Moscow, Russia
Peter Winter fished the vibrating phone out of his pocket and stared at the caller ID, not quite knowing what to say if he answered. It wasn’t that the call was completely unexpected – he had certainly hoped it would come – but given the events of the last few days, the call had taken on a whole new importance.
‘Logan? Is that really you?’ Winter said as he tentatively answered.
‘Yes,’ was the simple response on the other end.
Even from the single-word answer, Winter knew it was Carl Logan.
His voice brought back a rush of memories. The two men had never been particularly close, but all of a sudden Logan’s familiar voice brought a degree of comfort. How different to the last time he had spoken to Logan, just a few days ago, when Winter had still believed Logan was responsible for Mackie’s death.
‘I wasn’t sure if you’d have left my number open,’ Logan said after a few moments of silence.
Each of the JIA’s field agents had a unique phone number that acted almost like an ID. It didn’t matter whether they used a mobile or a landline or a pay phone, they could call their assigned number from any phone in the world and they would be routed to their commander. Now that Winter had stepped into Mackie’s shoes, calls to Logan’s ID were directed to him. He’d debated in his own mind whether or not to cancel Logan’s account – he had already deleted much of the other evidence of Logan’s existence when Logan had been on the run in Omsk – but in the end he’d left it operational. Given the events of the last two days, he was now very glad about that.
‘I was hoping you’d call,’ Winter said as he stood up from the chair and gazed out of the window of his Moscow hotel room.
‘Of course you were,’ Logan said, his tone terse. ‘So has Evans filled you in?’
‘I haven’t spoken to Evans in more than two days,’ Winter said, frowning as thoughts raced through his mind.
There was another silence on the other end for a few seconds.
‘Logan, have you seen Evans?’ Winter asked.
‘He came after me. He didn’t succeed.’
‘Is he dead?’ Winter said, not sure what answer he was hoping for.
‘He was alive when I left him.’
‘Evans was sent to Moscow to trail you,’ Winter declared. He immediately wondered whether or not he should reveal his full hand to Logan. In the end, he carried on. He had to at least test the waters. ‘He went to meet with a JIA asset. That asset, Nikolai Medvedev, was killed in a street in Moscow. I understand the FSB are blaming that on you.’
‘I understand that too,’ Logan said. ‘But it’s not true.’
‘I know. That meeting was the last anyone saw or heard of Evans. It seemed the FSB captured him.’
Logan didn’t respond immediately and Winter realised he’d given Logan new information that he was mulling over. Winter just hoped his gut instinct in doing that was right.
‘Evans hasn’t been kidnapped,’ Logan said. ‘I can assure you of that.’
‘Then where is he?’
‘Kazakhstan.’
That figured, Winter thought. He knew Logan wouldn’t have stayed in Russia for long and would have headed to one of the neighbouring countries. Irina had said the last place the FSB had sighted Logan was near to Volgograd in southern Russia, not far from the western border of Kazakhstan.
But why would he go there? And what the hell had Evans been doing there?
Winter stared out of the window, looking across the sprawling Moscow cityscape but not really seeing anything. His mind was too filled with thoughts as to why it appeared his agents were running amok. For the last few hours, he had been sifting through the data he had received from Irina Tarasenko, which had downloaded to his computer seamlessly. It had given him many of the answers he needed while creating many more unanswered questions. And it had confirmed some of his worst fears.
With what Winter had come to know, his life was very much at risk.
‘I’m taking from your more amiable tone toward me that you know I’m not behind whatever’s going on here?’ Logan said.
‘I’m starting to come around to the idea,’ said Winter.
‘You know I didn’t kill Mackie.’
‘I know you didn’t. And I know you didn’t kill those other agents, Medvedev and Belenov, in Moscow.’
‘The CIA killed Mackie.’
Winter was silent for a moment. He knew that now too, yet the words sounded surreal.
‘I know,’ Winter said. ‘Jay Lindegaard okayed Mackie’s death. In exchange for the Russians handing over Angela Grainger.’
‘Yeah, sorry about that. Looks liked I’ve buggered up that deal then, doesn’t it.’
‘It wasn’t my deal.’
‘No, but you knew about Grainger. You were only too happy to sell me out. You and Mackie both.’
‘You can’t seriously believe that, Logan? Mackie would have fought for you to the bitter end.’
‘If you say so.’
‘It’s the truth, Logan. I know how important Mackie was to you, but I worked closely with him too. So is Grainger still with you?’
Logan went silent. Winter took the lack of response as affirmation.
‘I can help you,’ he said. ‘Both of you.’
‘Evans said he was there to help me,’ Logan said. ‘You really didn’t send him?’
‘Sure, I sent Evans to find you. But last I heard he’d been snatched in Moscow. I would say we can both agree that Evans is no longer acting on my authority. And I had no idea you were in Kazakhstan.’
‘Who said I still am?’
‘Then where are you?’
There was silence on the other end of the phone once again. Winter turned away from the window and went and sat down on the bed, hanging down his head, which was throbbing with confusion.
‘Why me, Winter?’ Logan said. ‘What’s happening?’
‘That’s what I’m trying to find out,’ Winter responded. There was still so much he needed to figure out. But he knew one thing for certain: Carl Logan was relentless; he would never give up. Exactly what Winter needed right now. He decided to dangle a carrot for Logan to chase.
‘Maybe you should take a look at yourself, Logan. Maybe your past is finally catching up with you.’
‘What the hell is that supposed to mean?’
‘I always knew you were different,’ Winter said. ‘I saw the way Mackie treated you. He had a fondness for you that he didn’t have for anyone else.’
‘I’m touched that you noticed.’
‘The thing is, I couldn’t understand why. I admit, for a time you were a brilliant agent. You had all the talent in the world. But it wasn’t enough for you. You wanted more.’
‘I carried out every assignment I was given. I gave my life for the JIA.’
‘But you started to question your orders, or at least question your role in carrying out those orders, even though it’s the biggest taboo. You showed signs of life when the JIA expected none.’
‘Is there a point to this?’
‘Do you remember South America? Venezuela?’
‘Of course. I did everything that was asked of me there. I always have.’
‘You’re right, you did,’ Winter said. He didn’t add that in addition, Logan had made big mistakes out in the Venezuelan jungle. ‘But you also asked a lot of Mackie. That was the turning point, you see. That was when the chinks in your armour first appeared.’
‘What are you talking about?’ Logan said.
‘The questioning, the bargaining for more power. What Mackie should have done was throw you out – you were finished. But instead he gave you the leeway you craved. He was willing to let go of the leash and let you make decisions for yourself, as long as they fitted his need, obviously. Yet that was never the path Mackie had intended for you.’
‘You’re saying this has something to do with what happened in Venezuela? Leo Pinilla?’
‘No, I’m saying this has everything to do with you. The enemies that you’ve collected along the way.’
‘Okay, Winter. Enough of this bullshit. You need to tell me what’s going on.’
‘I don’t have all the answers. Not yet. We need to meet. It’s about time we both took our sides.’
‘The only side I’m on is my own.’
‘Me too. Help me figure this out, Logan. No one else is going to listen to you now. If they get to me, and I have to assume they’re going to try, then you really will be on your own.’
‘And who is they?’
‘Not over the phone,’ Winter said.
‘Then where?’
‘How about London?’
‘No chance. How would I even get there?’
‘Don’t you worry about that. I’ll get you wherever you want to go.’
‘I’m sure. You’ll send someone else out to help me, right?’
‘I told you, Evans being in Kazakhstan looking for you is nothing to do with me. I thought he’d been kidnapped by the Russians just like you were.’
‘So Evans was the agent who met with Nikolai Medvedev?’
‘Yes. But clearly the whole thing was a sham.’
‘To kill off Medvedev.’
‘I think so.’
‘And Lena Belenov?’
‘From what I gather, it certainly wasn’t the FSB who did that.’
‘So who’s Evans really working for? Lindegaard?’
‘It’s a long story.’
‘One you can only tell me face to face.’
‘Exactly.’
There was silence again for a few moments. Winter wanted to say more but was reluctant. As much as he needed an ally, he wasn’t sure how much he could trust Logan – even though he trusted Logan more now than he trusted just about anyone else.
‘I’ll be in Beijing in four days’ time,’ Logan said.
‘Okay. Call me when you’re there,’ Winter said, but he was talking to an empty line.