Page 46 of Shadow of Doubt

“There were also fur missiles,” Ashby added, referring to Tsybulsky’s dogs. “We counted at least three. They looked like Belgian Malinois.”

“Could be worse,” Haney deadpanned. “There could be a moat.”

“Filled with alligators,” said Staelin.

Harvath ignored them. “What’s the good news?” he asked.

“Tsybulsky has a yacht in the port of Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat,” Palmer continued. “A sixty-three-foot-long Lamborghini Tecnomar he namedHermes. They’re getting ready to go out tonight.”

“Where?” replied Harvath.

“Monaco,” said Ashby. “The crew is all muscled-up Russians, but one of them was very flirty and happy to chat. He said their boss has a standing card game on Tuesday nights at the Casino de Monte-Carlo. They travel there by boat and the casino sends a car to pick him up at the dock.”

“Did the crew member say how long they’re normally gone?”

“Not in so many words. But he did invite me back for drinks tonight. Said they’re heading out from Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat around six o’clock and will probably be back around eleven.”

“Do we know who’s going with him?”

“No, we didn’t get that far. He had to get back to work,” she said. “Besides, I didn’t want to make him suspicious by asking too many questions about Tsybulsky.”

“Smart,” Harvath replied. “Good call. Okay, so we know where Tsybulsky is going to be tonight and we know his mode of transportation. What about Inessa? Do we have anything else on her?”

Despite his request, Holidae Hayes had been able to come up with very little on the woman. She had no arrest record. She had never served in the Russian military. All Holidae could find was that Inessa was listed as the chairman of several shell corporations based out of Cyprus.

“No, nothing,” said Nicholas. “She may be going to the casino with Tsybulsky. She may be going out somewhere else. She may be staying home and packing for Russia. We don’t know.”

“Does Grechko have a way to contact her?” a voice asked from the corner of the room. It was Peter Preisler, a former MARSOC Marinewho had been a heavy hitter in the CIA’s paramilitary detachment known as Ground Branch.

“He’s got a cell number for her. Conceivably, he could call or text,” Harvath replied.

“Do we know if Tsybulsky monitors her communications?”

“That’s unclear.”

“Have we looked at her social media?” Ashby asked. “Is there anyone she follows who we might be able to use as a cutout to pass on a message?”

It was an excellent idea and Harvath could kick himself for not having thought of it sooner. He wasn’t a social media guy and didn’t think in those terms.

Pulling out his phone, he texted a name across the room to Nicholas. “See if you can find any connections between them,” he said when the little man’s phone chimed.

Looking at Ashby, he remarked, “You’re a regular good idea fairy today. Tell me what else you’re thinking.”

“If we can get Inessa out in public, even if she has bodyguards, which she probably will, all we need her to do is to make a trip to the ladies’ room. It’s not the most romantic location to reconnect, but it’s the only place she’ll get a few moments of privacy. Then, it’s up to Grechko. He’s going to have to make his case quickly.”

“Let’s put ourselves in that moment,” Harvath responded, playing it out. “What comes next?”

“That depends on how she replies,” Ashby conceded. “Just because she agrees to a clandestine rendezvous, doesn’t mean it’s a fait accompli. She could simply be there to say goodbye, once and for all. If that’s what she does, if she says no, then obviously we let her leave the ladies’ room and it’s over.”

“And if she says yes? If she’s willing to ditch Tsybulsky?”

“Then we’re off to the races and it’s a whole new ballgame. But for everything to work, we have to go to the end and work our way backward. Have you given any thought as to how you want to make her disappear?”

“I’ve had a bunch of ideas,” Harvath replied, somewhat flippantly. “My current favorite is creating a month out of thin air to cruise the backalleys and drug dens of Marseilles in hopes of finding a body, about her size, that I can match the dental work, and then burn to a crisp in a house fire or car crash.”

“In other words, you’ve got nothing.”

“Yet.”

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