American Assassin

EPILOGUE
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND, FOUR DAYS LATER

THOMAS Stansfield sat on the park bench and looked up at the Rietberg Museum. He loved Zurich - the lake, the unique pace, the beauty of the mountains, but most important the safety it afforded a man of his profession. This city, and the small country it was part of, had managed to stay out of World War II, even with war raging just beyond its borders in every direction. And in the years after that, it had continued to offer respite for Cold Warriors like himself and the man he was about to meet, a place where they could lower their guard, not completely, but enough to enjoy life a little, and occasionally meet face-to-face to discuss mutually beneficial opportunities, or in this instance, conclude vital transactions.

Stansfield saw the two black sedans enter the park and glanced at his watch. The meeting would start on time, which was a nice surprise. The man he was meeting was notoriously late. Stansfield watched the sedans stop thirty feet behind the two vehicles in his entourage. Every detail had been agreed to in advance so as to not make either party unduly skittish. Two men in dark overcoats and sunglasses exited the first car. They looked like Eastern European versions of the two men who were standing a respectful thirty feet behind the CIA's deputy director of operations.

A man with unusually large ears and puffy eyes exited the second car and buttoned his blue, double-breasted suit coat. One of the men approached with a wool overcoat, but the older man waved him off, which brought the hint of a smile to Stansfield's face. He had spent six years in Moscow. To a Russian, forty degrees in Zurich this time of year would feel like summer. Yevgeny Primakov motioned for his men to stay by the car and walked over to the bench.

Stansfield did not stand and Primakov did not expect him to. Neither were handshakes offered. These were two men whose entire jobs revolved around seeing through other people's deceptions.

"Did you bring my man?" Stansfield asked.

"Yes. Did you bring mine?"

"That was not part of the agreement."

"It should have been," Primakov said gruffly.

"There would have been a slight problem there, Yevgeny."

"What?"

Stansfield turned so he could face him. "My man wants to come back to America. Your man." Stansfield shook his head. "He doesn't want to go back to Russia. What does that tell you?"

"How can I know that? You have not allowed me to talk to him."

Stansfield pulled a manila envelope from inside his jacket. "I gave you the highlights on the phone. His boss, one of your deputies, has stolen more than twenty million dollars from Mother Russia and her fine citizens. That money is currently sitting in various accounts around the world. How do you think Deputy Shvets would be treated if I were to hand him over to you?"

Primakov did not answer the question.

"Yevgeny, you do realize I could have given this to the White House? They would have shared it with your president when the time was right, and you would have been put under suspicion along with that thug Ivanov."

Primakov couldn't bring himself to say thank you, so he asked, "Why the courtesy?"

"Because I don't like my people being kidnapped and treated like a science experiment. You did bring Mr. Cummins?"

"Yes." Primakov stuck out his hand for the envelope.

"Not until I see my man."

Primakov motioned to his men, and they opened the back door of the first car. The bodyguard had to help Cummins out of the sedan. He was incredibly thin, but it was him. Stansfield looked over his shoulder and snapped his fingers. One of his bodyguards took off at a trot to help with the transfer.

"The package."

Stansfield handed it to Primakov, who immediately tore it open. He flipped through the twenty-odd pages and asked, "And how do I know this isn't all made up?"

"Check it yourself. The access codes are all there. The money is still in the accounts, although trust me, I thought about using it for a few of our more creative programs."

Primakov considered that for a moment. He finally managed to say, "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Stansfield said as he stood. "Just do me a favor, Yevgeny. Let's stick to the old rules. You stay away from my guys, and I'll stay away from yours."

Stansfield walked away with his other bodyguard close behind. He stopped at the first sedan to check on the Schnoz, and then got into the backseat of the second car. The bodyguard closed the door and then went around the other side and climbed in the backseat. As soon as they were out of the park the bodyguard took off his sunglasses and asked, "Did he buy it, sir?"

Stansfield looked at over at Mitch Rapp and said, "One hundred percent."

Rapp looked out the window, thinking that Hurley had truly lived up to his reputation as the biggest SOB on the block. It had been pure evil genius to pay Ivanov's money back into his accounts and have Shvets inform on him. "So what's going to happen to Ivanov?"

Stansfield looked down and straightened his tie. "I think Mikhail Ivanov is going to spend the next few months being thoroughly interrogated by the SVR's goon squad."

"And then what?"

"He won't be able to deny the money, will he?"

"No."

Stansfield nodded. "You're a smart kid. Fill in the blanks."

"Couldn't happen to a nicer guy." Rapp shrugged as if he didn't care. "What about Sayyed?"

"Some questions are better off not asked."

Rapp frowned. He didn't like not knowing.

"Listen," Stansfield said, "I can't release a guy like Sayyed. He'll just go back and torture more of our people." Stansfield shook his head. "The man will get what he deserves."

"Sir, I hope you know I don't give a crap what happens to him."

"Good."

"What about Shvets?"

"Shvets will be fine as long as he continues to cooperate. In a few years we'll cut him loose and let him start a life of his own."

They drove in silence for a while, and then Rapp finally asked, "Sir, why did you want me to come along for this? Being your bodyguard is not exactly my area of expertise."

Stansfield had been wondering when the rookie was going to get around to asking the question. He grinned to himself and asked Rapp, "You think Stan Hurley is a son of a bitch?"

"The biggest one I've ever met, sir."

Stansfield laughed. "Now you know he's not big on compliments?"

Rapp nodded.

"Well, he had some pretty amazing things to say about you when you got back from Beirut. Ridley as well. Irene has been telling me for close to two years that she thought you might have the goods, and I guess you proved to all of us last week that you most certainly do."

"Thank you, sir."

"So I guess I wanted to have a closer look at you ... and show you that despite what you may have thought in Beirut, I will go to great lengths to get my people back."

Rapp nodded. He supposed Ridley had passed on his blistering critique. "I know that now, sir."

"Good. Now I think you should take a week off. You've earned it. I don't care where you go as long as it's west of here. Seven days from now report to Stan. I've got something else I want you two to work on."

Rapp was tempted to ask, but decided he didn't want it weighing on him while he was trying to recharge.

"Any idea where you're going to go?" Stansfield asked. "In case we need to get hold of you?"

Rapp looked at the snow-capped mountains and thought of Greta. With a smile on his face he said, "I think I'm going to stay right here in Zurich."