I Minus 72 (12 page)

***

The next day was equally unsuccessful, with
no one showing up at any of the three meeting places. That night at
dinner, Sam observed that Grant was noticeably quieter. He would
answer her questions, but if she stopped talking the conversation
lagged. Finally, she had to ask.

“This getting to you?” she asked.

Grant shrugged, “Yeah, a little. I was sure
at least one of them would show up. I’m out of practice, I guess.
This used to be a fairly common occurrence and I just took it in
stride. But now, with the President-elect’s life hanging in the
balance, it seems like we’re just wasting time. But, you know,
there just isn’t any choice but to continue.”

“Well, we’ve got another day tomorrow. Maybe
someone will come.” Sam replied, trying to cheer him up a bit. He
just shrugged again.

The next day, the first meet was once again
a no show. Grant waited over two hours before he gave up. At the
second, closer to downtown at the intersection of two busy streets,
Grant was approached by a middle-aged woman who looked to be in her
50’s. In broken English, she first asked him the time, then
directions to a tobacco shop. Bingo! The right questions. Grant
gave the prepared responses; the lady nodded, crossed the busy
street, and began walking along the curb on a side street.

Grant waited until she was half a block down
the side street before going after her. As he caught up to her, he
noticed that the sidewalk was partially blocked off for repairs.
Since his contact was forced to walk along the curb, he had no
choice but to walk on the street surface. Even though she was
walking on a surface five inches higher than the street, Grant
still towered over her. She was small and walked slowly. There was
no parking on this side of the street, so nothing got in Grant’s
way as they walked. Cars were zooming around them, but having cars
pass close by didn’t bother Grant. This was Eastern Europe and many
drivers left little room for error when passing by pedestrians.
Grant was so intent on looking into the woman’s eye’s while telling
her why he was making contact that he didn’t notice one of the cars
coming down the street heading right for him. Grant, hearing an
engine roar, looked up just in time to see the car bearing down on
him only ten feet away. He immediately leapt to the left with the
idea of pushing the woman out of the way, but too late. The car,
which had to be traveling at least 70 kilometers an hour, hit both
of them head on.

When Grant awoke, he was lying on his back,
but not in the street, and was confused because he was surrounded
by people dressed in white. Then it came back to him—he was hit by
a car. His first thought was his contact.

“Excuse me, does anyone speak English?”
Grant croaked to the crowd of people bending over him.

One of the men answered in English: “Yes, we
do. But we want you to remain quiet while we finish. I will answer
your questions at that time.”

“What about the woman who was next to me? Is
she all right?” His voice was a little closer to normal this
time.

“There was a woman who was also hit, but
unfortunately, she is dead. Please, lie still while we finish.”

“Do you know who hit us? It looked like they
were coming straight for us.”

“I can see that you are going to be a
difficult patient. If I allow the policeman to answer your
immediate questions now, will you allow us to finish up while you
are talking?”

“Sure.” With that, Grant tried to sit up but
was immediately gripped with severe pain.

“Ooooh, that hurts. How bad is it?” he
asked, lying back down.

“It could have been worse. You have a couple
fractured ribs, and though painful, none of the fractures are
serious. You also have four cuts that have so far required a total
of twenty-two stitches and you may have internal injuries. We will
not know about that until we can schedule you for an MRI and the
results come back. That could take up to two days. Okay, what are
your questions?”

Grant turned his head towards the policeman.
“The car, has anyone talked to the driver?”

“The car has not been located. Witnesses
only described it as small and dark. It looked just like every
other car on the road and had nothing to make it stand out. They
could not see who was inside.”

“So you have no idea who did this?” Grant
asked.

“No. But we will continue our investigation.
He was probably drunk. We have many drunk drivers in Warsaw. Now
that I have answered your questions, I need you to answer some
questions from me.”

“Okay, but I don’t know much.” Grant
replied.

“Who was the woman that was killed?” the
policeman asked.

“I don’t know. She was just someone on the
street I was asking directions from. I’ve never seen her before. I
don’t know her name or anything about her,” Grant lied.

“What are you doing in Warsaw?”

“I’m here with a female companion on
holiday,” Grant replied.

“Where is she?” the policeman continued.

“She’s back at the hotel, the Hilton. Would
someone please call her and tell her where I am?”

“Yes” answered the policeman, “I’ll do it
myself. How long are you planning to stay in Warsaw?”

This guy was all business. Grant responded,
“Well, we had planned to stay another couple of days, but I need to
hear from the doctors when I can be released from the hospital. How
about it Doc?” he said, turning his head to look at the doctor who
had been talking before.

“We want you to stay for a few days so we
can observe you. As I said, we want to do an MRI and, if you have
internal injuries, we might not know for a day or two,” the doctor
answered.

“What is your companion’s name and what is
her room number at the Hilton?” asked the policeman.

“Her name is Sam and she’s in room 817.
Please ask her to come here right away.” Grant replied.

Without another word, the policeman turned
and left the room. At the same time, the doctor said, “Okay, we are
finished with you for now. Please do not try to sit up or move
around. We need you to rest. I will go see about scheduling the
MRI.”

“How long will that take?” Grant asked.

The Doctor replied, “There are only two in
Warsaw and they are very busy.” Then he left.

Finally alone, Grant’s first thought was how
this would interfere with his mission. He couldn’t remember the
last time he’d been banged up this badly. He wasn’t sure he could
even get up, much less walk, but he knew he’d have to try. Further,
this contact was dead and Grant was in the emergency room at the
time of the third contact meeting so he didn’t know if that contact
showed or not. He was fairly certain he wouldn’t make tomorrow’s
meetings either. Damn! His next thought was about the car that hit
him. Was it an accident? Could it have been deliberate? If so, it
had to be the same person or group that was killing the other
contacts. He was still trying to sort it all out a few minutes
later when he drifted off, the pain meds finally taking
control.

Grant slept for a couple of hours and when
he opened his eyes, he looked straight into Sam’s face. Seeing his
eyes blink open, she asked, “How are you feeling?”

I’m a little groggy, but I’ll make it,”
Grant replied in a scratchy voice. “How much do you know?”

“The policeman that called filled me in on
what happened and the doctors told me your condition. Grant, it
isn’t good. They’re still trying to schedule an MRI, but it looks
like it will be two or three days before they can get you in. I
hope they have good food in here, ’cause it looks you’re going to
be here awhile.” Sam said, fighting to hold back the tears that
were flooding her eyes.

“I can’t stay here. Too much to do,” Grant
said, his voice almost a whisper.

Wiping away the tears with the back of her
hand, Sam said, “Look Grant, I know you’re a tough guy and all, but
you’re still mortal. These injuries are serious. You could have
major internal damage that could be life threatening if you don’t
stay put.” She continued leaning over him, wiping her eyes with the
back of her hands.

“Sorry, Sam, but I’ve got to get back on the
street before we lose any more contacts. After this accident,
though, I’m gonna need you more than ever.”

His voice was obviously weakening, but Sam
persisted, “Do you really think this was an accident, just a
coincidence?” She asked incredulously.

Grant sighed and whispered, “I’ve told you
before how I feel about coincidences. I shouldn’t have used the
word ‘accident.’ I don’t know that it was deliberate, but I have to
assume it was. I tried to push the contact out of the way, but the
car veered towards us. It all happened so fast I can’t be sure he
was trying to hit us, though. Now sit back in your chair. I can
barely keep my eyes open.” Grant managed to eke out a small
smile.

***

Vladimir, meanwhile, was sitting in his room
having another vodka from his mini-bar. To hell with the cost. This
was a great occasion. He had hit both of them so solidly they had
to be dead. Hurling towards them in his car he had a last second
thought that by killing Thurmond now, he might not be able to find
out where all the contacts lived. That’s why he swerved towards the
woman. Unfortunately, when Thurmond leaned towards the woman,
probably trying to push her out of the way, he’d hit him harder
than he wanted. Oh well, at least now Thurmond wouldn’t be able to
track him down. He didn’t know how much Thurmond’s woman knew. Just
in case, he’d have to take care of her. No one who knew about him
could stay alive. He would have to find another way to find the
other informants, but he was confident he could do it. He’d found
all the others hadn’t he? There were only a few more who might know
who he was. After that, he could go to the United States and take
care of the last one. Then, the good life. American women were the
best. Russian women were so bossy and so many of them slept with
anyone they met. He didn’t want a Russian whore. He wanted the
pristine, petite American women who were true to their man and took
care of the home. And of the man.

I minus 39

The DNI, growing more
anxious with each passing day finally had to know more, so he
called General Wheeler. “General, we’re down to just over a month
before the inauguration. What do I tell the President-elect? Do I
push harder on moving the swearing-in ceremony to a more secure
location? We could do it in private in the White House, I suppose.
My gut tells me the President-elect isn’t going to go along with
moving it, though.” The DNI sighed and then continued. “Where the
hell
is
Thurmond,
anyway?”

“He’s still in Warsaw, according to his
schedule. We agreed that he’d call in when he had anything
significant to report. He’s probably still trying to connect with
the contacts. I’m sure he’ll let us know the minute anything
important comes up.” General Wheeler explained, then continued,
“Look, Director, Thurmond’s a good guy and…”

Barry cut him off, “He’d better be. We’re
running out of time to make this decision. By the way, is Garcia
with him?”

“No, sir, he’s not. Thurmond thought it
would be best for fewer people to be involved in the search for
contacts. Too many strange faces might spook them,” Wheeler
said.

“I told him to keep Garcia in the loop!” The
DNI was almost shouting.

The General took a deep breath and let it
out slowly, hoping the DNI wouldn’t hear. He said, “I know, sir,
but in this case I had to agree with Thurmond. I’m sorry I didn’t
consult with you before I made the decision to let Thurmond go
alone, but I didn’t know it would be an issue. I’ll make sure
Garcia is briefed each time I hear from Thurmond.”

“Good. Sorry, General, guess I’m a little
tense right now.” Barry said in a gentler tone.

“No sweat, sir. I understand. I’ll call you
tomorrow with an update.”

“Thanks.” With that the DNI hung up.

At almost the same time, the General’s
secure phone rang. “Wheeler!” he barked.

“General, this is Sergeant First Class
Rogers,” said Sam.

Relieved to be hearing from her, he softened
his tone when he continued, “Rogers, good. I just got off the phone
with the DNI and he’s hopping mad. What the hell’s going on and why
haven’t you guys kept me up to speed?”

“Well, sir, there’s been an accident. Or,
what looks like an accident.” Over the next ten minutes, Sam filled
him in on the details.

“You say he’s injured pretty badly, but he’s
staying? Yeah, that sounds like the Thurmond I know. Look, Rogers,
trying to talk him into coming back home is useless. You’re going
to have to take care of him and help him through the rest of this
mission. If you need anything, anything at all, just call. I’ll
make it happen. Ask him if he wants me to send Garcia over.”
Wheeler leaned back in his leather chair.

Sam sighed, “Alright, sir, I’ll ask. But, I
don’t think he’ll want that. He wants to do this his way.”

“Yeah, I’m sure he does. Okay, I won’t send
Garcia unless I hear from you that I should. Put the Colonel on.”
Wheeler said.

“Sir, I thought it would be best to have
this conversation on the secure phone, so I’m at the embassy in
Warsaw. The Colonel is still in the hospital, although he swears
he’s going to check himself out by this evening. I’m going to try
to convince him to stay put overnight and reevaluate the situation
tomorrow morning.” Sam explained.

Wheeler paused a moment before continuing,
“Okay. Keep me informed. Thanks for calling me with this
update.”

“You’re welcome, sir. I’ll give you another
update tomorrow,” sam said, relieved to have the conversation over
with.