doesn’t sound much like the SVR I remember.”
“I’m not SVR any longer.”
Zoya nodded. She had suspected this the instant she recognized Sorokina. It would be strange to have a highly trained intelligence officer from the Russian security services involved in a direct hit in a European capital city. She said, “Solntsevskaya Bratva? Da? That does sound like them. Of course, you are doing the bidding of the Kremlin, just the same. You know that, right?”
“And who are you doing the bidding of, Sirena?”
“I’m just a woman trying to live her life in peace.”
“I want the same. May I lower my hands so we can talk about peace?”
“Do you have a weapon?”
“Grach. In my backpack.”
Zoya moved quickly to her, pushed her up against one of the taller concrete monuments, and frisked her quickly. She pulled out the Grach 9-millimeter, shoved it into her purse, then fished out a phone from Sorokina’s bag and tossed it onto the ground. There was nothing else. She spun Sorokina back around, then quickly aimed her weapon both to her left and right, still searching for more members of the hit team.
“You’re not here alone,” she said as she scanned.
“Of course, I’m not. You are a scary girl; I wouldn’t dare come by myself.” She smiled. “Relax. There was someone following you. He wasn’t one of mine, but I have one of mine taking him out of the picture.”
“Who was following me?”
Inna shrugged, then lowered her hands finally, although Zoya hadn’t told her she could. “I thought maybe you could help me figure that out. My guess is that someone is helping you, keeping tabs on you. Trying to keep you safe.”
“Why would anyone do that?”
“You tell me, girl. I don’t believe your story about working here for Shrike Group, unaffiliated with anyone else. Who is your master? Germany? America?” She said “America” as if the word repulsed her.
Zoya said, “Anyone who is on my tail is definitely not on my side.” But, deep inside, she caught herself thinking about Court.
Could he be here, protecting her?
With a jolt of emotion, Zoya said, “Your goon. What did he do to the man following me?”
With an unconcerned shrug she said, “I told him not to kill him.” She smiled a little. “We don’t want to make the news, do we?”
Zoya let it go. It wouldn’t be Court. It couldn’t be. She lowered her gun a little but kept all senses alert, either for threats from Inna or for threats from others. “Why are you talking to me? Shouldn’t you be slipping up beside me and poking me in the ass with a poisoned umbrella?”
Sorokina smiled more broadly now. Zoya saw it as a put-on. She wasn’t feeling any levity. Still, she answered with, “It wasn’t raining.”
Zoya remembered Sorokina from SVR. The blonde was several years older, much more serious, focused on her work to the point where Zoya found her difficult to interact with.
Inna continued, “I have been sent with a message. Yasenevo wants you back.”
“Really?” Zoya’s tone was, to say the least, dubious.
“Da. I will not tell you all is forgiven. That would be a lie, and you would see it as such. But I will say you have assurances from men higher up on the food chain than you will ever know that you will not be harmed, and you will not be held captive beyond the debriefing period.”
“That is so incredibly gracious of them,” Zoya said, unsure if straitlaced Inna would even pick up on her sarcasm.
But, to her credit, Sorokina knew she had some more selling to do. “Your late father was a legend. An institution. No one wants to kill the daughter of General Feodor Zakharov.” Zoya’s father had been head of the GRU, Russian military intelligence.
In response, she said, “And if I refuse?”
“Tonight, me coming to speak with you? This is our passive measure. If you refuse to return to Moscow with us, we will have no choice but to resort to active measures.”
Zoya said nothing.
“We will give you forty-eight hours to decide. And then we will find you, and we will kill you.”
“Why would you do that? You’ve already found me.”
“I expect you to run now. I would. But we will catch you in the open. Wherever you go.”
Zoya spun her head to the left and right again. The two of them remained all alone. Then she said, “Just don’t forget, finding me is the easy part. Killing me won’t be quite so simple.”
“Then it’s a good thing I won’t have