“I found her. Or at least I found records of her birth. See, we always thought Sasha was probably SVR or something like it. I have some contacts who are experts and I managed to find his real name. He was a higher-up analyst who worked for SVR, but he got involved in a case that threatened to implicate some bigwigs at the Kremlin, so no one was surprised when he turned up dead. Although now we know whatever body they pulled out of the Moskva wasn’t actually his. We think someone sold him out to McDonald for cash when she was looking for men with his physical training. His real name was Oleg Federov.”
He had no idea she’d been working on finding Sasha’s daughter. “You tracked her down?”
“I only found the name,” she replied. “Adam and his team did the rest. I don’t know much about the project. I handed them the name and then got back to my own business.”
How hard had that been? Kim liked a good mystery, liked to pull on a thread and follow it to the end. It had been her downfall many times, but it looked like she’d known when to hand over this mission to the right team. “That’s great. But why is Tag coming here? Shouldn’t he send someone to check up on her?”
Rene held up his hands. “I don’t know why Tag does what he does, but he will be here tomorrow morning and he’s going to want an update on what’s happening. I’ve already gotten in touch with some of my old colleagues and you should know the Agency has briefed French intelligence. They’ve put the word out about you. You’re to be brought in at all costs. Ms. Solomon, that is. You’re considered disposable, Mr. Fain.”
Of course he was. He was sure Levi would be thrilled if the Agency brought him home in a body bag. “What do you know about Levi’s position at the Agency?”
Rene shrugged. “Nothing except he’s obviously got the ear of someone important. It’s why I have to do something I normally wouldn’t do. Could you follow me?”
The smile on her face fled. “If it’s dangerous for us to be here, I’ll find someplace else to go. I know what happened the last time one of Big Tag’s friends helped out.”
Rene’s face went grim. “Peter. Yes. He was a good man, but this situation is different. Unless one of you two plans on murdering me. I’m not worried about this Mr. Green showing up to shoot me. I’m worried about what happens when he shows up at this club looking for you. I need for him to not find you here and look elsewhere. There’s a reason Big Tag chose this location. He knows sometimes the best place to hide is in plain sight.”
“I hope that’s a euphemism because I was planning to hide in some place hideyer,” Kim said with a frown.
He was concerned, too. “I assure you, Levi’s got a full dossier on Big Tag. You’ve got connections to Damon, too. He’ll know all about those. He will absolutely show up here, or he’ll send someone to watch the place. There’s no question of that. Maybe we should hit the road.”
“And go where?” Rene asked. “Neither of you has alternate identification. Truly good ID takes more than half a day to construct. I know it’s easy to move around Europe, but you still need ID.”
“We’ll stay in the Schengen Area.” They were in France, a part of twenty-six countries known as the Schengen Area. They were a loose alliance that didn’t require passports to move across borders.
“Even in the Schengen countries you’ll need some kind of identification, and you’ll definitely need money,” Rene pointed out.
“I can get money.” Kim’s hand clutched the duffel she carried. “I need some time to move things into place.”
He should have known Kim would have a plan. He did, too. “I can access some funds. After the Agency burned me, I made arrangements. But he’s right about the ID. Can you get it for us?”
“I’ve already got a friend working on your cover. We should have it in a few days, but we need some time to get a handle on what’s going on.” Rene moved deeper into the club. It was different from any of the clubs he’d been to. This was pure Moulin Rouge decadence done up with tons of red and gold. “We think we can move you out of here in a week or so. We have to ensure Mr. Green is occupied in other ways. He will no doubt send someone to check here. When he finds nothing, he’ll move on. Big Tag intends to open the doors to Sanctum and welcome the Agency inside. I think he’s looking forward to whatever Agency hack shows up. He’s planning an all anal play night for them.”
Kim snorted but her eyes were wide as she looked around the place. “That should be interesting. So we hide out in the back room until Levi’s satisfied we’re not here?”
“Oh, I have a much better hiding place than some back room,” Rene said. “This building has been standing for three hundred years. It’s been in my family for the last hundred. Like many older buildings in Europe, it has its secrets.”
He stopped in front of a wall and moved his hand over the wainscoting.
Beck heard a click but saw nothing. “I don’t get it.”
Rene gestured to his left. “The door is three panels down. From what we can tell, the rooms were first used to move around noble families hiding from the mob during the revolution. My great-grandfather was a talented architect. He made some improvements to the secret rooms during the occupation. Originally the latching mechanism was attached to the door, and it would come open even if someone accidently tripped
