Enemy of My Enemy (45 page)

Suslov had to wait only three minutes. Through earphones, he heard her place the call. She was talking softly, but sounded excited.

"Micki, it's me. I've got the news you wanted."

"What did you find, my little bird?" The American's voice was muted.

"The exchange with the Syrian will take place early Friday morning in Baku. Wherever that is..."

"Don't worry. I know where it is." Michael was excited. She might have some valuable information that the Israelis hadn't been able to obtain. "What else did you hear?"

"Dmitri's going there with only a single bodyguard. He's not bringing any other troops."

Oh, dammit,
Michael thought. Suslov had found out about Irina. He tried to conceal his anxiety and sound upbeat. "Oh, really?"

"Did I help you?"

"So much, my little bird." He was terrified for Irina.
I have to get her out of that building alive.
"Now I want to take you to the United States, as we discussed."

Suslov stiffened. How could the little wench and the American be so stupid as to think they could leave the country?

"That's what I want. To live with you in Beverly Hills."

"Then do this," Michael commanded. "Stay till the end of your regular working day. I don't want anyone to get suspicious. When you walk outside, cross the road to the Philadelphia restaurant. I'll be waiting there."

"I have to stop at home and pack before I can go anywhere."

"Don't worry about that."

"Really, Micki." She sounded irritated. "Don't be silly. I can't leave all of my beautiful clothes."

Suslov was breathing fire. He had paid for them.

"Okay. Don't worry. We'll stop for them. See you in a couple of hours."

As soon as Michael hung up the phone with Irina, he knew that he had to call Joyner and report what had happened. Suslov couldn't possibly be bringing a single bodyguard with a convoy of four trucks loaded with nuclear weapons. He must have a contingent of troops. So there was only one explanation for what Suslov had permitted Irina to overhear: misinformation to keep down the size of any force the United States sent, if it decided to send troops. That meant Suslov knew about Irina's relationship with Michael. Why else was he using her to pass false information? Michael was in a panic. He desperately wanted to get to the embassy to call Joyner, then return to the Philadelphia before Irina left Suslov's building. For several minutes he vacillated about what to do while he ran his hands through his hair. He went to the bathroom and relieved himself. Finally he decided to call Joyner on the same cell phone Irina had called him on. It was risky, but it was the best of the alternatives. He stepped outside the Philadelphia restaurant, found a deserted spot on the sidewalk, and dialed Joyner in Washington.

* * *

Inside the building across from the Philadelphia, Suslov was in a blind rage. From the first floor he put his head down and charged up four flights of stairs as fast as he could with one gimpy leg. Terrified secretaries and clerks who saw him ran the other way. They hid behind desks to avoid being swept up in the coming explosion.

From a distance of twenty yards, Irina saw him limping toward her, breathing fire. That menacing look on his face, the hatred shining in his eyes, told her that Suslov had found out about her and Micki. She stuffed the cell phone into her purse and ran in the opposite direction.

The building had a rear staircase.
If I can just make it down to the ground floor,
Irina thought,
I can race out of the building and across the street to the Philadelphia. I'll hide there until Micki comes. I'll be safe.

Suslov saw that she had a good jump on him. Running fast wasn't something he could do after the injury in Afghanistan. So he took the easy way out. He slammed his hand against the large red button on the wall, a holdover from the days the KGB occupied the building. It activated a loud, piercing security alarm. That not only shook all of the people inside the building to their core, it also meant that every door to the building automatically closed and locked. Six armed guards on the ground floor started upstairs, gripping automatic weapons.

Irina had forgotten about the alarm until she heard it.

Getting out of the building at this point was hopeless. I
know what I'll do. I'll hide. They'll never find me.
She exited the staircase on the second floor, ran five yards down the corridor, and ducked into a closet that housed office supplies. It had a small dead-bolt lock, which she set. Hopefully they wouldn't find her until she called Micki. He could come and get her out.

Irina sat down on top of a brown cardboard box of computer paper and whipped the cell phone out of her purse. Her hand was trembling so badly it fell to the ground. Once she retrieved it, she frantically punched in the numbers of Micki's cell.

The busy signal she heard was like a death sentence.

Get off the damn phone,
Micki. She hung up and tried again. Still busy.
Oh, no. What do I do now?

Fear threatened to paralyze her body and her mind.
Think,
she told herself.
You must be able to do something.
She dialed her friend Natasha.

No answer. The machine kicked on.

Feeling helpless and hopeless, she mumbled into the machine, leaving Natasha a message. Someone had to know what was happening. Maybe Natasha could get to Micki.

"It's Irina. I'm locked in a closet in the office. Dmitri found out about me and Micki. He's going to kill me. Micki's on his phone. I can't get through to him. I want you to—"

Irina heard a pounding on the door. Suslov was shouting, "Open up. Right now."

Irina realized it was futile. At least she could help Micki before Suslov killed her. She continued her message to Natasha: "Tell Micki that Dimitri tricked me. The information he gave me about a single bodyguard has to be false. And tell him I love him."

On the other side of the door, a soldier aimed his gun and blasted away the lock. Suslov kicked open the door. Saliva was dripping from his mouth as he glared at her.

Irina hit the power button, turning off her phone. Then she tossed it at him. Suslov batted it down with his left hand and sent it crashing against the hard cement floor. With his right, a huge, powerful meaty claw, Suslov grabbed her around the neck, pulling her to her feet. She tried to punch him, but her tiny fists didn't even make him flinch when they struck his chest.

"I was so good to you... you ungrateful little bitch."

She spat at him, right in the eye.

Suslov gripped her neck with both of his hands.

"My little bird," he said in a mocking tone. He laughed sadistically. "You won't be going to Beverly Hills."

He squeezed tighter and tighter. A gurgling noise came out of her mouth. Her eyes bulged. Her body tensed, then grew limp in his hands. As all of the life oozed out of her body, his face lit up with a sweet smile of revenge.

When she was dead, he turned to one of the guards standing in the doorway and said, "Take her to the basement downstairs. Hack her up. Then put her in the old KGB burial chamber. There's room for one more body."

 

 

 

Chapter 34

 

Layla closed her eyes and sat back in the cab on her way to the sound lab, analyzing the situation. She was no longer terrified by Nadim and the prospect that he knew she had planted the bugs.

Plenty of her relatives in Lebanon had died fighting Nadim and the Syrians. The brave ones went down with a struggle after taking Syrians with them. The cowards suffered in their humiliation as well as in their death.

She knew which group she wanted to be in. She was calm and cool when she walked into the sound lab.

Not Jack. He was frightened about what might happen to her. "You've got to leave Paris right now. Nadim knows about the bug you planted." A bundle of nerves, Jack was talking fast. "I've got a car waiting at our embassy to drive you to Amsterdam. You're booked on the ten-o'clock El A1 flight tonight to Israel."

Layla gave Jack that mysterious smile of hers. "I'm not going."

"You have to. He'll kill you."

"Maybe he will, and maybe he won't." She pulled the gun out of her purse and held it up. "And I know how to use it."

Jack was exasperated. "Do you know what you're up against?"

She smiled again. "Unfortunately, much better than you do. Let him try. It's time somebody stood up to the bastard."

Avi walked into the sound lab. For the entire five minutes it took Jack to explain what was happening with Nadim, Avi looked at Layla with admiration. "Boy, was I wrong about you," Avi told her. "You're a feisty woman."

"Nadim killed my uncle Bashir for what I'm doing now. It's time somebody got even."

"It's okay with me."

"But not with me," Jack said to Avi. "You don't care for her the way I do."

"Back off, Jack," Layla said. "I'm a big girl."

Avi found himself in the bizarre situation of supporting Layla against Jack. He'd like nothing better than for Layla to get rid of their old nemesis Nadim. "She has a right to decide for herself."

"You were the one who didn't trust her," Jack told him.

"That was before I saw what she could do."

It amused Layla that they were having this discussion as if she weren't in the room.

Despairing, Jack realized it didn't matter what he said. He hadn't known Layla a long time, but he was well aware of how strong-willed she was. She was determined to square off with Nadim. He gave a long sigh of resignation. "I'll stick with you and provide protection until Nadim leaves Paris."

"That may not be possible," Avi interjected. "Moshe wants you and me on the first plane to Baku in the morning. It's at seven a.m. on Turkish Air out of Orly via Istanbul. He's got approval from the prime minister for your action plan to block the exchange."

Jack locked eyes with Layla. "Please change your mind about leaving Paris," he said, knowing his words were in vain.

"I'm staying," she said with a ring of finality. "A person has to confront her demons. Mine is in this city right now."

"Tell you what," Jack said, "at least let me offer you a little help. First of all, I'd like you to stay at the Bristol with me tonight until... I have to leave in the morning."

Avi was looking at her. She blushed. "I'm okay with that," she said.

"Second," Jack continued, "when I was involved in a recent operation"—even though he trusted her, instinctively he couldn't bring himself to tell her he was responsible for Khalifa's assassination—"I learned about this device the techies have over at the embassy. It's a special doorknob. I want to have it installed to replace the doorknob leading from the living room of your apartment to the bedroom. Hopefully Nadim will already be gone from Paris when we split in the morning, but maybe he won't." He paused and took a deep breath, gulping for air. "If Nadim tries to attack you in your apartment, you'll race into the bedroom, slam the door, and flip a special switch on the wall that resembles a light switch. It'll activate an electrical charge on the doorknob. When Nadim grabs it, he'll get one hell of a shock, literally and figuratively."

Avi wasn't familiar with the device. "Will it kill him?"

Jack shrugged. "It's about fifty-fifty."

Layla interjected, "I'd like better odds than that."

Jack cracked a smile. He never wanted to cross this woman. "Let's put it this way: At the very least, he'll be knocked out for a while, long enough for you to call somebody at our embassy who can hustle you up to Amsterdam by car and on the first plane out to Israel."

"David Navon," Avi said. "That's the man she should call. I'll set it up." He scribbled a number on a piece of paper and handed it to her. "I'll also make the arrangements for the doorknob."

"Sounds like a plan," Layla said. She took out a key to her apartment and offered it to Avi.

He waved her away and smiled. "Our people don't need keys."

Jack looked grim. "If you have to use this doorknob, let's just hope it functions better than a certain recording device in a bowl of flowers in Rome."

Layla didn't know what happened in Rome, but she had a pretty good idea. The tension in the room was thick. Avi decided to cut it. "I think I'll get out of here and leave you two kids for the night. Meet you at the airport tomorrow morning, Jack."

"Kids?" Jack said to Avi. "I'm older than you are."

"Well, I'm certainly not," Layla said.

They all laughed nervously.

* * *

President Kendall wanted to believe what Irina had heard Suslov say. If Suslov was bringing only a single bodyguard, then Kendall didn't have to confront the question of whether to send a sizable contingency of American troops. "The information you just received from Michael Hanley changes the dynamics," President Kendall said, sounding relieved as he looked at Joyner and General Childress seated with him at a conference table in the Oval Office.

Joyner knew where Kendall was headed, and she didn't like it.

"Let's assume that what Irina told Hanley is correct," Kendall continued. "Then we won't need a large contingent of troops to break this up and rescue our pilot. So we can give Drozny more time to act. If he doesn't, we move in with a small group of commandos and surgically do the job. That way we'll minimize the damage to our relations with Russia and the chances that this could escalate. What do you two think?"