Last to Fold (46 page)
“I might call tomorrow. More likely, I won’t.” She put down the empty glass, collected her stuff, and went. No kiss, just as she’d said. I didn’t try to stop her.
The door closed, and I heard the elevator chime in the distance when it arrived to carry her off. I stayed right where I was, drinking alone at the counter where I’d told myself I didn’t want to end up drinking alone. I didn’t bother to question or rethink or look for options. There wasn’t a damned thing I could do.
I poured another two fingers and put the bottle away.
Love’s a bitch. But it’s got nothing on that pig fate.
A
CKNOWLEDGMENTS
Anyone interested in the history of the Gulag should read Anne Applebaum’s absorbing and heartbreaking account,
Gulag: A History
(New York: Random House, 2003). The impact of the Gulag on the Russian psyche is movingly explored in
The Whisperers: Private Life in Stalin’s Russia
by Orlando Figes (New York: Metropolitan Books, 2007). David Remnick’s
Lenin’s Tomb
:
The Last Days of the Soviet Empire
(New York: Random House, 1993) is a page-turning account of the fall of the Communist Party and the Soviet Union.
Spy Handler: Memoir of a KGB Officer
by Victor Cherkashin with Gregory Feifer describes the daily dealings, activities, and thoughts of a senior KGB officer stationed in the United States. Robert O’Harrow Jr. tells in quietly chilling fashion how everything we do these days is watched, recorded, and manipulated in
No Place to Hide
(New York: Free Press, 2005).
I am very fortunate to have had two terrific editors at Thomas Dunne Books: (in chronological order) John Schoenfelder and Brendan Deneen. I am grateful to both for their ideas, insights, assistance, and good cheer. My gratitude also to Tom Dunne.
Numerous people read and commented on various drafts of assorted stories that resulted in this one. I am grateful to all for their time and suggestions: Richard Bradley, Charles and Sandi Ellis, Sheila Geoghegan, Bill and Carmen Haberman, Cindy and Steve Heymann, Bill Hicks, Bruce and Turi MacCombie, Myra Manning, Colin Nettelbeck, Dan Paladino, Jonathan Rinehart, John Sanchez, Elena Sansalone and Jan Van Meter, David Stack, Curt Swenson, Peter Standish, and Albert Zuckerman.
I must also thank a marvelous copy editor, India Cooper, who saved me from a multitude of mistakes.
Special thanks to Sarah Haberman. Extra-special thanks to Polly Paladino, whom I will never be able to thank enough.
Last in mention, but first in my heart, is my wife, Marcelline Thomson, who urged me to write this story and then had to put up with me while I did.
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
THOMAS DUNNE BOOKS.
An imprint of St. Martin’s Press.
LAST TO FOLD
. Copyright © 2011 by David Duffy. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Duffy, David L.
Last to fold / David Duffy. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-312-62190-2
1. Espionage, Soviet—Fiction. 2. Spy stories. gsafd I. Title.
PS3604.U377L37 2011
813'.6—dc22
2010042129
First Edition: April 2011
eISBN 978-1-4299-6805-8
First Thomas Dunne Books eBook Edition: March 2011