Cliff Ryder - Black Widow

His name was posted in this chat room.

* * *

There was a brief pause. I'll mention the name of the man you spied on in Istanbul.

Shocked, Ajza realized that whoever she was talking to knew far more than she'd ever expected.

"Does that mean anything to you?" Trevor asked.

"Yes."

"Then get out of there. This could all still be a bloody trick."

Ajza didn't think so. If these people knew as much as they evidently did, they could have come for her in a straightforward manner. So why had they come at her this way? It was irritating, and it made her curious.

When can I meet you? Ajza typed. If they were located in the United States, she expected travel arrangement would have to be made.

Say, two hours?

Surprised, Ajza stared at the entry.

"The connection tracks back to the U.S.," Trevor said, "but they've got someone located here in London. This is getting dicey, love. Doesn't leave us much time to prep."

"We couldn't prep enough for these people," Ajza said. She typed, I'll see you there. Then she logged off the site.

"Get up and get moving," Trevor said. "The longer you hang about there, the more dangerous it's going to get."

Ajza knew that. She grabbed her coffee and scone and left the building.

London

Samantha slid into her car, keyed on the ignition and lowered the windows a bit to let the hot air out. Then she turned the air conditioner on fall. In her mirrors, she watched the two security men get into two different black sedans. A moment later the first one pulled into traffic and she followed it. The second sedan trailed her.

She punched numbers into her phone. Kate answered on the first ring.

"Well?" Samantha asked.

"She's exactly what we thought she'd be," Kate replied. "I'm leery of the public meeting place."

"If she hadn't spotted the men we had on her, I might have been able to approach her more easily."

"That's off the table." Kate sighed. "We'll just have to play this out as it is."

"At some point," Samantha pointed out, "we'll have to trust her."

"I know. I'd just like a little longer to get there."

"We could delay this. I don't know if that's the wisest course. The problem in Chechnya is either high priority or it's not. Your call."

"Given everything I've learned about Taburova and Mustafa's sudden interest in brokering weapons — American weapons — I want a look inside Taburova's operation as soon as possible. We don't have anyone else free who could slip inside the way I think Manaev can."

"True, but I'll have to tread carefully," Samantha said. "I'm risking exposure here, and I don't want to be taken out of the game."

"You feel that you have to make this meeting?" Kate asked.

"Without question," Samantha said.

"All right. While you're doing that, I'm going to see if I can get some help inside Moscow."

"Do you have someone there?"

"Of course I do," Kate said. "I have someone everywhere. For all its nonexistence, Room 59 is big. Stay in touch."

* * *

"I see you, love. Don't get your knickers in a twist."

Even though she had chosen the meeting place, Ajza felt incredibly vulnerable. Mothers and nannies took children to the park. A few of them held brightly colored balloons that bobbed in the gentle wind. Sunlight slanted through the trees and cast moving rectangles across the green grass and winding walking paths.

"I'm fine," she said. Trevor waited at the other end of the phone connection. Ajza's hair hid the earpiece she wore. She was fine. She reminded herself of that.

But she knew she'd feel better if she had a pistol on her. Despite taking the one last night, she hadn't brought it to the park. She was already in trouble if MI-6 was watching her meet with someone she didn't know — for reasons she couldn't quite fathom herself, other than to try to keep her family safe.

Maybe if Ilyas hadn't gotten killed, or if MI-6 had been more forthcoming about his death, she wouldn't have been so concerned. However, MI-6 had lied to her parents, had lied to her and had blackmailed her into continuing that lie to her parents.

She owed them nothing regarding her personal life.

However, getting caught with a weapon by a passing policeman who thought she looked suspicious — and she was certain she did look suspicious — wasn't a good idea. She wasn't authorized to carry a weapon inside the country.

"Have you cut into the video feeds?" Ajza resisted the impulse to look at the cameras hidden around the park. With the terrorist-threat level high, covert video equipment had blossomed everywhere.

"I'm in, love. You don't have to worry about me." Trevor sounded calm and collected. "I see more now than you do. I'm everywhere."

Ajza glanced around the park again, suddenly aware of how much her aloneness made her stand out. Everyone else was there with someone. Parents played with their children or talked to each other. Young lovers walked hand in hand. A handful of young men threw a Frisbee.

Quietly Ajza cursed. She didn't know why she was looking. She didn't know who she was supposed to meet. In fact, she didn't even know if she was going to meet a man or a woman.

She focused on the need to keep her parents safe, and she told herself she was clever enough to get away no matter what happened. Ilyas's smiling face filled her thoughts, even though she didn't want it to. He'd always been so confident of everything he'd done, always worked to stay one step ahead of everyone.

What got you caught, Ilyas? What got you killed? Those questions cycled constantly through her mind. At the moment, they almost consumed her.

"Hey." Trevor's voice held a note of concern.

"What?" Ajza looked around, then took a few steps toward the street, ready to get out of the area. She headed out of the open space into the trees.

"Somebody's spoofed the blinking camera."

"How?" Ajza put more muscle into her stride. Her heart hammered within her, urging her to run.

"Don't know, love, but whoever did it, he's cherry, he is. I'm looking at the screen, but it's showing the same footage over and over. Techs monitoring this at the desk, they're not gonna notice it."

A trapped feeling filled Ajza.

"Do you want me to call the…"

The earpiece went dead in Ajza's ear. She pulled it out and pocketed it so that her hearing was sharper.

"Ms. Manaev, over here."

The woman's voice surprised Ajza. It was quiet, totally controlled. Like someone who was meeting an acquaintance.

Ajza tracked the voice back to the lone figure standing under a nearby tree. The woman stood with her hands, fingers spread out, at her sides. The stance wasn't natural, and Ajza knew of several weapons that could be hidden or quickly retrieved.

"We cut your friend out from the cameras and your phone connection," the woman said. "I do want to talk to you. Please don't panic."

Don't panic? Ajza seized the anger that floated up inside her. She used it to fuel her movement.

"Perhaps we should both be feeling a little panicked at the moment," Ajza said.

The woman smiled. "If it's any consolation to you, I'm not exactly at ease either."

But you have friends that shut my friend out, don't you? As Ajza closed in on the woman, she watched the frees through her peripheral vision. She expected the woman's bodyguards to close in on them, but no one appeared to take any special interest.

"Who are you?" Ajza demanded as she stopped in front of the woman.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that at this point."

"Then this conversation is going to be one of the shorter ones you've had." Ajza stared into the other woman's eyes. "Don't come looking for me again. Next time won't be as pleasant." She turned and started away.