Page 61 of Shadow of Doubt

CHAPTER 28

They returned to the safehouse just as Barton and Preisler were on their way out. The CIA’s yacht broker had come through. A boat, fully fueled, was waiting for them in Nice.

Seeing Harvath arrive, Barton paused in the driveway and waited for him to get out of the Range Rover.

Once he did, he walked over to him, held up his phone, and showed Harvath what the broker had been able to secure. “Only you could arrange something like this,” he said.

“Like it?” Harvath asked.

“Are you kidding me?” Barton replied. “We’ll have no problem keeping up with Tsybulsky.”

“Good.”

“And, as I’ve seen the seven-figure price tag, I promise to do my best not to scratch it or run it aground.”

Harvath smiled. “Not my problem. The CIA’s picking up the tab. Just complete your part of the mission. That’s all I care about.”

“Roger that,” said Barton as he and Preisler threw bags into the trunk of their vehicle and headed out.

Now that he was back at the villa, the first person Harvath wanted to see was Sølvi. He found her sitting on the veranda, cup of coffee in hand, staring out toward the small slice of the Mediterranean that was visible from their location.

“Everything okay?” he asked, stepping out to join her. “How’d your call go with Oslo?”

“Not well,” she replied. “But I suppose that was to be expected.”

Harvath pulled up a chair and sat down next to her.

“They gave me twenty-four hours to surrender myself,” she continued, “along with Grechko.”

“And what did you tell them?”

“I told them that until they caught their mole, Grechko and I were safer where we were.”

“At which point they assured you that they could keep both of you safe, right?”

Sølvi nodded. “?‘Just tell us where you are,’ they said, ‘and we’ll come get you. We’ll put you anywhere in Norway you want. No one will be able to touch either of you.’?”

“Then what happened?”

“Then it got nasty,” she replied, exhaling. “If I don’t comply, they’ll consider it an act of treason, my career will be over, they’ll revoke all my military benefits, as well as everything I’ve accrued at the NIS, et cetera.”

“Could be worse,” Harvath said, trying to make her smile. “In the U.S. they also would have threatened to take your parking space.”

Sølvi chuckled. “It’s already gone. They also deactivated my security badge and have flagged my Norwegian passport.”

“They’re playing hardball.”

“Wouldn’t you?”

Harvath nodded. “I’ve been in a similar situation. All I can say is, you just have to do the right thing—even if it’s in opposition to what your government is asking you to do. In the end, it’ll all work out. Trust me.”

“I do,” Sølvi said, reaching out and taking his hand. “But I don’t want to think about Oslo. Let’s talk about something else. How’s everything coming together on your end?”

“You want the short version, or the truth?”

Sølvi chuckled again. No matter how rough things were, he could always make her laugh. “Split the difference for me.”

“Inessa has agreed to meet Eva for dinner, and we’ve found the perfect spot. Plenty of ingress and egress points. The conversation is going to have to be quick, but it should be enough time for Grechko to make his case.”

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