Page 64 of Shadow of Doubt

“If we’d had more time, maybe. But we don’t. There’s going to be ex-Spetsnaz manning that boat from now until it leaves Monaco for the return trip to Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat. Any element of surprise we do have would be blown if we got caught trying to plant a bomb.”

Staelin was a thinker. That was definitely to his credit. One of his repeated truisms was that the mind was like a parachute: it had to be open to work.

His impulse to continually probe and brainstorm for the best ways to accomplish an assignment made him one of the strongest contributors to the team. Harvath always had time for his ideas.

And he was right: Planting a bomb—had they the time to pull it off—would have been an excellent way to take care of Tsybulsky. They couldhave even thrown the Ukrainians a bone and given them the credit without having even been on scene. Unfortunately, that wasn’t what the universe had handed them. “Easy” didn’t appear anywhere on tonight’s list of mission options. As team leader, Harvath ultimately had final say in how and what would be done.

To that end, there was one element to the assignment that only he knew about. He had not shared it with Sølvi or anyone else. Even Nicholas wasn’t aware of it.

Regardless of what Inessa decided, the CIA had authorized Harvath to assist the Ukrainian commandos in taking out Tsybulsky. Langley wanted the oligarch gone just as much as Kyiv did and this kind of opportunity was too good to pass up. The ultimate call was his, but the Agency had made it crystal clear where they stood on the matter.

There were multiple pieces to synchronize between the Inessa op in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat and Tsybulsky in Monte Carlo—cars, boats, lookouts, et cetera, but so far so good. Things were coming together.

Harvath wanted to give the commandos some time to finish checking their gear and told them he’d be back with the rest of the team in about forty-five minutes for a final mission briefing.

The only person who wouldn’t be at the meeting would be Barton. After picking up their boat in Nice, he would be piloting it to a small harbor just north of Eze and waiting there for the commandos. He already knew his instructions.

After making sure the commandos had everything they needed, Harvath, Nicholas, and the dogs returned to the Range Rover for the short drive back to the villa.

“How are you feeling about everything?” Nicholas asked as Harvath started the engine and put the SUV into gear.

“As good as can be expected,” he replied.

“Good,” the little man said. Then, after a long pause, apropos of nothing, stated, “This is going to be my last assignment.”

Harvath looked at him in surprise. “You’re quitting?”

Nicholas shook his head. “Not quitting. Just not doing fieldwork anymore. Putting aside my physical condition, and the fact that the dogs are getting older, it’s a younger man’s game.”

“Speak for yourself,” Harvath joked.

The little man smiled. “People with PD don’t have the longest of life expectancies. I’ve got Nina and the baby now. I want to make the most of whatever I’ve got left. FaceTimes from hotel rooms and safehouses halfway around the world aren’t real life. They just don’t cut it.”

Harvath understood where he was coming from. In fact, he had a lot of respect for his friend’s decision. “It won’t be the same without you.”

“Yes, it will. You won’t even notice that I’m gone. I’ll still be the voice in your ear.”

“Do the powers that be know about your decision?”

Nicholas shook his head. “Not yet. I plan on letting them know when we get back. What about you?”

“What about me?”

“Over the summer, when you had burned through all your vacation and sick days so you could stay in Olso with Sølvi, I thought that might be it. But when they threatened to pink-slip you if you didn’t come back, you actually started packing your bags. I’ve got to tell you, I was surprised.”

“Why?”

“Beside the fact that you outkicked your coverage in landing a woman like her?”

“Yeah,” Harvath replied with a grin, “beside that.”

“You’ve got the two things people would kill for—a mountain of money and excellent health. Yet for some reason, you’d rather keep throwing yourself in front of bullets and oncoming trains than enjoy yourself.”

“Maybe that’showI enjoy myself.”

“If it is,” Nicholas replied, “it’s because you don’t know any better.”

Harvath pretended to check his watch. “Is this session only fifty minutes, Doctor, or do I get the whole hour?”

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