As he stood there, weeding through the implications of it all, his mind kept forcing his thoughts back to Liberty. For a split second Little Paw and Liberty blurred in his head. He saw Little Paw there, peeking out at him from under his desk with wide chocolate-brown eyes and brown hair. Then the image quickly morphed into Liberty in her place, with the same color eyes and same shade of brown hair.
He took a half step back as he closed his eyes, seeing the two blur again and again. He thought about Little Paw holding the Statue of Liberty figurine Duke had given him and reading it, thinking his name was Jackass.
Instantly, he recalled Liberty’s first word to him in the driveaway.
“Jackass,” he whispered with a sharp intake of breath.
“You’re no peach either, Rurik,” said Auberi.
“Not you,” said Rurik, his eyes snapping open, his sights set on the house across the street.
The fact that Liberty lacked the scars Little Paw would have most certainly been left with kept him from overreacting more, but just barely.
“Talking to you on the telephone is like speaking to a wall. I never know if you’re there or if you’ve hung up,” said Auberi. “Is it a Russian thing or an asshole thing?”
“Bite me,” snapped Rurik before clearing his throat. “You mentioned them having ties to me. How so?”
“You’re gonna love this, Boris,” said Duke, sounding close to Auberi.
Additional voices came from the other end of the phone. If Rurik was correct, Auberi was near Garth, Duke, and Blaise, all of whom seemed to be talking at once, making it difficult to follow the conversation.
“If someone doesn’t get to the fucking point soon, I’m going to find each of you and let you know what I think about your information-relaying abilities,” he warned.
“You’re sure?” asked Blaise in the background. “This is a problem.”
“A big fucking problem,” added Garth.
The voices were suddenly muffled before Auberi returned. “The situation is fluid. Information is continuing to come in. The long and short of it is, we believe you and the women you were sent to observe are in danger. Keep your head on a swivel. We are headed your way.”
Rurik’s chest tightened as he thought about something happening to Liberty.
“Before I hang up, do you know someone named Pavel?” asked Auberi.
Instantly the scent Rurik had thought he’d smelled near Liberty at the university came flooding back to him, making his pulse race.
“Did you hear me?” asked Auberi. “Do you know a man by the name of Pavel?”
“Yes,” said Rurik, his throat constricting. “W-why?”
“His name is scribbled in the margins of this notebook,” said Auberi. “I’ve seen manifestos that are more coherent than most of these ramblings. What can you tell me about the man?”
“That if he’s involved, there is a reason for concern,” confessed Rurik. “And that there is a long game occurring. One we’re not fully aware of. He’s a master manipulator and twisted in the head. And Auberi…”
“Yes?”
“He is involved,” stated Rurik as sweat began to trickle down his spine. He wanted to run to Liberty, but doing so would only scare her. If she didn’t already know about the testing from her childhood or The Corporation, his showing up ranting about it all would only serve to scare the shit out of her.
“You’ve seen him?” asked Auberi, surprise in his voice.
Rurik shook his head. “No. I smelled him earlier, near one of the women. I thought it was my imagination. His scent was slightly off. Different from what I remember, but not by much. The scent was also all over a classroom and office at the university, as if he’d spent a great deal of time there.”
As the words left Rurik’s mouth, he thought back to the subject matter Liberty had said the professor taught—Russian literature.
Any doubt he’d had that Pavel was involved melted away. Too many things lined up to be explained away as random happenstance. Rurik’s past was back to haunt him.
Suddenly, Rurik’s being in Durham seemed less like chance and more like part of a greater plan.
He needed to be armed with as much information as possible. Already he was behind the curve and standing in the proverbial bear’s den. Pavel had the upper hand, for now. “What can you tell me of the mole?”
“You know her better than I do,” said Auberi.
“Her?” asked Rurik.
“Yes. Garth wanted me to tell you that you were apparently right in calling the mole Satan,” said Auberi. “She is evidently in cahoots with Pavel.”
Rurik’s eyes widened. “The perky therapist? She’s a mole? A plant? She’s in league with Pavel? Are you sure? She was a pain in my ass, but I’m not so sure about her being diabolical.”
“Yes, we’re sure,” said Auberi. “A few hours back, a call came in. Operatives were dispatched to the apartment of a young woman named Miranda Sillier.”
“Isn’t that the therapist’s name?” asked Rurik, thinking of how perky the woman had been and how unnatural that was. There was something about her that he’d never liked or trusted, obviously for good reason. How had she managed to gain access to a secure facility? Didn’t PSI have checks and balances in place to prevent such a thing?
“Miranda isn’t her real name,” said Auberi. “She assumed the real Miranda’s identity and used her credentials.”
“What happened to the actual Miranda Sillier?” asked Rurik, his gut telling him he already knew the answer.
Auberi was quiet a second. “Her body was found in her apartment. Estimated time of death is around fourteen days ago. At least that’s what I’m being told. Keep in mind, Garth is the one relaying the newest information as Duke drives. Garth is on his phone with James back at headquarters. I find the Viking to be dimwitted so who knows if he
