Chapter XXVI

MADDUX SIGHED as he climbed into the passenger’s side. Dex slammed the dashboard with both fists and let fly a few choice words. He launched into a rant about how they risked their lives for Cordell, and he ignored them.

“Maybe he’s the real mole,” Dex said aloud as if he were having an epiphany.

“Then why wouldn’t he have ratted us out?” Maddux asked. “It would’ve been easy for him to do it.”

Dex jammed his foot on the gas, sending rocks and dirt flying.

“Calm down,” Maddux said. “You don’t know what happened. Let’s not jump to any conclusions just yet.”

As they came around the bend, a thump hit the side of their car. Dex slammed on the brakes and brought the vehicle to a halt.

“That son of a—” Dex said, winding up for another rant. He stopped when he saw Cordell stand along the side of the road.

“I told you not to jump to any conclusions,” Maddux said with a wink.

Cordell flung the door open and eased inside. “Is anyone behind us?”

Dex looked in the rearview mirror. “Looks clear to me.”

“I’m still staying down,” Cordell said. “Who knows how many men Jankovic will have out looking for me once they realize I’m gone.”

“Well, we’re going to swing back by the hotel and pick up Pritchett before we stuff you two away in that cozy spot in the back,” Maddux said.

“That’s all I need after holding on for dear life to that truck axel,” Cordell said.

“You did good,” Dex said. “Once we cross the border, you’ll have to fill us in on everything that happened.”

* * *

THE MEETING THE NEXT afternoon in Bonn was tense. Everyone was happy to see Pritchett back in his office and Cordell extracted from the SDB prison. But an angst still hung in the air, knowing that Medved and possibly other Russian super assassins were still out there, not to mention the fact that one of their own was working for the KGB.

“We still haven’t found Medved,” Bearden began. “All our agents are still in danger as long as he’s out there.”

“There is no Medved,” Cordell said as he leaned forward in his chair.

Every person in the room turned and looked at Cordell, waiting for someone to ask the lingering question everyone wanted to know the answer to.

“But what about your report? There’s still a Russian super assassin running around, no?” Bearden asked.

Cordell shook his head. “It’s all just fantasy.”

“But I read your report and—”

“No, you read Kensington’s report. He’s been behind this the entire time. But he made one big mistake.”

“What’s that?” Bearden asked.

“He let me live.”

Maddux scratched down a few notes on the paper in front of him. He heard the entire story on the road trip back from Yugoslavia. It seemed just as unfathomable now.

“So, let me get this straight,” Bearden said. “Kensington apprehended you and turned you over to the KGB?”

Cordell nodded.

“Then they took you to an SDB detention camp where they were conducting experiments but didn’t experiment on you?”

“Yes,” Cordell said, rotating his coffee cup slightly with his left hand. “Apparently, I was supposed to be programmed like everyone else, and somehow it just slipped through the cracks. One of the guards informed me on the morning of my escape that I was needed at noon for a special examination. I’d heard that term bandied around enough to know what they were planning on doing. I guess someone noted it in my file from the night before and it was brought to the attention of a supervising officer.”

Bearden held his thumb and index finger barely apart. “So you were this close to getting your mind melted?”

“If Dex and Maddux here hadn’t pulled this off, I would be robotic by now.”

“Looks like you have a lot to be thankful for,” Bearden said. “Now, let’s get down to brass tacks, shall we? How do we catch Kensington?”

* * *

AROUND NOON the next day, Maddux sauntered to the CIA offices and slipped into a chair in Pritchett’s office. He was buried in a stack of paperwork and barely looked up to acknowledge his civilian agent.

“I want in on tracking down Kensington,” Maddux said.

“Of course you do,” Pritchett said. “But I’m going to let Dex handle this one on his own. We don’t need a big footprint.”

“I understand, sir. But I need to talk to Kensington first.”

Pritchett looked up and adjusted his eye patch. “What for? To ask him about your father?”

“Is that surprising to you?”

“Of course not. I would expect nothing less from you.” He paused and looked back down at his documents. “The answer is still no.”

“Oh, come on, sir. You know the links between my father and others in the CIA are scarce. If Kensington can help me connect some dots, then maybe—”

“Just stop yourself right there,” Pritchett said. “Ask yourself why Kensington would help you when he just betrayed his country. Then ask yourself how you could believe a single word out of his mouth as he was playing us for fools. I think after you honestly answer those questions, you’ll see why I think it’s foolish for you to go anywhere right now.”

“He’ll talk to me,” Maddux said. “I know he will.”

“No, you hope he’ll talk to you. You think that you can persuade him to give you the information you want, but you would be mistaken.”

“Just give me a chance.”

“The answer is final,” Pritchett said as he reached for his stamp and slammed it down on top of the paper he was reading. “Now take some time off. I don’t want to see you around here until next week at the earliest, understand?”

Maddux sighed then nodded before standing up and leaving. He was more determined than ever to venture back into Belgrade and find Kensington. Maddux wasn’t sure he’d get what he was looking for when he got there, but that wasn’t the only reason he felt compelled to ignore Pritchett’s orders.