over the wine cellar a make-believe tabletop. Perhaps they had set their make-believe table again. If they did, if they had placed a tablecloth over the entrance, who would know it was a wine cellar? Even when it wasn’t covered, it looked like a discarded box or the cover of an old well.
If necessary, it would be a place to hide, or to hide others, Nina and Anna and Ilonka.
“Are you asleep, Juli?”
“No.”
“You know I must go to Kisbor right away.”
“I’ll go with you.”
“No. I’ll go alone.”
“Part of Mihaly is in me. His wife and children are in danger.
I’m going. After we’re finished, we’ll go to Budapest. They have a renowned radiation clinic there.”
“You seem to have our plans all in order.”
“Will we drive to Kisbor tomorrow?”
Lazlo kissed Juli’s neck.
“Laz, you can’t stop me from going.”
“We’ll go tomorrow.”
Lazlo lowered his head and kissed Juli’s breasts. Again, for a few minutes, they left the world of destiny and dilemma in which they were trapped.
29
While Nikolai anticipated another long night at the Horvath farmhouse, a caravan of three Volgas and a van raced up the hill from the village of Kisbor. The dusk had been peaceful and cool, but now tires on gravel and stones against fender wells sliced the evening apart like an ax. A cloud of dust followed behind the caravan as it skidded to a stop in front of the farmhouse.
A dozen men piled out of the cars and the van. The four from the van carried AKM assault rifles with folding stocks. They were young recruits, wearing determined looks on their faces as they slipped the AKM straps over their shoulders and spread out around the house. The men from the Volgas headed for Nikolai. Except for Major Komarov and Captain Brovko, Nikolai had never seen any of them before. All but Komarov and Brovko were young, like the men from the van.
Nikolai stepped off the stone path to the front door as the group marched past. The only one who looked at him was Captain Brovko, who raised his eyebrows slightly with a puzzled expression. Major Komarov did not acknowledge Nikolai’s presence.
Nikolai imagined how crowded it must be in the small farmhouse with the family and eight more men inside. But soon five young recruits marched out, shouldered their AKMs, and took up positions around the house with the other four. The men spread out in all directions, the farthest being a hundred meters away, where he stooped down and disappeared into the weeds.
In a little while, Captain Brovko came out, told Nikolai to maintain his post on the front path and not to stray because of the other men. Then Brovko went back into the house. Nikolai did not stray, afraid to move after dark for fear one of the new men would empty an AKM in him. But finally, tired of standing in the path with no support, Nikolai walked backward slowly to the house. Once there, he leaned against the wall, feeling somewhat relieved. If Detective Horvath came now, there would be many others for him to confront besides Nikolai Nikolskaia.
At ten o’clock, after the muffled sounds of voices had ceased coming from the house, it was quieter than previous nights because the night bugs, disturbed by men in the weeds, were silent. Nikolai leaned against the front wall of the farmhouse, trying to imagine how men out in the weeds must seem to bug-sized brains. To bug brains, life was simpler. One was either alive or dead, either well-fed or on the verge of starvation, either free to move about or about to be eaten. Perhaps the world of men was not much different.
At eleven o’clock, the front door of the house opened. Captain Brovko came out and motioned for Nikolai to follow. They sat in the captain’s Volga parked at the front of the other Volgas. The captain’s clothing smelled smoky, and Nikolai remembered Komarov was a heavy smoker.
“What do you think of all this?” asked Brovko.
“I was wondering what the local militia thinks,” said Nikolai. “I haven’t seen a militiaman since we’ve been here.”
“Ordinarily one would assume the local militia would supply manpower for an operation like this. Major Komarov has a special interest in the case, as well as connections in Moscow. It’s become embarrassing.”
“Embarrassing?”
“Yes, Nikolai. For several hours, I watched Major Komarov question these poor people. The adults have taken it well. They are frightened, but not for themselves. They are frightened for the children. I detest situations like this.”
“I thought you were trained as an interrogator.”
“I am accustomed to questioning those who have either done something wrong or who are hiding facts about those who have done something wrong.”
“Are you saying Detective Horvath did nothing wrong?” asked Nikolai.
“What do you think?”
“I’m sorry, Captain. This is the way our conversation began.”
“Very well, Nikolai. I understand your hesitation to speak openly. I’m not asking you to condemn Major Komarov. And I’m not using interrogation techniques to trick you.”
Nikolai looked out at the dim light coming through the curtains at the windows of the house. Beyond the house he saw the shadow of one of the men move behind the house. The man had been outlined for a moment against the light from the village of Kisbor. In the hotel in the village was a bed he wished he were in right now.
But Captain Brovko was waiting for his reply, seemingly anxious to criticize the actions of Major Komarov.
“One month ago,” said Nikolai, “I was a PK officer in the town of Pripyat. My partner, Pavel, and I spent our days in the back room of the Pripyat post office reading incoming and outgoing mail. Mostly it was dull-how the weather was, how crops were doing. Patience was part of our training. Pavel and I were good at our work. He knew Hungarian, and I knew Ukrainian.
“Then the reactor at Chernobyl exploded and everything was in turmoil. Instead of doing what we were trained to do, Pavel and I were told to keep an eye on workers from the Chernobyl plant. It was obvious the smart ones like Juli Popovics were getting the hell out of there. Instead of staying around to keep watch on not-so-smart workers, Pavel and I followed Juli Popovics out of Pripyat. Two birds with one stone, as they say. Follow Juli Popovics, who is under ‘official observation,’ and get the hell away from the radiation.
“What we did not expect was to be given pistols and a Volga and told to act like agents trained to do something other than read mail. We were not trained for the confrontation with Detective Horvath. If I could live it again, I would have taken the pistol away from Pavel.”
“A man should never aim a pistol at another unless he is ready to use it,” said Brovko. “Everything would have turned out differently if your partner had pulled the trigger first.”
“He would have missed,” said Nikolai. “He was a poor shot.”
“Did Major Komarov know this?”
“He had our files, our training records. Not only was Pavel a poor shot, anyone who studied his record would have concluded he wasn’t the best person to put in a dangerous situation. Pavel was my friend, Captain. I knew him better than anyone except, perhaps, his wife. But there were things even his wife didn’t know. There were incidents from KGB school, incidents documented in Pavel’s training record…”
“Did Komarov tell Pavel Detective Horvath was dangerous?”
“I’ve thought about this endlessly since Pavel’s death. I’ve come to the conclusion Pavel had been indoctrinated. He was in a state of tension after meeting with Major Komarov. The major did not simply tell Pavel Detective Horvath was dangerous. He wanted something to happen. What he did not want was a clean capture or
