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“She’s smart,” Sam said. “She threw that key for a reason.”
Nika continued her pacing until the phone rang a few minutes later. She and the others gathered around Sam as he answered. “Fargo . . .”
“Apparently, you have something I want.”
“Who’s this?”
“Leopold.”
“Leopold? Where’s Tatiana?”
“Sitting across from me as we speak.”
“She’s not hurt?”
“The gag might be a little tight, but no. She made it clear that we’d be hearing from you about this key that you found.”
“I’d like to speak to her.”
“We all have things that we desire, don’t we? About that key—”
“Tatiana! On the phone!”
Sam heard an annoyed sigh, then, “Take the gag from her mouth so she can speak to the American.”
“Sam?”
“How are you?”
“I’m fine. Viktor?”
“Fine,” he said, relieved to hear her voice.
“Thank—”
“Touching,” Leopold said. “I’ve heard my fill. Have you?”
“How do you want to do this?” Sam asked.
“I can tell you how I don’t want to do it. I’ve heard all about the exchange in Marrakesh. So to avoid any possibility of losing control to you, we’ll make the exchange tomorrow night outside Berlin.” There was a muffled sound as though he’d muted the phone. A moment later, he said, “I’ll be in touch to arrange for the exchange. Tomorrow night. After midnight.”
“Why so late?” Sam asked.
The line went dead.
49
Sam and Felix decided they’d make the three-and-a-half-hour drive to Berlin, where they’d meet up to wait for Leopold’s call. The moment he and Remi were alone in their car, Sam telephoned Rube. “We have a slight problem.”
“Any chance it involves an undercover Russian agent and a German crime boss?”
“I see you’ve been talking to Selma. What you might not know is that the Russians are working some inside operation to take Rolfe Wernher down. They’re willing to sacrifice Tatiana for the cause.”
Remi leaned over, talking into the phone. “She saved our lives more than once. We can’t let that happen.”
“I’m going to let you in on a little secret,” Rube said. “The Russians aren’t the only ones working to take this guy down. The Germans have had their sights on him for a long time. And we’ve got our hand in it as well. This guy is running these Wolf Guard members throughout Europe as his own personal henchmen.”
“We’ve run into a few . . . About Tatiana . . . ?”