Close Quarters

FORTY

Lindsay picked up after two rings. ‘Hi. We were getting worried.’ I heard the rattle of keys and guessed she was checking my location by the signal. ‘How’s it going?’

‘It’s OK. We’re heading west, currently static. Is Callahan in?’

She put me through. Callahan sounded calm but I knew he’d be chewing his teeth over the lack of hard information. We’d agreed from the start that I would only report in when and if it was necessary and safe to do. But I knew that was easier for me, the man in the field, than it was for him, stuck in an office and waiting for updates.

‘I’m looking at your location on screen,’ he said, no doubt referring to a map overlay on a satellite view of the countryside we were currently occupying. It was slightly unnerving to know that he was probably looking right down on the lake, although he wouldn’t be able to see us, as the last satellite view would already be a few hours old. I just hoped there was nobody else with the same view, such as Grey Suit or any of the others currently tracking us, official or otherwise. ‘Is Travis with you?’

I confirmed he was. ‘He took a beating along the way but he’s hanging in there.’

‘Army or militia?’

‘Neither. A third party named Voloshyn, a bruiser working for a private security company in Kiev. He killed the Donetsk cut-out after torturing him. He wanted to know where the next cut-out was, but I think Travis was the main prize. Somebody doesn’t want Travis leaving the country.’

Callahan was silent while he digested that for a second. It was probably the kind of off-the-wall suggestion he didn’t want to consider. ‘What makes you say that?’

‘Voloshyn knew exactly where to find Travis and the local cut-out. He could have only known that by having access to the list of addresses … or by having been given the location of the hotel where Travis was dropped off.’ I didn’t bother mentioning that 24d’s car had been right out in the open for anybody to see, and that if Voloshyn had been given the details, he’d have simply had to drive around until he saw it. The town wasn’t that big and 24d wouldn’t have been expecting company.

‘I don’t see how that’s possible.’ Callahan sounded doubtful, and in the main he had good reason. The CIA prides itself on its state-of-the-art security against leakages of this kind and the loyalty of its employees. But I had worse news for him yet.

‘Thing is, Voloshyn also knew who to look for. He was carrying photos.’

‘What?’

I explained about the snaps I’d found on Voloshyn. I’d already considered the possibility that Callahan himself had access and opportunity to acquire both photos, but dismissed the idea. If he’d wanted this mission to end badly, he could have arranged for a much earlier pick-up by security forces in Donetsk, not left it until now when we were more likely to get free and clear. In any case, I trusted him.

The fact remained that Voloshyn must have known the area Travis was heading for in the first place, so all he had to do was keep his eyes open. The rest had been down to simple grunt work and observation. And as a PI, whatever his connections elsewhere, he’d have been equipped for both.

But it had needed somebody to feed him the information in the first place.

I gave Callahan the name of the security company Voloshyn worked for so he could check it out. Whoever had put Voloshyn on to Travis’s location must have left an electronic trail somewhere, but I wasn’t holding out too much hope of it being easy to find. But if Callahan could find a way to put pressure on Voloshyn’s employers, it might give us a clue where the orders had originated, albeit probably not the actual source.

‘I’ll see what I can do,’ he said. ‘In the meantime we’ve issued a warning for all assets to take full security measures in case they’ve been compromised. It’s going to shut down some of the networks for months to come. What’s your plan from here on?’

‘Unless you can beam us up, we’ll continue west and cross the border into Moldova. I’m guessing the embassy in Kiev is off limits?’

‘Absolutely. We had an update earlier and all arrivals and departures are being filmed and checked, probably on orders from Moscow. Complaints have been delivered by the ambassador but the government in Kiev says the observers are nothing to do with them. The airport is also under virtual lockdown with restricted flights and long queues at passport control. Assuming you make it to Moldova, advise when and where and we’ll arrange a pick-up.’

I asked him to put me back to Lindsay and he did. There was nothing for it now but to hit the road and get out of the country as fast as we could. But first I needed some extra information and was hoping Lindsay could step up to the plate.

‘How can I help?’ Lindsay didn’t sound quite as upbeat as she had before, and I wondered if the situation was getting to her. It must have been tough sitting at a desk knowing what was going down but being unable to do anything to help.

I told her what I was planning on doing.

‘Moldova? That’s quite a road trip. Do you have a route?’

‘Yes, I do, but it’s subject to change. I need you to monitor all traffic along the way, including and especially military vehicles or roadblocks. All I can see is what comes up on the horizon; I need a regular overview of what’s happening on the ground so I can avoid problems. Can you do that?’

‘Sure can.’ Her voice tone had lifted at the prospect of something to do and I could hear the click of the keyboard in the background. She was already checking out maps and data. ‘Right, I have an overlay with satellite feeds and news reports of movements throughout the region. I’ll keep an eye on your location and report in whenever I have something.’ She hesitated. ‘What about signals monitoring in the area? Won’t increased contact make it more dangerous for you?’

‘Not if you keep it short and sweet.’ I figured that regular bursts of speech lasting less than ten seconds were unlikely to be picked up, since each burst would be too brief for monitoring stations to pin down our location effectively. And being on the move would help us stay off the radar. What it would do was give me eyes and ears on information that I currently didn’t have.

‘I can do that. Anything else?’

‘No.’

‘Good luck.’