Moscow

Craig and Orlov entered Kuznov’s ornate office in the Kremlin.

The Russian president looked grim.

“I have to convince him to cooperate with me, Craig thought. Not merely throw Orlov to the wolves.

After coffee was served and they took seats around a marble topped table, Kuznov said, “I received a call from your President Treadwell. He told me that you were speaking for him as his official emissary. But he refused to tell me what this is about.”

Craig took a gulp of espresso and tossed a grenade on the table. “I’m aware that you and Chinese President Zhou conspired to assassinate President Dalton and to steal PGS from the United States. Orlov was your joint agent for both of these operations.”

Kuznov looked outraged. “You have no business making such
serious charges with no factual basis.” He said it in a loud, confrontational tone.

Craig calmly replied, “Well, let me describe the evidence I have. From a Chinese source, I have dates of Orlov’s meetings with Zhou in Beijing. I have Orlov’s fingerprints on the throat of a trucking company clerk in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, whom he strangled to obtain the
grenade launcher to kill President Dalton. I have Orlov’s fingerprints in the house of the Pakistani who fired the grenade; and the shooter’s wife ID’d Orlov as visiting her husband right before the attack.”

Craig paused for few seconds, letting his words sink in. Then he continued, “I have Orlov’s fingerprints on the throat of Angie, a prostitute in Los Angeles who he killed to silence about his efforts to obtain PGS from Paul Walters, a Rogers Laughton engineer. I have witnesses who will testify that Orlov and another Russian, Boris Vereley, used the Oligarch, a yacht owned by Yuri Rosnov, to recruit Jill Morgan to turn over PGS. So I have lots of evidence of Russian involvement.”

Kuznov was glaring at Orlov. Guess he wasn’t supposed to leave a trail that leads back to Moscow, Craig thought.

Craig continued, “Also, Orlov used people at the Russian Embassy in Washington in an attempt to kill Jill’s daughter.”

“I never took steps to implement that,” Orlov said. “It was just a bluff.”

“That doesn’t matter,” Craig said, believing Orlov and feeling relief. “Without it, we have plenty to try Orlov for several counts of murder. A trial that will make it clear the Russian government’s responsible for these crimes.”

Kuznov pounded on the table. Coffee cups bounced. “That’s an absurd leap. Orlov is a fool and an incompetent. His sister, Zhou’s mistress, got him involved in all of this. I appreciate your bringing this information to me. Orlov is a Russian citizen. He will be properly punished here.”

Well, there it was, precisely what Craig had feared. He glanced at Orlov. The man was white with terror. Craig had to bring Kuznov around. “It won’t work,” he told the Russian president.

“What do you mean, ‘it won’t work’?”

“Unless you cooperate with me, President Treadwell will circulate the evidence I presented to key leaders in the United States. It will leak out to the public. No one will believe you were not personally involved. The United States will initiate strong trade reprisals against Russia. We will persuade the Western Europeans to do the same. We will cripple your economy, and one other thing…”

Craig paused to take a breath. He’d have to be careful how he expressed this—to make it a threat, but subtly. “The difficulty in killing one nation’s leader,” he said slowly, while staring at Kuznov, “is that the leader of the nation which does the killing places himself at risk for retribution, if you know what I mean.”

Kuznov looked pale. He understood.

“But if you cooperate with me,” Craig said, “President Treadwell is prepared to ignore all the evidence of Russia’s involvement. None of it will see the light of day.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“Choose between the United States and China.”

Craig took out his cell and continued speaking to Kuznov. “As you consider whether you wish to entrust your country’s economic viability and your own safety to President Treadwell and the United States, or to President Zhou of China, let me show you two things.”

Craig then handed the phone to Kuznov, first to view the video of Androshka’s murder. Then the text of Zhou’s encrypted conversation with his brother when Zhou was in Bali.

While watching and listening, Kuznov pressed his lips tightly together. Veins were protruding on his neck and forehead. His head was shaking.

“Personally, I wouldn’t want to place my balls in Zhou’s hands,” Craig said.

The phone slipped from Kuznov’s hand onto the table. Craig retrieved it and said, “The choice is yours.”

“Suppose I pick the United States. Just suppose… I’m not saying that I will. What would I have to do?”

I’m making progress, Craig thought.

“It’s very simple. You call Zhou and tell him Orlov just returned from Prague. You have CDs for PGS, which several of your aerospace experts have confirmed are accurate. You made a copy of the CDs for Zhou. You’re prepared to give it to him. But he must come to Moscow next Tuesday, four days from now, to get it. You’d like not only to
give the CDs with PGS to him, but to discuss future joint operations with him.”

“What if Zhou won’t come?”

“You have to persuade him.”

“That won’t be easy.”

“Play tough with him. What we Americans call hardball. Make him believe that you have PGS and the only way he’ll get it is by coming to Moscow. Tell him to fly into a Russian airbase, outside of Moscow. Tell him that you’ll meet him there. It will be a secret meeting. You’ll give him the CDs for PGS and the two of you will talk.”

“What happens if he comes? What do I do then?”

“Nothing at all. You won’t be at the airbase. You will have turned over the portion of the base where Zhou’s plane lands to my control for several hours, keeping all Russians out of the area except Orlov, who will supposedly be taking Zhou to meet you. I will be there with people I bring. Do you understand or should I spell it out any further?”

“You’ve said enough.”

“Well, how do you choose: the United States or China?”

Kuznov stood up and paced for a couple of minutes, his hand up to his face. Craig and Orlov remained still.

Finally, Kuznov returned to the table. “I will cooperate with you,” he said with hesitation in his voice.

Craig was relieved, but he didn’t show it. “Good. Then I think you should call Zhou. My suggestion is that you put it on the speaker phone. He may ask for details that Orlov will have to supply. So tell him you only have Orlov with you. I’ll be quiet.”

Kuznov turned to Orlov. “And you… you fool… you better not warn Zhou. Or I’ll kill you myself.”

“You don’t have to worry about that. He murdered my sister.”

Kuznov placed the call, explaining that he had Orlov with him and following the script Craig had outlined. When Kuznov was finished, Zhou said, “Are you certain that you have the CDs for PGS?”

Craig thought Zhou sounded surprised. “Absolutely,” Kuznov replied.

“And you’re sure they’re authentic?”

“They were verified by several of our top aeronautical engineers.”

Kuznov was convincing, Craig thought.

“You didn’t think I could do it,” Orlov said.

Zhou replied, “Frankly, no. After you began your Czech operation, I learned that Jill Morgan was a dangle working for Craig Page. I had no time to alert you.”

“No problem,” Orlov said with a swagger in his voice. “I assumed that might be the case and I took steps to overcome it.”

“What steps?”

“First, I noticed that Page or one of his people was following Jill, so I separated her from her followers before taking her to the meet. Then I had an engineer at the rendezvous who examined the CDs and concluded they were bogus. So I threatened to kill Jill’s daughter. That made her cough up from memory the differences between PGS and the phony CDs. Our engineer revised the bogus CDs and made them accurately depict PGS.”

Orlov had said it all calmly. He sounded credible.

“I underestimated you, Orlov,” Zhou said.

Smiling, Orlov looked at Kuznov. “People often do that.”

Craig hoped Orlov didn’t overplay his hand. Craig closed his mouth tight and raised a finger to his lips, hoping Orlov would shut up. The Russian kept still.

Kuznov picked it up. “Then I’ll plan to see you next Tuesday in Moscow.”

“I’ll be there.”

“Good. Let me know when your plane is in the air and your ETA.”

“I will do that,” Zhou said.

Once Kuznov hung up the phone, he said to Craig, “Orlov will help you on logistics for next Tuesday. And I assure you that Orlov will do a good job, won’t you?”

“Yes sir.”

Kuznov stood, signaling that the meeting was over. “This had better work,” he said to Craig.

“Don’t worry. It will.”

As soon as he left Kuznov’s office, Craig called Carlos in Madrid. He told the Spanish Defense Minister, “I may have failed in Bali to bring Zhou to you for trial, but I intend to succeed in Moscow. Now here’s what I want you to do.”