Part III - Nightmare
Author's Note: Two months have gone by since Eyal's mission in Afghanistan was completed and he spending time in Tel Aviv with his son and family. Returning to Washington once so he and Annie had a week together before she was once again on another mission and he sent to North Africa to find a missing agent believe to have turned into a double agent Iran. Such is the life of spies.
Arthur Campbell sitting behind his desk, his eyes fixed on the beautiful face of his blonde headed wife. She was determined and he knew it. There were times she would bend to his request or suggestions but this was not one of those times.
"Who else do you have to send? We are so damn shorthanded on qualified operatives and you want to send a raw rookie to Poland on this mission." Joan's eyes glaring at him with love and determination, she was hell-bend on going to Poland.
"Hell Joan you have responsibilities here, remember we have a son at home."
"And in very capable hands of Lucia."
"You really want to leave your child in the hands of our nanny?" Arthur trying a counter attack.
"Who takes care of him day in and day out. You'll be there and it's only for two, no more than three days."
"You know things can quickly go sideways and we'll be lucky to get help to you in time."
"Arthur that's every mission. You know you are not going to win this argument."
"Where is Annie Walker?"
"Tartu, Estonia and maybe there for another week."
Arthur stood, walking from behind his desk, taking Joan in his arms knowing he was helpless to her persuasive ways but still wanting to put up a good battle. "I give in. You know I shouldn't allow you to go, been too long out of the field but okay."
"You don't ever forget. I'll be fine honey. Keep the bed warm for my return."
"That's a promise." Arthur kissing his wife, "Now go home and pack before I change my mind."
Joan closing the door as she left the office. Arthur just standing there, looking at the blank door Joan had walked out of. Why didn't he put up a better argument for he knew this was not an easy retrieval of a Russian defector. The risks were high as Stanislav Ostrovsky was a marked man. Any defection of a high-ranking political Russian government bureaucrat would have the goon square after them and Ostrovsky would be no different. At least he had made to Lublin, Poland, perhaps a half natural country toward any CIA operations. Keep dreaming Arthur, it's not happening, Joan was on her own without a safety net.
"Karen please have at travel package for Joan Campbell to Lublin, Poland. The usually items." Arthur giving his approval officially for Joan's mission, "Yes I know but who is going to buck Joan, not me."
Hanging up the phone, Arthur returned to return to work but couldn't get his mind off Joan. Lately she has been distance, not toward him but to everything else. She has lost interest in their home and the garden, the baby was more like routine, feed, change diapers a few minutes of play with some hugs and kiss but there was an abyss. He had done some research on postpartum depression but Joan wasn't showing these symptoms, if anything she was throwing herself into work and showing renewed energy with being in the espionage field. Their nanny Lucia, an older woman with years of being a nanny had told him many women feel if turning into be super moms they with lose the professional status in the workplace. But not to worry, once the child started showing a personality the mothers usually found they could do both. Arthur only hoped Lucia was right.
That evening, finally home from work Arthur in jeans and T-shirt holding his infant son, Mackenzie - Mac for short with feeding him couldn't help but feel remorse. In his arms was a second chance to be the kind of father he should have been Teo. He carried the burden of Teo's death with him for if it hadn't been his selfish motivations, he would be enjoying the rewards of a fine grown son, not a dead terrorist as the world has pegged him.
"My sweet young Mac you will enjoy my being the best father I can muster. Never shall I desert you but be there for your ball games, school plays or whatever you wish to do to. You parents lifestyle may be hard to understand and I truly hope you choice another path, not one of dark jungles and alleyways but maybe a renown writer, research scientist or teacher. Know you can't value what I'm telling you now but we shall have this conversation again." Arthur kisses his little son who is happily sucking on his bottle of milk.
Lublin, Poland being the largest town in Eastern Poland and the Old Town of Lublin has preserved it medieval urban layout with cobble stone streets, many churches and burgher houses. In the middle of Old Town is the town hall building which was built in the sixteenth century and the royal tribunal, however today it has been turned into a museum. During the middle ages the town was defended by fortified walls and only the Krakow Gate is remaining. The Lublin Royal Castle stands on a hilltop at the edge of the old town, built sometime in the fourteenth century. Alleyways and tunnels weave though this medieval section of Lublin, giving a feeling of obscurity and mystery.
Joan happy once more being in the field on a mission but could feel the effects of a few years behind a desk at Langley. It's nine at night and time to check into a hotel and get some sleep but for Joan, her body was in the afternoon go mode. Washington was six hours behind Poland. Finding her hotel, she checked in, dropped her bags in the room and when out for a walk. The weather was perfect, the start of spring and the night air crisp and refreshing for her. The street lights gave off a warm glow and for Joan, deep in her thoughts, this is what she missed, the world travel, the excitement of adventure and that shadowy element. Oh she loved her job and being a wife with a beautiful baby boy but that tiny part of her, that part of being a spy. What was the old saying, 'Once a spy always a spy'.
Her meet time with Stanislav Ostrovsky was for ten o'clock the next morning and she need to get a good night's sleep. The place with underground passageways that entwined throughout old town being the contact point. Her entrance to the tunnels would be through the old chapel at Lublin Royal Castle, easy to break away for the guided tour and disappear in the many nooks and crannies of the chapel.
Morning arrives and Joan was up early, reviewing the underground map and readying herself for the meet. Code names were set and Arthur has become fascinated with the legends of King Arthur, his Knights of the Round Table and medieval history, fitting for being in this section of Lublin. Guinevere, the wife of King Arthur would be too obvious so Joan's code name, Isolde, the wife of King Mark of Cornwall and was woo by Tristan, the Cornish Knight of the Round Table. After drinking a love potion, they falling instantly in love with one another and she commits adultery. Could there be some hidden meaning in the choice of her code name?
Another nice day as Joan arrived at the chapel and quickly joined a guided tour about ready to start. There was no head count taken so for Joan the leave the tour would be unnoticed. Finding the centuries old stone and brick well-worn stairs leading to the underground passageway, Joan felt a slight twinge of excitement, that shadowy side of being a spy. Turning to her left and walking the several hundred yards to another turn, down more stairs and again another turn, she stopped cold.
She took careful aim, pulled the trigger and nothing, a misfire. Her gun jammed. Pushing Dr. Puusepp back into the doorway, Annie looked for an escape route and need one promptly. She could hear the pounding of steps coming closer of their pursuers. Stairs leading to the second floor, bad idea as she knew of no exit but had little choice, certainly no way out from the first floor.
On the second floor was a double door leading to a balcony of sorts and climbing up to a ledge of the neighboring building, she pushing the elderly Dr. Puusepp up. Reaching the ledge both made their way around the corner and into an open window, passing some couple having a little afternoon delight and down the steps to the first floor. Good, their followers were still in the building when she hears gun fire.
The couple on the second floor wasn't real happy with their bedroom being used as an expressway but Annie wasn't going to stay to find out what happened.
Crossing the street and into a restaurant, thru the kitchen and into an alleyway, Dr. Puusepp stopping, gasping for air. The exhaustion was great of the elderly gentleman and Annie knew he couldn't go much farther on foot. Guiding him to an alcove and some wooden crates for him to rest, she needed to find a way out but not leaving him alone.
Thankful for the love making couple to put a halt to the men following them, she had some time to plan and react. There set the answer, an old dark colored car with window down. A little hot wiring and they were off, driving west and out of Tartu. She was going to get Dr. Puusepp to safety at all cost.
Dr. Puusepp a brilliant professor and researcher in human behavior at the University of Tartu was being courted by the Russians for defection. He had gone into hiding and asking the US for asylum. The underlying reason the CIA was interested in Dr. Puusepp was his past history, his work with the KGB during Russian occupation of Estonia and later the FSB continuing into 2009 when he left their service. His research at the university had come extraordinarily close to profiling a person using DNA, only months away from finishing his work, making him a sort after man.
Annie keeping a watchful eye on any signs of a tail but they were clear. Arriving in the next town, Viljandi and changing cars, finding something to eat and then on to Parnu on the coast, a vacation tourist town on Parnu Bay, an inlet of the Gulf of Riga. There they found a cheap hotel and started their wait for naval extraction due in twenty-four to thirty-six hours.
Living the high life in Monaco, Eyal's mission to get close to Tassos Nicolaides, a very wealthy Greek shipping tycoon believed to be supplying vessels for the transport of smuggled missiles and heavy weaponry to different Islamic extremist terror groups around the Mediterranean area.
Oh how Eyal loved these assignments it fitted his own personal sophisticated style, maybe not the gambling part as he was not a gambler but the dress, the fine wine and dinners, the concerts and fast cars. Slipping on his Hugo Boss jacket to a tailored Italian virgin wool silk blend suit light gray suit and checking his Da Vinci perpetual calendar gold face watch, he was ready to go. One last push to his tie, also very expensive and understated chic, he couldn't help but smile.
His destination for the evening, Monte Carlo Grand Casino, the most beautiful and popular casino and reminiscent of the James Bond movie, 'Casino Royale' and secret agent man. Eyal hated any reference or comparisons between him and the stud James Bond but there he is, tall, dark, handsome and charming, dressed with a sophisticated flair, a spy with a license to kill.
Getting behind the wheel of his Bugatti Veyron dark blue sports car, Eyal was on his way for a long term mission, locate the shipping routes, ships specially rig for smuggling armaments and the ports used. His cover, George Zacharias a wealthy Greek business man looking for investments.