Page 40

Chapter Thirty-Nine

K ira braced herself for the coming questions, even as she reeled from learning who Grigory Laskin was. Fortunately—or unfortunately—she didn’t have to wait long.

“Dr. Hanson,” one of the officers she’d met on Tuesday said, “what’s your connection to Laskin?”

“None that I know of.”

“You said on Tuesday that your trip was personal in relation to your father. Was he an associate of Mr. Laskin?”

She hesitated for a heartbeat. She had to tell the truth. She knew it; Rand knew it. But for a moment, it felt like stepping into a trap. If Kulik’s goal was to keep her in Malta, this could play into his hands, introducing a legal limbo that could make her passport invalid.

They’d set the laptop on an upside-down garbage can, so even while sitting on the couch, the camera would be at face height. This meant their bodies below the chest were off camera. Rand’s hand found hers, offering support as he threaded their fingers together.

She cleared her throat and stepped off the cliff, taking an ungraceful plunge into the abyss. “It depends on which father you’re asking about.”

I t took less than ten minutes for FMV’s operations manager Freya Lange to be authorized to join the meeting so she could provide the intel she’d gathered on both of Dr. Hanson’s fathers. Now the screen was split as Teague took in the convoluted story that began with art theft and ended with what appeared to be a CIA-sanctioned stolen mother and child.

“I’ve reached out to my contacts in the CIA, who are trying to track down paperwork on Hanson’s handler in the early nineties, when Alesya Ivanova Kulika and Kira Lukovna Kulika went missing and were presumed dead. So far, all they’ve been able to do is confirm there is a file. The Navy will likely have better luck than I in getting them to release the information as it relates to the shooting and ongoing operational security.”

“I don’t suppose they’ll talk to me?” Hanson said.

“Unlikely, except in relation to your dealings with your father’s Russian handler who claimed to be your cousin. They will want to know everything about your interactions with him.”

There was a bitter twist to Hanson’s lips, and Teague supposed he felt sorry for her, but right now, he had bigger questions. “What does that have to do with Laskin?” The words sprang from him without thought. It was Laskin who mattered here. Only Laskin.

Commander Gleeson tapped a button, and a photo of Ben Kinder filled the blank spot on the screen next to the windows that showed Lange in one and Hanson and Fallon in the other. “This morning—before Lieutenant Fallon was introduced to Laskin—Ms. Lange submitted a brief to NSWC outlining her theory that it was the FSB agent who claimed to be Dr. Hanson’s cousin who tipped off someone in Malta—most likely Luka and/or Reuben Kulik—that Dr. Hanson would be on base on Tuesday. This intel appears to have resulted in Kinder stealing a vehicle and entering the base with an M4 and a plan to go after Dr. Hanson.”

Captain Huang picked up the thread. “From the start, we’ve wondered, if Dr. Hanson was the intended target in an organized attack, how did they have someone in place who already had base access when no one—not even Hanson—knew she’d be here until the day before? But with Lieutenant Fallon providing the connection to Grigory Laskin, we have a new framework.”

A new photo, this one showing Laskin and the Russian president, replaced Kinder’s image on the screen.

“We’ve long known Laskin is looking for his next SEAL target—with a preference for an attack on US soil—as revenge, but also to get back in the Russian president’s good graces after he dabbled with changing allegiance when his daughter was a hostage. With the attack last week being executed at the last minute by a man who must have already been in place, we believe we’ve identified Laskin’s next SEAL target. What could be better than the base that’s home to Naval Special Warfare Group 2 and its SEAL teams—2, 4, 10, and 18—along with Naval Special Warfare Group 4. Plus, if they target the Dam Neck Annex, DEVGRU.”

DEVGRU—Naval Special Warfare Development Group—was more commonly known asSEAL Team Six.