all the things her brother had showed her in the newspaper, all the horrors her father had seen while fighting the Chechens. She remembered how he had been there for her and how he had complained about her generation not knowing the love of their country the way they should.
“No, he is not a monster.”
“Then remember that, and know, too, that Nevsky has sold your father the same bill of goods that he tries to sell everyone through his television spots, his newspaper interviews, and his blog. Nevsky is in this for power. Your father thinks Nevsky is only trying to turn Russia back to the old way.”
“The kind of Russia where my father was more comfortable.” Anna recalled how many times her father had told her that the “new” Russia wasn’t working, how the people were so much worse off than they had been. “He said he was afraid that he would live to see Russia fall and that he would have to leave my mother, my brother, my niece and my nephew, and me all unprotected.”
“So you see, Anna. You see how Nevsky manipulated your father and placed him in the role of protector.”
“Yes.”
“Your father is blind to what is going on. He thinks only of the good he is doing. You have had arguments with him over the pieces you write in the paper. You have told me about them.”
“I know.”
“Then realize this now.”
Anna struggled to.
“Anna, look at this.” Spaso’s voice had changed, taking on a darker, harder tone.
Blinking back tears, Anna looked at the computer screen. She read the document sitting there. “This is about Greece?”
“Yes. There are several files here, all regarding Greece and ways to undermine the government and force the United States out of the area. There are contacts for terrorist organizations here.”
The pages on the screen flipped back and forth. Anna saw maps, photographs, interviews, blueprints, and other documents that looked like they should have been kept somewhere safe.
Spaso cursed and the open screens on the computer began shutting down. “Whoever was spying on your father’s computer has found me.”
Anna’s stomach sank.
“It was nothing I did. Nothing they could find. This was just bad luck.”
“Can they trace you?”
“Yes, but I’m sending them on a wild goose chase. They will think that a CIA agent hacked into them. They will not track this back to you. Or your father. I promise you this.”
“Should I do anything?”
“No. Let me. You are safe. Everything will be fine.”
“What about the documents you discovered?”
“I downloaded them all.”
“I need them.”
Spaso hesitated. “What are you going to do with them?”
“I am a journalist. I am going to report this.”
“Anna, you do know the kind of danger you will be placing yourself in?”
“The danger is greater when you keep this secret. My knowing it—our knowing it—will not matter once everyone knows. Besides, the people out there, the Russian people, need to know what Nevsky is doing.”
The computer screen blanked and went back to the request for the passcode.
Spaso breathed out a sigh of relief. “There. I am finished.”
“And they did not trace you?”
“To Langley, Virginia, where the CIA have their offices, perhaps. But not to here. Not to you. We are safe. For now.”
“But there are a lot of people out there who are not.”
“Anna, please listen to me. If you try to tell the story here, you will be locked up as a traitor to the state. Worst-case scenario, someone will come for you, find you, take you out to the Volga, and tie weights to your hands and feet before dropping you in.”
Anna wanted to make a smart remark about his imagination, but she knew his assessment was not fantasy. That was very probably what would happen.
“Then I will not tell the story in Russia. I will tell it in Greece.”
“How will you get there?”
Anna thought furiously, then she remembered Professor Layla Teneen. “I will go to the Afghanistan Embassy. I may be able to get a ride out of the country as part of a diplomatic flight. Can you get me access to the documents you downloaded?”
“Of course. I will set up a website. When you need them, they will be there. You never have to take possession of them.”
“Thank you, Spaso.”
“Do not thank me, Anna. One way or the other, this secret that you stumbled across is going to change your life forever. Later, when you have time to see your regrets, you might not be so generous with your thank-yous.”