Foreign Agent

CHAPTER 29

It was all happening way too fast. What she was asking was way too dangerous. And it was off-the-charts stupid. They needed to take a breath. Step back and take a breath. Take a minute and assess. But they didn’t have a minute.

“I’m only giving you one shot,” Alexandra said. “So make it count.”

Harvath drew back his hand and struck her, hard. She bounced off the nightstand and the bedframe as she fell down. Her nose bled profusely.

He reached down and pulled her panties away with a snap. Tucking them in his pocket, he then ripped off her bra and dropped it next to her. She’d had her own idea of how she wanted her lipstick to smear, and he’d already given in. It was the least he could do.

Rubbing it off his mouth and onto his sleeve, he exited her room and headed down the back stairs. Outside, he found the bald man’s corpse right where he had left it. He transferred Alexandra’s panties to one of the man’s pockets. After getting a SITREP that showed everything was clear, he then ran like hell.

Out of breath and near the edge of the property, he reached back to the United States. “Round Top, this is Norseman.”

“Go ahead, Norseman.”

“Coming out.”

“Roger that, Norseman. On your command.”

“Do it now.”

“Roger that, Norseman,” the command center replied as they scrambled the satellite signal from the ground sensors. “You are good to go.”

As he scrambled up the boulders, the sharp pieces of rock slashed at him, but he kept his footing and kept moving forward.

Bursting from the trees at the top of the ridge, he took Herman by surprise. “Let’s go,” he ordered. “Let’s fucking go.”

“Are you okay?” Herman said. “What happened?”

Harvath collapsed in the passenger seat and managed to shut the door. “Drive,” he said.

“But—”

“Just drive!” Harvath snapped.

Herman did as he was told.

Minding the speed limits, stopping where indicated, and not giving local law enforcement any reason to pull them over, Herman returned them to the farm.

He pulled in next to Harvath’s car behind the barn and said, “You want to tell me what happened?”

“No.”

That was all he said. Climbing out of the car, he shut the door with a reasonable amount of force and headed toward the farmhouse.

Herman sat there for several minutes wondering what he should do. Finally, he turned off the engine and followed him inside.

He found Harvath sitting near the fireplace, a glass in his hand with two fingers of bourbon over ice.

“Ready to talk?”

Harvath didn’t respond.

The giant shook his head, walked back to the kitchen, and got himself a drink.

Returning to the living room, he took an adjacent chair and sat down. He didn’t care if Harvath didn’t want to talk. They could play the silent game for hours. His friend shouldn’t be alone.

Harvath came to the end of his bourbon and started to rise. Herman waved for him to remain seated.

The German returned moments later with the bottle and a bucket of ice. Harvath refilled his glass. Apparently, they would not be putting a bag over Mikhail Malevsky’s head tonight. And so, Herman had poured himself another drink too.

They continued until the bottle was empty. Herman tossed it into the fire. It shattered and the flames leapt.

“Music?” Herman asked, buzzed.

Harvath didn’t reply. He sat and stared at the fire.

Herman found his iPhone and pulled up a random playlist. Seconds later, Don McLean’s “American Pie” began.

Harvath’s eyes closed and Herman was worried he had done something wrong.

“Why’d you pick this?” Harvath asked.

“I don’t know,” his friend said. “I like it. It’s a good song.”

Harvath’s eyes remained closed, “Do you know what it’s about?”

Herman shrugged. “The day the music died. The death of Buddy Holly.”

“It was actually a warning.”

“A warning? About what?”

“About the future and what was coming if America didn’t wake up.”

Herman looked at his friend. “What the hell happened tonight?”

Harvath didn’t respond. He seemed content to listen to the music. Herman decided to leave him alone.

Throwing another log on the fire, Herman sat back and sipped his drink. When Harvath wanted to talk, he’d talk.

Half an hour had passed when Harvath began counting something on his fingers. “What are you doing?” Herman asked.

“Counting.”

“I can see that,” the German replied. “What are you counting?”

“How many people I got killed.”

“Over your career, or just recently?”

“Just recently,” Harvath answered. It was deadpan, without any emotion.

“What’s the number?”

“Thirteen,” he said. “And still going up.”

“And still going up,” Herman repeated. “Does that mean you’re still in the fight?”

Harvath nodded.

His friend leaned forward. “What the hell happened tonight?”

For a moment, Harvath looked like he had no idea how to answer the question. His mind was somewhere else, drifting. “I got played,” he finally explained.

“Played? What are you talking about?”

“I blew the number one rule in the intelligence game — don’t get played.”

Herman looked at him. “I still don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I had what I thought was an incredible asset,” Harvath replied shaking his head. “A doctor from North Africa. He was moonlighting as a smuggler. His name was Salah Abaaoud. He produced some incredible intel for us. Turns out, he worked for Malevsky.”

“And thereby,” said Herman, “the GRU.”

Harvath nodded. “The CIA team we staged in Anbar to nail a high-value ISIS target? That was based on intel developed through Salah.”

“Why would the Russians want a CIA team wiped out?”

“It’s not just the CIA team. Salah is dead. His mistress is dead. The Secretary of Defense and his entire protective detail are dead.”

Herman still couldn’t figure it out. “But why?”

Harvath shook his head. “I don’t know. All I know is that it’s my fault.”

“Why is it your fault?”

“Because I didn’t see it. I’m trained to see it and I didn’t.”

Herman offered to refill his glass and Harvath brushed him away.

“The Russians can be clever,” Herman offered. “Very clever. Don’t let them get in your head.”

“Get in my head? The Russians are on a fucking killing streak and it’s my fault. How do you not let that get in your head?” said Harvath.

Herman threw up his hands and leaned back in his chair. “Take your time. Be angry. When you’re ready to get even, let me know.”

Harvath stared into the fireplace and watched the hot, blue flames lick at the thick, dry logs. Orange embers smoldered in the gray ash beneath.

He drank his bourbon and thought of the men and women who had died. And as he thought about them, his anger grew.

He hated the Chechens, but he hated the Russians even more. No matter how many times they had pounded them into the ground, they kept popping back up. They were as serious a threat as the jihadists.

But now, they appeared to be using the jihadists — using them as a proxy to do their extremely dirty work for them.

Drinking his last swallow of bourbon, Harvath felt it burn as it rolled down his throat. He then turned to Herman and said, “I can see only one way to handle this.”

“I’m listening,” the German said.

“There’s just a problem, though.”

“What’s that?”

“Your wife won’t like it,” Harvath replied. “We’re going to do something illegal again. Very illegal.”