Page 164 of Cry Havoc

“Let’s go over it again,” Tom said.

“Ella tells us that Dvornikov doesn’t travel with security,” Serrano said, taking a seat on the couch. “Attracts too much attention. He comes in via a flight from Japan or India. Both countries have airlines that service Moscow.”

“That’s a trek.”

“He flies from Hanoi to Moscow. Then from Moscow to India or Japan. From there he can catch a flight to Thailand, where he meets with Ella and gets the paperback. He then reverses the route, going from Thailand to India or Japan and then to Moscow where he delivers the paperback to the GRU before returning to Hanoi. Meanwhile, Ella can get here directly from Saigon. She said Dvornikov stays at the Oriental but always in a different room, which is why we don’t have eyes or ears on them. When Trân spots Dvornikov in the lobby, he will ring us here in the suite. Then it’s Ella’s show.”

The plan was for Ella to spike Dvornikov’s drink with chloral hydrate, a white power hidden in the false bottom of a round compact makeup case. When the sedative-hypnotic drug was combined with alcohol it wouldincapacitate the target. After Dvornikov was sedated, Ella would go to the lobby and hand Trân her key. Trân would then get Tom and Serrano and the three would go to Dvornikov’s room to carry their drunk friend to the car for a drive to Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base. There, a CIA-affiliated Southern Air Transport Boeing 727 out of Tainan, Taiwan, was standing by to get them out of the country. The longtail water taxi would be their secondary means of extract if the car was not an option. The water taxi would take them to a CIA signals collection ship disguised as a trawler and then into international waters for transfer to a Navy ship.

“And now, it’s a waiting game,” Tom said.

“A lot of the work on this side of the fence involves waiting, Tom.”

“Terrific.”

“Just stay focused.”

“Why are you doing this, Nick?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, what’s in it for you? You are taking a lot of risk here.”

“The paramilitary side of the Agency is all about risk and providing plausible deniability for the Directorate of Operations. It’s part of the job.”

“That’s it?”

“Well, if you want to psychoanalyze, I didn’t give you the full family history. One of the uncles I told you about when we first met, when I said I had uncles who served in World War Two, well, one of them didn’t come home. He was held in a camp in what became the Soviet sector after Yalta. He’s still listed as MIA. And he’s not the only one. The government has done next to nothing to find Americans caught in the Soviet sector. There are thousands still MIA. The government is too worried about political fallout to exert the proper pressure. Here, I am in position to do something about it, in this war.”

They were interrupted by a ringing phone. Serrano answered.

“Yes.”

It was Trân from the lobby.

“He’s here.”

“Good.”

“But he’s not alone.”

“What?”

“He’s with another man. Tall. Short black hair. Looks military. Our man got a key from the front desk. It looks like his friend checked into a different room.”

“All right. Stay on station.”

Serrano hung up and looked at Tom.

“Dvornikov has a shadow.”

“What was that you said about no plan surviving first contact with the enemy?”

CHAPTER 59

ELLA PACED NERVOUSLY INthe expansive suite, her fingers tight around the emerald amulet at her neck.

Had Gabriel really ordered her father killed, or were these just manipulative mind games played between rival intelligence services?