to prevent that truth from coming out now? It could cause war between Russia and the United States. What do you think they would do?” she asked again.
Finn answered. “They’d kill anyone they had to.”
“And unfortunately we are David and they are Goliath,” Lesya added bitterly. “The Americans are always Goliath.”
“But David beat Goliath. And so can we if we get to them first,” Stone replied.
“Just the three of us?” Lesya said skeptically.
“We’re not alone,” Stone said. “I have friends.”
If they’re still alive.
CHAPTER 80
ALEX HAD HAILED A CAB and he and Annabelle had driven off. He had decided not to wait for the other feds to show up. The charred truck and the floating corpses that awaited them would be self-explanatory in any event. He did call the FBI lead commander and let him know what had happened and that he and Annabelle were the only survivors. “If you need us, we’ll be at my house,” he told the man. “I’m in the book.”
The commander protested but Alex cut him off. “We’ve had enough for one day. Go and clean up the pieces and talk to us later. It’s not like you have to take Bagger to trial. He gets to go before a higher judge now.”
The cab dropped them off at Alex’s house in Manassas, a one-story rancher with a single-car garage, set off by itself down a gravel drive. Inside the garage was Alex’s fully restored ’69 fire red Corvette, the only extravagance the Secret Service agent had ever allowed himself. His fed cruiser was parked out front.
“You hungry?” he asked Annabelle, but she merely shook her head.
“I guess asking if you’re okay would be pretty stupid right now.”
“I’ll get through this.”
“I’m sorry, Annabelle.”
She sat down in a chair. “All these years I’ve hated my father because I thought he just let my mother die. Then I find out he didn’t…” Her voice trailed off.
“And now you lose him too,” Alex finished for her. “But at least you found out before he died, Annabelle. And he knew that you knew.”
“He could’ve gotten out of that truck. He could be alive right now.”
“For six months of the cancer eating him away?”
She stared up at him. “For six months of being with me. I would’ve taken care of him. I guess he thought blowing himself up was a better alternative.”
“No, maybe he wanted to get Bagger even worse than you did. Maybe he was willing to die to avenge his wife and your mother. At the very least you have to admire the guy’s courage.”
“I do,” she finally said. “But I still wish he hadn’t done it.”
“And he gave you that scar. He wasn’t the world’s greatest father.”
“But he was my father,” she said quietly.
“And a criminal.”
“Alex, I’m a criminal.”
“Not to me, you’re not.” There was an awkward pause before Alex added, “You said you weren’t hungry, but I’m going to make some coffee. And when you’re ready to talk, we’ll talk. How does that sound?”
“Can I take a shower first? I feel really, really dirty.”
He showed her to the bathroom that was off his bedroom, and then he went into the kitchen, washed up, put on a pot of coffee and cleaned himself up. By the time he was done, she was out of the shower. She walked into the kitchen wrapped in one of his bathrobes.
“Hope you don’t mind,” she said.
Her hair was wet and hung down straight.
“Shower make you feel better?”
“Not even close.”
They drank the coffee mostly in silence. Then Alex built a fire in the living room fireplace, and Annabelle sat on the floor in front of it, holding her hands out to the flames.
She said in a low voice, “I guess the FBI will have a bunch of questions for me.”
“Some. But I can help you field them, if you want.”
“Thanks for helping me.”
“You put your life on the line too.”
She gazed up at him. “Can you sit with me? Just for a little while?”
Alex got down on the floor and they sat quietly in front of the fire as the flames slowly died.
Carter Gray was brooding. None of Carr’s people had been located. Then another possibility occurred to him: the Secret Service agent, Alex Ford. He and Stone were tight. They had been at Murder Mountain together. He knew as much of the truth about what Gray had done as did Stone. If he got Ford, used him as bait? It would be a little tricky. The man was a federal agent. He couldn’t just kidnap him. Or maybe he could if he somehow discredited him first. This was a favorite tactic of Gray’s. Destroy the reputation of the victim first-indeed, make him appear to be a criminal-and then seize him at his most vulnerable. It was far easier to do than most people would have thought. And by the time it was all figured out, it wouldn’t matter. Gray made a couple of calls and put the operation into motion.