Page 84 of Gryphon

Kancheli barely acknowledged him. Once this mission was over…

Pavle swallowed hard.

You’re too smart to get caught up in this when it comes apart, Elene had insisted.

If he was so smart…

There were only three futures.

One: this worked and he would be trapped as Chief K’s hatchet man. A role he’d never survive for long.

Two: this worked and Kancheli erased Pavle’s existence to protect the operation’s secrecy.

Or three: Elene’s prediction came true. It is going to come apart. And then they would both be executed; him as the fall guy and her for the secrets he’d told her.

He hurled down the stairs, for once not caring what Kancheli’s receptionist Tamar thought of him as he raced by. There was already a target on his back.

67

“Pavle!” Elene cried out the moment she answered her phone.

He squatted in one of the secure booths used for communicating with overseas agents, two floors below Kancheli’s office. He prayed that Chief K didn’t have these rooms monitored as well.

“I’ve been so afraid for you!” Her voice had lost all control.

“I’m fine, Elene. I’m completely fine.” Which was the biggest lie of his life.

“You need…need…to listen to…” Her speech, choked by sobs, finally broke down completely.

“Elene?”

There was a brief sound of someone taking her phone and her sobs fell into the background.

“G’day, mate. I think we need to have a wee bit of a chat.” A woman with a thick Australian accent covered Elene’s background sobs.

“Who the fuck are you?”

“Aw, mate. I’m your new best gal.”

“If you hurt so much as a hair on—”

“Not on the agenda, mate. Here, got a friend wanting to chat with you.”

“Tell him to go—”

“Hey, buddy. You somewhere secure?”

Pavle knew the voice, but he couldn’t place it. Familiar enough that he knew it well, but too out of context to pin down. It was deep and rough, like it spent more time being used to shout than talk. Like…

Shouting over a busy crowd and a dance band in a busy bar.

To take a drink order.

“Somewhere secure? Yes, I am.”

“Good. Let’s leave names out of this. Answer the lady’s questions. Time is running short. Your lady is fine with me.”

“Uh, thanks. It really helps to know that.”

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