Read Divide & Conquer Online

Authors: Murray McDonald

Divide & Conquer (30 page)

“Pull over!” ordered Sean. “Right, you’re on your own from here!”

Luis nodded.

“And remember one thing.”

“Yes?” asked Luis, nervously.

“Screw me and I will hunt you for the rest of your very short life. And trust me what your uncle would do to you would pale into insignificance!” smiled Sean and with his pep talk over, he disappeared into the shrubbery at the side of the road. The ranch lay just over a mile away and James’s life was ebbing away.

Chapter 58

As the final police crime scene unit pulled out of the drive, Katherine turned and walked back towards the Governor’s office. As she entered the room, she could see he hadn’t moved. Just as he hadn’t over the previous three hours. The glass of whisky she had poured for him, remained grasped in his hand untouched, as he sat in his sofa staring at the empty fireplace. How on earth she was supposed to get him to Moscow in forty-eight hours, God alone knew. He had always been immune to her womanly charms and was the sole reason she had taken Nicole as her lover. If she couldn’t have him, she’d have the only thing that kept him from her. It helped but she had to admit the fact he didn’t want her, made her want him all the more. None of this was helping work out how she would get him to Moscow but with an extremely high sex drive, she was going to need to replace Nicole somehow and soon and discretely. She had to leave the option open for the Governor just in case.

“How are you Rick?” she asked, extracting the glass carefully from his hand.

“I can’t believe it!” He shook his head in despair and a tear trickled down his cheek.

She took him in her arms and sitting on his lap began to rock him gently. She knew Nicole used to do this for him. She had done it for Katherine.

He rocked gently with her and soon the sleep came, just as Nicole had said it would, before joining Katherine for one of their wonderful love making sessions. How Rick had never guessed, she’d never know and with Nicole up for trying a threesome, he had no idea what he had missed out on. But anytime Nicole had broached the subject with him of them trying something different, he had shot it down before she had a chance to try. They had thought of letting him walk in on them but Nicole had worried that rather than join in, he may have stormed out and never gone back.

As he slept on his office sofa, Katherine sent a message to Surkov. There was no way she’d get him to Moscow.

The answer bounced back almost instantly. He didn’t care; she had to make it happen.

Governor Rick Brown had to visit Moscow.

The doorbell interrupted her train of thought, not that it was doing her any good.

She arrived at the door just as the courier was handing the package to another member of staff.

“I don’t know, it’s from Washington,” said the courier in answer to whatever question the other staff member had asked.

“I’ll take it,” demanded Katherine, taking the package noting the Russian embassy stamp.

She returned to the study and checking the governor was still asleep, she moved across to his desk and using the letter opener, sliced open the package. A number of documents were enclosed. The documents, passes and details of their trip to Moscow. The photo id for Nicole Brown fell on the desk, her beautiful eyes stared back at her lover and killer. Katherine turned the pass over. The next document detailed the latest itinerary. There had been a couple of minor changes but nothing of any real note. The final document was one she knew nothing about.

An emergency VISA in the name of Sean Fox. Expedited that day and already at the mansion. Katherine looked at the photo, handsome guy but she had no idea who he was or why all of a sudden he was in the party. As she read on, the VISA detailed him as a bodyguard and Katherine lost interest, probably just a replacement for some other State Department security guy.

“Nicole, is that you?” asked a weary sounding Rick Brown.

Katherine dropped the documents and rushed to remind the Governor of his wife’s death. It was bad enough telling him once, enough already. Her guilt and sympathy had waned. Katherine after all had a reputation to uphold, whatever she wanted and she wanted the Governor to go to Moscow.

***

Mike’s arrival back at Langley coincided with the first call in relation to Jane’s foray into cross agency co-operation. A very flustered Jane thrust the phone at Mike as he entered the office.

“Hello?” said Mike into the mouthpiece.

“Vincent, is that you?” screamed a voice. Mike looked at Jane as she scribbled 'FBI Director’ on a pad.

“I’m afraid there’s been a ter…” Jane hit his arm and scribbled I’ve not told anyone about heart attack.

Mike couldn’t believe it and had no idea what to do. “I’m sorry he’s not here at present,” he mumbled and promptly hung up.

“You realize we are totally fucked,” he concluded succinctly sitting on the end of Jane’s desk. The phone rang. They both looked at it and ignored it.

“We need Vincent!” they both concluded as one.

They both smiled. Vincent, they knew, would smooth things over. They just had to get through the rest of the day.

“Wait a minute,” thought Mike. “What have you told people about Vincent?”

“He’ll be back tomorrow and is out for the rest of the day!’ she said.

“But the air ambulance and being stretchered out?”

“We’re on the exec floor at the end of the corridor, there’s a chopper pad out that door,” she pointed half way down the hallway. “Most of the other execs are out today, nobody knows!”

“And if he’s not here tomorrow,” queried Mike intrigued how far ahead she had planned.

“Let’s not go there,” she suggested with a look of concern.

“He has had a heart attack!” exclaimed Mike.

“I know Vincent, he’ll be in here tomorrow,” she said taking $20 from her purse and slapping it on the desk.

Mike looked at the offer of the bet. “Are you mad? I’d be as well throwing my money out the window!” he smiled.

The phone rang again. They both looked at each other before grabbing their jackets and left the office and phones as they closed the door.

“Where to?” asked Mike.

“I’m going to Bethesda,” announced Jane.

Mike smiled knowingly.

Jane caught the smile. “Have to make sure the old goat’s here tomorrow to save our asses!”

Mike’s smile instantly disappeared. He hadn’t made any of the calls, what did she mean our asses!

Chapter 59

As the day had progressed into the evening, Borodin’s mood had darkened. He began to fixate on the phone. Willing it to ring. Willing Pushkin to call and confirm that Sean Fox and his family had been dealt with. He hadn’t and they had not.

After four hours, he assumed the worst and after six hours stopped even looking at the phone. The added issue of the VISA played on his mind. How on earth was he going to explain that one to Surkov? Instead of eliminating the Sean Fox, he had in fact authorized his VISA to attend the state banquet. Not only that, he had authorized for him to be armed.

After nearly eight hours of no contact, he was about to head home. He buried his head in his hands as Vasiliy entered with another vodka. He had told Vasiliy he needed at least one every 30 minutes. Both had stayed on into the night, just in case. However, the chances of not receiving a call after a successful mission by this hour from at least one of the ten-man team was inconceivable. The mission had obviously failed.

Vasiliy laid the glass of vodka down tentatively and remained standing. Borodin looked up. The concern on Vasiliy’s face was not comforting.

“What?!” barked Borodin, grabbing the vodka and downing it in one gulp.

“Dr Surkov is on line 2!”

Borodin looked over at his phone and noted the flashing line and checked the time, it was almost 2 a.m. “Shit, what did you tell him?”

“That I’d see if I could locate you!”

Borodin considered being unlocatable but that would be delaying the inevitable.

He waved Vasiliy out and lifted the handset and, taking a deep breath for confidence, hit the flashing button.

“Dr Surkov!” he offered pleasantly.

“Ah General, I see your assistant managed to locate you, how fortunate!”

“How can I help you, Doctor, at this very late hour?” asked Borodin.

“Yes, it is rather late to still be in the office. You don’t have a crisis, do you?” asked Surkov suspiciously.

Borodin considered being upfront about the Spetznaz apparent failure but decided to see what Surkov knew.

“Not at all, just busy. How can I help you?”

“I have the president coming to Grebnevo in the morning, be here at 10 a.m.”

“Of course, Doctor,” replied Borodin smiling, things were finally happening.

As he replaced the handset, he realized for the briefest of moments that he had forgotten about Sean Fox. Something had to be done. His future was in jeopardy as soon as Surkov discovered his failure. Ten Spetznaz troops! How could they possibly fail? He had no assets on site, other than, he remembered, he had sent the assassin to deal with the SVR agents. He picked up the phone. There was still a chance Surkov would never know.

***

Surkov sat at his desk contemplating the conversation he had just had with Borodin. He had been trying his home number for some time, when on a whim he had tried the office. Borodin’s assistant had answered the phone as though his life depended on it. It was 2.00 a.m. in Moscow. What could be so important that Borodin was waiting for a call in the office? Surely they would call him at home. Unless they didn’t have his home number or were in another time zone, many hours behind. A time zone where a certain Sean Fox was a problem that Borodin should have dealt with. Or hadn’t he? A feeling of unease swept over him. The more he considered the call with Borodin, the more he realized something was wrong. Sean Fox, was he dead or not? Was he still an issue?

Surkov’s Sean Fox was an issue. The American one was not. But he had no idea which the live one was. When his Sean had escaped Grebnevo all those years ago, they thought he had died during the escape. He knew the plan intricately. He knew what they planned to do. He knew everything. He had also scoffed at the whole idea and laughed at how ridiculous Surkov was to believe it could even happen. He never believed in the ideology. He had embraced the American lifestyle too readily.

As events unfolded and lives progressed, Surkov’s Sean had become surplus to requirements. His life became a mirror of the real one, with no real purpose. Surkov should have seen it coming but was too busy with his other projects. The excitement of Sean’s real life was too much for Surkov’s Sean and he had escaped the confines of Grebnevo and fled. Surkov had always loved Sean like a son and had been devastated by his loss but relieved that the secrets of Grebnevo would remain protected. Until three months earlier, he had remembered Sean fondly. The realization that he could still be alive had rocked him to the core. With just about every block having fallen perfectly into place, a project only dreamt of over six decades earlier was becoming a reality.

Surkov’s move in eliminating the Governor’s wife would be a clear sign to his Sean that Surkov’s crazy plan was actually about to go into action. Sean Fox and the wife had to be killed. Whether it was his Sean or not, it was the other’s wife. By elimination, either it was Surkov’s Sean or it was his wife. It had to be one of them, either way, one of them would be aware of what was happening.

Surkov picked up his communication device and sent a message to the one woman he knew had never failed at anything she was ever tasked with, Katherine. She would find out once and for all if Borodin had succeeded and if not, deal with it once and for all. He hit 'Send’ and went to bed. It was going to be a very busy morning and the beginning of a new dawn was just on the horizon.

Chapter 60

Sean crept through the shrubbery that circled the base of the hill that led to the ranch. So far, Luis had been truthful. The pressure sensors were there and had he not known about them, he would have most certainly had the cartel’s foot soldiers crashing down the hill towards him. He reached the point as described by Luis that offered the best approach and again it seemed to be correct. Luis was a little more ruthless than Sean had realized. He obviously wanted to rule the roost and Sean was his key to doing it. Sean checked his watch. Luis should be arriving and insisting they leave immediately.

***

Luis did as Sean instructed. He raced his car into the forecourt and ran into the house. Drama would sell urgency. Urgency would make them move first and think second.

Luis brushed past the crowd of guards who were desperate to know where their friends were. Luis decided against explaining he had chopped them to pieces and sent them to the bottom of a lake and instead opted for the sullen silent approach as he pushed through. The noise had alerted El Jefe to Luis’ arrival and he stood at the main entrance to the ranch, Juan by his side.

“Luis, where is your friend?” asked El Jefe putting a menacing emphasis as he said friend.

“He is not a friend uncle but he has arranged for us to meet the men we need to meet?”

“We do not need to meet anyone,” announced Juan to the men that were watching the interaction and scoring a point with El Jefe.

“Of course, forgive me, he has arranged for a meeting with the men that wish to meet with us!”

“Excellent, when will they arrive?” he made a show of checking his watch.

“I am to take you to them,” explained Luis his resolve was beginning to falter; this had not gone anywhere near as easily as Sean had suggested it would.

“Surely they come to me?” announced El Jefe, strongly and received a cheer from his men.

Juan watched as Luis squirmed. He knew there was no way on earth the men would come to them.

“May I speak with you privately, Uncle?”

“Whatever you have to say, you can say to my men!” he announced to another cheer.

Juan leant into El Jefe’s ear and whispered something to him. Luis did not hear but a nod from El Jefe resulted in Juan walking to Luis and pulling him aside.

“OK, what is the plan?” he asked quietly.

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