Out Of The Night (9 page)

A bullet zinged over Tony’s right shoulder. “Keep shooting.”

“I don’t think I’m hitting anything.”

“It would help if you kept your eyes open.”

“Oh, excuse me, Spy Guy. But I missed my gun shooting class.” She braced her hand against the headrest and emptied the clip. Tires squealed and the car behind them ran off the road.

She turned and slumped into her seat.

“You okay?” Tony asked.

“Hell, no, I’m not okay. I’m not an agent. I’m a reporter. I report things, not blow the hell out of everyone and everything I see.”

“
Makes me wonder what the hell is going on. That’s the third encounter since we left Moscow.”

“When do we get to the airport?”

He glanced toward her. “Not far now. However, it’s going to be a lot colder with the window blown out.”

Abby hunkered down into her warm jacket. “Man, I can’t wait to get out of this country.”

“Let’s just hope it goes smoothly at the airport.”

She rolled her eyes. “What could go wrong?”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Washington, DC

“Hello
, Brad.” Senator Nick Parker sat behind his polished mahogany desk at his district office, wearing an expensive suit and a vote-grabbing smile. “What’s up?”

Brad took one of the matching burgundy visitor chairs in front of the Senator. “Can you talk?”

The smile disappeared from Nick’s face, replaced by a worried frown. He looked around the empty office and adjusted his tie. “Yeah, but make it fast.”

Brad propped his elbows on
the arms of the chair and cleared his throat. “I was with Anita last night, but I don’t think she knows anything about her husband’s capture yet.”

The senator leaned forward, his stomach pressed against the edge of his desk. “We want to keep that quiet as long as we can.”

“Have you heard from your contact?”

Nick slumped back and chewed on his thumbnail. “No, but he’s making his way to the drop point.”

“Let’s hope this doesn’t blow up in our faces.”

Nick pointed a warning finger at him. “It won’t. Go back to your office and keep your mouth shut.” Brad watched as the senator brushed back his hair. “These things take time. You need to be more patient.”
Nick stood, announcing his dismissal.

Brad leaned back and crossed his legs, the fingers o
f his left hand drumming against the chair arm. He’d expected more from their meeting than a quick brush-off and a chill that would frost the windows. Certainly, a little appreciation for all he’d done might be in order.

Selfish bastard.

“I’m just checking to see if there’s anything else I can do to help with the situation. That’s all.”

Nick’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t you think you’ve done enough?” The accusation in the senator’s eyes burned Brad’s flesh.

His
conscience reared up and brought flames of shame to his cheeks. He squirmed in the chair. What he’d done went against everything he’d once believed in, but not anymore. With every politician raking in taxpayer’s dollars by the millions, why shouldn’t he get a piece of the action?

“I’ve only done what you asked. If it’s enough to get the job done, fine. If not, I’m willing to do more.”

Nick let out a cruel and sadistic laugh. “You’re a greedy son-of-a-bitch.”

Brad jumped to his feet. “Not until I met you. I was pretty much minding my own business when you approached me with this whole Joe Mitchell thing.”
He tilted his head. “Do you remember that, Nick?”

Now
his features turned harsh. “I don’t forget anything. I certainly remember how quick you jumped into Anita Mitchell’s pants.”

Anger and contempt bunched
Brad’s shoulders. He reached out, grabbed the senator by the collar and yanked. “Don’t even think of fucking with me. I could shoot your ass and get away with it right where we stand. So back off, and don’t treat me like a fucking moron.”

He
released him and stepped back. “Remember that.” He turned and walked out, slamming the door in his wake.

***

Recovered from the CIA Operative’s visit, Nick walked through the north wing of the Capitol and nodded politely to his fellow senators. He had to be in the Senate chambers in an hour. A quickie with his mistress and Hall’s unexpected visit this morning had him running late.

Not wanting to screw up the good thing they had going, he called Hall back to smooth over any feelings he might have wrinkled. While he waited for Hall to answer, he gave a quick look around to be certain no one who might overhear him lingered nearby.

Brad answered, and Nick said, “Look, nothing is going to happen. Remember our hands are clean. We haven’t done a damn thing. If papers or information fell into the wrong hands, no one can point the finger at us.”

“I’ll continue to keep tabs on Mitchell’s wife.” Brad still sounded pissed.

Nick balled his fist and bit back a harsh response. “Don’t go sniffing around there, Brad. You’ll only draw attention to yourself when this all becomes public. You don’t want to be known as the widower’s lover.”

“Okay.” He sounded like a damn kid who’d had his candy taken away. Stupid, horny bastard.

Nick had other choices besides Brad to get Joe Mitchell abducted. But to get the information on Mitchell, only the CIA agent could pull that off. Between Brad’s lust for Joe’s wife and his enormous ego, getting him to flip had been the easiest part.

“Just stay calm.” Nick continued to walk. “We get too eager and before you know it, we’re in the thick of things and I don’t want that to happen.”

Nick put his phone in his pocket and climbed the suspended stairway reserved for senators only. In the small rotunda in the north wing of the Capitol, Nick made his way down the ornate hall to his office.

M
oving past his secretary and staff to his private workplace, Nick wondered about Joe Mitchell. He hoped to hell el Jibar had handled the situation by now.

If
he hadn’t and the knowledge that Mitchell had amassed about Green Gulf Construction and Nick’s rigging of the bidding process went public, as a Senator, he wouldn’t be able to defend himself against the incriminating evidence. And Joe had come by it accidently. That’s what pissed Nick off. The CIA agent hadn’t even gone on a witch-hunt.

The proof had fallen right into his palms, and an agent like Mitchell would instinctively turn that over to the right people.

Nick tried, but couldn’t find any leverage to blackmail Mitchell. As far as he could tell, the man had lived a fairly clean life. Oh, he’d had his round or two of flirtations and a little slap and tickle here and there, but nothing Nick could use.

For all concerned, Joe Mitchell had to die and take all his secrets with him. Nick also found that harder than he’d imagined. People didn’t want to go around taking out CIA operatives. Besides, that’d be another thing that could blow up in his face.

Nick had to know that everything died with Mitchell. The information he had could never come back to haunt him. To accomplish that, he’d had to put Americans in danger, but nothing the military or CIA couldn’t handle.

He didn’t care if a few agents had to lay low for a couple of months. They all played that game. Primary in his mind, his next election consumed most of his concern and time. When he was elected to another term, he’d be one step closer to President Davis.

Dallas, Texas

“Are these all the cameras in the Cairo airport?” Frank asked his agent, Hank Steele.

Hank stood at the console
, staring at dozens of pictures they’d just got released from the Egyptian government. “As close as I can guess, this is the day they took Mitchell. If they took him at the airport, we’ll find him.”

Frank put on his glasses and moved closer to the large screen. “My suspicion is Tony was nabbed at the same airport, but not on that day and probably not by the same people.” He tapped the monitor with the tip of his pen. “I don’t think they took Mitchell to Moscow. I figure Mitchell went somewhere else.”

Hank’s brows lowered, and he rubbed his face. “Two completely different incidents?”

“That’s my guess. Viktor Pertinolf was able to get Tony. That doesn’t come as a surprise. He and Tony have been enemies for years. Back when the Soviet Union was going through a major change, Tony was instrumental in getting Viktor thrown out of the KGB and the SVR for corruption.”

“No shit?” Hank’s voice held a hint of admiration.

“He came close to getting him charged with crimes against his fellow Russians. Since the blowout, no one in Russia has much to do with Viktor. His fall from grace was pretty ugly.”

Hank flashed a crooked grin. “I guess Viktor didn’t have any forgiveness in his heart, huh?”

“He’d need to have a heart first.” Frank rolled his shoulders and stretched his back. “No, and he vowed to kill Tony if he ever got the chance. He might have found a way.”

“Right now, Tony is on his way out of Russia and should be airborne in about two hours,” Hank informed Frank.

“Viktor is throwing everything at him. Normally, Tony’s pretty clever, but right now, he’s iffy.”

“Mac said he’s getting better. Let’s hope that continues.”

Frank’s phone rang and
he dropped in his chair with a sigh. “Hey, how’s it going?”

Tony’s voice carried over the phone. “I’m not real sure, but we practically have the whole Russian army after us. We just got into another shoot out with what I’m guessing is the SVR.”

“I don’t think Viktor has that much power. More likely he’s hired a bunch of thugs to take you out. The Russian police have issued a BOLO out on you, but they have a lousy description and your passports have another names.”

“I wonder what Viktor wants from me, Frank. Do I have information he wants or can sell, or is he still pissed?”

“I’m trying to find the connection. You do know that CIA operative Joe Mitchell has gone missing?”

“Mac shared that information. Do you think that has anything to do with my abduction?”

“I don’t know, but Mitchell has enough intel to create a lot of problems. Your mission was to find him and get him out of the country. How you ended up in Moscow is still a mystery.”

Hank pointed to the screen. “Here’s Mitchell being taken.”

Frank gave the screen a quick glance. “I’m looking at Mitchell’s abduction right now, and the men are Middle Eastern. No Russians in sight.”

“Run a facial recognition on the guys and see if that turns up anything,” Tony suggested. “If we can at least identify who took Mitchell
, we might learn their intent.”

“Hank is on it. Do you know how valuable Mitchell’s information is?”

“I have a pretty good idea.”

“Well, times that by a hundred and you might be close. He’s the most valuable target in the CIA right now.”

“Mac and I went over a few things.”

“Did you have an occasion to speak with Joe before his abduction? You were in Washington on Monday
, and he left for Cairo on Thursday.”

“Don’t have a clue
. If I did, I don’t remember. Maybe something will come to mind later. Right now, Abby and I are outside Pulkovo. We’re leaving from gate two on Royal Dutch Airways. Is everything in order?”

“Unless they have something we don’t know about, everything should be okay. Call me as soon as you’re in the air.”

“
If
we get in the air.”

Moscow

Viktor knew how unreasonable Petr could get when things didn’t go his way. He became a ten-year-old.

Petr slapped the steering wheel in frustration. “Nothing we’ve done to stop Archuletta has worked.” He looked at Viktor. “The last group thought they could drive them off the road between Proletarsky and St. Petersburg. But they failed.”

“That does not surprise me.” Viktor coughed and lit another cigarette. “I’ve got in touch with the SVR and told them to be on the lookout, but they
’re useless. They can’t catch the crooks within their own rank.”

“Where do you think those two are going when they get to St. Petersburg?”

He shrugged, and wrinkled his nose at the stinking body odor inside the car. Didn’t Petr ever take a bath? “Probably out of the country. And my guess is they will fly out of Pulkovo.”

“Where to?

“After Joe Mitchell, of course.”

Petr’s eyes widened and he took his foot off the accelerator. “But, they don’t know where he is. We don’t know where he is, or why he was captured.”

“I have a man in Jordan working on that.” Viktor took a drag off his cigarette and blew out the white smoke. “No one has seen this CIA Mitchell, which makes me think it’s all talk. But I can assure you Archuletta knows everything.”

Petr pushed the gas pedal and drove the car toward the next intersection. “He might, but he won’t talk. I was afraid we’d kill him. And if that happened, Falcon Securities and Frank Hamilton would come here, and that would not be good for us.”

Viktor shoved Petr’s shoulder and shouted. “I am not afraid of any American. This is still my country and I have a lot more power than they think.” He rolled down the window and spit. “While they did their best to destroy everything I had built, I managed to hold on to more than they know.”

“Will Archuletta get his memory back?”

“I am not so fucking sure he lost it to begin with. What if that was just a trick to fool us?”

Petr looked at him and frowned. “But Dr. Wargo said he was afraid the medicine had erased his memory entirely.”

Dr. Wargo. Viktor wanted to shove a stick of dynamite up his ass and light it, for all the good he could do. “What does that crazy man know? Nothing. I am the smart one here. I say what goes. Not some man with a truth serum that has absolutely no value.”

“I think we should have killed him,” Petr said. “If he talks, we would have to explain.”

Viktor turned around and punched Petr on the shoulder, again. “Who would I explain to? Nobody, I say.”