Chapter XXVIII

MADDUX MADE A QUICK EXCUSE to his supervisor about why he needed to urgently go home and then hustled to the train station. Using his position at Opel as a cover, he didn’t anticipate any problems getting back into Yugoslavia. All the trouble he could handle would be waiting for him once he arrived.

He checked his watch and noted that he had less than five minutes before the train’s final boarding call. Rushing over to a payphone, he called Pritchett.

“Where are you?” Pritchett asked. “You sound like you’re at the train station.”

“I am,” Maddux said. “I have some business to attend to.”

“Hopefully not the kind of business I told you to avoid.”

“Unfortunately, sir, this can’t wait.”

“You listen here, Maddux. You’re going to get yourself killed if you keep acting so recklessly,” Pritchett said with a growl. “I’m fine with letting you test your limits, but you’re bordering on insanity right now, not to mention insubordination.”

“I know what you’re thinking—and this isn’t about my father. This is about something else, something very important right now.”

“I’m sure it is—but I’m also sure it can wait.”

“You’re not wrong often,” Maddux said, “but you’re wrong about this. I have to go, but I wanted to see if you could reach Dex in Belgrade.”

“What on earth for?”

“He’s in grave danger.”

The whistle blew, signaling the final boarding call.

“What from?” Pritchett asked.

“I don’t have time to explain now; just promise me that you’ll warn him if you can reach him.”

“Oh, Maddux, I swear you’ll be the death of me one day.”

“Promise?” Maddux said again.

He didn’t wait to hear Pritchett’s reply, instead hanging up hurriedly and racing toward the platform where the train was starting to chug down the track. Maddux jumped onto the bottom step leading into one of the passenger cars and lingered outside for a moment before taking his seat.

* * *

MADDUX AWOKE to the engineer’s voice as the train clattered along the tracks just outside of Belgrade. The advance notification over the intercom that they were approaching Belgrade was news Maddux welcomed. His arms had grown sore from hugging his briefcase tight against his chest. Using a shoulder strap, he also carried a small overnight satchel, signifying Maddux’s confidence that the trip would be short.

He shuffled through customs, opening his briefcase for the agent to demonstrate that he wasn’t bringing any contraband into the country. Maddux had discovered the searches at the station were far less intrusive than those performed at the border, a fact he appreciated since he had a gun stashed inside his attaché case’s secret compartment.

Once Maddux cleared customs, he hailed a cab and gave the man the address. The driver complained about all the traffic, even though rush hour had long gone. Maddux checked his watch. A few minutes past 9:00 p.m. Maddux had no idea if anyone would be there when he arrived, but he determined that whatever he found, he would be ready.

Maddux kept his head down as he entered the apartment complex, trying to remain as inconspicuous as possible. He nodded politely to an elderly woman carrying a poodle before stepping onto the elevator and ascending to the top floor, where Walt Kensington’s apartment was located.

When Maddux stepped off the elevator, he noticed there were only two doors in the hallway. The door on the left was wide open as the unit was obviously undergoing some type of renovation. The one on the right was cracked by a few inches, and Maddux could hear voices coming from inside. He crouched low as he glanced up at the number on the door.

It was Kensington’s apartment.

Maddux peered through the crack in an attempt to gauge the situation before entering the room. In the living room area, he could see several familiar faces along with one he’d never seen before. Dex and Kensington stood on one side, opposite of what looked like a KGB agent to Maddux. The man held a gun on Kensington. Between them stood the man Maddux was really after—Harvey Cordell.

When Maddux saw the report in the SDB prison in Konjic, he studied the handwriting. It looked familiar to him, as if he’d seen a report somewhere during his time in Germany written by the same person. After thinking through what he’d read in Konjic, his suspicion grew. The report hadn’t been filled out by Kensington, who refused to write in cursive, a fact all too well known thanks to several outbursts over the demand that everyone use cursive by the CIA director once. But the script scrawled on Cordell’s file was neat and efficient. And Maddux thought he’d seen it before. When Rose gave him the file, Maddux confirmed it was a match. Cordell had written the report for his own arrest by the KGB, which didn’t seem right to Maddux. There were still plenty of questions to be answered, but the fact that Cordell had a gun trained on Dex told Maddux all he needed to know.

The men were arguing about something, mostly Kensington and Cordell going back and forth.

“Do you realize what you’ve done?” Kensington asked. “You’re going to burn over half the assets in Eastern Europe.”

Cordell wagged his finger at Kensington. “You think if I just gave them everything then they would let me live? Keeping secrets is how I stay alive; it’s how I live.”

“And revealing them is how you live, too—only you obviously aren’t caring about the people whose lives you destroy.”

Cordell used his left hand to deliver a sucker punch to Kensington’s gut. After crumpling to the ground, Kensington absorbed several more blows to the stomach and face before blacking out.

The other agent in the room chuckled. “This is working out more perfectly than we thought. We will stage this like these men got into a shootout. And you’ll be able to return to the CIA as a celebrated hero.”

Maddux determined he couldn’t wait any longer. He raced into the room, his gun trained on Cordell.

“I hate to put a kink in your plan, but that’s not happening,” Maddux said.

“Just when I thought this couldn’t get any better, the Lone Ranger shows up,” Cordell said with a grin. “You’re gonna make this even easier than I thought because knowing you, you’re defying orders and haven’t told anyone your suspicions.”

“Don’t be so sure,” Maddux said, glancing in the corner to see an unfamiliar man gagged and bound. “I have all my bases covered.”

Cordell shook his head. “Except for the one behind you.”

Maddux didn’t move. “Why don’t you drop your weapon, Medved?”

“Congratulations, you figured me out,” Cordell said.

“There aren’t any super assassins, are there?” Maddux asked.

“They’re coming, but for now, I’ll have to suffice,” Cordell said before he nonchalantly redirected his gun toward Kensington and fired a shot, hitting him in the center of his forehead. Kensington was dead before he hit the floor.

Dex gasped while Maddux narrowed his eyes.

“If there’s going to be another bullet fired in this room, there will be one put in your head,” Maddux said.

“Maddux, just calm down and don’t be so foolish,” Cordell said. “It’s not too late to join me. But if you continue to insist on fighting, things won’t end well for you. In the end, you’d be on the wrong side of things—if you were alive.”

“You’re the one who isn’t going to make it out of here alive tonight.”

“Perhaps, but like I mentioned earlier, you still need to check your six.”

Maddux refused to turn around.

With his gun still trained on Dex, Cordell shrugged. “Okay, my friend, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Maddux winced as he felt a small blunt object shoved into his back.

“Weapon on the ground,” a woman said.

Maddux knelt down slowly and placed his gun on the ground. He turned to see the elderly woman he had noticed in the lobby carrying a poodle.

“Over there,” the woman snapped, directing him with her gun.

Crouching low, Maddux kept his hands in front of him.

“Keep those things where I can see them, or else I’ll blow your head clean off,” she said.

Maddux slid his hand along the side of his shoes, flicking a button that set off a horrific sonic sound. Everyone fell to the ground, clutched their ears, and begged for someone to make the noise stop.

Maddux worked quickly to strip Cordell, the woman, and the other KGB agent of their weapons before grouping them together in the corner. None of them even attempted to fight back due to the searing pain caused by the device. Once Maddux was satisfied he could manage the situation, he turned off the noise and handed Dex a weapon.

“While you’re still wet behind the ears, Maddux, you do have impeccable timing,” Dex said. “I have to give you that.”

Maddux nodded as he took his earplugs out. “I do what I can. Now, why don’t we go with Cordell’s suggestion and make this look like a shootout? There’s no way we’re getting out of the country alive with him, nor am I leaving a KGB agent around as a witness. Besides, Cordell just murdered Kensington—and I think it’s fair for us to act as judge and jury in this instance.”

“I couldn’t agree with you more.”

“Who’s the guy in the corner?” Maddux asked.

“That’s Jovan Divac. He’s a courier for us at the Belgrade station, but his cover is obviously blown. We need to get him and his family out of here.”

“We’ll get to you in a minute,” Maddux said to Divac. “But before we do, I’ve got a couple of questions for Medved.”

“Go to hell,” Cordell snarled.

“So, just for curiosity’s sake, what were you doing in the Konjic prison anyway?” Maddux asked. “Running an undercover op?”

“That old codger Pritchett wouldn’t talk, so I convinced the KGB to let me get into the prison and get the information out of him,” Cordell said.

Maddux crossed his arms. “But you saw us and knew we had to be planning an escape. Why didn’t you warn them?”

“Nobody except Jankovic knew who I really was,” Cordell said. “That’s how it is, for better or worse. He was supposed to come see me that night, but apparently he got too drunk on all that wine you sold him and forgot.”

“Most fortuitous for us, wouldn’t you say?” Maddux asked with a grin.

“I’m done talking to you,” Cordell said. “You won’t always be so lucky, Maddux. Your end is coming sooner than you think.”

“Maybe, but your time’s up first, Medved.”

Maddux didn’t hesitate as he pulled the trigger.