“What happened to me, and where are we?” he said in a raised voice as he twisted her body around to face him.
The force of his action almost caused her to fall. She stumbled backward, her finger tightening against the trigger. The exploding bullet hit Alex in the chest, knocking him to the floor. It all happened so fast that there was nothing Nina could have done to prevent the accidental shooting. She pulled the pistol out and looked at it. She lowered her hand and looked down at the blood oozing from Alex’s chest. He laid there motionless.
Nina heard the warehouse door open, but paid no attention to who was coming in. She was shaken mentally by what had happened. She had shot her boss, her lover, and the man who held her future in his hands. She looked at the car pulling into the warehouse and recognized Allison’s face. Allison hadn’t heard the muffled gunshot because of the noise the warehouse door made as it rolled across the overhead suspension rail. When she drove in and saw a man lying on the floor and Nina standing over the body with the Makarov dangling at her side, she knew that it had to be Brzezinski. She pushed the remote button to close the warehouse door, quickly got out, and rushed over to Nina.
“What happened?” she asked, bending down to check for a pulse.
Nina was still terrified by what had happened, but she managed to regain her composure just enough to answer Allison’s question.
“After we got here, I opened the car door on Alex’s side to let in some fresh air. I decided to get the pistol for protection and to guard him in case he came to and, I don’t know, became delirious, crazy, or somehow unmanageable and tried to force us to leave.”
Allison stood. She looked at Nina. “So what happened next?”
“I was putting the pistol in my coat pocket when Alex came up behind me. He grabbed me by my shoulders and spun me around, causing me to nearly fall, and I must have squeezed the trigger. I had no intention of actually shooting him. It was an accident.”
“Well, if he hasn’t told anyone what you’ve been doing, we won’t have to worry about it anymore; he’s dead. Put the pistol away.”
Nina looked down at the pistol again. She turned and put it back in the concealment device. She was barely able to speak when she turned back to face Allison.
“I can’t figure it out. I’m sure he didn’t follow me this morning.” She looked back down at him. “What were you trying to prove, Alex? Why were you following me?”
Allison attempted to calm Nina down, to soothe her emotions so she could figure out when Alex began his surveillance of her. She reached out and touched Nina’s arm.
“Everything will be OK,” she said. “It hurts to lose a close friend and companion, I know that from personal experience, but we need to figure this out. Tell me everything you did, starting from the time you left me yesterday.”
Nina looked at Allison for a few seconds before responding, attempting to collect her wits.
“All right. Based on your direction, I invited Alex to come by my place last evening to do exactly what your note to me suggested to solidify my cover story for being gone for a few days. During the evening, I told him that I would be taking the train to Moscow today to visit my ailing grandmother and that I wouldn’t be back until Saturday. He understood when I told him that my mother had passed away a few years back and that my grandmother was all that I had left in terms of family.”
Allison interjected.
“Did you tell him what time you would be leaving?”
“No, I didn’t, and he didn’t question my story, nor did he express any concerns about me being gone. He was completely satisfied when he left.”
Allison knew what that meant, but she didn’t say anything.
“OK, go ahead. What next?”
“When I got ready to leave the apartment this morning, I saw that he had left his cell phone on the foyer table. He uses it constantly, and I didn’t have time to take it to him. I figured he could use his office phone while I was gone, or he could get another one from the techies at work. I went to the garage, got my car, and drove to the warehouse.”
“Did you look for surveillance?”
“Yes, but not constantly. I mean, it was early and not much traffic. If anyone had been following me, I’m sure I would have noticed it. I did everything you told me to do from that point forward. I left the warehouse and drove to the safe house to make sure everything was OK. I left, stopping at different points while en route to look for surveillance. I got to the cabin midmorning and met the team. As we were driving back to the safe house, I was stopped by a policeman between Seltso and Telezi, but it was just a routine traffic stop and nothing came of it. After that, we drove on to the farmhouse. When we got there, I gave Mike the flip-top phone and briefed him and the team on the ops plan. I’m to return at nine tomorrow so we can make a trial run and practice getting into and out of the city under different operational scenarios.”
Nina paused, waiting for a comment from Allison.
“Was Mike happy with the plan?”
“Yes, he seemed to be. When we finished, I drove to the warehouse to store the van and to get my car. That’s when Alex called to see if I had made it safely to Moscow. We chatted briefly, and I told him that I would see him on Sunday. That was it. We ended the call, I put the Makarov back in the concealment device and then drove back to the apartment building. I took a shower after getting home and left about an hour later for our meeting. You know the rest from there.”
Allison stood quietly for a moment, thinking about everything Nina had told her. A few thoughts came to mind, and she wanted to hear a bit more, although she knew having to disclose more details about events leading up to Alex’s death would cause Nina additional pain.
“Did you know that it was Alex following you?”
“Yes, I did,” she said, while rubbing an eye. “I spotted him just as I crossed the street at Saint Isaac’s Cathedral. That’s when I decided to abort our meeting.”
Allison reached into her pocket and took out a small packet of Kleenex. She handed one to Nina. “I’m curious. Does or did Alex have a key to your apartment?”
“No. Why are you asking?”
“I’ll get to that in a minute, but first, one more question. Is it known by building management that he came to visit you on a frequent basis?”
“Yes. It’s no surprise to anyone in the building that Alex and I were good friends. We were seen together many times by the building apartment manager and other tenants. Why is this important?”
“If Alex needed his cell phone as much as you say he did, I think it’s possible that he was coming back to your place to get it. I’m thinking that he thought it was possible to get building management to let him into your apartment to get the damn phone. When he got there, he must have seen you coming out of the building. If that was the case, he would have been confused by what you told him regarding an ailing grandmother and the line you gave him about having arrived safely to Moscow. It’s my opinion that he started following you at that point—to see where you were going and to find out why you had been concealing your activities from him.”
“I suppose that could be it, I just don’t know, but why did you interfere and drug him? Why didn’t you just let him continue to follow me? I mean, I could have handled the situation with him back at my apartment.”
The sudden change of Nina’s emotions and an attempt to put the blame on Allison for Alex being dead caught the CIA operative by surprise, and it prompted an unprofessional response.
“And how would you have done that? By screwing any thoughts of your activities out of his mind?”
It was Nina’s turn to be upset. She responded to Allison’s dig with one of her own.
“No, not by screwing his brains out. I could have come up with a plausible story,” she said, once again rubbing her eyes. “I’m good at what I do, remember, or else I wouldn’t be a valuable “access agent” for the CIA.”
Allison had far more operational smarts than Nina and knew that she
had done the right thing, but she also realized the mistake she had just made by challenging Nina’s behavior. She attempted to change the tone of their conversation.
“I’m sorry for the way things have worked out, Nina, but how was I to know it was Alex following you? It could have been the FSB, and my concern was for your safety. I didn’t know it was Alex until I sat him down on the bench. Yes, I wish circumstances were different, but that’s not the case. We’ve got other issues to deal with, so please, take a seat someplace while I call and give the chain an update.”
Nina walked over and opened the back of the van. She sat down, half in and half out, with one leg on the floor and the other dangling over the edge of the bumper. She wondered what the team was going to think about the incident, about her carelessness. Her thoughts then turned to Allison and the chain of command. She heard parts of the conversation as Allison informed her contact what had transpired.
“You heard me right. Our concern is no longer with us. He’s TFU.”
Randy knew right away that Alex was dead when Allison stated that he was TFU. We bury people tits up. Using the phonetic alphabet, tips up, tango uniform, would be abbreviated TU. By adding the sex expression, which military men tend to do, it would be TFU, tango foxtrot uniform.
Nina was thinking of Alex and her future at RT News. She looked over at him.
What were they were going to do with his body?
She heard the tone of Allison’s voice; she sounded distressed and upset as she ended the call.
“Sorry, but we’ve got to get moving,” Allison said as she walked over to Nina. “We need to load Alex in the van, so you can take him to Delta and have the team dispose of his body. Stay there with them and tell Mike what happened. Everything is on hold until the chain has had time to evaluate the situation and decide on a course of action.”
Allison watched Nina leave and then she left, heading home to prepare a COVCOM report for Randy. As she drove away, Randy was already on the phone to give Brandson the unexpected news.
Chapter Eleven
No Cause for Concern
Brandson jerked a bit after hearing the ringing of his secure phone. He immediately reached for the handset and picked it up.
“Hello,” he answered.
“It’s me, boss.”
“No shit, been waiting on your call. How did it go?”
“From bad to worse. Things are in a mess, and we’ve got some serious decisions to make.”
“Why, what’s happened?”
“Brzezinski’s dead. Nina accidentally shot him after they got to the warehouse.”
Randy winced as the voice of an exasperated COS could be heard by anyone standing within a few feet of the telephone.
“This has turned into a real disaster, Randy! I knew it was a mistake to let Allison handle this by herself.”
“Now hold on a moment,” Randy said, coming to Allison’s defense. “I don’t think we can put all the blame on her. Shit happens. You know that as well as I do. There’s nothing that she or anyone else could have done to improve an unfortunate situation.”
“If she hadn’t drugged him, we wouldn’t be in this mess,” Brandson stated with anger still in his voice.
“Perhaps not, but what if it had been the FSB instead of Alex? That would have meant that they were on to Nina’s activities. Allison followed op sec protocol by taking him out. She didn’t know it was Brzezinski, but she did know that we would need time to get Nina out of the country if it was the FSB tailing her. So drugging him was the right thing to do.”
Brandson was silent for a moment before continuing.
“I’m still not convinced that she did the right thing. So how did the shooting of Brzezinski take place, and what have you told them?”
“I don’t have all the details. It was too complicated for Allison to explain it to me cryptically, but he was dead when she got there.”
Brandson sighed.
“This was going to be such a simple damn op. So what took Allison so long to get to the warehouse?”
“It took time for her to get from the meeting point to her car and time to call and give me an update on what had happened.”
He’s protecting her, Brandson thought.
“Yeah, OK, what else?”
“She’s going to put it all in a report and send it to me later tonight. I told her to take the body to the farmhouse and have the team dispose of it. By the way, they will probably start recon and trial runs tomorrow. What do we do? I’ll need to tell them something. Is this a showstopper, or do we let them continue?”
Brandson thought about that for a moment and then responded.
“If the team feels comfortable about continuing, then that’s what we’re going to do. Also, I don’t think burying the body at the farm is a good idea. Brzezinski’s wife will report him missing at some point and inform the police. They’ll investigate, and want to talk to Nina, so we had better plan for that eventuality.”
“OK, in the meantime, do you want me to add my input to Allison’s report and send it in to headquarters?”
“Yes, write it up, put it in a cable, but only send it to me. I’ll send it on up the chain later tomorrow.”
“That won’t give headquarters much time to respond.”
“Precisely. Now, get back in touch with Allison and have her call Mike to get his take on what Nina has told him. If he still wants to continue with the op, they are to put their heads together and come up with a plan to dump the body someplace in the city. Nina should know a good spot. I’ve got a hunch that this won’t be a showstopper for Shocklee, not from what I’ve heard about him. If that’s the case, I want the rest of the RAVENS on the street in support of the team and capable of running additional interference.”
“We’ll need more commo equipment for them to be effective.”
“Jesus, Randy, I understand that. Buy some more damn phones and FedEx them to her overnight. I’ll be out of pocket until tomorrow morning. Let’s talk then.” He hung up the phone.
The odds of this becoming a successful operation are beginning to turn against us, thought Randy as he put the handset down.
***
For security reasons, Rick decided to post a security watch in the barn while the rest of them took up residence in the farmhouse. They were having coffee when the ringing of the phone on the table interrupted their conversation. Mike picked it up and flipped it open. He looked at the LED screen. It was an incoming call from Nina. He answered as Rick stood nearby.
“Hello.”
Nina did not want to mention any names.
“It’s me,” she said.
Mike recognized her voice. She spoke in English with a distinctive European accent.
“What can I do for you?”
“Nothing, at this moment. I’m just calling to let you know that I will be returning shortly. I should be there within the hour.”
The tone of her voice wasn’t natural. He suspected that something was wrong.
“Are you coming alone?” Mike asked.
Nina considered his question. He’s asking me that for a reason, she thought.
“Yes. See you shortly.”
Mike flipped the top of the phone to the closed position, ending the call.
“What was that all about?” Rick asked.
“It was Nina. She’s on her way. She said she would be here within the hour.”
“What’s going on?”
“Beats the hell out me. We’ll just have to wait and see. I’ve got a feeling this might be a long night.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Just a gut feeling. No way to tell if her call was being made under duress. Perhaps we should reposition the guys outside to be prepared for the unexpected.”
Rick headed to the barn as Mike gathered his gear. He picked up the phone and walked out, turning off the lights.
What’s going on? he wondered.
He turned the phone off to keep it from ringing while they waited
in seclusion for Nina’s return—hopefully without unexpected company.
***
Everyone was spending more time on phones than anticipated and the real aspect of the operation hadn’t even started. Allison was especially concerned and worried about their calls being monitored by the FSB. It was her ass out on a limb without diplomatic protection if something happened and she was caught. She looked at the led screen and knew that it was Randy calling. She let it ring several times before finally answering.
“Hello.”
“Hi,” he replied. “Just spoke with the chain. We need to make a few changes to the plan. First, the cargo needs to be disposed of at another place, not at the dock. Someplace that “T” thinks will be a suitable location. Chain is concerned about a missing cargo investigation and thinks people might start asking a lot of questions. You good on this point and what I’m getting at?” he asked.
“Got it. What else?”
“Chain wants to know if TL has any concerns about continuing. If not, you are to put on additional coverage, just to be extra cautious during the move. I’m to get back to chain tomorrow morning with an update from you. Oh, I’ll also be sending you some more instruments for use by their use. Any questions?”
“No. I’m good. I’ll call you tomorrow. Good night, handsome.”
***
There were no lights on at the farmhouse as Nina drove down the lane. The team had taken different positions outside, dispersed away from the house and barn, hiding in the dark, awaiting her arrival. Mike saw the lights of a vehicle. He clicked off the safety on his mini AR-15 rifle and watched as a van continued down the lane toward them. They remained under cover. Mike flipped down NVGs and scanned the surrounding area. It was dead quiet as Nina stopped in front of the house. She got out of the van and kept the headlights on. She left the door open for additional outside light around the van. She stood near the front of the van while looking at the house, half expecting someone to come out. With no warm-bloodied bodies seen moving in on foot toward the house and no additional vehicles coming down the lane, Mike secured raised his goggles and whistled loudly—an indication for them to get up and move in. Nina heard the whistle and looked around. She couldn’t see them coming in out of the darkness. Mike was the first to reach the van and speak. She turned quickly at the sound of his voice. He was standing close by.
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