Page 68 of Lethal Game

No. Do you know where he is?

Call me.

He debated for another second, then punched in Mick's number. "Why didn't you tell me Dan Hunt was a former chemist named Alexei Bruno?"

"You didn't have a need to know," Mick returned, using one of the CIA's most popular phrases.

"The hell I didn't. I'm trying to protect Hunt's wife and daughter and find Novikov. This was critical information you were sitting on."

"I didn't know Hunt had been outed until yesterday when he called me, desperate to get security for his wife and daughter. I assured him they were being taken care of. I told him I would help him, too, but I needed to know where he was. He declined to tell me."

"Why wouldn't he tell you if he wanted your help?"

"He said he couldn't trust anyone. He hung up, and I've been looking for him ever since. Where is he?"

"Novikov has him."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Hunt's friend, Henry Cavendish, was beaten and shot by Novikov's men. He gave them Hunt's location at a motel in Brentwood. When we arrived at the motel, Hunt was gone.There was blood and signs of a struggle."

"Is Cavendish dead?"

"He's in surgery. His condition is critical. Hunt is with Novikov. A lot of this could have been avoided if you'd shared the information you were sitting on, Mick. What the hell were you thinking, keeping it to yourself?"

"I didn't believe Novikov knew Dan was in LA," Mick replied, not a trace of guilt in his voice. "Novikov was here three years ago, and there was no connection between him and Hunt then. After the courthouse explosion, I told Dan he should leave LA, but Dan thought LA was probably the safest place because Novikov never hits the same city twice."

"Until now. How long have you known Daniel Hunt?"

"Since he was Alexei Bruno, and I helped him get out of the Soviet Union."

"Why did you do that?"

"He helped us stop Novikov from launching a chemical weapon. While we weren't able to capture Novikov, several members of his gang were killed, including his brother, and we arrested several other members of the organization, some of whom were already setting up smaller cells in the US. Because of Alexei's efforts, Novikov's organization was considerably weakened. It took Novikov another ten, almost fifteen, years to get back to anything close to the power he once had. Alexei was given asylum in the US, and we created a new identity for him."

"All right. Let's focus on what's happening now. If Novikov has Daniel, what's he planning?"

"A dirty bomb would be my guess. When I spoke to Daniel yesterday, he told me he'd been working at the lab with Cavendish. This went explicitly against the agreement we made thirty years ago that he would never, ever work as a chemist again. Apparently, he was trying to find a cure for cancer, and he couldn't resist using his big brain one more time." Mick paused. "Does his daughter know about his past?"

He wasn't going to talk about Alisa with Mick. "She only knows enough to be confused."

"That's probably best. I'm aware you have a guard on her mother's room. I hope you're keeping Alisa safe as well. She and her mother are both leverage for Novikov. He'll threaten their lives to force Daniel to work for him."

"I figured that out days ago. But it would have been nice to have your help."

"As I told you, I didn't believe Daniel Hunt was involved in this until yesterday."

"You always have an answer, Mick, but somehow, I never like it."

"What can I do for you now?"

"Where is this dirty bomb going to go off?"

"If I knew that, I would tell you."

"I hope that's true. By the way, I heard an interesting story about you and my father from Patrick," he said, not sure why he was bringing it up, but since he had Mick on the phone, he might as well ask. "He said you and my father captured Novikov when he was a young man and that you tried to turn him into an asset at the request of your agencies, but it didn't work. Is that true? Did you have him in custody at one point?"

"We did. Novikov was twenty-five years old at the time, and we weren't much older. We didn't want to let him go, but the higher-ups at both our agencies had another plan. We tried to turn him, but it didn't work. He said what we wanted to hear in order for him to become an asset, and then he blew up a train station six months later and sent us both a mocking text. Drew and I would have never let him go if we'd had the choice, but we were young agents then. Your father was doing his first stint overseas with the international team. I was also green. Things would have been different if the same events had occurred later in all our lives."

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