Chapter 8

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Callen and Anna got out and studied the area around the car before approaching.

"I noticed your passport."

"Funny, isn't it," Anna replied without a hint of amusement.

"Was that Joelle's idea?"

"It was. I've gotten some interesting comments because of it although a lot of people don't know the book." She paused and said quietly, "She relates to the character more closely than I do, I think, and I think that makes her sad, in a strange sort of way." She glanced at Callen, "And you know that makes you Wronsky."

"I never did like Anna Karenina."

They stopped about ten feet from the Valiant.

"So," Callen said casually, "you know Dimitri. Do you think he's rigged it?"

"I do."

"Explosives?"

"I don't know," Anna said and glanced at Callen, "but you should probably check." She held out her keys.

"Thanks," he said as he took them.

"Where's Sam when you need him. By the way," she added, "Dimitri likes poisons."

Callen went to the Impala's trunk and got a rag.

When Callen reached the Valiant, he turned around. "You should step back."

"Absolutely not." She stayed where she was and stared at him.

He unlocked the doors and, using the rag as a makeshift glove, he opened each door less than a quarter inch and slid his lock pick the length of the opening beginning at the frame and ending at the frame. He did the same with the hood and trunk, and once he determined that there were no trip wires, he opened the trunk and hood completely to check for any explosive devices that could be triggered by movement, ignition or braking. After inspecting the engine and trunk from above, Callen slid under the car to check the undercarriage, being careful to not touch any part of the car with his bare hands. He checked under the trunk first and then moved to the engine. After a few minutes he slid out and stood up. "It's clear."

"So," Anna said, "if Dimitri didn't rig it with explosives, he must have done something else. It doesn't make sense for him to come all this way and do nothing."

"Agree. There are no explosives and no trackers," Callen replied and leaned through the driver side door to check the interior. Anna walked to the passenger side and examined the car's interior on her side. They looked at each other across the front seat. "Does anything look different, out of place? Is there anything that shouldn't be here?" Callen asked.

"No, there's nothing different."

They turned their attention to the back seat, but the only items were the massage table and the small duffle bag.

They each stood up and looked at one another across the car's roof, puzzled.

Finally, Callen said, "You said he likes poisons."

"He does. He likes lots of things—guns, knives, garrotes—but I remember he knew a lot about poisons. 'They all have their uses,' he said."

Callen looked back at the car's interior. "Do you have a Kleenex?"

Anna gave him a quizzical look, but walked back to the Impala and brought two tissues. Callen took one and leaned into the car. Anna watched over his shoulder as he used his lock pick to carefully and gently press a tissue against a section of the seat back. Four fairly large—but almost invisible—needles poked through the tissue. He then carefully took the second tissue and gently pressed it against the seat bottom and four more needles poked through.

"I hate needles," Callen said and turned to Anna whose eyes had grown wide with shock. "My guess is that if one of these pricked you, you'd feel more than a sharp pain."

"I'd probably be dead in a few minutes."

Callen wrapped his arms around Anna and held her close without saying a word, and when he released her, she took a deep breath. They both realized how close she'd come to death. If not for the guard's slip and mentioning her "brother" . . . .

Callen broke the silence. "So, your friend wants to keep his killings quiet for now—poisoning Lionel, poisoning you."

"He's not my friend. He's a гребаный ублюдок." Callen's expression of surprise at Anna's swearing was spontaneous. She rarely swore, and she swore in Russian even less. She was more than angry; things were getting personal, and when things got personal in their line of work, things often started to go wrong. Both of them needed to stay alert, stay focused, and stay calm. Callen took this moment to cool things down and get both of them concentrating on the problem they faced as the professionals they were.

"Sanctioned or not," Callen said calmly, "Dimitri is obviously targeting people here associated with Volkoff's death . . . ." His voice trailed off as he got out his phone and placed a call. "Hello, Miguel? Callen. Is Lionel conscious?" He waited briefly and then, "Yes, Lionel, this is G." Callen's expression indicated that Lionel's recent hospitalization had apparently had no effect on his ability to carry on a prolonged conversation—mostly one-sided. Callen finally interrupted, "Yes, Lionel, we understand and we were sorry we missed you, too, but that's not the reason I'm calling. We think we know who the Russian is you saw in the café. It's very possible that he poisoned you, and it's also possible that he knows you're not dead." This information was more than Lionel wanted to hear in his current condition, and there was a slight pause as Lionel handed the phone back to Miguel. "Miguel, Anna's going to send you a photo. Ask Lionel if this is the man he saw in the café." Anna sent the photo to Miguel via a text message, and after a few minutes, Callen received confirmation that Dimitri was, indeed, the man Lionel saw. "Miguel, his name is Dimitri Kuznetsov. He was close to Volkoff, and he seems to be targeting those involved in Volkoff's death. Anna says he's a fan of poisons and knows how to use them. There's also a chance that he knows Lionel's not dead. Do you understand?" He paused and overheard Miguel and Lionel talking, and then Miguel returned to the line. Callen listened and then continued, "Alright. No, don't tell me. You have my number and Anna's and we have yours." Callen listened for a few moments and then brought the conversation to an end, "Yes, we will. Take care." He hung up and turned to Anna. "It might be awhile before we see or talk to either Miguel or Lionel again." Callen and Anna were on their own, but they'd been on their own before. Now that he'd finally found what he wanted, Callen wasn't going to lose it.

They turned back to the Valiant. Callen reached over and put his arm around Anna's shoulders and gave her a gentle squeeze. "You know you're not going to be able to drive it."

"I know."

"It's not even safe to get your supplies out of the backseat."

"I know," Anna said with sigh and looked at the table and duffle bag.

"But we have to make it safe because someone will be interested in it or kids will play on it. We can't let them get hurt."

"I know." Anna laid her head on Callen's shoulder and then stood up straight. "I need a picture of it." She gave him a little shove toward the car.

Callen look at her with bewilderment. "I never rode in it," Callen reminded her.

"But you would have," she smiled somewhat wistfully. "Besides, the name suits you."

She took a picture, checked the image, and glanced at Callen as he walked back to her. "You didn't smile."

"I just discovered that a Russian stuck needles—probably poisoned—in the seat of your car—that that we almost missed—and has possibly coated its surfaces with poison, so we have to destroy it to make sure others aren't harmed. Why should I smile?"

"Maybe if you thought about this morning," she suggested and quickly took another picture. She checked the image. "Much better."

Callen locked the Valiant and they walked back to the Impala together. They had quite a bit of shopping to do before the day was over.

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Dimitri reached Havana and pulled into the wide brick drive of the Iberostar early that evening. He handed the valet the key as he strode into the lobby. He had regained his composure and even though his timeline had been disrupted, he believed the element of surprise gave him the advantage and allowed him to maintain control of events. He crossed to the front desk.

"I hope you will be able to help me, Ms. Ramirez," Dimitri addressed the young woman on duty with a pleasant smile.

"I will do my best, sir," Ms. Ramirez replied with a smile of her own.

"I visited a friend of mine who's staying here last night, but I left my phone in his room. I didn't note the room number and wonder, could you tell me his room number, and I will go see if he's in?"

"I'm sorry, but I can't give out that information."

"Perhaps you could call him then? His name is Weston."

"Of course," she said as she checked her computer and then dialed Callen's room number. Dimitri watched carefully, and when the call went unanswered, he understood.

"Thank you very much, Ms. Ramirez. I'll come back a little later to see if he's returned."

"Yes, of course."

"Is there a men's lavatory?"

Ms. Ramirez pointed across the lobby. Dimitri thanked her and walked in that direction, but instead of entering the lavatory he slipped out a side door. He jammed the locking mechanism to allow him entry from the outside, then walked back through the lobby after a minute or two, and made sure that Ms. Ramirez saw him as he walked out the front entrance.

Once outside, he walked to his car, removed a few items from a duffle bag, and then re-entered the hotel through the side door. He rode the elevator to Callen's floor. After making sure the hallway was clear, he opened the door and slipped inside Callen's room. He left the room about twenty minutes later and took the stairs to the lobby where he slipped out the side door again, making sure the door locked behind him. Now, Dimitri decided it was time he visited Lionel in the hospital.

XXXXXXXXXX

The sun was sinking in the sky when Callen and Anna returned to Cayo Jutias. All the other cars in the parking area where the Valiant sat had disappeared. That made this much easier. The back seat of the Impala held several new purchases: scrubbing brushes, a bucket, dish soap, kerosene, clear tubing, a small auto fire extinguisher, and two large hunting knives in sheaths. Callen filled the bucket with water and dish soap at the public restrooms and they washed the Valiant's exterior with the brushes. (Since some poison could eat through latex, Callen bought brushes.) Water still dripped off the car as Callen sliced through the front seat upholstery carefully but completely and Anna did the same to the back seat. Once the upholstery was thoroughly slashed, Callen took the knives back to the Impala and carried back the container of kerosene and the fire extinguisher. He stood next to Anna, placed the fire extinguisher on the ground, and handed her the kerosene container.

She stepped forward to the Valiant and drenched the seats thoroughly, walking from the driver to the passenger side and back to make sure the kerosene was evenly dispersed. Callen rolled the windows down about a third of the way, and when Anna had emptied the container, he closed the doors. He then took the two pieces of clear tubing and inserted them into the gas tank, stuffing the opening with the oil rag to seal it. He placed the end of the longer piece of tubing into the kerosene container, and he put the end of the shorter piece in his mouth and blew. In a moment, gasoline began flowing through the longer tubing into the kerosene container, and when that was filled, he lowered the tubing into the channel he'd dug in the dirt with his knife. When the gasoline stopped flowing, Callen put the tubing through the open windows while Anna capped the kerosene container and put it on the floor of the Impala behind the passenger's seat.

Callen took two matchbooks out of his pocket and handed one to Anna. He stood next to the Valiant on one side and she stood across from him. They each lit a match and dropped it in the front seat and then lit a second match and dropped it in the back seat. The closed doors helped contain the fire while the open windows provided enough oxygen to keep the fire burning. The approaching darkness hid the smoke, and after the fire had burned almost twenty minutes, Callen used the fire extinguisher to smother it. They looked at the charred remains. They had done everything they could to make sure that the car would pose no danger to anyone. It had been a long day, and Callen and Anna were ready to get some rest.