Gray Shadows: Russian Historical Thriller

Chapter Nine

For a few minutes, Nikolai and Vanya stood next to the tunnel. Nikolai kept shining his flashlight into the twilight around them.

“What are you looking for?” Vanya said.

“I’ll know it when I see it,” Nikolai said.

He peered into the dark tundra trying to see something that could give him a clue. Any clue. Then, a group of trees caught his eye. “Not much of a clue, but I see it,” he said.

“What? I don’t see anything.”

“Whoever made this tunnel made sure that it was well-hidden,” Nikolai said shining his flashlight towards the trees. “See these three dwarf trees?”

“What about them?”

“They are not growing here. They have been moved from somewhere else and stuck in the snow.”

“Why do you think that?” Vanya said.

“Look around. All the other trees are leaning every which way, and these three are perfectly straight, like they are not affected by the permafrost layers melting and freezing,” Nikolai said.

“That’s right. I didn’t even think about it,” Vanya said. “Good point.”

“Thanks. Anyway, enough forestry discussions. And it’s not much of a discovery anyway. It’s not surprising that whoever built this tunnel tried to hide it. I don’t think we’ll find anything else, so let’s go before someone finds us.”

“Should we close it? The tunnel?” Vanya said. “Mess up their plans?”

“No. We should leave it as is. We have a clear point in our favor here: the killers had a secret, and we discovered it. Now we have the knowledge they don’t suspect we have, and we can use it to our advantage.”

“So, just install a new camera then?”

“Only if that was a part of the original security plan. We don’t know who is involved, so we shouldn’t do anything that could arouse anyone’s suspicions,” Nikolai said. “Let’s go back into the compound and put those panels back where they were.”

Nikolai bent down and started squeezing back through the cold and dark tunnel. A few moments later, they were on the other side. They quickly loaded the roof panels back in their spot, covering the entrance to the tunnel.

“Shall I tell the guys not to replace the lights?” Vanya said. “That way, we won’t arouse any suspicions.”

“Don’t tell anybody anything,” Nikolai said. “First, we don’t know who we’re up against, so alerting anyone to our knowledge is not a good idea. Second, it’s best to keep the routine as it always has been. Let your guys discover that the lights are out and replace them as they see fit, like they always do.”

“You’re a smart one, aren’t you?” Vanya said. “You really think everything through.”

“It’s just experience and training,” Nikolai said as the two of them continued their walk. “I’ve been dealing with these kinds of things for a while now.”

“How long have you been doing this work?”

“Just over three years.”

“You learned a lot in a short time,” Vanya said.

“It’s a question of survival. Moscow has not been the safest place lately. Free enterprise tends to come at a high price. Of course, that’s why I have this job.”

“Right.” Vanya thought for a moment, then asked, “So, what’s our next task?”

“Pyotr Alekseevich promised to leave some files in your security office for me. I’d like to look through them and see if we find anything that can give us any clues.”

“Look through the files? I thought you were a bodyguard, not a detective.”

“I have to be both. Detectives are reactive and investigate after a crime has been committed. Bodyguards have to prevent crimes, so we have to be proactive and stop crimes before they happen. It’s our job. We have to do anything we can to accomplish that purpose, including sort through paper files.”

Back in the security office, Vanya put on the tea kettle and turned on the space heater.

“Thanks,” Nikolai said. “I need that after crawling through the tunnel.”

“Me too,” Vanya said.

Nikolai opened a large box labeled with his name that Pyotr Alekseevich left for him. The box was filled with papers, files, maps, and other various materials. Nikolai started sorting through it. For a while, nothing caught his eye: there were old minutes of various meetings, maps and blueprints of sections of the oil field, summer and winter routes between wells, and pages of technical notes written in barely discernible handwriting.

Vanya put a cup of steaming tea on the desk next to the box.

“Thanks,” Nikolai took a sip and kept sorting. He glanced at his watch. It was getting late in the day, and he needed to talk to Pyotr Alekseevich before the director headed to another meeting or home for the day. Nikolai picked up one more paper. It was a printed page that looked like a guest list. Clipped to it was a draft of an old invitation to a corporate picnic. Nikolai looked at it closely as something caught his attention.

“An old picnic invitation?” Vanya glanced at the page.

“And a guest list.” He handed the page to Vanya. “Read the names of this couple.” Nikolai pointed to a line on the guest list. “The woman’s last name is the same as the old director’s. Are they related?”

Vanya nodded. “She’s is the old director’s sister. I don’t know much about them. They lived in Moscow and rarely came here.”

“Are they still in Moscow? What do they do there?”

“Not sure about the woman, but her husband is a big shot in some company that owns a bunch of other companies.” Vanya thought for a moment. “As a matter of fact, I remember him talking about buying Luna Oil and Gas some months ago.”

Nikolai looked at the husband’s name: D.F. Petrenko.

“Do you know his first name?” Nikolai said.

Vanya furrowed his brows, looked at the initials, then at Nikolai. “Dmitry Fedorovich, I think, or Denis Fedorovich, something like that.”

“Do you happen to know the name of his company?” Nikolai said.

“No, not off-hand. I could check.”

Nikolai looked at the invitation and the names again. “Actually, don’t worry about it. Not important.” Nikolai knew exactly who could find all the information he needed. He was about to excuse himself to go make the call, but his cell phone buzzed.

It was Anatoly.

“Any news?” Nikolai asked after he stepped outside and started walking to Pyotr Alekseevich’s office. The wind was blowing snow in all directions, obscuring the path and getting into Nikolai’s face. He picked up his pace, walked inside the building, and stopped by the staircase. He wanted to finish this conversation before heading back up.

“As we expected, the old director is putting pressure on Pyotr Alekseevich to sell the company,” Anatoly said. “But you already knew that.”

“Right,” Nikolai said. “So what’s the real news?”

“The company’s financial problems go well beyond the unpaid taxes. Apparently, the old director made deliberate attempts to bankrupt the company so he could sell it at a low price to himself.”

“Care to explain that part?” Nikolai said.

“He set up another company, with a different corporate name and a different bank account. And that’s the company that is trying to buy Luzinsk Oil and Gas.”

“I see,” Nikolai said.

“But Pyotr Alekseevich is determined to stay in charge of Luzinsk Oil and Gas, and he’s about to sign a deal with the government to that effect.”

“I know that,” Nikolai said. “That’s why I’m here. And that all is supposed to happen by the end of the board meeting. Next week.”

“Right. So, what I get from this whole story is that if the deal is not signed by then,” Anatoly continued, “the company will go on sale. Cheaply. Is that how you understand it, too?”

“Yes.”

“And there’s only one condition that could stop Pyotr Alekseevich and the other two board members from signing the deal.” Anatoly paused.

“If one of them dies,” Nikolai said.

“I’m afraid so. I’m sending reinforcement from the agency tomorrow, as Pyotr Alekseevich has asked for. Get ready to meet them.”

“Can you also send Viktor? Can you spare him for a day or so?” Nikolai said.

“Viktor the computer guy? Why?”

“The company seems to have a lot of computer problems, including computers that operate security cameras and monitors. I want to make sure nothing fishy’s going on.”

“Don’t they have a computer person?” Anatoly said.

“Sure, they do. But I don’t know if I trust him.”

“Got it. I’ll send Viktor,” Anatoly said and clicked off.

A blast of freezing Arctic wind sent a chill through Nikolai’s bones despite the warm parka he was wearing, but it was not time to go inside yet. He had one more phone call to make.