Page 76 of Close Pursuit

She hadn’t heard that Roman had openly recruited his son to spy for Russia, but it didn’t surprise her. The rest of it, she’d pretty much pieced together.

Although, she hadn’t realized the extent of Alex’s rebellion in his late teens and early twenties. He’d glossed over the wildness of his misspent youth, but she supposed she couldn’t blame him for that. And he was clearly trying to put it behind him, now.

She was shocked to hear that he’d begged a judge to throw him in jail. Less shocking was hearing the CIA’s assessment that it had been an effort to hide from his father’s aggressive recruiting tactics.

“Do you know how much money he won gambling?” she asked curiously.

“Our estimate is around ten million dollars.”

Wow. No wonder the mob hated his guts.

She ventured to ask the one question that had been nagging at her the most. “What do you know about his mother?”

“We have reason to believe she was a KGB employee. In what capacity, we have no idea. She could have been anything from a secretary to a full-blown field operative. We don’t know why they split up. It’s possible she chose to pursue her career and let Roman exploit the children to gain entry to the States. All three boys are exceptionally intelligent and talented. Roman’s visa request sites needing to get the boys topnotch educations as his cause for coming here.”

“Any guess as to Mom’s identity?”

Charles shook his head in the negative.

Too bad.

“We know Alex retains contacts within the FSB. We know they’d love to get their hooks into him. I’d be shocked if Koronov isn’t trying to pull his son into the FSB.”

She studied her uncle thoughtfully. “So, you’re hoping to turn Alex. Recruit him to work for you and send him into the FSB as a mole.”

He shrugged. “I can neither confirm nor deny that statement.”

“Whatever,” she muttered.She was right.

Aloud, she said, “What makes you think the FSB will ever trust him? The way I hear it, Alex has never made any secret of his preference for the United States over Russia. This is his home and his loyalties lie here.”

“It’s not about loyalty. It’s about leverage,” Charles replied sharply.

She turned that over in her mind and reluctantly saw the reasoning. If people could be bought, blackmailed, or coerced, loyalty wouldn’t really matter. The pressure that could be brought to bear to make someone serve a master—willingly or unwillingly—was way more important than loyalty or patriotism. A dirty business, this espionage stuff. No wonder Alex was so cynical on the subject.

And no wonder he’d been so reluctant to call in that favor from the Russian government. He’d understood full well that he was giving the FSB an opening to sink its hooks into him.

Thathad been why a Russian plane came racing down to Zaghastan to pick them up! The Russian government—and his father—desperately wanted Alex to owe them his life.

The sacrifice he’d made to get the three of them out of Zaghastan had beenmuchlarger, than she’d realized. Gratitude and renewed respect for him filled her.

Suddenly, today’s meeting made perfect sense, as well. Charlie did her a favor by pulling strings to get that embassy gate opened for her in Tashkent, and now he was collecting on it. These guys could either scratch your back or twist your arm. Take your pick.

No wonder Alex was a head case if a man who operated from this perspective had raised him.

Trying, but probably failing, to keep the cynicism out of her voice, she asked, “So, if I recruit Alex for you, what are you willing to do for me?”

“By God, you’re a quick study,” he muttered. “I suppose I’ll owe you a favor.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Bringing in the son of a high-ranking FSB operative? You’ll owe me more than a lousy favor. You’ll owe me something huge.”

“Agreed.”

“What if I merely prevent Alex from working for the Russians? Would that be enough for you?”

“It would not be my ideal outcome, but it would be better than nothing.”

“There is something you can do for me now, Uncle Charlie. Consider it a down payment on that future massive thing you’ll owe me.”

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