Moscow, Russia
‘Working late, I see,’ Orlov said as he entered Avvakum’s office.
From behind, he saw her convulse as if suddenly struck by an electric shock. Startled, she quickly turned around to face the unexpected visitor. The sight of Victor Orlov standing in her doorway did little to ease her discomfort.
‘I didn’t expect you, sir,’ Avvakum said as she quickly stood.
She absently brushed a few strands of hair out of her face.
‘I don’t doubt that. Please, sit down.’
Avvakum complied automatically, still trying to compose herself. Orlov unbuttoned his blazer and sat down on one of her guest chairs.
‘What can I do for you?’ she asked, her voice aquiver.
‘You are already doing what I hired you to do, Lara. According to Oksanna Zoshchenko, you are making excellent progress. This pleases me.’
‘Thank you.’
‘Unfortunately, I’m not here to discuss your work. It seems that we have a security problem.’
‘Oh?’
Orlov’s eyes narrowed, and Avvakum felt his gaze boring into her; his manner changed perceptibly.
‘ Da. I have many talented people, such as you, in my employ. A group of these people care for all the computers in use by my various businesses.’ Orlov pointed at the machine on her desk. ‘The network your computer is attached to is monitored by these people. They see everything that moves across that network, including the E- mail message you sent yesterday to a man named Nolan Kilkenny.’
Avvakum’s heart seemed to stop for a moment, pausing until a surge of adrenaline sent the muscle galloping in her chest.
‘Since you contacted him, I assume you know who Kilkenny is and what he represents.’
‘He works with Sandstrom, the man who made this discovery.’
‘You fucking whore! Is this the gratitude you show me for rescuing you from that rathole in Sverdlovsk? These men are my competition, my enemies! The message you sent might have compromised everything I’m trying to accomplish here. This is a race between them and me – winner take all! I intend to win. I will win.’
‘At any cost?’ Avvakum asked bravely. ‘Is murder and theft an acceptable part of this competition? You’ve killed one man and stolen the lifework of another. How can you justify that?’
Orlov stood and struck her across the face with the back of his hand; the blow nearly knocked her to the floor. Her cheek went numb, and she tasted blood in her mouth as her lip split and began to swell.
‘Dr Avvakum,’ Orlov replied icily as he wiped her saliva from his hand, ‘ this is how the game is played.’
‘If this is how you run your business, then I want no part of it.’
‘I’ve already made that decision. You have violated my trust. Zoshchenko is already looking for your replacement – someone better suited to work in the private sector. I expect you to stay on until your replacement is found and brought up to speed on the project.’
‘No, I can’t continue working for you any longer.’
Orlov struck her again, splitting her lip further. Avvakum turned back to face him, her bloodied lip ballooning out grotesquely.
‘I’m not giving you a choice. You are going to remain right here ,’ Orlov growled, pointing at her desk, ‘in this building, until your replacement is found. All your access to the outside world is gone. You will be under armed guard twenty-four hours a day.’
‘You’re insane. Do you actually think I am going to continue to work for you? You can imprison my body but not my mind.’
‘You will continue to have access to project materials on your computer, but that access has been reduced to read-only.’ Orlov leaned down so that his face was just inches from hers. ‘What you do while you are here is your concern, but any attempt to damage project materials will be dealt with harshly.’
‘Are you going to kill me, too?’ Avvakum said defiantly.
‘If that had been my intent, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.’ Orlov stood up and buttoned his blazer. ‘The quality of your work during the remainder of your time here will greatly affect the nature of your eventual severance from my employ. Work or die, Dr Avvakum. The choice is yours.’
Orlov walked out of her office. As he turned and disappeared down the corridor, a large muscular man in an ill-fitting tan suit filled her doorway. His stony face lacked any sign of intelligence or even humanity.
50
Pine River, Michigan
Leskov completed his inspection of the grounds surrounding the remote hunting cabin where he and his men now took refuge. The cabin, which belonged to a business associate of Victor Orlov’s, sat near the southern edge of a six-thousand-acre parcel of marshy forestland. The northern border of the property abutted the Ogemaw State Forest; along the southern border lay Saginaw Bay. The nearest homes along the shoreline to either side were miles away.
The isolated location and marshy terrain made the property ideal for holding hostages. The approaches to the cabin by either the narrow dirt road or the bay were easily defended, and an airdrop of any kind was too hazardous to be considered by anyone attempting a rescue.
As he approached the cabin, Leskov saw the dark muscular form of Josef on watch outside.
‘Josef, how are our guests?’
‘We have made them comfortable. They aren’t giving us any trouble. I was pleased to see the kitchen was stocked for our arrival.’
‘I’m sure our hosts wish to remain in good standing with Orlov. How are communications?’
‘Everything is fine. The satellite phone is working well. We should get word from our eavesdroppers if they pick up anything on the police frequencies. I’ve also confirmed that two new men will make their way across the Canadian border tonight.’
‘Good. Now we settle in and wait.’
‘Are we going to interrogate the old woman?’
‘Not yet. At this point I think it would be counterproductive. She’s tough, and we don’t have a lot of leverage with her.’
‘Do you think it was wise to take these women hostage?’
‘Taking hostages was the only reasonable choice open to us. If Kilkenny has the ring, he will trade it for the women.’
‘I still don’t like it. In the old days, we went in, we killed, and we got out. If we had to snatch some Afghani chieftain, we did the job and dropped him off for interrogation. We never trained for baby-sitting jobs.’
‘It was simpler in the old days, my friend,’ Leskov agreed. ‘But remember, our paychecks were a lot smaller back then.’
‘And rarer, too,’ Josef said with a brusque laugh.
‘Has the video clip been sent off to Moscow?’
‘Da. Misha took care of that fifteen minutes ago. Moscow acknowledged receipt, and they are satisfied.’
‘Good. Now Orlov can start his negotiations.’
51
