Black Rose

CHAPTER 38

"Are you sure?"

Elizabeth stared at Stephanie.

"I'm sure," Stephanie said. "There are more files to look at but I thought it was best to let you know what I'd already found out."

"How are we going to tell her?" Elizabeth asked. "Should we?"

"I don't know, but she doesn't have any other family. It will be really important to her."

"But her sister is the product of a classic honey trap," Elizabeth said.

"Half sister. I don't think that's the point. What's important is that she's family, even if she is the product of an affair set up by the KGB."

"I wonder why their agent didn't just abort the child?"

"Something else I don't know. There's nothing in the file about that, at least not so far. Maybe she had moral considerations."

"A KGB agent with moral considerations, who behaved like an alley cat in heat?"

Burps the cat was lying nearby. When he heard Elizabeth say cat, his ears perked up. He looked at her, yawned, and went back to sleep.

"Burps is listening," Stephanie said. "You should watch your language."

"Very funny, Steph. But this is dynamite. How is Selena going to feel about learning that her father was unfaithful with a Russian spy?"

"You have to tell her what's in this file," Stephanie said.

"I know."

"Selena isn't going to be happy about it."

"Is the sister still alive?"

"I checked. She's alive, all right. There's more. You won't like it."

"More?"

"Not only is she alive, she followed in her mother's footsteps. She works for SVR. Take a look at this."

Stephanie touched a key and a picture of Valentina Antipov appeared on the monitor. It was an official photo from SVR files.

"Good Lord," Elizabeth said. "She looks like a younger version of Selena."

"Take a guess at who her boss and mentor is. I'll give you a hint. His initials are A.V."

"You're kidding," Elizabeth said. "Vysotsky?"

Stephanie nodded. "He's been keeping an eye on her since she was five years old."

Elizabeth reached into her drawer, took out a bottle of aspirin and shook three into her palm. She reached for her coffee cup and washed them down.

"Selena is stubborn," she said. "If she knows the Russians killed her family, she's not going to let it go."

"What if we have to work with the Russians again?" Stephanie asked.

"That could be a problem. Try and find anything that explains why Vysotsky's been so interested in Selena's sister all these years. Look for connections to Selena's father."

Stephanie nodded again. "I'll see what I can do."

Elizabeth looked at her empty coffee cup. "I was about to buzz you when you came in. It didn't go well in Brazil."

"What happened?"

"Schmidt booby-trapped the clinic building and it blew up just as they were approaching. Nick said there was nothing left. They were exposed to infected blood. Right now they're in quarantine on board the carrier. We won't know if they're okay until the ship's medical officer runs tests."

"Elizabeth, that's awful."

"Nick said they saw a lot of people with the plague. They were covered with black blotches and open sores."

"What are you going to do next?"

"I'm going to brief DCI Hood and President Rice and tell them what Nick found," Elizabeth said. "Someone has to tell the Brazilian authorities. That entire part of the country has to be quarantined. It's best if Rice handles it."

"I guess Gutenberg got what he wanted."

"What do you mean, Steph?"

"He proved the plague is effective. Schmidt must have been protected or he wouldn't have been around to set that bomb. They must have a vaccine, which means Gutenberg can move on to the next phase of his plan. I wish we knew what that was."

"I think we're probably going to find out soon enough, " Elizabeth said.