Capital Crimes

39

KATHEREINE RULE LEE looked up to see her deputy director for operations standing in her doorway. “Good morning, Hugh,” she said. “Thanks for coming.” She waved him to the sofa and went to meet him there.

“What’s up, boss?” he asked. This was meant to be ironic; Hugh English had never gotten over the fact that an independent commission had recommended Kate over him for the director’s job.

“I had a conversation last night with President Majorov that I think you might like to know about.”

“Something new for the Majorov file? I’m always happy to have something new on him.”

“It’s not just about Majorov. It’s about Ed Rawls, too. You’ll need to add this to his file, as well.”

“Okay.”

“You may remember that Majorov was the KGB station head in Stockholm when Rawls was there, so he would have been running Rawls.”

“I remember, but that’s not necessarily true. He may have appointed somebody else to run Rawls.”

“He confirmed to me that he, personally, ran Rawls.”

English’s face became expressionless. “So he would have ordered the hit on Lewis and Barbara Moore.”

“That’s a reasonable conclusion, but Majorov denies it.”

“I’ll bet he does.”

“Given the kind of conversation we were having, which was well-oiled on his part, he had no real reason to deny it.”

“Rawls set up Lewis and Barbara,” English said. “It’s the only way it could have happened.”

“No, there was another way. Majorov says he had a bug in the Moores ’ apartment.”

“I don’t believe it,” English said. “Staff apartments are swept on a regular basis.”

“I want to know if this is true,” Kate said. “First, get in touch with our Stockholm station and find out if a bug was ever detected in that apartment. If one was never found, then it’s still there.”

“Our people would have found it.”

“You remember the brouhaha when we learned that the Soviets were bugging the new American embassy in Moscow, while it was being built?”

“Of course.”

“I think that shows us that the Soviets had some bugs that were very difficult, if not impossible, to detect.”

“I suppose so.”

“If there’s no record of a bug being found in the Moores ’ apartment, then I want the place taken apart, and I mean right down to ripping off the drywall and the plumbing. Move whoever is in the apartment now out and into a new place, and do this thing right.”

“I think this is a monumental waste of time, Kate.”

“If that’s so, it won’t be the first time.”

“I don’t really have the budget for that sort of tiling, and officially, those apartments belong to the State Department.”

“Charge it to a renovation of the apartment, which is what we’re going to have to do when the search is over. If you have any trouble with State, let me know, and I’ll deal with it. One more thing, Hugh. Majorov says that when they were confronted, the Moores drew weapons and started firing, and that it was self-defense on the part of his people. I want to know what weapons the Moores had drawn from the station’s arsenal and if they were ever recovered.”

English looked at her for a moment. “You’re determined to get Rawls pardoned, aren’t you?”

“No, I’m not. I’m determined to know the truth about this. There’s more going on here than you know about, Hugh.”

English looked incredulous. “More than I know about? More than the fucking DDI for Operations knows about?”

“Not all the information we possess arises from your operations, Hugh. Stuff comes in from outside all the time, you know that.”

“Well, if there’s something you know, why don’t I know it?”

“Because it’s not time, yet. If we find a bug in that apartment, you’ll know everything soon. You’ll have to be content with that for the moment.”

“Right,” English said, getting to his feet and heading for the door.

“And, Hugh?”

He stopped and turned. “Yeah?”

“I want work to start on that apartment today.”

English looked at his watch. “It’s four-thirty in Stockholm now. It’ll have to wait until tomorrow.”

“I want the occupants out tonight-put them in a hotel, if necessary. I want a crew in there at eight o’clock tomorrow morning, and I want them to work 'round the clock until they’re done. Clear?“

“Clear, Madame Director,” English said. He turned and stalked out of her office.

Kate swallowed her anger and went back to her desk. She was getting tired of swallowing her anger where Hugh English was concerned. Sooner or later, he was going to have to go. At his level, there was no sideways move for him; he either had to be promoted or fired, and the only job he could be promoted to was hers. She’d wait until Will was reelected, when there wouldn’t be as much political fallout.