the Russians. How would they piece together what had happened? In doing that, I looked at anyone who could have been a link in the chain connecting me to Carl. That’s when we got a hit.
“We learned that the truck driver had sought medical attention recently. His story kept changing, though, and his injuries suggested that maybe it hadn’t been an accident. I decided to find out for myself.
“He lives on the outskirts of Vilnius. When I landed, I went straight to see him. It took some prodding, but he admitted that a couple of weeks ago a team of Russians had shown up on his doorstep.”
“What did they want?” she asked.
“The security services in Kaliningrad had assembled enough evidence to suspect he was involved in our operation. They wanted to know what his role was and who he had been working for.”
She looked at him. “And he gave it up? All of it? Including Landsbergis?”
“They didn’t offer him a choice. They beat him pretty badly. They even threatened to go after his wife and grandchildren. He’s a tough, proud man. But nobody holds out indefinitely.”
“I can’t believe the Russians let him live. Where is he now? You didn’t let him go did you?”
“Of course, I let him go,” he replied. “The guy has been through enough. He told me what I needed to know. I didn’t have any reason to hold him.”
“That’s why you have a drone overhead. The minute you left the truck driver’s house, you know he was on the phone to Landsbergis. That’s why you’re concerned he might not be coming home alone.”
“He claims he didn’t tell Landsbergis about the visit from the Russians.”
“And you believe him?” she asked.
“He’ll show up alone if he’s not guilty. If he shows up with a protective detail or a SWAT team, we’ll have our answer. Either way, I want to look him in the eyes when I ask him about Carl. Now, it’s your turn. What are you doing here?”
“We’ve already established that,” she stated. “I’m here for the same reason as you—to confront Landsbergis.”
“But based on what? You said Carl didn’t leave any notes, that you didn’t know what we had been working on.”
“I received a tip.”
“A tip?” asked Harvath. “From whom?”
“The CIA’s station chief in Oslo.”
“Holidae Hayes.”
“Yes,” she replied. “You don’t sound surprised.”
He gestured at her phone. “How much time do we have?”
“Fifteen minutes. Give or take.”
“What did Hayes say?”
“That you, Carl, and Reed had all been working on something linked to the Russian-sponsored attacks on NATO diplomats. It started with you coming to Norway to take down a cell and ended up with an operation launched from here in Lithuania.”
“Did she tell you what that operation was?” Harvath asked.
“No, but as it had to do with the Russians, and as Lithuania borders Kaliningrad, it wasn’t hard to imagine where the operation took place.”
“Was this before or after Hayes gave her briefing to the NIS about me?”
“You know about that?”
Harvath nodded. “The CIA Director signed off on it. He briefed me before I left.”
“That’s why you weren’t surprised when I mentioned her name.”
“Correct.”
“In exchange for the information she gave me, she made me promise that anything I developed, I would share it with her first—before I reported back to NIS. Was all of it just a ruse?”
“No, the Director gave her a wide scope. He wanted her to cooperate with your service, but he also wanted her to push the envelope, fast.”
“Because whoever killed Carl was coming for you next.”
“Someone did come for me.”
This was the first time Sølvi had heard any of this. “When?”
“Three nights ago. A lone, unidentified assassin.”
“Why didn’t you share any of this with us?”
“We did. The CIA submitted prints, a retinal scan, and photos for facial recognition.”
“That was Langley’s high-priority John Doe?” she asked, remembering the submission. “All they said was that he might have a connection to Carl’s murder and asked us to run him. There was nothing in the request about the subject being an assassin. Pretty important detail. Why leave it out?”
“Because if there wasn’t a connection, we didn’t want you to have already convinced yourselves that he was the guy you were looking for.”
“Hold on,” she stated. “Within hours of us notifying your government about how Carl’s assassin was compiling information about you, an assassin shows up to kill you—and you don’t think there’s a connection?”
“We think there’s a connection. We just don’t know how direct it is.”
“For someone who’s supposed to be so good at this, you