Chapter 40

By noon, Irina was feeling more than a bit frazzled, though she kept it from showing. Levy was a skilled interrogator, and not inclined to be particularly nice even though she was cooperating fully. She saw him glance at his watch and hoped that he was getting ready to break for lunch.

No such luck, she thought as he launched into another question. "How closely does the KGB keep tabs on you? Surveillance and such?"

"Sporadically at this point," she answered. "For the past few years I've noticed a tail on average five or six times a year. Of course, that means there are probably just as many that I don't notice."

"Hmm. Were you followed here?"

"I don't think so, but it's harder to tell from the back of a cab. There's almost certainly a camera with a view of our house, though; they'll know I've gone out." One agent usually monitored several such cameras, writing down who was coming and going; it was possible that he would miss either her departure or arrival, but almost impossible that he'd miss both.

"All right. I don't want to endanger your cover by keeping you here too long, so we'll stop for now. However, since your "counseling session" is ending at noon, it would be logical for you to stay and have lunch with your husband, yes?" She nodded. "All right, then. Stay here, and I'll send him to pick you up; you can go home after that. I'll send a list of questions home with Agent Bristow that I'd like you to write up answers to; just send them back with him." He reached over and turned off the tape recorder, then looked at her for a long moment. She stared back impassively. "It's very dangerous, what you're doing," he said. "Not just to you, either."

"I know."

"Do you have any family in Russia that the KGB might retaliate against if you're discovered?"

She wondered if her father was still alive, and if anyone in the KGB might think that hurting him would bother her. Was Levy offering to try to protect her family in Russia? He was delusional if he thought that had any chance of success. It didn't matter, she decided. "No, there's no one."

Levy nodded. "Thank you, Miss Derevko." With that, he turned and left the room. He didn't lock the door, she noticed.

***

Lunch was uneventful; Jack took Laura to a café down the street from his office, and they talked about unimportant things for the benefit of anyone who might be listening. He returned to work, where he learned that the whole office did not in fact know about the events of Thursday night; word had reached them that his wife was in the hospital, and somehow a rumor had gotten started that she had a fatal disease, hence the uncomfortable looks. He put that rumor to rest with the small truth that she'd been in a car accident, then worked on Dawson's report uneventfully until shortly after five.

An hour and a half later, he stood at a pay phone at a mechanic's shop. "Hello?" Sydney's voice said on the other end of the line.

"Hi, sweetheart, it's Daddy."

"It's Daddy, Mommy!" he heard Sydney call out. "Mommy was worried cause you're late."

"Let me talk to her, okay?"

"Okay."

A moment later, Laura's voice came on, sounding worried. "Jack? Is everything all right?"

"The car broke down. The transmission. I didn't get a chance to call before."

"Oh, God, I forgot all about that. Where are you?"

"At the repair shop. They said it would be about an hour."

"All right. Do you want me to keep dinner warm, or are you going to pick up something while you wait?"

"I'll grab something here. See you soon." He hesitated for a moment, remembering that the phone line might be bugged. "I love you."

There was the briefest of pauses on the other end, followed by, "Love you, too."

"Me too, Daddy!" he heard Sydney call.

He chuckled. "Tell Sydney I love her, too. Bye."

"Bye."

He hung up the phone and headed to a nearby diner.

***

Alexander Khasinau listened to the phone conversation through the tap on the Bristows' phone line in silence, then turned to Leon Volsky. Volsky had sent word that he thought something strange might be going on with Irina Derevko; since he hadn't been her handler very long, he wanted a second opinion. Khasinau had been on his way back from Washington anyway and had stopped over in LA to investigate.

"Well, that sounded normal enough," Khasinau said. "They both sounded a bit stressed, but that seems normal given what's been going on the last week. Now, you were telling me about Derevko's day?"

"Her husband called her shortly after nine this morning and said that he wanted her to go into the CIA building for counseling. He mentioned something about her doctor in the hospital recommending it. It seems rather odd to me," Volsky said. "She left shortly after and returned about one p.m."

"Yes, it is odd." Khasinau considered for a moment. He'd been thinking for a while that it was time to pull Irina out; there wasn't any particular reason, but her mission was getting ridiculously long. Valenko had been in favor of extraction, but then, Valenko had gotten himself discovered by the CIA and was now dead. "I'd like to see her records for the hospital stay."

"Of course, sir," Volsky said. "I'll have a copy for you by morning."

"Good. I'll see you then."