Security was fairly high, but the systems weren’t infallible. So when Jake came to his target house, one of the nicer houses in the row, he quickly went to work disabling the system and entering through the back alley entrance. Once inside, he stopped and removed his shoes, which were wet and would squeak on the wooden floors.
Now, on the second floor master suite, Jake sat in a chair next to the large bed, his gun out, the barrel itching his aching replaced knee. In the bed, the two people lay sleeping, the man’s breathing somewhat uneven, and the woman on her side facing away.
Jake thought of the best way to approach the man, but there really was no good way to wake a dangerous man from his sleep. He just needed to try not to make too much noise. A hand over the mouth? Too much? A gentle nudge? Maybe.
Without more thought, Jake simply reached over and took the man’s hand, his gun hand, and held it tight. When the man’s eyes opened and realized it wasn’t his wife holding him, he panicked for a split second. Until Jake put the barrel of his gun to his lips and said “Shhhh.”
Rolling to his side toward Jake, the man tried to focus his eyes in the dark room, which was lit somewhat by the street lights out front and two night lights.
“Jesus Christ,” the man whispered loudly.
Jake let go of his hand. “I prefer Lord and Savior.”
“Jake, what the hell are you doing here?” the man whispered loudly.
Nodding his head toward the door, Jake led the man outside the bedroom. They went down the hall to a study, where the homeowner clicked on a small light. The guy was bare-chested and wearing only pajama bottoms.
“Transformers,” Jake said, taking a seat in a chair across from a large desk that took up much of the room. The study reminded Jake of something a tidy professor might own, with full bookshelves taking up one whole wall.
“Birthday present last year from my kids,” the man said. “Now, can you explain why you’ve broken into my house at two in the morning?”
“Have a seat.”
Reluctantly, the man sat into the large leather chair behind the desk.
“It looks like the Agency pays a lot better than I remember,” Jake said to him.
“It’s a station chief perk. I don’t own the place. How did you get in here?”
“I’ll tell you how to upgrade your security system later, Hank, but first I need your help.”
“Couldn’t you just have come by the office in the morning?”
“What? Make a damn appointment?” Jake had been senior to Hank Roberts when he was in the CIA, and the two of them had worked together many times in Germany and other locations in Europe.
“Hey, you left the Agency,” Hank pled. “It’s taken me a long time to get here. And I understand you’ve done quite well for yourself. Especially after that recent case in Bulgaria. That’s a lot of booty.”
“Speaking of booty…looks like you and Karen are pumping them out like rabbits.”
“Hey.” It was a woman’s voice from the door. A severely pregnant woman, but terminally attractive nonetheless.
Jake got up and met her, hugging her as close as he could considering her condition. “Sorry to wake you.”
“It wasn’t you,” she said. “I have to pee every five minutes. What are you doing here so late? Don’t tell me. I know, you’d have to kill me.” She waved her hand and drifted away. “Nice to see you again, Jake. Come by for dinner after I drop this one out.” As she turned and left, Jake noticed an automatic pistol clipped to her pajama bottoms at the small of her back.
Alone again, Jake said to Hank, “Karen hasn’t changed a bit. Does she miss working for the Agency?”
“When she’s that prego, damn right. You want something to drink?”
“No. I’ll get out of your way in a hurry. Let you get back to sleep. But I need a little information.”
The Berlin station chief looked somewhat concerned. Like he knew he was going to lie to Jake, but also knew that Jake would know he was lying. “You know I can’t talk about any op we’re working.”
“How about an exchange of information then?”
Hank considered that. “You first.”
Jake expected that. “All right.” He explained what had happened to him in the past few days, right up to the point where he was forced to shoot the young couple that night outside the old Stasi’s apartment.
“You had drinks with that Stasi bastard?” Hank inquired.
“I needed information,” Jake said. “And got it.” He told his friend about the man’s theory about the surge in Russian SVR influence, and how Jake had suspected as much. “You have to be seeing similar things, Hank.”
The Agency man nodded his head. “Yeah, we’re a little concerned. Becoming quickly outnumbered here.”
“What are the Russians trying to accomplish?”
“Influence mostly. For now. But they’re back to their old games. Stealing any high technology they can grab with their grubby hands. But these are a different breed, Jake.”
He knew that first-hand. “You mean how they seem to be shooting first and not even trying to ask questions?”
“Exactly. During the Cold War there was a civility. Honor. We were all doing our job for our respective countries. Sometimes it got brutal, but that was the exception. Mostly the thing of spy novels. I don’t know where they’re getting these young agents…”
“Probably from the children of the Russian mafia.” Either that or they were also reading spy novels.
“You might be right.” Hank sat back in his chair, his thoughts obviously elsewhere. “What’s your play in this?” he asked Jake.
“You heard about my girlfriend, Anna?”
“Yeah, sorry to hear about that.”
“We were going to get married.”
“Oh, Jesus. I didn’t know that. Jake Adams married? Now there’s a news flash.”
“Yeah, I had asked her just before the shooting started. So I didn’t have long to settle in to it myself.”
“How can I help you?”
“Stay out of my way.”
Hank Roberts didn’t flinch, as if he expected Jake to respond as he had. “Stay out? I should be telling you the same thing, considering my position here.”
“But much of your office is at that conference in Brussels,” Jake said.
“How’d you…never mind. Yeah, we’re a bit stretched, but we still have assets to handle this.”
“Maybe. But if I handle it for you, you have complete deniability.”
“Yeah, that works these days. They’ll shove their boot so far up my ass I’ll be chewing leather for a week.”
“I didn’t say you wouldn’t take some heat, but that’s why you make the big bucks, Hank.”
The station chief thought it over, his eyes giving away more than he liked, Jake was sure. “All right. Our people will hang back and take a back-up role. But if you need anything, just call my private number. You obviously remember that. Now can I get some sleep?”
Jake got up, satisfied he’d accomplished his main goal, to let the Agency know he’d be around and not shoot him by mistake. He knew Hank couldn’t stay out of it, nor would Jake expect him to do so. But he also had a feeling he might need the extra guns. The Russians were making a King’s Gambit and Jake couldn’t let that happen. When they killed Anna, they’d made a major error of judgment.
“You really need to fix your security system,” Jake said. “When I’m done here, I’ll hook you up with a nice system.”
“But, of course, you’ll still be able to break it.”
Jake shrugged. “The master doesn’t teach the student every trick.”
Hank hung his hand out for Jake and the two of them shook. “Take care.”
“Always do. Say goodbye to Karen. And congrats on the new child.”