The man he’d shot moaned, and Hollis knelt beside him. The man wore a topcoat that was still cold to the touch, so he had just come from outside, which meant he had to come through the back door where Alevy and Mills were supposed to be getting a vehicle. Hollis stood with the man’s pistol in his hand.
The man looked up at him and tears formed in his eyes. Hollis recognized the man as one of his guards during his time in the cells; the man who had told him he wouldn’t feel much like fucking. The man said in Russian. “I am sorry…. I am sorry….”
“That makes two of us.” Hollis unloaded the magazine from the man’s pistol and transferred it into his own silenced automatic. He pointed the pistol at the man’s head, hesitated, then turned and moved quickly into the corridor.
Filenko knelt and rolled the naked woman on her back. “This is the sergeant’s woman. Why did you shoot her? You!” He shouted at Alevy, “Answer me!”
Alevy answered, “Filenko, I’ll have you shot—”
“Shut up! You are not a Russian. Who are you?”
“Estonian.”
“Then speak Estonian. I know a few words.”
“All right.” Still looking at Filenko, Alevy said in English, “Bert, count of three… One, two—”
The door opened again, but Filenko kept his eyes on Alevy and Mills as he called out, “Ivan, did you—?”
Suddenly Filenko’s body lurched twice, then he dropped his rifle and sank to the ground, his hands clamped to his side.
Hollis ran down the ramp as Alevy and Mills stood. Mills grabbed Filenko’s rifle, and Alevy said to Hollis, “One of them went inside—”
“He’s out.”
“Good. Let’s get these two inside.”
Hollis saw that Filenko was still alive, lying on his back now, his eyes following the three of them as they spoke. Hollis went to the semiconscious woman who was moaning on the cold pavement and knelt beside her. “Jane Landis…”
Alevy asked, “You know her?”
“Yes. This is the wife of the man you met — Tim Landis. Did you shoot her?” He stared at Alevy.
Alevy said, “She was in the sack with the sergeant of the guard.”
“No…”
“Yes.”
“She was very anti-Soviet.”
“Not when I saw her.”
“She may have been spying on them.”
“Or for them,” Alevy observed.
“Maybe she was doing it to help her husband… I don’t know.”
“Neither do I, Sam.”
Hollis looked at Jane Landis, who stared back at him. She moved her mouth to speak. “Sam… help me.”
Mills cleared his throat and said, “My God, I’m sorry.”
Alevy said, “It doesn’t matter. Move her inside.”
As Hollis took her in his arms, Alevy asked him, “What’s that thing over there, Sam?”
Hollis replied, “That is how Dodson got out. I think that’s how Burov was going to execute Dodson and ten others tomorrow morning.”
Mills exclaimed, “Jesus Christ!”
Alevy nodded. “I want this guy.”
Hollis put Jane Landis over his shoulder and carried her up the ramp. Mills and Alevy followed, dragging Filenko by his arms into the headquarters building.
They turned into the narrow corridor of cells and pulled Filenko into one and bolted it.
Alevy said to Hollis, “You have to lock her up, Sam. I don’t know who she is, and I don’t care.”
“She’s dying, Seth.”
“I don’t care.” Alevy opened the cell door. “In there.”
Reluctantly Hollis placed Jane Landis on the cold floor and knelt beside her.
“Don’t leave me, Sam.”
Hollis wanted to ask her for an explanation, but thought that Jane Landis, or whatever her name had once been, was as multilayered as a matrushka stacking doll, a shell within a shell, within a shell — each real, each hollow, each neatly embodied within the next.
Alevy put his hand on Hollis’ shoulder, and Hollis stood and looked around the cell. “This was where they had me. Lisa was next door.”
Alevy made no comment.
Hollis left the cell, and Alevy shut and bolted the door. He said to Hollis, “If she lives, she’ll be included in the swap.”
Hollis doubted that on both counts.
Mills said to Hollis, “Thanks for coming to look for us.”
Alevy, who didn’t seem as appreciative, said, “We should try to stick to our prearranged plans when we agree to them.”
Hollis asked, “Did you plan to have those guys get the drop on you?”
Alevy said to Mills, “Go back to the commo room. Call Brennan one more time, then jam the radios and destroy the switchboard. Sam, you come with me, and we’ll get the Zil and bring it around front. Let’s move.”
Hollis and Alevy moved quickly toward the rear of the building, guns drawn. They opened the back door and saw the Zil parked on the concrete under the glare of the light. Alevy said, “I’ll go first. Cover.” He ran to the Zil and jumped into the driver’s seat. Like most military vehicles, the Zil had a keyless ignition, and Alevy pushed the starter button. The engine caught on the first try. Hollis jumped in beside him, and Alevy threw the floor shift into gear, then drove around the building. Alevy said, “I don’t want you or Lisa to question my handling of this operation.”
“I think it’s your sanity we’re questioning.”
Alevy glanced at Hollis. “I know what I’m doing, Sam.”
“I know what you’re doing too. Do it without me.”
“Then go. I don’t need either of you.”
“I’ll go if you let me take Mills. He doesn’t deserve to die for your immortality.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“About you getting a chapter in the secret histories of Langley and Lubyanka.”
Alevy replied, “You think you have me figured out, don’t you?”
“I’m getting close.”
“Well, I’m not suicidal. I’d like to be in London tomorrow.”
Hollis didn’t reply.
Mills moved quickly through the lobby, unbolted the front doors, then approached the commo room. He stood to the side of the door and said softly, “Lisa, it’s Bert Mills.”
“Okay, Bert.”
Mills entered the commo room and closed the door.
“Where’s Sam?” she asked. “He was out in the lobby—”
“With Seth. They’re bringing a vehicle around front.”
Lisa nodded.
Mills noticed Dodson laid out on the floor near the two dead Border Guards. He knelt beside Dodson and looked at his battered face. “My God…” He checked his pulse. “He’s alive.” He looked at Lisa. “I understand why Sam wants to take him, Lisa, but this guy is a burden that we don’t need.”
Lisa replied, “Nevertheless, if Sam wants him out, that’s what we will do.”
Mills glanced at her, then shrugged and stood.
“What took you so long back there?”
“We ran into a few things,” he answered without mentioning Jane Landis. “Everything is all right.”
She looked at him and said, “Bert… all this killing… it’s making me sick to my stomach.”
“We’ll talk about it when we’re out of reach of the KGB. They make me sick to my stomach.”
She nodded.
Mills went to the switchboard and put the headset on, then pushed the ringer.
A voice came through the earpiece. “Da. Nechevo.”
“Bill, it’s Bert Mills.”