‘So what’s this about?’ he said. ‘Callahan here has a mission to run and it’s in an advanced stage.’
‘Don’t worry,’ said Thornbury with the ghost of a smile. ‘We won’t keep either of you long. We thought it best if you both heard what we have to say, then you can go back to your duties.’
Sewell and Callahan exchanged a look. Duties? What the hell was this woman on? Made it sound like they were janitors.
‘Go ahead,’ Sewell said quietly.
‘We,’ Thornbury said smoothly, gesturing to include Davies, ‘in consultation with the Secretary of State, have come to a decision about the Counselor mission. In light of recent and ongoing developments in the situation with Russia and its … neighbours, there have been extensive discussions as to the advisability of the operation currently being undertaken by the CIA in the north of that country. It has been drawn to everybody’s general attention that the current talks between the two countries are at a delicate stage, and anything which threatens to unbalance our position in the talks is to be avoided. Especially a covert operation involving a man like Tzorekov.’
Sewell pursed his lips at the preamble, as unclear as it was irritating. He thought he’d become adept over the years at interpreting the convoluted speech patterns of Washington bureaucrats, but this was threatening to kill that idea entirely.
‘Say what?’
Thornbury didn’t miss a beat. ‘It has been decided that in the interests of ongoing developments between the two countries, to impose a change of priorities vis-à-vis the Watchman operation.’
‘Vis-à-vis?’ Sewell thought this didn’t sound good and was about to say so but Callahan got there first and went for the jugular. ‘What the heck does that mean?’
‘It means, Mr Callahan, that we’re pulling the plug. With immediate effect.’
‘What?’ Sewell felt his blood pressure rising like an express elevator. ‘You’re ending it? Why?’
‘Because we no longer see the advantage to the US of continuing to be seen backing an initiative that may well go against us. There is also the question of having the operation entirely in the hands of an unattached individual over whom you have at best a transient control. It’s simply far too risky. The president agrees and we therefore have to instruct you and the British participants to cease all activities and withdraw all personnel from the area.’
‘Nice of you to include us in those talks.’ Brian Callahan sat back with a look of disgust. ‘When exactly was this decision made?’
Thornbury flushed, no doubt recalling their last meeting. Before she could speak, Davies leaned forward and gave a conciliatory smile. ‘My apologies, Brian – you can blame me for that. I should have included you both at the outset, but events have been moving a little … rapidly all round. We figured it best to talk it out first around the table between the White House and the State Department, then make the appropriate decision where it affected the CIA and its active partners.’
‘I have a question,’ Sewell interjected. ‘Were the British included in your around-the-table discussions, or are they only now hearing about this, too? You might not know this, Deputy Secretary, but it was they who brought this initiative by Leonid Tzorekov to us. It was they who suggested that we be included in view of the close alliance between our two countries, and the potential ramifications involved whether Tzorekov succeeded or not.’
‘I’ll bet a dollar,’ Callahan said quietly, his eyes on Thornbury, ‘that Tom Vale doesn’t know yet. Does he?’
‘I find your tone offensive, Mr Callahan,’ Thornbury retorted sharply, with a quick glance at Davies. ‘May I remind you that you do not decide policy on these matters – that’s our job.’
Callahan was unruffled by the obvious reprimand. ‘Yeah, and I’m only the sharp object out front that does some of the digging – I get that. Well, let me remind you, Ms Thornbury, that it was only a few days ago following your earlier policy decision and at your specific request that we sent a man out into the field – inside Russia – to help secure Mr Tzorekov and his companion on their way to this proposed meeting. Watchman has been undercover since then and is beyond our help if anything goes wrong. Had you told us about this even twenty-four hours ago, we could have avoided some of the problems he has already encountered by pulling him out of there.’
‘He was aware of the risks, wasn’t he?’ said Davies. He was looking at Sewell and ignoring Callahan altogether. ‘Frankly, this defensive attitude isn’t helpful, Jason. I cannot stress enough that the reversal of the decision to help Tzorekov was made after much discussion and because the chances of our involvement being discovered and broadcast could be severely damaging to the US and any future dealings with President Putin and his ministers. Yes, it’s unfortunate that we have to withdraw support for the mission, but you have our full backing to take whatever steps are necessary to get your man out of the country. Short of sending in other assets, of course.’
‘What, none?’
‘None. That’s non-negotiable.’ He pressed the point of his index finger on the table in emphasis. ‘Nobody else puts a toe across the Russian border or anywhere near it. That decision comes from the very top.’
‘What about the British personnel? There are two of their men out there, monitoring the situation.’
‘We will be talking to the relevant people in London as soon as we can to confirm any actions they might have to take on the issue.’
Sewell looked shocked. ‘You don’t even know about Tom Vale, do you? Your briefing didn’t even get that far.’ He threw a look at Thornbury that should have had her bursting into flames where she sat. She gave a cool smile in return, but looked suddenly uneasy.
‘Pardon me?’
‘Tom Vale, the senior MI6 officer who brought this to us in the first place; he’s here in this building right now, as Ms Thornbury knows. It would have been courteous, don’t you think, in view of his involvement, to have included him in this meeting?’
‘My apologies, I didn’t realize.’ A sharp flick of his eyes towards Thornbury was the only indication that Davies was telling the truth. ‘Be that as it may, this is the end of this mission. I’ll talk with Mr Vale immediately we’re finished here.’ He stood up. ‘I’m sorry, gentlemen, but having missions terminated at short notice can hardly be unusual. Changes of policy can’t always take account of the situation on the ground. For the reasons outlined, this was unavoidable.’
‘So what happens to Tzorekov?’ Callahan had remained seated. He was staring at Davies with open disgust. ‘This leaves him right out on a limb. We’re supposed to be protecting him! Don’t you care how this goes down?’
Davies looked unmoved. ‘It’s unfortunate, but the decision to return to Russia was entirely his. As I understand it, he was going in without any commitment from us anyway, and doesn’t even know your man is there, am I right?’
‘Yes, that’s true—’
‘Then there’s nothing we can do about it. As to your man – Watchman? I’m sure he’ll find his way out. Good day, gentlemen.’ Without waiting for their response, he turned and walked out.
As his footsteps faded along the corridor, Thornbury seemed to realize that she had been left behind. She stood up and said, ‘I must be going, too.’
‘Wait.’ Sewell reached forward to the comms console and pressed a button. ‘You’ll need an escort to see you out. Security protocol, I’m afraid.’
‘Why?’ She look flustered. ‘Deputy Secretary Davies didn’t have one.’
Sewell smiled thinly. ‘But you’re not the deputy secretary, are you? You get an escort, like it or not.’
She looked stung by the words and tone, and stared at the two CIA men in turn. Her jaw flexed with anger. ‘You had better hope,’ she muttered, ‘that your man doesn’t get caught. If he does there are going to be some changes around here. Personally, I don’t give a damn how this goes down as you put it. But I do not intend going down with it. That I promise you!’
As she f
inished speaking there was a knock at the door. A uniformed guard entered and stood waiting.
‘Escort Ms Thornbury to the exit, will you?’ Sewell said calmly. ‘And make sure she signs out on the way. If she refuses, lock her up.’ With that he turned his back on Thornbury, waiting until the door closed behind her before saying to Callahan, ‘I want to keep Watchman running. This isn’t over yet.’
Callahan looked surprised. ‘Are you sure? You heard what Davies said.’
‘Sure, I heard him. But he didn’t put a timescale on it, did he? Whether we pull Watchman out now or in twenty-four hours isn’t going to make a pile of difference to him one way or another. But it might gain a whole lot more than their “change of policy” has reckoned with.’ He stood up. ‘Let’s give Tzorekov and Watchman a fighting chance. We owe them that.’
Callahan nodded with smile. ‘Twenty-four hours. You’ve got it.’
FORTY-ONE
‘Watchman, come in.’
‘I’m here. Go ahead.’ I was halfway back to the power plant and stuck in a long line of trucks when Lindsay called. I could see a logging truck in the ditch on one side of the road, and the remains of another on the opposite side. There was nothing much left of the second cab, which had been destroyed by three logs coming adrift from their chains and ploughing through it on their way to God knew where.
I still felt bad about leaving Sedgwick and the situation he was in, but it was out of my hands. Vale had promised to do all he could to help him, so I had to be satisfied with that.
‘Watchman, I have a lead on the numbered item you mentioned,’ Lindsay said, and I knew she was talking about the assault rifle I’d taken off the Russian. ‘It came up almost immediately. It’s one of a batch of twelve similar items originally designated for unspecified military use about five years ago. We don’t have specific details but a police report since then lists them as having been taken out of military use and allocated to a specialist anti-terror unit in southern Ukraine. The items were stolen before they could be put into service.’
For ‘unspecified military use’ read special forces. ‘Good work. How did you find it?’
‘We got lucky. Several similar items turned up in Europe, specifically Munich, Belfast, Northern Ireland and Sardinia. Interpol issued a general warning because of terrorist implications involving the G8 summits held at or near these locations. The information on their history was supplied by the Russian authorities but only after some international pressure to come clean.’
As she said, it was lucky. Information from the Russian authorities on stolen weapons was rarely made available to the outside world. Some arsenals and depots had been raided over the years by criminal gangs looking for weapons to feed a hungry market. But there were also records of remote depots closed down and left with minimal security measures, where weapons had been discovered still packed in their original crates, unlisted and forgotten until somebody came along with a ready cash bribe and a flat-bed truck.
Mostly it would be the traditional AK-47 model which was a big attraction to the open market. But specialist weapons like the Val were bad news and the Russians knew it. If they got into the wrong kind of hands and a signature was left behind, it might point the finger rather too directly at Moscow being connected with acts of terrorism by association. It didn’t take me much further forward to finding out who the opposite team were, but it did tell me who they weren’t. And any information is better than none.
‘I have a couple of other items I’d like you to check,’ I said, and read out the names from the wallets I’d taken off the two men at the lake. ‘It’s a long shot but I have good reason to think they’re ex-military contractors with service in Afghanistan or Iraq.’ I had no idea if they would have used the same names but if they did turn up on any records of military contractors working there, it would at least confirm that they weren’t FSB, and might tell us who last employed them.
‘Copy that, Watchman. I’ll get on it.’
‘Have the Pathfinders still got a signal?’
‘Affirmative and still in the same location. The last flyover was timed at thirteen minutes ago and recorded as strong and clear.’
‘Good to hear. Now heading back there. ETA as soon as I can get out of a truck jam.’
‘Truck jam? I never heard of one of those.’
‘You haven’t lived. Nose-to-tail fumes and noise.’ I summarized what I’d found at the house on the lake, then cut the connection and sat back to wait for the jam to clear.
It was late afternoon and the light was fading by the time I got through and hit open road. It had turned out to be a long day and I needed some sleep. But first I had to make sure Tzorekov was where I’d left him. As I got nearer I checked the signal and finally picked up a reading when I was about ten miles out from the power plant.
I left the car in the same pull-in I’d used before and made my way through the main gates and down to the main building. Knowing the layout made moving around a lot easier.
Not that it helped much.
The Touareg was gone.
What I did find was my tracker, balanced on a small pile of stones where the Touareg had been, and where it would be impossible to miss. Gurov, I figured, had a twisted sense of humour.
It had remained hidden longer than I’d expected, but its discovery presented me with a new problem. Now Gurov knew somebody had been following him he’d be more on his guard than ever.
I checked out the rest of the building, starting with the long corridor and the space beyond the double doors where I’d seen the light the last time I was here. Empty. Nothing to show anybody had been here in a long time. I went through the remainder of the site, but it was a vast space of nothing to see, long ago stripped of anything useful and now just a shell slowly rotting away.
I headed back to the car and called Langley.
‘Houston, I have a problem.’
‘Copy that, Watchman. What’s up?’
I told Lindsay about the tracker. ‘Can you get the Pathfinders to check the second signal? If that tracker was missed I still have a chance of staying on Counselor’s trail.’
‘Copy that, Watchman. They’re on down time at the moment, as I understand it, charging batteries. I’ll get back to you as soon as they get back in the air.’
I disconnected and drank some water and ate a few biscuits, then put my head down. It was pointless driving anywhere; daylight was going and Tzorekov could be anywhere in hundreds of miles of forested roads and tracks.
Old military saying: when in doubt, eat and sleep.
FORTY-TWO
Victor Simoyan stood in front of the video screens on the boardroom wall and said, ‘Gentlemen. My apologies for calling another late conference but I wanted to bring you up to date.’ He smiled at the waiting faces. So far nobody had backed out, he noted. ‘I know we’re all impatient to see this matter concluded, but it may take a little time yet.’ He waved a newspaper carrying details of President Putin’s visit to Kursk, to inspect troops at a base in the south of the country. ‘So far we have no indication that this timetable is to be changed – a good thing. However, we must continue with our plan, just in case. It can do no harm to deal with Tzorekov while he’s within our reach.’
‘A question, Victor,’ said Kushka, the military consultant, his voice transmission gravelly. ‘What’s the situation with your team of hunters? Have they located the target?’ His voice was soft, carrying a faint hint of criticism, like the schoolmasterly figure he so closely resembled.
Simoyan began to wonder if he knew more than he was letting on. ‘Indeed, Alex,’ he replied coolly. ‘They found them very quickly, as I expected. But they did run into some opposition on the way.’
‘What kind of opposition,’ asked Solov, ‘could take on a team of … what was it, four experienced men I think you said? Tzorekov’s an old man and Gurov’s probably gone soft in exile. Or are you saying there are others who have joined the mix?’
Simoyan tried to ignore th
e worried expression on Solov’s face, but he was aware that the other men were looking concerned by the possibility of a setback. What had no doubt seemed to them a simple task of stopping two men from getting even close to a hoped-for meeting with President Putin was beginning to look less likely, and he knew what they would be thinking: should they get out now while they thought they could or see it through to the end before failure came staring them in the face?
‘There is no need for panic,’ he reassured them, and took a walk around the room, knowing they would follow his every move. He had long ago mastered the art of holding an audience, even one as high-powered as this, and knew it was simply a matter of convincing them that all was well and under control. What he couldn’t do was string them along; each one of them had resources he could only guess at, and Solov and Kushka especially had the means and the capability of checking what was going on if they thought he was denying them the whole truth.
‘Two of the men we sent after Tzorekov,’ he explained, deliberately using the ‘we’ to remind them of their shared responsibility, ‘have been hurt and are no longer able to contribute to this operation.’
‘Hurt? How?’ This from Oblovsky, former KGB man now arms dealer.
‘Gurov must not be as soft as some might have imagined. He saw them coming and arranged for a reception. However, I’ve already arranged for replacements and four others will be joining Chesnokoy as we speak. They have fresh orders and will deal with Gurov and Tzorekov tonight.’
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