Bykov waited a couple of hours before he called Anosov back to see if there was any good news about the flash drive after Panov’s failure at the morgue.
Anosov answered on the first ring, as if he’d been expecting the call. “Yes.”
“It’s me, what have you come up with?”
“There’s no way we’re getting the flash drive from the dead guy’s things at the morgue, not without causing a lot of suspicion, something I definitely don’t want.”
“Our employers won’t give a shit about your problems, Leonid. Either get the flash drive, or come back here with the money, because I sure as hell won’t pay for your screwups.”
“I’ll think about it. But I’m bailing out within the next twenty-four hours. I’ve already got just about everything in place.”
“These people have a long reach.”
“Listen to me, Yuri, shit is starting to go east, if you know what I mean,” Anosov said. East was the direction of Siberia from Moscow. To a Russian it meant bad things were about to happen.
“Ya ponimau,” Bykov said. I understand. “If you’re going to Marseille, bury yourself for a few months until things cool down.”
“Canada first.”
“Why?”
“I’m going to drive the woman up to Montreal. I’ve already been offered one hundred thousand euros sight unseen.”
“When do you leave?”
“Sometime in the morning. I want to be out of the city by dawn.”
“What about your people?”
Anosov hesitated for a moment. “Valentin’s tagging along. He’s an asshole, but he’s a friend.”
“The others?”
“They’re sticking it out.”
“Go with God, staryy drug,” Bykov said. Old friend.
“And you.”
Butch Hardy was just about to leave his office to check on his security people, mainly at the front and rear entrances to the building, when his phone rang. It was an outside line.
“Hardy.”
“It’s Dugan,” Bykov said. “There’s no way we’ll be able to get the flash drive without causing some serious blowback. Which wouldn’t do you any good if it’s something you need to keep secret.”
Hardy couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Goddamnit, you vouched for those people.”
“They’re your people. Anyway, I was told that the kid’s parents are coming for the body in the morning. Unless they’re computer experts, they won’t know what a flash drive is or how to use it, so your secrets are safe.”
“We want our money back.”
“It won’t happen.”
“We’ll see,” Hardy said, and he slammed the phone down.