Page 128 of Secret Weapon

“How did he get tangled up with Timonenko?Do we know?”

“Not for certain, but they’re both Stanford alumni—Angelou and Timonenko, plus Novikova too.”

“Their studies overlapped,” Vance added.“Timonenko graduated first, a year before the others, and they were all members of the chess club, so there’s a good chance their paths crossed even before the two Russians began working at the consulate.”

“Ilya plays chess.He was reasonable, but Vik used to beat him three times out of four.”

Which had been a sore point for Ilya, and their games had gone from semi-frequent to almost never.

“So he enjoys games of strategy?Interesting.I do too, but Cards Against Humanity is more my thing when it comes to board games.”

“Cards Against Humanity doesn’t use a board,” Fia pointed out.

“Whatever.Anyhow, Angelou’s scratching around for a backer.”

“Any idea what the project is?”Surfer Dude asked.Nobody had introduced him yet, but since Emmy appeared to be meeting the two women for the first time, I had to conclude that he was an old acquaintance because there had to be a connection somewhere.

Vance grinned.“Yeah, it’s a spy thriller.”Did Angelou plan to write Ilya’s fees off as research?“Rumour says Bryant’s dating Svetlana and he wants her to star in it, but she needs a co-star and he wants a big name to attach to the project.Making a blockbuster doesn’t come cheap.”

Black took a sip of coffee and then spoke up.“He’s put out feelers all over Hollywood, but we understand there’s been little interest.Unsurprising, since he’s out of his depth.But desperate men do stupid things, which should benefit us.”

“Ilya isn’t stupid.”Arrogant, yes, but not stupid.

“Ilya Molotov has spent his life in the shadows, and that’s where he expects any threat to come from.”Black smiled, the first time I’d seen him do so.“But why sneak through the back door when you can waltz in the front?”

“You plan to crash the party?”

“No, I plan to get an invitation.”

“How?We only have three days.”

“We have several possible routes to pursue.Firstly, we’ll scatter a little bait around here and see if he takes it.Secondly, Emmy and I own shares in a movie production company, silent partners of course, but we’ve had the CEO request the treatment.Thirdly, Blackwood has a number of celebrity clients, and over the years, some have become friends.One or two are willing to do us favours.Speaking of which… Bradley, we’ll need brunch on the terrace tomorrow, enough food for four people.”His grin stretched wider.“Everyone’s an actor now.”

Emmy swallowed a mouthful of cake.“Fia, we have another project for you.This is our main avenue of investigation, but we still have two loose ends at the embassy—Maxim Agapov and Ruslan Smirnov.It doesn’t look as if they’re involved, but we need to be sure.Can you tackle that angle?”

Fia gave a one-shouldered shrug.“No problem.”

I caught Alex’s eye.I wouldn’t be eating brunch on the terrace with Emmy and Black, that was for sure.

“What about Ana and Dasha?”he asked.

“We still need to find the traitor at Sandy Peake.The government team seems to be at an impasse, and a fresh set of eyes could help.”

“Don’t they have exterior cameras at this place?”I asked.“I thought the weapon was the size of a sniper rifle?Can’t they look for someone exiting with a large bag?”

“This is a simplified version, but as best the investigators can ascertain, an inside person placed the weapon into a box that once contained a flat-packed desk chair and marked it as trash.The janitor took it outside, and trash pickup came through as usual.Then fifteen minutes later, trash pickup came through again.”

Sheesh, that was some lapse in security.At Base 13, we’d had an incinerator for waste disposal, so none of it ever crossed the perimeter.But the distinctive smell of burning human flesh was one I’d never forget.

“Emmy mentioned there were three suspects with Ottie Marquette out of the picture?”

“That’s right,” Black said.“Her boyfriend, Timothy Stern, a software technician named José Santoro, and Mark Fitz, a materials engineer with a hidden gambling problem.Santoro’s AWOL, and Fitz and Stern have both been placed on leave pending further investigation.”

“I don’t suppose any of them went to Stanford?”

Vance spoke up.“They graduated from Harvard, NYU, and UC Berkeley respectively.Santoro did his undergrad at Syracuse before transferring.”

“You say he vanished—any indication he left the country?”

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