The Russian Deception

by Alex Lukeman

  That left the third man. She turned to face him. He was large, short and wide, swarthy and brutal looking. He needed a shave. He smiled at her and pulled the cord and fired up the saw. The distinctive sound filled the confined space.

  "Bitch," he said. "I don't know who you are but you just made a big mistake."

  It was Frog Voice. He moved the roaring saw back and forth and up and down in front of him, a whirring shield against her kicks. The spinning teeth could bite through a leg in an instant. He began to circle around her.

  "I'm going to cut off an arm or leg and then I'm going to take my time with the rest of you," he said. "I'll cut away little bits at a time. It will take a while to bleed out. When I'm done with you I'm gonna to do the same to this little lady over here. She gets to be on camera, but you? I ain't gonna bother."

  For a big man he moved quickly. He made a sudden thrust at her, sweeping low at her legs. Valentina felt the sharp bite of the chain as it went by and nicked her knee. The saw was heavy. Before Frog Voice could correct and bring the blade back Valentina planted a hard kick on his chest. He stumbled back and tripped and went down. The blade bit into the floor of the trailer and bounced back onto his face. He screamed as the whirring chain cut through his face and his skull. Blood and brain matter and white bone fountained into the air. The saw ran for another few seconds, buried in the ruin of his head until it caught on something and stopped.

  The silence was overwhelming. The air in the room was dense with the smell of sweat and fear and feces, mixed with the copper scent of blood. Valentina paused, resting her hands on her knees. She took a deep breath and waited for her heart to stop pounding. She looked up and saw Selena watching her.

  She went over to Selena and pulled the rag from her mouth. Selena coughed and ran her tongue over her lips.

  "Thanks. Who are you?"

  The woman standing in front of her was somehow familiar, yet she was sure they had never met. Then it registered.

  "Valentina Antipov," Selena said. "You're Valentina."

  "You know who I am? I wasn't sure if you were aware of my existence."

  "I wasn't, until a few months ago," Selena said.

  Valentina pulled up a chair and sat down in front of Selena. The sisters stared at each other.

  "I can see the resemblance," Selena said. "It's something in the structure of the face, the way the bones lie under the skin. And you've got one high cheekbone, like I do."

  "Our hair is different. The color of the eyes. The upper body. I am larger, no? But, I too, see the resemblance."

  "Would you untie me please?"

  "I don't think so," Valentina said. "We are, after all, on opposite sides."

  "You don't trust me?"

  "You are a loyal agent of your country. So am I. So no, I don't trust you, not yet."

  "Why did you intervene? Not that I'm not grateful. That ugly slob was going to cut me up with his saw."

  "I saw them take you on the street."

  "You've been following me?"

  "I saw you in the airport at Skopje. We were on the same plane."

  She was in Macedonia. I wonder if she's the one who shot Todorovski?

  As soon as the thought occurred she knew she was right. It fit perfectly. Why else would Valentina be in Macedonia? But Selena kept her thoughts to herself.

  "I followed you here," Valentina said. "I heard them talking through the door and knew they were going to kill you. I didn't want that to happen before we had a chance to talk."

  This is bizarre, Selena thought, her mind racing. She looked in Valentina's eyes. My sister is a Russian assassin and she just saved me from an awful death. She's damaged, I can see it in her eyes. What was it like for her, growing up with someone like Vysotsky controlling her at every step of the way?

  "What did you want to talk about?"

  "Our father. What was he like? Why did he go back to America and leave my mother?"

  "You know what he did, who he worked for?"

  "Your CIA, yes I know."

  "Your mother was called back to Moscow when they discovered she was pregnant with you. Our father was sent home by the Chief of Station in Berlin and reprimanded. He didn't have a choice, just like your mother didn't."

  "He could have done something. He never did. Nothing to find out what happened to her or to me."

  Selena heard anger and hurt in Valentina's voice.

  "I don't know that and neither do you," Selena said. "I don't think there was much he could've done. We'll never know. Your protector murdered him and my mother and my brother."

  Valentina got up and began to pace around the trailer, careful not to step in the spreading pool of blood under the body of the big man.

  "These things..." Valentina made a vague gesture with her hand. "These things, they are in the nature of our work, no? I have not yet decided what to do about General Vysotsky. He took the place of a father for me. He was better than nothing. I owe him something for that."

  "Our father was a wonderful man," Selena said. "It was hard for me when he was away. He was away most of the time. Langley was always sending him off somewhere where dependents would have been a burden."

  "We are similar in this way," Valentina said. "My mother was mostly gone when I was a child. Tell me more about him."

  For the next half hour Selena talked with Valentina about what it had been like growing up in California before their father had been killed. Sometimes Valentina would ask a question but mostly she listened. After a while Selena stopped.

  "My hands are numb," she said. "Please, can you at least free them? I can't do much tied to this chair."

  "I will do this for you. But do not try anything foolish, sister. I don't want to hurt you."

  The plastic ties binding Selena's wrists were pulled tight into the flesh. The hands were dead white. They wouldn't be of use for a while and by that time Valentina would be gone. She went over to the desk and rummaged through it for something to cut the ties. She found a scissors and cut through the plastic.

  Selena brought her arms around front and began rubbing her hands against her legs trying to bring back the circulation.

  "Who sent these men after you?" Valentina asked.

  "I don't know. I heard them talking about how whoever hired them wanted a tape of me being murdered. They talked about how they'd get a bonus for making it especially painful."

  "Someone doesn't like you very much."

  Selena made a snorting sound. "I think that's obvious."

  "Whoever it is will try again."

  "Like you said, these things are part of what we do."

  "I'm leaving now."

  "How about untying me?"

  "No, but I will call your new husband and let him know where you are."

  "Do you know anything about the bomb that went off at my wedding?"

  "There was a bomb? I didn't know that. Perhaps the same person who had these men bring you here."

  Selena looked at this woman, the daughter of her father and a Russian spy, a skilled assassin. Her sister. She hadn't even known Valentina existed until a few months ago. It had been strange to see her standing there, stranger yet that they should meet for the first time like this, in a room stained with the blood of men who had been sent to kill her.

  "Will I see you again?" Selena asked.

  "Who knows?" Valentina paused. "I hope we never have to work against each other. When I learned about our father and about you I was very angry at you for having all the things that had been kept from me. But we are family. I couldn't keep the anger burning. I have no desire to hurt you but our countries are enemies, no? If I was assigned against you I would follow orders. You understand?"

  Selena felt sudden sadness listening to her.

  "I understand. I also hope we never confront each other."

  "Good." Valentina went to the door and paused. "Goodbye, sister."

  The door closed behind her.

  CHAPTER 26

  "Where did Selena get to?
She should have been back by now."

  Nick sat with Lamont and Ronnie in the Café Sacher Wein, the hotel's version of a Viennese coffeehouse. Red plush wallpaper, round marble top tables and red plush chairs gave it an old world feel, heightened by the smell of coffee and the sound of steam from the espresso machine. A waitress dressed in a white apron, white cap and a black skirted outfit that would have been familiar to patrons from an earlier time wheeled a pastry cart toward them.

  "Nein, bitte." Nick waved her away.

  "That chocolate cake sure looks good," Lamont said.

  "That cake built this hotel," Ronnie said. "Sacher was a cook for an Austrian prince."

  "A chef, not a cook," Nick said. "Forget the cake. Something's wrong. I can feel it."

  His phone rang. The number was blocked. He looked at his friends and raised an eyebrow. No one had that number except Harker and the team.

  "Yes."

  "Your wife is about twenty minutes from you. She is unharmed but I am sure very uncomfortable. Here is where you will find her."

  A woman's voice he didn't recognize. The caller spoke with a barely detectable Russian accent. "Who is this?"

  "Selena will tell you. Listen carefully. I say this only once. You must hurry in case she is discovered. That would complicate things. You will see why when you get there."

  Nick listened to directions to the southwest of the city.

  "Goodbye."

  "Wait," Nick said. The caller broke the connection.

  "Who was it?" Ronnie asked.

  "I don't know, a woman. She gave me directions to where Selena is. She said I should hurry. Let's go."

  They got their car out of the parking garage. Ronnie turned on the GPS and entered the information Nick gave him. Twenty-five minutes after the call they were pulling up beside the office trailer.

  There was a blood trail at the foot of the steps and drag marks in the gravel. Ronnie followed the tracks around the side of the trailer.

  "Dead man back here," he said.

  Nick went up the steps two at a time and opened the door. Selena looked up at him.

  "Nick. God, I'm glad you're here. Get me out of this chair."

  He went over to her, stepping over one of the bodies.

  "Place looks like a slaughterhouse," Lamont said.

  Ronnie wrinkled his nose at the stench. "Stinks like one."

  Nick worked on untying the ropes binding Selena to the chair.

  "What happened?"

  "Valentina was here."

  "Your sister? She did this?"

  Nick finished untying her legs and Selena stood up. She took Nick's arm to steady herself.

  "These men grabbed me and knocked me out with chloroform. When I woke up I was in this chair. Nick, they were going to kill me and take pictures while they did it. That horrible man was going to use that chainsaw to cut me apart."

  She gestured at the mutilated body lying on the floor with the chainsaw buried in what was left of its face.

  Nick put his arms around her and hugged her. For a moment she rested against him.

  "Then Valentina came through the door," Selena said. "She killed these three. It was quite a display. There was another man outside but I don't know what happened to him."

  Nick let her go. "We found his body outside."

  "If she hadn't shown up, I'd be dead. She said she was going to call you and tell you where I was."

  "She did. Otherwise we wouldn't have a clue," Nick said.

  Selena headed for the bathroom at the end of the trailer. Lamont and Ronnie were staring down at the body of the big man.

  "That chainsaw made a hell of a mess," Lamont said.

  Ronnie looked at the scar where the saw had bitten into the floor. "Looks like the saw hit the floor and it kicked back at him. That's a logging saw with a lot of power. Heavy. It must have a three foot bar on it. Mean, if you lose control."

  "Yeah, well he sure lost it. Might have improved his looks some."

  Nick looked over at them.

  "Check his pockets, him and his buddies. Maybe we can find out who sent them."

  Selena came out of the toilet and walked over to Nick.

  "I asked Valentina if she knew who set off the bomb at our wedding. She didn't know but she thought it might be the same person who sent these people after me."

  "You believe her?"

  "Yes. She had no reason to lie to me. If she'd wanted to hurt me she had an opportunity to do it."

  "What was she doing here?"

  "She saw me in the airport at Skopje and followed us. I think she may have been the one who killed Todorovski. What else would she be doing in Macedonia?"

  "Makes sense," Nick said. "We know she's an SVR assassin."

  "If she killed him it means the Russians are behind what's happening in the Balkans."

  "Moscow must have decided Todorovski was too much of a threat to Mitreski's regime. I know they want to keep him in power but I don't know why they'd want to start a war with Albania."

  "You think that's Moscow's plan? Mitreski could be trying to divert all that revolutionary energy."

  "I don't think Mitreski does anything unless Moscow tells him to do it."

  Ronnie and Lamont came over. Ronnie held up passports and wallets.

  "Lots of information to go through," he said. "The guy with the haircut is German, at least that's what his passport says."

  "We'll look at it later. Make sure you wipe down anything you touched. The cops will be crawling all over this when they find it."

  Selena looked at the saw and shivered. "Get me out of here," she said.

  CHAPTER 27

  Elizabeth had begun her morning by talking with Nick. She'd heard the story of Selena's abduction and rescue by her Russian half-sister.

  On her desk was a small gray box with a single amber light. The box was connected to an encrypted private line that went straight to the White House. The light began flashing, signaling a call.

  "Harker."

  "Please hold for the president."

  Here we go, Elizabeth thought. Has to be about the Balkans.

  NATO high command in Brussels had sent the lead elements of a peacekeeping force to Albania. Protesters were already out in large numbers in the European capitals of the alliance, demanding that their soldiers be kept at home. An advance unit composed of French and Dutch troops had landed at Tirana International Airport, ferried on American C-130 transports.

  In Brussels the member states bickered and disagreed about who was going to send what. There were arguments about the rules of engagement. Logistics involving cooperation between the members of the alliance were confused, a problem that years of temporary fixes had failed to correct. It had been decided to strip the new rapid deployment force stationed in Poland for equipment and personnel to deal with the immediate crisis in Albania, leaving little support for whatever might happen in the Ukraine.

  NATO had long ago passed the expiration date for accomplishing its original mission, stopping Stalin's tanks and providing a bulwark for Western Europe against potential Soviet aggression. No one in the West was much interested in spending the money and committing the personnel needed in the 21st century. The rhetoric was impressive but the alliance wasn't ready for a big war.

  Elizabeth thought the idea of a rapid deployment force to stop the Russians in the Ukraine was a joke, a political stunt meant to appease public opinion. It would take a lot more than five thousand troops and a few tanks to oppose any serious effort by the Russians to invade.

  President Rice came on the line.

  "Good morning, Director."

  "Good morning, Mister President."

  Elizabeth pictured the president sitting behind his desk in the Oval Office. President Rice was a decorated combat Marine who had served as a young lieutenant during the Vietnam War. Elizabeth had seen presidents come and go and considered Rice the best of the lot. Unlike most of Washington's politicians and unlike most presidents, Rice had held onto a batter
ed integrity. Elizabeth admired him for that. His Marine background made him a good commander-in-chief. Once he had the information he required, he was unafraid to make unpopular decisions. Elizabeth wasn't looking forward to the change when someone new took his place after the next election.

  "I'm calling about the situation in Albania," Rice said. "It has the potential to get out of hand and I want your thoughts about it. Your team was recently in Macedonia."

  "Yes, sir. They got out just before Mitreski shut everything down. They are currently in Vienna. I have new information about what happened in Macedonia."

  "Go on."

  "An agent known to be a professional assassin for SVR was in Skopje at the time of Todorovski's murder. I believe Moscow ordered the assassination. It appears that Orlov will do anything to keep Mitreski in power, including provoking war."

  "That's confirmation for what I already suspected. Your analysis agrees with what Langley says. DCI Hood thinks the Russians are manipulating events."

  "Mitreski is a puppet," Elizabeth said. "He would never risk such an adventure without Russian backing. He's dependent on them for his military equipment and supplies. The invasion is a classic ploy, based on the lie that Albanian nationalists are behind the murder. The Macedonians may dislike Mitreski's government but they are patriots before anything else. A large part of the population is Orthodox Catholic while Albania is mostly Muslim. Macedonians don't like Albanians. A threat to the country takes precedence and Mitreski has provided that. He's stirring up all the old religious hatreds."

  "Some of my advisors don't agree with this interpretation of events."

  "That's as may be, Mister President, but there's no question that a Russian assassin was present in Skopje on the day Todorovski was killed."

  "You are convinced Moscow is behind it."

  Rice's voice was resigned. The last thing the president needed was a looming confrontation with the Russian bear.