by J A Heaton
Daniel stuck his hands into the pockets, but nobody else had the patience to play along with Jenny’s game.
“Just tell us already!” Rex insisted.
With a broad smile, Jenny reached into the fold of a hem inside the jacket and pulled something out. She took it and unfolded it in front of everybody. It was a faded piece of brown paper, folded for so long that it nearly fell into pieces along each crease. The writing was so pale, it was almost impossible to read.
“Dmitri’s proof of Edwards’ spying, plus the identities of several other codenames,” Jenny proudly announced.
“Wow,” Rex said. He gave a short whistle.
“The Feebs are cleaning up these guys who are still alive as we speak,” Officer Carter said. “Congratulations to all of you. This was good work. Now take it easy and write all your follow-up reports. You can get back to training next week. You all deserve some R and R. But not too much. There’s still a war out there. At least one.”
“And more brewing,” Daniel added.
They got up to leave Carter’s office, but she added, “Can I have a private word with you, Daniel?”
Before Daniel could respond, she said, “Never mind. It can wait. But I’ll walk out with you.”
“Good,” Daniel said. “I had something I wanted to mention to you in private as well.”
Daniel followed Officer Carter out of her office and through the CIA headquarters. Something told him she wasn’t interested in small talk along the way.
Others must have caught the same vibe because every CIA employee they passed in the halls and elevator looked away with tight lips. When they approached the lobby on the ground level, Daniel had a good idea of where they were going, but he didn’t know why.
Together, Officer Carter and Daniel approached the Memorial Wall. Daniel remembered he had walked by it with Edwards before he began hunting for the Wolf, and he wondered how many of the stars on the Memorial Wall were due to the Wolf.
Officer Carter broke the silence around the hallowed memorial and said to Daniel, “Tell me what you can about Michael. Michael Devers.”
“I… I’m not sure what you mean.”
“This isn’t easy for me,” Officer Carter said. “But I don’t think I have to prove to you or remind you how tough I am.”
“No ma’am,” Daniel agreed.
“And I know that you watched Michael Devers die, so it’s not easy for you, either.”
Daniel watched silently as Officer Carter struggled to maintain her composure. “What was he like? What did you notice about him?”
“He looked worn out,” Daniel said, trying to explain, even though he didn’t know exactly what Officer Carter wanted from him. “But he was still a solid spy. He tested me. At first, he didn’t trust me.”
Officer Carter nodded, and Daniel continued.
“Are we here because… Well, I’m sure Michael Devers will get the star he deserves on that wall.”
“His star already is there,” Officer Carter said. “I know which one it is. I’ve requested that his name be added to the Book of Honor. His star was added a year after he went missing and was presumed dead, but he had to remain unknown because of the Cold War.”
“I can write up a more detailed report about my encounter with Michael Devers if you want me to,” Daniel began to say cautiously.
“Okay, promise me that what I say here stays here and never affects our working relationship,” Officer Carter said with the same look she gave when she issued an order.
“Of course,” Daniel said.
“I knew Michael Devers,” Officer Carter said. Daniel noticed she didn’t mention that she had also known Billy. “And we had a personal relationship. I had hoped it was really going somewhere and was serious. I dreamed of married life. A home life. That seems nearly impossible in this business.”
Daniel nodded in agreement. He thought of his own parents, their separation due in part to his father’s service to his country.
“I thought, back then, that Devers was going to propose, and we were going to figure out how to make it work.” A tear rolled down Officer Carter’s cheek. She quickly wiped it away.
“But then he disappeared,” Daniel finished for her. “Devers did mention you. He mentioned Billy and others directly related to his mission, but you were the only person he mentioned who wasn’t involved in his mission. But things had to go so fast in those mountains in Uzbekistan, and I was focused on other things—”
“Not worrying about my personal life from over a decade ago, I know,” Officer Carter said. Daniel’s suspicions about Officer Carter heightened again. Could it be a coincidence she still hadn’t mentioned that she knew Billy?
“For what it’s worth,” Daniel continued, “I think it means something that you were the only non-mission related person he mentioned. And he was still toughing it out after fifteen years in a Soviet-style prison. He died a hero, though tragically he was so close to freedom.”
Officer Carter brought her hands up to her face and cried.
Daniel stood by her silently for several moments, uncertain if he should watch or lightly hug her. She took a few deep breaths and said, “And I’ll never know what could have happened if he had been freed and was with me now.”
“I’m sorry,” Daniel said. “I truly am.”
“And, for what it’s worth, I know you did all that you could to save Devers. Don’t feel a burden because of my loss. Watching a good man die is hard enough.”
“And he was a good man,” Daniel agreed.
Officer Carter took several more moments to wipe away more of her tears and recompose herself for work.
“Remember,” Officer Carter said. “Not a word to anybody else about my little emotional episode here.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Daniel repeated.
“Before I go back to my office, what was it you wanted to say to me?” Officer Carter asked.
“Compared to what we just talked about,” Daniel said, “it’s not a big deal. I’ll mention it later if it still matters then.”
Daniel and Officer Carter said goodbye, and Daniel left the CIA headquarters with the final item he had taken from Dmitri’s office safe in his pocket. He would have to wait a bit longer to figure out who to return it to. He feared Officer Carter’s emotional episode was to dissuade Daniel from suspecting she was compromised and had aided the Wolf.
23
Two days later.
Monday, September 30, 2002.
Daniel waited in the sterile interrogation room for the guards to bring Edwards. Daniel felt terrible going over Officer Carter’s head and gaining permission from Peters, but he didn’t see another way.
Officer Carter knew Billy, but she still never disclosed that.
Daniel had to chase down every loose end, even if he was confident the Wolf was behind bars.
Buzzes indicating the unlocking of doors and clanking metal preceded the two guards who escorted Edwards into the interrogation room. Daniel noticed that his eyes had the same fire; Edwards gazed at him as the guard sat him down opposite Daniel. Without his suit and slicked-back hair, Edwards appeared less than average.
The guard made a show of handcuffing Edwards to the table, but Daniel waved it off.
“That’s not necessary,” Daniel said.
“Please,” Edwards said with condescension. “Don’t think you will win me over by such asinine kindness. What are you doing here, anyway? I’ll run circles around you in an interrogation. I trained the people who would train you.”
Daniel flashed Edwards a smile.
“The problem for you,” Daniel said, “is that we don’t need your help. We’ve acquired all the information we need without you saying a word.”
“You wouldn’t be here if that were true,” Edwards said.
“Honestly, most people think you should rot in prison for about fifteen years to match how long Devers had been held in that secret prison facility in Uzbekistan, and then you should be shot.”
“We both know that won’t happen,” Edwards said.
“Too elaborate and expensive for somebody who was just a pawn in the Cold War,” Daniel said.
“A pawn?” Edwards asked indignantly. “You don’t know how this works. My lawyer will argue ad infinitum, but eventually, the CIA will trade me for something from the Russians. I won’t be forgotten in some hole like Uzbekistan.”
Daniel leaned forward and said, “And that is exactly why I think you couldn’t have been working alone. Somebody else in the CIA was protecting you. You are incredibly overconfident.”
“What I told you before was the truth,” Edwards nearly spat out. “I was spying effectively against the US when you were learning how to ride a tricycle.”
“And because somebody else was protecting and coddling you for the Russians, you don’t really know how the game is played.”
Edwards threw his hands up in the air. “Did you come here merely to insult me? You got lucky one time, and now you think you’re the American Kim Philby? Give me a break.”
“I’m here to help you,” Daniel said evenly. “Where do you think you are?”
Edwards crossed his arms and looked away.
Daniel continued to turn the screws.
“You aren’t on American soil. You’re in one of our black sites, designed to detain high-level-targets—”
“While depriving them of their rights,” Edwards cut in. “But I’m an American citizen, not a terrorist—”
“Except that I was investigating a terrorist bombing in Uzbekistan.”
“You’re lying,” Edwards shot back.
“I’m not lying. Even I don’t even know where we are. I was flown here secretly. And I’ll leave here secretly. If you ever want the rights accorded a US citizen, you need to help me, and your transfer to a different facility can be arranged.”
Edwards smoldered across the table from Daniel.
“You won’t tell me who your handler was because he’s still in the game,” Daniel asserted. “Am I right? Because I want to know who your handler was.”
“My handler died in 1985,” Edwards said.
“And then you got a new handler,” Daniel said.
“Presumably.”
“You were in Berlin then. Then you went to Moscow, and then to Berlin again. Perhaps you had two handlers. One in Berlin, and one in Moscow.”
Edwards didn’t respond.
“Or, you had lots of handlers,” Daniel continued. “You had many, and you didn’t know who they were. That’s why you’re not telling us who your handlers were. You can’t.”
“You don’t know how the game is played,” Edwards said. “I had one handler. Always only one.”
Daniel hoped he didn’t give away to Edwards that he was making progress. Of course, Edwards was so proud he would think he was an agent who deserved special care from the KGB via one handler.
“Walk me through the Berlin exchange,” Daniel said. “When a defector was going to reveal your identity.”
“I’ve already told you about it.”
“If you want to be moved out of this black site,” Daniel reminded Edwards, “then you need to help me. When you told me about the defector in Berlin, it didn’t ring true to me. I suspected something when you told me.”
Daniel was lying at this point. He hadn’t suspected Edwards until Edwards was pointing his own gun at him. But he knew Edwards couldn’t handle the fact that a new officer had seen through his lies.
“I can see why you might be telling yourself that now,” Edwards said. “After the mole is captured, all the experts can pontificate about how they all knew who the mole was in the past, but you and I know that’s not true. The problem is that my story was entirely truthful. There was no falsehood to detect in it.”
Daniel knew it was time to set the trap for the Wolf.
“Here’s how I think it went,” Daniel said. “You were supposed to meet the defector near the ghost station. You offhandedly mentioned in Tashkent that so much had happened in the Berlin tunnels back then. But your service records don’t contain other missions in the subway tunnels. Your story made it sound like you knew how to find your way to the ghost station without trouble.”
“Of course I found my way there without trouble. Others researched the route for me, and I simply followed instructions. The records, by design, don’t include all of my missions.”
“You’re not one to rely on others and follow instructions,” Daniel countered.
“That was a long time ago, and coming in from the West wasn’t difficult. It was a western subway line, I just had to follow instructions.”
“No. You set up the meeting with the defector near the ghost station because you were familiar with it. I think that’s where you would meet your handler.”
Edwards ignored the assertion. “When I got there, the defector was already dead. With his lips cut off. Certainly, I couldn’t let the defector reveal who I was. But it wasn’t me who killed him.”
“Of course you didn’t kill him,” Daniel said. “The defector was a trained KGB soldier. If you were to attack him, there was a pretty good chance that the defector would end up killing you. You obviously can’t handle a weapon.”
Daniel’s last statement was a low blow. It was intended to infuriate Edwards, even if he remained steadfastly stubborn in concealing his handler’s identity.
“When you went to meet the defector, your handler was there to meet with you as well, and he had already killed the defector. But your handler had to be an expert, unlike you. Otherwise, the defector might have killed your handler.”
Edwards refused to say anything and sat tensely. Daniel sensed his reconstruction was accurate. He felt Edwards must have been worried about what other things Daniel had been able to figure out.
Now that the trap was set, Daniel decided to drop the bomb and see how Edwards responded.
“Vladimir Putin was your handler,” Daniel asserted. “Posted with the KGB in Dresden from 1985 until 1990, and then his personal thugs took over running you as a source for the FSB and Russia.”
Edwards flinched. He didn’t immediately deny it. He didn’t offer another alternative. Daniel had hit a nerve.
“Not Putin,” Edwards said calmly. “Like you said, Putin was in Dresden.”
Daniel knew he had his chance to completely knock Edwards off balance.
“Don’t tell me it was Misha,” Daniel said quickly, tightening his trap. “We already know he handled Officer Carter and that you and Billy were coverups for her. Misha was smart to keep her in America. The rest of you were sent to Uzbekistan.”
At this, Edwards’ rage boiled over, and he shot to his feet. The Marine in the room stepped in to restrain Edwards.
“Officer Carter is an old spinster cow,” he yelled as he pointed his finger at Daniel. “She is not the master’s spy. I am. I am Misha’s Wolf.”
Daniel stood up and argued back.
“Billy was a coverup for Carter, not you, and we followed the trail,” Daniel continued, giving Edwards more rope from which to hang himself.
“Nonsense,” Edwards argued. “The only way Carter was connected to Billy was that Carter received her first promotion because of Billy’s help. Not exactly a solid start to her superstar career.”
Daniel knew Edwards expected a counterargument, but Daniel relaxed and smiled slightly at the trapped Wolf.
That’s all I needed, Daniel thought to himself.
He turned to the guard and said, “We’re done.” Daniel went towards the exit, but before he stepped out, he turned and said to Edwards, “I’ve worked at the CIA for less than one year. I just got the mighty Wolf to tell me all I needed to know in a few minutes.”
Daniel left the room, knowing Peters would probably chew him out for the last bit of gloating, but he couldn’t stand how smug Edwards was. His pride had been his downfall. Edwards had been so proud, he had confirmed that the master spy behind all the troubles from Russia went by the common nickname of
Misha. And Edwards also gave a plausible explanation as to why Officer Carter buried her connection to Billy. In Daniel’s mind, Officer Carter was now beyond suspicion.
That meant Daniel could finally give the diamond ring he had found in Dmitri’s office safe to her. The gemologist contracted by the CIA was ninety percent certain that the piece of jewelry had been crafted in the Washington D.C. area in the mid to late eighties. Daniel guessed it had been on Michael Devers’ person when he was captured, and Dmitri had locked it away in his office safe. If Devers’ final mission had been a success, he had planned on proposing to Allison Carter.
Not more than an hour later, a tiny jet was zooming Daniel from one dark corner of the globe back towards America. Daniel wondered if the engagement ring would bring grief, resentment, or a sense of closure to Officer Carter.
Would it be wise to give her the ring?
In the end, he decided to give it to her, and she would have to choose how to respond.
But Daniel had to decide how to respond to Tina. Doctors would soon clear her to leave the hospital.
Less than twenty-four hours later, Daniel was back at work.
At practice, really.
Daniel pulled the target towards himself. It was better than he had expected. Under Rex’s direction, he was continuing to familiarize himself with a variety of weapons. The current target had been his third round of firing with the standard Swiss rifle, the SG541.
Daniel readied himself for another round before he switched to another rifle, but the door into the shooting range clicked. Daniel knew he was no longer alone.
“Daniel?”
Daniel put the rifle down and ran to the door.
“Your aim still horrible?” Tina joked as Daniel hurried towards her.
Daniel and Tina hugged.
He couldn’t remember a time he had felt so happy.
“Don’t squeeze so hard,” Tina said, pulling away slightly.
“Sorry,” Daniel said, “I just—”