Colonel, and that promotion you’ve been longing for will soon be yours.” The connection broke.
Linko put the phone back in his pocket.
The woman looked at him quizzically. “You’re smiling again. You have a beautiful smile. You have good news?”
“Possibly.”
“I thought you were going to be called away to business.”
“Not yet.”
“Good. That would have made me sad.” She put on a little pout to give him a preview of her sadness. “Would you like to go now?”
“Yes.”
The woman put her arm through Linko’s and guided him out of the bar onto Tverskaya Street. The two men at the bar waited an appropriate time before following. The fact that they weren’t overeager gave proof to their expertise.
***
Outside, cars whisked by. Neon lights spilled out over the street and reflected from the buildings. Snow fell in small flakes, dancing as it was caught in the wind. Dirty snow lined the streets, and only half a block away, a truck equipped with a plow blade ground along, keeping the thoroughfare clear.
The winter chill cut into Linko and made him draw his coat more tightly, but not too tight. The woman leaned into him as if for warmth, but he knew she was only anchoring him, controlling him.
She looked up at him. “Do you have a car?”
“No. I do not like rentals. I took a taxi.” Which was true enough. Having a car meant potential trouble when he needed to disappear quickly.
“It’s fine. I was going to suggest using my car anyway. I have a permit for my building.” With her arm in his, she guided him to the alley. “It is just at the other end of this. Be careful. The alley is always very dirty.”
“At least it blocks the wind.”
“Yes.”
The lights behind Linko gave him all the warning he needed. They penetrated deeply into the alley and revealed the refuse piled outside of buildings. The shadows of the two men fell in behind him. Their footsteps were very quiet, but Linko heard them all the same.
“Just a moment.” Linko stopped in the alley, far enough in now that the men had no choice but to reveal themselves. His coat was left unbuttoned, and his GSh-18 rode in shoulder leather.
“What is wrong?” The woman tensed then, and some preternatural instinct must have warned her that her confidence game was no longer working.
“I want to say hello to your friends.” Linko turned and the two men came at him at once.
There was no hesitation and no mistake about what they intended to do. They worked well as a team, one automatically going to the left and the other going to the right. Combat knives gleamed in their hands, revealing their intention to kill him quietly.
Linko shoved the woman away so she couldn’t interfere, then, instead of running from the men, he ran toward them. They were already too close to stop themselves, and he’d robbed them of any time to react.
The man on the left swung his blade at Linko’s head while the one on the right tried to plant his knife in Linko’s stomach. Linko dove between them, sliding under both blades, then catching himself on his hand and rolling forward so that he came at once to his feet. He reached under his coat as the men tried to turn around to once more face him. When he drew the pistol and pointed at them, they froze and put their hands up.
Calmly, Linko put his hand in his coat pocket and took out a suppressor. As he threaded it onto the barrel, the two men ran for the end of the alley. But Linko had guided them to a trap of his own. He knew where he had chosen to stop, and he knew that over fifty meters remained before they reached the alley’s mouth.
Almost detached, he shot both men in the back of the head. Motor functions gave way immediately. They stumbled and fell, then lay still.
Trembling, her mouth wide with fear, the woman stood against the alley wall. She took a breath, and Linko knew in the next moment she would scream.
Crossing over to her, he clapped a rough hand over her mouth and put the heated barrel of the pistol up under her jaw. He spoke in Russian. “Scream and I will blow your pretty little head off.”
The woman closed her eyes, and her breath whistled between his fingers.
“Do you understand?”
The woman nodded.
Gently, Linko took his hand away. “Good. I knew about your friends in the bar. A pretty little