Silent Assassin(99)

“Whatever we have to,” said Chapman. “To get actionable information. To nail the people behind this and make sure they never do anything like this again.’

“He’ll be interrogated,” said Schroeder. “But there are lines I won’t cross.”

Chapman bit his lip.





“Are you afraid of taking this step, Mr. Chapman?”

Mr. Smith looked at him with some mixture of smug triumph and earnest sympathy. They were sitting across from each other in a mall food court. Ever the professional, Smith had a paper shopping bag at his feet and a plate of Chinese food in front of him that he pretended to eat. Chapman, meanwhile, was in no mood to pretend.

“It must be admitted, Mr. Chapman, that I do have some power over you,” Smith continued. “After all, you have no proof of my existence at all, and no idea of who I really am. Meanwhile, I have the evidence necessary to bury you, if I so wished.”

“Is that a threat?” said Chapman.

“It is just a fact, nothing more,” said Smith.

“I’m not scared of you,” said Chapman. “That’s the plain truth. I might have been before, but not anymore. I fully accept the consequences of my actions. That’s what makes me a man, Mr. Smith.”

“No doubt.”

“The name of the man you are looking for is Edmund Charles. He is expected to be in Boston tomorrow, and the FBI will be running an operation to capture him.”

Smith smiled smugly. “That is certainly valuable information. What made you want to share it with me?”

“It seems you know more about Novokoff and this crisis than we do. More importantly, even if we did capture Charles, I don’t think that we would have the . . . flexibility to do what we must. Our government is hampered by its own accountability to the public.” Accountability was something Chapman was proud of, normally one of his greatest ideals. Even deep as he was in the world of intelligence and spy craft, he believed that limits to executive power were all that stood against outright tyranny. But this crisis had worn him down. “I believe you have the resources to do what needs to be done.”

“Your country would call you a traitor for this.”

“As well they should,” said Chapman wryly. “I accept as much. But it’s for my country that I’m doing this.” He wiped sweat from his brow. “This goddamn crisis. It can’t continue. I can’t live like this. The world can’t live like this. I have a daughter. I don’t want this to be the world that she grows up in. I want her to be safe.”

“Then I am sure that you are doing right by her. Your assistance will not be forgotten, Mr. Chapman.”

“Find him, Mr. Smith. Find him and stop Novokoff before it’s too late. I’m putting everything in your hands. Don’t let me down.”





CHAPTER 56


Andover, March 9





It was midafternoon. Morgan’s study was darkening already, but he was in a thoughtful mood and didn’t get up to turn on the lights. It was a Saturday, over a week since Jenny had been taken, and he had not been back to Zeta headquarters since. Partly, it was that they had found nothing new to act on. Tracing Novokoff ’s calls had been a bust, along with surveillance footage and every other lead that they had followed. He had taken the opportunity to spend time with his wife and daughter and think about what had happened. Weeks ago, Jenny had fought with him for putting her in danger, and he had dismissed her concerns. But it was true. She was in danger, and so was his daughter. And his being a spy had put them there.

His phone rang, pulling him out of his thoughts. He picked up.

“Morgan, this is Bloch. We’ve got something. A lead on the man behind Novokoff.”

“I’ll be right in,” he said, and hung up, but didn’t leave his chair. A few moments later, Jenny walked in and turned on the light. She was wearing a stay-at-home sweater, her glasses on her face. An ugly black bruise still peeked from under the sleeves on both her wrists where she had been tied to the crane.

“Dan? I thought I heard your voice in here. Who was it?”

“Work,” he said. “They’re calling me in.” She seemed as though she was about to say something, but he spoke first. “Listen, Jenny, I have to see this one through. I’m in deep, and this guy needs to be caught. But after that, I’m out.”

“What do you mean, you’re out?” she said, sitting down with a concerned frown on her face.

“Out. Done. I won’t put you and Alex in danger anymore. I have to own up to this and do the right thing by you two.”

There was a moment when she just stared at him in silence. Then she said, “Bull crap.”