“As I’m well aware. The problem I face is that, because of the riot, uncomfortable questions are being asked about her. The paperwork I planted in the system is being reviewed with considerable vigor. I’ve already received a warning that it will get worse, so I’m somewhat limited on how many favors I can call in. That said, I have our network with the local police notified, and will get a report as soon as something material occurs.” The jargon sounded empty to Rudolf’s ear, and he hoped that Leo wouldn’t explode again.
Leo didn’t say anything. Rudolf could hear him breathing heavily, and gave him time. Eventually Leo came back on the line, his tone businesslike, the prior unusual emotion in it gone.
“What about the shipment to Novorossiysk?”
“En route, with no problems.” Rudolf didn’t tell him about the hitch with the local police in Siberia – the truck was a world away by now.
“It will make it in time?”
“Guaranteed.”
“And security?”
Rudolf was in charge of Leo’s protection during the cocktail reception and ground-breaking ceremony. “As we discussed. I have paid off the appropriate parties at the port – we’ll have that wharf to ourselves. The Africans won’t be searched, and the patrols will be in other areas of the waterfront, so we’ll have complete privacy.” Rudolf hesitated. “Do you expect trouble?”
“No. It’s a straightforward transaction. We collect the stones and hand them over to our American colleagues. The Africans load an extra container onto their boat. There’s nothing to go wrong, as long as you keep the customs officials and the port authority out of our hair.”
“It’s as good as done.”
“Which is what you assured me about the woman.”
“As you know, this is markedly different.” Rudolf had handled countless similarly sensitive transactions for Leo before and had performed every time.
Leo sighed. “Spare no expense in finding her. She can’t get far. She has no papers. No money. She’s alone in Moscow – our city.”
“I’m hopeful that she’ll be caught shortly. But as I said, we only just were notified, so she’s had some lead time. Rest assured that I’m doing everything to locate her.”
“Somebody at the prison had to be in on it. I want answers, Rudi.”
“You shall have them as soon as I do.”
“Very well. I’ll be in the office all day. Call me with updates.”
The line went dead, and Rudolf stared at the phone for a long moment before slipping it back into his shirt pocket. Leo’s abrupt about-face on the woman was troubling. He hoped it didn’t signal a shift in their relationship. While Rudolf provided highly specialized services for Leo, there were other, equally skilled competitors who would love the opportunity to step in and take the business away. He didn’t kid himself that their history together would count for much if Leo decided to sever all ties over the woman.
He didn’t think it would come to that, but there was always a risk.
Rudolf leaned forward and tapped at his keyboard to broaden the search criteria he’d used, looking for anything unusual on the military comm networks as well as the police. While he waited, he pulled up the names and jackets of the other prisoners the warden believed had escaped along with the woman. His pulse increased as he read their histories, and by the time he was finished, the seemingly random bad luck of the prison break had taken on more ominous shades.
His mind processed furiously, searching for any connection between pro-Ukrainian nationalists and the woman who’d killed Leo’s brother. There was nothing he could see, but that only meant that he’d scratched the surface. The truth was that they knew precious little about her except what the Americans had shared, which was virtually nothing besides that she kept company with one of their black sheep.
Could she be somehow involved in a double cross? Could the Americans? He didn’t trust them, just on principle, but this smacked of a CIA setup. Could her escape have been part of their plan all along?
Each question prompted ten more, and he sat at his desk, spinning scenarios, trying on various possibilities before discarding them in favor of more likely explanations. So preoccupied was he that he nearly missed the bulletin from near Kursk, about a bloodbath involving a number of local police who’d been manning a checkpoint designed to limit organized smuggling activity in the area.
He pulled up a map and did a quick measurement, and then tapped in more commands. One of the attackers had been killed, and his prints were being run. Rudolf stared at the screen. It could be nothing. Or everything. Kursk was close to Ukraine. The prisoners had been arrested trying to buy weapons for Ukraine.
Rudolf didn’t believe in coincidences, and he was already reaching for his landline when the system delivered a match on the dead assailant from the roadblock massacre. Taras Shumenko.
Until last night, newly imprisoned only a few kilometers from Leo’s office.
Chapter 41
“I can’t believe they cut and ran,” Yulia said for the fifth time since she and Jet had discovered the farmhouse empty and the submachine gun along with many of the supplies gone. “They’ve always been completely loyal.”
“Nothing we can do about it now,” Jet said, leading her from the farmhouse to the barn. “Except get the hell out of here. There’s every chance they get caught – in which case, we’re next.”