Foreign Agent

CHAPTER 22

The trunk of Harvath’s car smelled terrible. He didn’t know if Malevsky employed dogs, but just in case, he thought it better to drive Herman’s BMW. He didn’t need dogs going bonkers over his car. The more at ease everyone was, the better it would all go.

The owner of the real estate company in Beverly Hills had done an excellent job. She had worked with enough high-net-worth individuals to know exactly what to say, and what not to say.

An appointment had been set and Harvath had been told to drive up to the gate and ring the call box. Someone would be available to take him on a tour. Whether or not that someone would be Malevsky was yet to be seen.

He left his Glock with Herman, tossed his suitcase on the backseat, and drove back into Berchtesgaden. If they patted him down, or went through his bag — both of which he expected — he needed to fully look the part. If they were even the least bit suspicious of him, things were going to get real ugly, real fast.

The one thing that Harvath had going for him, the only thing, in fact, was that Malevsky was a businessman. The Russian mob had a very expensive property it needed to unload. Once it was sold, millions of clean dollars would be flowing back to their organization. Harvath only needed to be believed for the length of the showing. What happened after that wasn’t his problem.

Rolling to a stop next to the call box, he depressed its silver button.

“Da?” a voice replied, but then corrected itself with the proper German. “Ja?”

“Hi,” Harvath replied. “It’s Tommy Molteni. I’m here for a property showing?”

The voice didn’t welcome him or give him directions on where to park. There was a short tone, like the sound of a telephone key being pressed, and the gates began to swing inward.

Harvath waited for them to open fully and then followed the driveway up to the house.

The grounds were meticulously maintained. He noticed the placement of landscape lighting, as well as how many trees there were. From a security standpoint, there were a ton of things Harvath would have done differently. But from an investment standpoint, he could understand why Malevsky and the money-laundering operation might not have wanted to make the changes. Mess with the natural look and feel of the property too much by tearing down trees and other such things, and it might be harder to sell.

At the top of the drive, it opened onto a large motor court. Harvath spotted two Porsche Cayennes, a classic Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit, and an Audi R8 convertible. There was no telling what else lay behind the closed garage doors. He wondered if the cars were part of the money laundering as well.

He had expected to see muscle, and in that department, Malevsky didn’t disappoint. But instead of slabs of beef in bad suits straight out of Moscow’s version of central casting, the men were fit and well tailored. Were they Spetsnaz — former Russian Special Forces? They certainly had the look. They also had the vibe.

Predators could smell other predators from a mile away. Harvath made sure not to hold eye contact. Pasting a smile on his face, he waved and gestured for them to direct him where to park.

The men seemed more annoyed by his presence than anything else. They waved him over to the side and had him turn around so his vehicle was facing the correct direction to leave. Before he even had it in Park, one of the men was at his window, motioning him to lower it.

“Identification, please,” the man said, once the window was down.

Harvath patted his pockets. “Like business cards? Sorry. I don’t have any. The realtor from Beverly Hills should have told you that I—”

“Passport,” the man requested, cutting him off.

He was polite, but firm. A professional. Harvath was getting the full-on Spetsnaz feeling from him. “Sure,” Harvath replied turning to reach for his bag in the backseat. “I’ve got my passport right back here.”

“Stop,” the man said.

Harvath did as he asked.

The man gave an order to his colleague and then asked Harvath to shut off the engine and step out of the car.

The other guard removed Harvath’s bag from the car and brought it around to him.

“Passport, please,” the first man repeated.

Harvath zipped open the front compartment of his suitcase, pulled out the passport the CIA had issued him, and handed it over.

The Russian studied it, looking back and forth from Harvath to the picture and information contained inside. Finally, he handed it back.

Harvath smiled.

The other guard said something into a handheld radio and motioned for Harvath to follow him. Once more, he did as he was told.

They walked up a stone pathway to the front door, where, just as he had expected, he was checked for weapons. Another switched-on, bespoke security guard waved him with a metal-detecting wand.

Once he was content that Harvath didn’t have any weapons, he opened the door, an alarm panel chimed, and he showed him in.

It was like walking into Versailles, on crack. Everything was covered in gold leaf — the railings, the balustrades, the furniture, the mirror frames, the light fixtures, the capitals on the pink marble columns, the crown molding, the door hardware, even the four-foot-high griffins at the bottom of the staircase.

To call it “overdone” would have been a massive understatement. Harvath had only one word for it all: “Wow.”

“Mr. Molteni, welcome,” said a small, obsequious man with a Russian accent. He had dark, curly hair parted on the side and wore an ill-fitting blazer with a polo shirt. “My name is Jakob. I am the estate manager.”

Harvath shook his hand and thanked him for seeing him.

Jakob gazed appreciatively around the entry. “Isn’t it something?”

“It’s something, all right,” Harvath replied.

“Where would you like to start?”

“Any place you wish. I don’t want to take up too much of your time.”

“Let’s start in the great hall.”

Harvath followed and listened as the man recounted the history of the house. It had been built in 1908 by a Russian — General Nikolas of Malzoff — who hailed from St. Petersburg.

At the mention of St. Petersburg, Jakob caught a flicker of recognition in Harvath’s expression. “Have you been to Russia?” he asked.

Harvath had been to Russia multiple times, but only for assignments. Smiling, he nodded his head and replied, “St. Petersburg, actually.”

Jakob enjoyed hearing this and they chatted for several minutes about the city before he got the tour back on track.

Picking up where he left off, he described all the craftsmen that had been imported for the Villa Malzoff’s construction. He made particular mention of the artists from Italy who had painted the ceiling frescoes in each of the rooms.

Harvath had never heard of General Nikolas of Malzoff, but whoever he was, he had spent a lot of money.

When they arrived in the great hall, it became obvious why Jakob had wanted to start there. It was a showstopper.

The great hall had been converted into a long living room with six different seating areas. But its most dramatic feature was the view.

Floor-to-ceiling windows could be retracted, lanai-style as they were now, opening the room to the outside. The view of the snow-capped Watzmann was breathtaking.

It was one of the best views Harvath had ever seen. Jakob was quite pleased to hear it.

As they continued, it was apparent that Jakob loved the home. There wasn’t a single detail that he hadn’t familiarized himself with. Harvath asked if his services as estate manager were included in the sales price. Jakob was flattered, but explained that he moved from property to property as his employer required.

Harvath attempted to quiz him about his employer, but Jakob wouldn’t bite. He just kept the tour moving.

Room after room, Harvath took stock of the Villa Malzoff’s security measures. So far, he hadn’t seen anything he couldn’t handle.

Once they were done with the house, Jakob took him on a tour of the grounds.

The property was just under seven acres. It included a swimming pool, a pool house, a guesthouse, and a residential building for staff with seven apartments.

During the entire time, he saw no hint of Mr. or Mrs. Malevsky — other than the clothes hanging in their master bedroom closet.

Harvath had been hoping that the wife and children were back in Munich. They were a contingency he didn’t want to deal with.

The final stop on the tour was a small gamekeeper’s cottage. It looked like something out of a fairy tale. Like “Hansel and Gretel” or “Snow White.”

The cottage was made from fieldstone. It had a thatched roof, a large chimney, and little stained glass windows with wooden shutters.

Harvath was thinking what an attractive playhouse it probably was for Malevsky’s children, when the door opened and he got the shock of his life.