Shaw looked uncomfortable.

Frank said, “You disagree?”

“Not necessarily, but what’s the ultimate goal here?”

“You tell me what you think it is and I’ll tell you if you’re right or not.”

“Get Kuchin? But I thought the expensive suits didn’t care about that anymore. He’s just back to making kids into whores for profit. No more mushroom clouds. That’s what you said.”

Frank finished the almonds before answering. “Well, I truthfully can’t say their attitude has changed on that. But what they are interested in is this new angle in England.”

“Why?”

“Why?” Frank said incredulously. “Another organization doing stuff that might have global repercussions? Hmmm, let’s think about that.”

“It really has nothing to do with us,” Shaw said a bit lamely.

“You think so, Shaw? Then let me enlighten you. The part that really interested us was the fact that these guys are not only going after past ‘monsters,’ but current ones too. You said they were researching stuff right now in Africa, Asia, and South America, although they wouldn’t tell you who.”

“So what?”

Frank tossed the empty packet of nuts in the trash and wiped off his hands on his pants. “I’ll tell you so what. Deposed scumballs sometimes come back to power. These Brits kill a recently deposed dictator, then in geopolitical terms things can get hairy fast.”

“Who cares if they go after people like that? Didn’t you just say it was a good thing as far as you were concerned?”

“I was talking about the Nazis. They aren’t coming back to power.”

“I don’t understand the difference.”

“Don’t be a virgin. If you want black and white, go watch a Bogie and Bacall flick. These guys take out a monster in the Middle East or South America we could have revolutions going on in places we don’t need them, you see what I’m saying?”

“No, I really don’t. Because if they’ve already been deposed?”

“Like I said, they sometimes come back. And depending on who deposed them, it might be in our interests to make sure they do come back because the asshole that knocked them off their perch is even worse. I can give you about a dozen historical examples of that if you want. But we don’t have that option if they’re dead.”

“Jesus, this is insane.”

Frank rose. “Maybe I don’t disagree with you. But it doesn’t really matter what the hell we think. We’re just grunts on the ground. So go after Kuchin and take the chick with you. That way you can work on the inside with them and learn even more about their operation. We’ll give you primary support, whatever you need.”

“And when and if we catch him?” Shaw asked dubiously.

“Then he’ll get what’s coming to him.”

“And Reggie and her people?”

Frank slid on his hat and walked to the door. “And they’ll get what’s coming to them.”

“Frank, there has to be another way.”

Frank eyed him intently. “Tell me something.”

“What?”

“You already slept with her, didn’t you?”

“What?” Shaw said with a stunned look on his face.

“We were watching this place, genius. You two came in that night all touchy-feely and didn’t show again until breakfast.” He added bitterly, “You didn’t deserve Anna. Or Katie James for that matter, you son of a bitch.”

“Frank-”

“I’ve cut you enough slack. Now just do your damn job, Shaw.”

Frank slammed the door on his way out.

85

SHAW AND REGGIE were private wings up eight hours later heading to Montreal. At thirty-nine thousand feet Shaw pulled out some documents and spread them over the dining table and motioned Reggie to sit opposite him.

They were both dressed casually, she in jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt and Shaw in khakis and a dark short-sleeved shirt.

“Nice way to travel,” she said, admiring the interior of the Gulfstream V.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do and not a lot of time, so let’s get to it,” he said in a tone that could only fairly be described as a bark.

She sat. “What the hell is your problem?”

“I’ve got too many to list right now. So let’s just focus on this one.”

He indicated the architectural plans in front of him. “Kuchin’s penthouse in downtown Montreal.”

“What, are we going to break into it?” she said jokingly.

“Do you have a problem with that?”

She looked at him incredulously. “I thought we were going to find Alan Rice and hold his feet to the fire about him being the informant. And then use him to get to Kuchin.”

“That’s one possibility. But what if he isn’t the inside guy? What then?”

“But he has to be.”

“No he doesn’t. And if we make all our plans contingent on that we’re idiots. No, we’re dead idiots. Now, we have Rice’s address too. The problem is if we go to him first and he isn’t the guy, then Kuchin will be warned.”

“Wait a minute, isn’t he already warned? I thought the little encounter in the catacombs would’ve been enough to put the man on his guard for the rest of his life.”

“You’re not analyzing the picture deeply enough, Reggie,” Shaw said in a clearly condescending tone.

“Well, then, Professor, why don’t you spell it out for me since I can’t get my poor brain to do it.”

“The fact that Interpol hasn’t knocked on his door yet tells Kuchin that you guys were totally unofficial. He probably thinks the same about me. Interpol or the FBI comes in with badges and overwhelming force. We had neither. So, for now, he’s not feeling that his liberty is at risk, just his life. That will impact how he acts from here on. He’ll go underground, but not as deeply as if it were the FBI or an officially sanctioned hit squad on his butt.”

“Okay, I guess I see that.”

“Good. But we still have to tread cautiously. While he’s plotting against us, he has to assume that we’ll likely come after him again.”

“Do you really think so?”

“A guy like that didn’t survive in the KGB all those years without knowing how to anticipate his adversary’s next moves. In the Soviet Union at that time you were far more likely to get popped not by the West, but by a guy in your own office who wanted your job, your flat, and your car, even if it was always breaking down. So he’ll definitely plan for a second strike on our part.”

Reggie glanced down at the documents. “So what are we going to do?”

“Two-pronged attack, with Kuchin first.”

“How?”

“We get into his penthouse, search the place, and hopefully dig up some intel on where he is right now.”

“How do we know he’s not in his penthouse?”

“Because we have people posted there. He hasn’t been there since leaving for France.”

“Wait a minute, if you guys knew where he was all along, why didn’t you just nail him in Montreal? Why go after him in Gordes?”

“That’s classified.”

“That’s bullshit. You talk about trust, but it’s apparently all one-sided.”

Shaw sat back. Her request, under the circumstances, wasn’t all that unreasonable. “He had more guards in Montreal. And a shootout on the street there was not an option. We’ve also had some issues with the Canadians before and they are not our best friends. A holiday in Provence where we could get him in a cave was a far better option.”

Mollified, Reggie looked down at the drawings. “He must have a fairly sophisticated security system in place at his home.”

“He does, but we’ve broken better.”

“So what’s my role?”

“To do exactly what I say.”

“Okay, I’ll just be in the back of the plane. You let me know when you want to bite my head off again. I’ll come running like a good little mate.”

Shaw grabbed her arm. She was whirling to slug him when he said, “I’m sorry.”

She froze with her fist only a few inches from his chin. She lowered her hand. “Okay.” But her tone was one of bewilderment rather than conciliation.

Shaw seemed to sense what she was thinking. “Look, I didn’t want you to come on this thing. I just thought it was too risky. Kuchin almost got you once.”