“Yes, sir, will do.”
***
None of the initial FSB personnel involved with the Saint Petersburg activity were on duty when Mike called Allison the next morning and told her to inform the COS that the operation was still on as originally planned. Later that afternoon when they came on duty, Serge got caught up with the activity. He read the latest transcript that had been forwarded to the office in Saint Petersburg and then when to update Captain Lubikov.
“I just talked to Captain Kasikov a few minutes ago,” stated Lubikov. “He’s got a mobile intercept team on the streets trying to home in on the location of those calls, but they’re not having much luck.”
“There was another intercept in just a few minutes ago. I’ll forward it to Captain Kasikov right away.”
“Do you recall what the conversation was about?”
“The male called the female and asked if there was anything in the news about the cargo that could cause him concern. She said no, or she would have told him. However, she said that there was a news report asking people to call the police if anyone had any information pertaining to an incident.”
“Was there more to it?”
“Yes, a bit more. I can go and get the transcript if you want to read it.”
“No, that’s OK. It’s Kasikov’s problem, not mine.”
***
The FSB’s mobile intercept team in Saint Petersburg was not having much luck locating the people making the calls reported by Lubyanka because their calls were being bounced from cell tower to tower before going out over a trunked satellite link. Saint Petersburg was the second-largest city in Russia and had numerous cellular telephone towers. Without some indication as to where the calls were being initiated, there was no use in Kasikov putting more people on the street to try to locate them; he felt it would just be a waste of resources.
Chapter Fifteen
The BOLO
It was nearly midnight when Claire left home, heading to the office. Scotty knew, from his time as the DDO, where she was going at that late hour: to headquarters to monitor an operation going down somewhere on the other side of the globe.
When she walked through the door to the Ops Center, the door alarm let the supervisor, a man some years older than Windstrum, know that someone with authorized access had entered. The midnight shift had assumed their watch, and people were busy manning their respective workstations. When he saw that it was Windstrum, he hurried over to greet the DDO.
“Mrs. Windstrum, I didn’t expect to see you this early,” he said, raising his clipboard and flipping up a page. The supervisor studied the page for a moment and then looked back at her.
“Ma’am, your office requested coverage of the team commencing at 0400. They aren’t expected to leave Checkpoint Echo until 1300 their time, which would be five o’clock this morning our time.”
“I know the details,” she said, too embarrassed to acknowledge the mistake she had made about being early for surveillance coverage of the operation about to go down in Saint Petersburg. Claire had confused the start time of NEEDFUL QUEST with coverage of another op that had been approved by the director. “I’m just looking for a cup of coffee. Don’t you keep a pot on somewhere in here?”
“Oh yes, ma’am,” he exclaimed. “Just wait here for a moment.”
The supervisor left and returned a few minutes later with a cup in his hand. He gave it to her and made a brief comment.
“You can take the cup with you, if you want, Mrs. Windstrum,” he said, hoping that she’d take it and leave. The “eyes only” Ops Center Activity Report they were required to send to the Office of the Director of Central Intelligence showed that the bulk of operational activity during a twenty-four-hour period occurred mostly during the midnight shift. That night didn’t portend to be any different, and even though she was DDO and in charge, the supervisor didn’t need her hanging around. She’d just be a distraction.
“Thank you. I’ll be in my office. Call me if anything happens before five.”
“Yes, ma’am, will do.”
She left and minutes later the supervisor was on a secure comms link talking to the controller of a Predator drone that was circling high above a residential compound in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan. A CIA special activities team was on the ground monitoring the compound from a safe distance. The drone strike, which could only have been approved by the director, was authorized to take out a “priority-one” Taliban target—a leader notoriously known for killing entire families that he believed had been collaborating with US forces operating in the region. The duty supervisor needed to make sure the strike was recorded and available for the director’s Friday morning staff meeting.
Claire walked down the hallway toward her office, which wasn’t far from the Ops Center. She reached the door and pressed several numbers on the cipher lock. She heard the lock click and pushed open the door. Claire turned the lights on and walked through the reception area into her office. She flipped the light switch and walked over to her desk. Once there, Claire sat down, placed the coffee cup near the computer, and then turned it on. She took a sip of coffee and waited for the computer to boot up.
Several minutes after logging into the CIA’s secure communications network, Claire was reading correspondence from the field and occasionally sipping the lukewarm coffee given to her by the duty supervisor. She was particularly interested to see if there was anything in from Moscow Station, but there wasn’t, not even a thank you note from Brandson for the birthday message she’d sent to him. She read the latest intel report from the Ops Base in Kandahar confirming that the target would be at the safe house as originally reported. Claire looked at her watch and knew that the strike would take place within the next thirty minutes, and that she’d see the results at the director’s morning staff meeting. Time passed slowly from then on. Having finished reading most of the ops traffic, she got up and walked over to an office couch. It was 0300 when she sat down. Claire closed her eyes for a moment and awoke a few hours later to the ringing of the telephone.
***
At the farmhouse in Western Russia, Mike could tell that Rick was a bit antsy. Nina’s situation was probably still on his mind. He was walking and talking to each SEAL, going over the details of their assigned duties, and reviewing the escape routes they had outlined during previous discussions. The morning passed slowly, and they consumed several pots of coffee. As noon approached, they made ready to leave.
“Go get the van, Ron. It’s that time,” Mike ordered. “Everyone else, check and double-check to make sure we don’t leave anything behind.”
Later, as the team walked out of the house, Mike and Nina made one last walk-through. It took several minutes, and Rick was hoping that Nina would take advantage of the time she had with Mike to discuss her security situation, but she didn’t. The house was clean, and they walked out. Ron drove up with the van, and they all got in. It was twelve noon as he drove away heading to Echo, the warehouse located in the Kirovskiy District of Saint Petersburg.
***
The old man who had visited the Shamrock Pub the night before was a poor, homeless, cud who eked out a living by begging theater patrons for money. Once or twice he had even attempted to rob an unsuspecting couple using a toy pistol. It was midmorning as he passed by a street newsstand and saw a paper headlining the news of a prominent TV executive being murdered. He recognized the picture of the executive as being the same as the picture in the wallet that he still had. He paid for a paper and read the story. The passage he read about a reward being offered got his attention. The old man pulled the wallet out and looked at the RT News photo ID. It was the same man. He thought about the events of the night before; the flashback was surreal.
When he saw them near the bus stop, the old man had decided to approach the men to ask for money. When he got close to the bench, he was surprised by the one man offering him money to stay and speak with one of the others until the theater performance was over. He gladly accepte
d the offer, and after they left, he sat next to the man and looked closely at his face and then touched him. He felt cold skin. The old man was a former army soldier and knew what it felt like to touch a dead body. It scared him to know that he was sitting beside a dead man. He got up quickly and kicked something on the ground in the process. He looked down to see a wallet. He picked it up and hurried off toward the Shamrock, in desperate need of a drink.
The old man folded the paper and set about to find a policeman, which he did in very short order. He showed the policeman the headlines and began telling him the details of what had transpired the night before. The policeman cautiously listened to the old drunk who spent his time hanging around Theater Square begging for money. He was leery of the tale being told by the old vet.
“How about that?” concluded the old man. “And, there’s a reward being offered for information leading to an arrest.”
“Do you still have the wallet?” the policeman asked.
“Yes I do,” the old man said, taking the wallet out and handing it to the policeman.
The policeman opened the wallet and looked at the photo ID. Then he looked at the money compartment. It was empty.
“I think they robbed him,” the old man said, watching the policeman as he folded the wallet and put it into his pocket.
“You may be on to something. Come on. You’re coming with me to the station.”
“Will I get the reward money?” the old vet asked.
“That’s not for me to decide, and nobody’s been arrested yet.”
When they arrived at the station, the policeman called main headquarters to contact the detective investigating Alexander Brzezinski’s death. The detective was the one who had gone to the RT News station to talk to Nina Lubikov and, later, the one who had discovered Brzezinski’s cell phone in her apartment. When he examined the phone, which wasn’t password protected, he discovered a photo image of the young RT News personality. He became curious about their relationship and informed the apartment manager to keep an eye out for Miss Lubikov and to immediately call him with any news about her being back at the apartment.
When talking to the detective, the policeman related the details of the story the old vet had told him, and within an hour of the call, the detective was sitting at the suburb police station. During his questioning of the witness, the old man once again described the people he had seen the night before. The detective had brought Brzezinski’s cell phone with him and showed the picture of Nina Lubikov to the old vet.
“Is this the woman you saw in the van?”
“Yes it is. Now will I get the reward money?”
***
The information the detective acquired from the old veteran, plus the additional information he’d received from Nina Lubikov’s apartment manager about her leaving the building with a black man, was sufficient evidence to bring her in for questioning. He called the dispatcher and had a BOLO issued for her arrest.
***
It was 1245 when Ron drove the van into the warehouse. It was about the same time that Allison heard the BOLO transmission being broadcasted over the Saint Petersburg police net.
“All call, be on the lookout for Nina Pukhova Lubikov, a blond-haired woman, possibly driving a large beige van. Two males, a black man and a white man, may possibly be with her. Approach with caution. Lubikov is wanted in connection with a recent murder.”
Allison fretted about the BOLO and what to do about the information. She looked at her watch; it was time to update the team. She took out the ops phone to called Nina.
Chapter Sixteen
Execution
“Hello.”
“It’s me,” Allison said. “Two things. First, all the birds will be out flying. Also, I’ve planned for a conference call so we can speak to each other collectively. The call that you will make to advise us that you are ready will now be taken by someone else, another team member. That person will be known as TWO. When he returns your call, you are to call him back at one forty-five—that’s when you, me, and the birds will be linked telephonically to a connected network. You will be known as FIVE. I will be SIX and in charge. If you encounter the opposition team, refer to them as bear or bears. Any questions about the scavenger hunt?”
“Yes. What type of coverage can we expect?”
What the hell. It will all be over shortly, and we can dispose of these damn phones, Allison thought as she began to answer Nina’s question.
“ONE will be in a sedan parked not far from the start location. TWO will be with him. TWO’s the one in charge of linking the phones. THREE will be in a small truck parked along the route and FOUR, well, you know what he will be driving, the same as before. They all are prepared to provide interference, but you have to provide updates and let us know your situation and location at any given time. If you see ‘smokey,’ we’ll take action based on your input.”
Nina recognized that Allison wanted her to use the words “smoke and bear” to describe police activity. She knew that from a conversation she and Allison had had about “Smokey the Bear” being a forest ranger—a law enforcement figure.
“OK, thanks. Anything else?”
“No, that’s it.”
Allison secured the phone, reassuring herself that she had made the right decision not telling Nina about the BOLO. She walked out of the building and got into her car. Upon further reflection, Allison felt sure that Mike would have gone ahead with the op even if she had told Nina about the BOLO. Therefore, there was no need to give them more cause for concern and no need to immediately inform the chain.
When Nina ended the call, she explained to the team what she had been told by Allison.
“Good show,” stated Rick, “but I think it’s probably a lot of effort and won’t be necessary.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Mike stated, looking at his watch.
***
It was twenty minutes past 0500 when Claire looked at her watch. She got up to answer the ringing telephone.
“Windstrum,” she answered. It was the duty supervisor.
“Yes, ma’am. I thought you’d want to know that the team has left Echo and is en route to the target area.”
“Thank you. I’ll be right there.” She hung up the phone, grabbed the coffee cup, and headed to the Ops Center.
***
After making the preliminary call, Nina received the call back from TWO at 1315 local, telling her that everything was OK. She informed Mike, and they were operational and en route to the institute five minutes later. When they crossed the Liteyniy Bridge, Ron turned onto the Arsenalnaya embankment highway driving eastward in the direction of Kresty Prison. That’s when Nina called and was linked with the other RAVENS. Allison then conducted what would otherwise be known as a radio check.
“This is SIX,” she said. “Let’s check to make sure we are all on the line. Starting with you, TWO.”
“TWO here on the line with ONE at our location,” she heard R/2 say and seconds later R/3.
“THREE on the line and parked by the road.”
After a pause, R/4 gave his response.
“FOUR here on a side street near the bridge.”
Finally, it was Nina’s turn.
“FIVE here. We are on the embankment highway.”
“OK, let’s be alert,” Allison said.
***
SORM had detected the call made by Allison to Nina and the subsequent network check she conducted to ensure the parties were linked telephonically. That’s when Serge realized that the parties were on a conference call. He quickly forwarded the information to Captain Kasikov, but it didn’t help him to locate the people they were looking for.
***
It was quiet for a few minutes until THREE announced that he had just seen the van go by. Ron drove past him and then past Kresty Prison. Later, he took the exit marked for the SAPHSTIN Institute. He turned onto the side street paralleling the back side of the institute and slowly pulled over to park. They w
aited patiently as Nina gave the support team an update.
Again, the calls were intercepted and passed to Captain Kasikov.
Mike was fixated on the pedestrian gate located fifty yards or so in front of them. Ron almost shit himself when he saw a police cruiser coming over a small hill in the road, driving in their direction.
“Cop car,” he shouted.
Mike saw it. “Just sit still,” he stated, reaching down to remove the Glock from its holster.
Minutes later, the cruiser passed. The officer driving the car didn’t pay any attention to the van parked on the side of the street, but the officer sitting in the passenger seat did look back as they drove past. He and his partner had missed the BOLO issued earlier in the day, but he was curious about the van. Nina had informed the support team that they had seen a bear. Allison held her breath, but relaxed when Nina reported that the fire was out; the smoke had cleared. Mike holstered the Glock and turned his attention once again to monitoring the pedestrian gate.
Serge passed another intercept to Kasikov. They both realized an operation of some sort was in progress. Kasikov decided to dispatch more personnel. He sent another mobile search team out. If they could get close to one of the cell towers, it might be possible to track the location of the calls. He now had teams operating in Sectors A and B. Areas close to the city’s ports and government warehouses. It was a lot of territory to cover.
***
The security camera in the institute garden was controlled by a motion detector. When the camera was activated, the video would play on a monitor in the security office and a recorder would automatically capture the activity. The institute security officer happened to be sitting at his desk when the monitor came alive with video coverage of the garden. He looked at the monitor and watched as the attendant sat Mauldin down on the bench. He couldn’t see him handcuffing the patient’s hand to the bench, but he sat up and took notice when he saw the attendant walking away toward the gate. He followed him by moving a joystick that turned the camera.
Asset Page 14