'I don't know,' Benjamin said. 'But I don't think you should be involved in this any further. Perhaps I should just go to the authorities with what I already know.'
'Which really isn't that much,' said Natalya. 'Without Anton's explanation for Dr. Fletcher's program, all you really know is that there was some sort of secret group among the American Puritans nearly three hundred years ago, and some odd occurrences at this American Heritage Foundation this weekend. Secretive groups in the history of any country are hardly, well, secrets, are they. And these odd occurrences… I am certain such people will be able to explain them to any authorities you contact. Believe me, I have experience with these kinds of people. More than you realize. To deal with them, you must have kozyr, an ace up your sleeve.'
'Well, yes-,' he began.
'And in the meantime, you have stolen property belonging to this Foundation, and no witnesses to back up your version of the story.'
Benjamin sighed. 'Please,' he said, 'if this is a pep talk…'
'Pep talk?' asked Natalya.
'Uh, never mind,' he said. He stood up. 'All that may be true, but as I said, I don't know where else to go from here.' He began putting on the tuxedo jacket.
She rose and came over to him.
'Mr. Wainwright,' she said, looking into his eyes. 'Benjamin.' She smiled. 'I think I do. But you will have to trust me. Do you think you can do that?'
Benjamin looked at her. He'd felt he could trust her from the first moment he'd seen her, but he wasn't sure he could trust that feeling. After all, weren't femme fatales always beautiful women you wanted to trust? That's why they were femme fatales.
He started to say something, thought better of it, shrugged.
'All right,' he said. 'Apparently we're in this together. So, what do we do next, Ms. Orlova?'
CHAPTER 36
Their first stop was at the nearest clothing store, across the street. It obviously catered to the college crowd of D.C., and the best Benjamin could do was some khaki pants, a white button-down shirt, a pullover with GEORGETOWN in blue letters on a gray background, and some low Bass Weejuns. Natalya pronounced him 'an invisible American college guy.'
'I'm afraid,' he said, looking at her, 'it's a little harder to make you invisible.'
'A compliment?' she asked, tilting her head.
'Well, yes, I guess so,' he said.
'Ah,' she said, 'then not the truth.'
He started to protest, but she smiled and said, 'It is okay,' and they left the store to find a taxi.
Once they were on their way, he asked her, 'Where are we going?'
'To a friend,' she said. 'I hope.'
'Perhaps you should call this 'friend' first, make certain he's alone?'
'I left my cell phone at the apartment,' Natalya said. 'It was one issued by the embassy, and, well, under these circumstances, I think it best not to use it. And you?'
Benjamin laughed. 'Back at the Foundation, with my clothes.'
'Well,' Natalya smiled, 'let us rely on our wits rather than our technology.'
Twenty minutes later found them at an apartment building not far from the Cultural Center. When they exited the cab, Natalya walked up the front steps of the building. She pressed the button with the name YURI ANDROPOV above it. She spoke briefly and they were buzzed in. They took the stairs to the second floor, and stopped in front of 201.
Natalya raised her hand to knock, but before she did she turned to him.
'Let me do the talking, all right?' she asked.
Benjamin nodded. What else can I do, he thought.
She knocked, and after a moment a man came to the door. Benjamin realized he'd seen him the night before, at the reception; he was one of the men with an earpiece and a watchful attitude, the one that had told him to look for a beautiful woman in a red dress. Now, he was wearing a bathrobe and looked quite rumpled, as though he'd just gotten out of bed.
The man smiled at Natalya but gave Benjamin the same questioning look he'd used the night before.
'Vkhoditte,' he said, motioning for them to enter.
Once they were inside, Yuri and Natalya carried on a conversation in Russian. Of course, Benjamin couldn't tell exactly what they were saying, but it was clear Natalya was suggesting something to Yuri of which he did not approve. Several times during their conversation, Yuri glanced over at Benjamin; once he indicated Benjamin and asked Natalya what was obviously a very pointed question.
'Nyet,' she replied. 'Prosto znakomiy.'
At that, Yuri's resistance to whatever Natalya was asking of him seemed to weaken.
Finally, he sat back, shook his head. 'Te pozhaleyesh,' he said. Then he rose and went into another room. Benjamin could see through the door that he went to a desk, began looking through a small book he had there.
Natalya turned to him. 'I have asked for his help,' she said.
'To do what?' Benjamin asked.
'To get us into Russia,' she said.
Before Benjamin could ask her about the 'us' part, Yuri came into the room and handed a piece of paper to Natalya. He asked her something again, and she replied, 'Spasiba, nyet.' Then she kissed him on the cheek and they left, Yuri shaking Benjamin's hand on their way out-though it seemed a reluctant shake, at best.
After they'd gone, Yuri walked back into his study. He picked up the telephone, dialed an international number. While it was ringing, he pressed a small button on the side of the phone.
He spoke for several minutes. When he was finished, he hung up, then sat for a long time, smoking and thinking.
Once outside Yuri's apartment, Natalya and Benjamin began looking for another cab to hail. There were several questions in Benjamin's mind; he finally settled on the one uppermost.
'Is Yuri…,' he stumbled. 'Well, are you two-'
'Chiort!' Natalya said with some exasperation. 'Men! Do you know, he asked me the same thing about you?'
'Oh,' said Benjamin. For some reason, Benjamin felt flattered. 'But then, what did you ask him, exactly? And what's this about going to Russia? About us going to Russia?'
By then a cab had pulled up, and they climbed into the backseat. Natalya gave the driver an address.
'I have a diplomatic passport, of course,' Natalya said. 'But I think it would be better not to use it, at least not to enter the Russian Federation. And as for you, if there are indeed people following you-'
'I'm going with you, then?' Benjamin asked.
Natalya was still somewhat upset. 'Would you rather stay here and wait for your shadow from the library to find you?' she asked, not looking at him.
Benjamin didn't have to answer that. 'But then, what was all that about?'
Now Natalya looked at him.
'I told you, Yuri is FSB. They keep track of people who deal with this sort of… situation. I explained it was very important that I see my father as soon as possible. Basically, I asked him for a name. A name of someone who could help us.'
'A travel agent?' Benjamin asked, trying to make a joke.
Natalya smiled, relaxed. 'In a way, yes,' she said. 'But a very expensive travel agent. Our 'tickets' into Russia
