It was dusk as Will drove along a deserted, unlit road twenty miles outside Saint Petersburg. The road was straight as far as the eye could see and surrounded by woodland. Everywhere was icy, but the land was bare of snow.
Sentinel checked his watch before glancing at Will. “We’re on time.” He looked ahead. “Drive for another quarter mile, then get our vehicle off the road.”
Will drove forward for ten seconds, brought the rental car to a halt, and reversed it over rough ground between trees. When he was satisfied that they were hidden from any cars that might drive by on the road, he stopped the vehicle and turned off its headlights.
Sentinel rubbed his hands together. “I’ll wait here for her. I suggest you move up the road.”
Will nodded and exited the vehicle. After having been in the heated car for nearly two hours, the sudden cold hit him hard. He jogged through the woods, keeping the road to his right, his breath steaming in the air. After five hundred feet, he moved closer to the road and crouched down beside a large tree, looking back down the road toward Sentinel’s approximate location. He stayed like that for twenty minutes before he heard a vehicle. The road before him lit up; then a sedan drove by and stopped midway between Will’s position and Sentinel’s location. Nothing happened for a minute. Then a woman got out of the car.
Sentinel emerged on foot onto the road and called out, “7962.”
The woman responded, “5389.”
Sentinel walked quickly toward her and waved a hand to tell Will that the meeting was safe. Will approached the car with caution. Sentinel motioned to the woman. “This is Rebecca. She works out of Moscow.”
Rebecca was petite, looked quite young, and was very nervous. Shaking Will’s hand, the MI6 officer said, “This is the first time I’ve done this kind of thing outside of training.”
Sentinel ignored her, and walked to the rear of her vehicle. Slapping a hand on the trunk, he asked, “In here?”
Rebecca nodded while looking around. She was clearly desperate to get away from this place. “It’s open.”
Sentinel withdrew a small cloth bag and walked back to them. The bag contained the handguns and communications system he’d requested. He gave Will a Sig Sauer P226 and two spare clips and secreted his own weapon and magazines in his jacket. Looking sharply at Rebecca, he asked, “Anything suspicious?”
She shook her head. “Nothing. We’ve been talking to our sources. None of them has mentioned any deployment of FSB or SVR men to Saint Petersburg. Also, they’ve made no mention of Shashka.”
“London or GCHQ traffic?”
“Again, nothing.” She frowned. “I’ve been told by Guy to ask you about the security breach.”
Guy-the MI6 Head of Moscow Station.
Sentinel was quiet for a moment. Then, “I don’t have any evidence yet, but I suspect that one or more of my Russian assets may be working against me.”
“Do you know their identities?”
Sentinel shook his head. “Tell your boss to be careful, because some of his own operations may be compromised.”
“Thank you, I will.” She looked at Will. “I’ve not met you before.”
Sentinel glanced at his watch. “And it’s unlikely you’ll meet him again. You need to go.”
She got into her car, and Will watched her taillights disappear from view. Then he turned to his colleague. “There’s still time to cancel the meeting.”
“I’m not going to.”
“Razin could have rigged the safe house with explosives.”
“We’ll have to take that risk.”
“Your course of action’s wrong!”
“Meaning yours is right?” Sentinel shook his head. “Whatever you’re doing, Razin’s still loose.” He turned to face Will. “Borzaya’s been killed. I found out yesterday. Tomorrow I could find out that another agent has been killed because we did nothing. Stay here if you want, or come with me. Either way, tonight I’m going to try to kill Razin.”