Chapter VII

Bonn, Germany

THE FOLLOWING AFTERNOON, Maddux strolled into the CIA offices in Bonn and approached Pritchett. The station chief was pacing around his desk, scratching his chin and staring at the ceiling.

“Is every thing all right in here?” Maddux asked, gingerly poking his head into the room.

“I’d be a lot better off if all our agents weren’t disappearing,” Pritchett said as he narrowed his eyes and shook his head.

“What happened this time?” Maddux asked.

“Another agent in Belgrade gone. Apparently he was nabbed off the street in a brazen kidnapping by the KGB. Of course, they’re disavowing any knowledge of the event or their participation in it.”

“So there were witnesses?”

Pritchett shook his head. “Not exactly, but we know that this is how the KGB operates, especially in conjunction with SDB. If they’ve pulled a stunt like this once, they’ve pulled it a thousand times over. Their mission is to gain some leverage on us.”

“Do you think they’re making a play to get one of their agents back? An invaluable scientist perhaps?”

“That thought crossed my mind. So far, none of the kidnapped agents have wound up dead, which leads me to believe that they have plans for them. If they were going to kill those men, they would’ve done it by now.”

Maddux stared out the window. “I can’t argue with that sound logic. However, these men don’t respond logically. If they keep taking our people, they’re going to have more than just a bargaining chip at the negotiation table. In fact, they might strong arm us into doing their bidding for them.”

“There’s little doubt this needs to end right now.”

“What do you want me to do about it?” Maddux asked.

“We need to flip the tables on them.”

“And how do you propose we go about doing that?”

“Gunnar Andersson—if he’s one of the KGB’s super assassins, we need to capture him. We can force the Russians to agree to some sort of understanding.”

“You think they’ll go along with that?”

Pritchett shrugged. “Right now, it’s better than hiding out and waiting for our agents to vanish. And who knows? Maybe we can flip Andersson.”

“Use him as a double agent?”

“That’s one option we have if we can’t get the Russians to agree to anything else.” Pritchett stood. “Now, there’s only one thing left to do.”

“What’s that?”

“Convince Opel to send you to Monaco.”

Maddux smiled wryly. “I think I can handle that. I’ve always wanted to go to the Monte Carlo Grand Prix. I’m sure I can come up with some excuse to let them send me. Maybe scout out a potential location to film a commercial.”

Pritchett nodded. “Make it happen.”

“There’s just one more thing,” Maddux said.

“What’s that?”

“I’m not sure this is the kind of mission I should go on alone. I’ll definitely need some help.”

“What kind of help? Brawn or brains?”

“I doubt any amount of muscle will overpower Andersson if he’s the one we’re after.”

“In that case, take Rose.”

Maddux exited Pritchett’s office with a hint of a grin.