Page 45 of The Battle of Maddox
“Call the State Department first. See if you can get the US Consulate on the phone, or just walk up to the door with your passport and tell them you need help.” I ran a hand over my forehead and saw Aaron walking over, looking worried. “Look, we takeoff in the morning. We’ll be there by noon tomorrow. Can you just do those two things and let me know how it goes?”
“I can, yes.” I could almost see him nodding his head.
“Call me back. If I have to, I’ll call Vincent and see what he can recommend for us. A lawyer, a consultant, something. But do those two first. Oh! And Dasch. Donottell them they planned to go. They will never help us get them out if they hear the girls went to that protest on purpose.”
“What?”
“If you willingly participate in an illegal activity in another country, the US Government can’t do anything and won’t. They won’t even try.”
“Crap!” he screamed it at the top of his lungs.
“We’ll be there in the morning. Keep me updated.”
“Thanks,” he grumbled, and the connection closed.
“What the hell?” Aaron asked.
I massaged my temples with one hand while still staring at the phone. “We have to go back to the hotel, and have a confab. We have a real problem.” I dialed Holland’s number and motioned for Aaron to call a taxi.
* * *
Hailey launchedout of the chair. “They did fuckingwhat?”
“Oh, God,” Ora groaned.
Rand and Holland were speechless, and Rand eventually dropped his head into his hands.
“I told Dasch to lie through his teeth about them going there on purpose. If the State Department finds that out, I don’t know what the hell we can do,” I said.
“I’m glad you knew that much,” Dietrich said. “Look, my father was law enforcement in East Berlin. I’m sure I can talk to him if we get stuck. He’s always been willing and able to help people out of situations after the wall fell. He retired a pretty powerful lawyer, so I’m sure he still has contacts in Germany and Russia.”
Ora snapped his gaze around to Dietrich. “I’d prefer to not get involved.”
Hailey raised her eyebrows. “Wouldn’t we all, but they are on our concert contract.”
Ora let out a string of curses in Italian, most of which could not be translated in polite, mixed company. He went blotchy red and stormed away. “I mean, do they not realize that the former KGB and most of the country is behind the homosexual ban? You can’t be gay in Russia. The Communists who occasionally come into power in Italy have tried the same thing.Whywould they do this?”
“Because they want everyone to be able to have the same freedoms we do in the US,” Aaron said. “I mean, most of Europe is cool with same-sex marriage, as is Canada and Australia. And as the token gay man here, I totally get where they are coming from. But pulling this shit in Russia is not the way to do it. Especially not as foreign nationals. They have to leave that up to the Russians to fight for it.”
“Once the State Department turns their back on them, if they find out this was on purpose,” I said, “they’ll disappear into the system and there’s no way to get them out.”
Holland picked at the chair arm next to him. “What…what about bribes?”
We all just kind of stared at him.
“Well, come on. That’s how Grig was getting us in and out of Russia on a private plane. Why can’t we use that to get them out and get them out of country? I know it’s not fucking ethical or legal, but we can’t leave them there. And you are all thinking the same thing I am—the State Department is absolutely going to figure out they were at that protest on purpose and they’ll wash their hands of it.”
We were quiet. Holland was right. No matter what I told Dasch to say, those women were going to be part of the Russian justice system. They would tell them they had been at that protest.
Rand spoke up, “I’m not very good with breaking the law. Where would we even start to bribe them for this?”
Dietrich pulled out his phone. “I’ll call my father. He knows.” The phone was already dialing.
We were really going to do this?
“Josef Petersen,Guten Tag.”
“Papa,we have a problem.”
