Steven Gore - Final Target

“What do you think?” Gage asked.

“They’re not mine,” Ninchenko answered.

Gage thought for a moment. “Maybe it’s somebody who wants to keep an eye on Gravilov.”

“Hadeon Alexandervich?”

“Could be.”

“How about Alla? You think they got to her somehow?”

“She asked me what vehicle we were in, but I didn’t tell her.” Gage glanced at the monitor. “If these guys knew someone was out here, they’d have parked behind us or on the other side of the hotel with a view back this way. That way they could watch everything on the street.”

Gage and Ninchenko watched on the monitor as one of the men leaned over and kissed the other on the lips, then got out of the car. The driver sped away.

“Not everything is a conspiracy,” Gage said.

“Or at least not our conspiracy,” Ninchenko said, raising his teacup. “To love.”

“ L’chayim.”

Ninchenko pointed at the monitor. “She’s pulling up.”

“Turn on the recorder,” Gage said. “I want to put together a little piece on how Scoob Matson spent his winter vacation.”

Ninchenko reached over and activated it.

The wrought-iron gate slid open to permit Gravilov’s G55 to enter the hotel grounds. Ninchenko tracked it until it stopped at the entrance, then drew back for a wide view of the vehicle, the hotel entrance, and the sidewalk in between. A driver and a bodyguard stepped down and immediately reached to open the two passenger doors. Alla got out of the one closest to the entrance and glanced back toward the street. Her eyes scanned the cars and trucks along the curbs, but didn’t come to rest on the van.

The driver reached for Matson’s briefcase as he came around the back of the SUV, but Matson pulled it away. The bodyguard retrieved the luggage and followed Matson and Alla up the stairs and inside.

Ten minutes later an enormous silver Mercedes sedan approached the hotel. It hesitated until the gate slid open, then drove onto the grounds. Gravilov got out, then walked around the left side of the building, out of Gage’s view.

“Where’s he going?”

“The restaurant is downstairs. It has an outside entrance.”

“What do you suppose they’re having?”

“I know it’s not this.” Ninchenko reached into the refrigerator and withdrew three ham sandwiches and three Cokes.

“It’s okay,” Gage said. “We have better ambience.”

“And company.”

They clinked their Cokes, then woke Kolya.

“How much time do we have?” Ninchenko asked after they finished eating and Kolya was once again curled up in the corner of the van.

“It depends on when they make the deal and when Matson’s bank confirms that the payment arrived.”

Gage’s phone rang.

“It’s me,” Alla said.

“Stop-where are you?”

“In the hotel room.”

“Turn on the radio. The room is probably bugged.”

Gage heard the rustling of Alla walking, then Ukrainian pop-rock music in the background.

“They gave us a suite on the floor above the lobby,” Alla said. “It faces the park. There’s even a balcony.”

“What’s the layout?”

“The suite runs the length of this side of the hotel. There’s a bedroom, a dining area, and an office. The balcony is off of the office.”

“How’s Matson?”

“He confessed to me that people were murdered. He thinks Gravilov and Hadeon Alexandervich might kill him whether they get their money back or not. Everybody who was killed was in a position to hurt Gravilov. Stuart said he did something stupid but won’t tell me what it was. He just went into the bathroom and threw up his lunch. He’s pretending that he caught the flu, but the truth is that he’s getting really scared.”

Gage knew Matson wasn’t the only one, and pretending otherwise would destroy her trust. “And you are, too.”

“I think I better get away. There are rumors that the opposition is planning mass corruption trials in January if they win, so Hadeon Alexandervich and Gravilov have nothing to lose. I have cousins further east, near the Russian border. I can hide there.”

“They’ll hunt you down in no time. You know too much. You’ve known too much since Gravilov visited you in London. You’re safer being close to us.”

“But I’ve got to come up with something to tell Stuart, otherwise-”

“How badly does Gravilov want the low-noise software?”

“Very.”

“Tell Matson to give Gravilov the video amplifier software after the money arrives, but hold back the low-noise. Say it’s in London. Make sure he erases it from his laptop.”

“I don’t think he knows the software well enough to tell which is which. He’d be too nervous anyway, afraid he’d delete the wrong thing and end up in worse trouble.”

“Is there a high-speed Internet connection in your room?”

“Yes.”

“Will he give you time alone on the computer if you tell him you can figure it out?”

“He may be too afraid I’ll make a mistake and then Gravilov will-”

“Is he still throwing up?”

Alla paused and Gage heard the faint flush of a toilet. “Yes.”

“Then he’ll give you all the time you need.”

“But I know nothing about this kind of software-he’s coming out.”

The line went dead.

Gage called Blanchard.

“Is there an easy way to differentiate between the video and low-noise software on Matson’s laptop?”

“Sure. But files could be spread over several different directories.”

“How long would it take to delete just the low-noise amplifier software from Matson’s laptop?”

“How competent is the person doing it?”

“She studied engineering, but knows nothing about this kind of code.”

“She probably couldn’t.”

“What about you?”

“Get me connected and I’ll give it a shot.”

Gage thought for a moment. He didn’t come to Ukraine to help Matson commit a crime, but to stop him. Then an idea. Maybe he was wrong when he told Ninchenko on Castle Hill that he couldn’t do everything.

“I want to use Matson as a Trojan horse,” Gage said. “Can you do that, too?”

Blanchard didn’t respond right way. Gage imagined him sitting in his little workshop, his mind racing toward a solution.

“It’ll be difficult…let me think…The changes will have to be very subtle. If they’re too gross, they’ll be spotted on a first pass…Remember when we talked about embedded software testing? There are three parts. The hardware, which I assume is nearly assembled, given the timeframe you mentioned. The software. And the device with the software embedded…” Blanchard’s voice trailed off. Then the sound of his hand slapping his workbench. “I got it. Do you know where SatTek’s previous test data can be found? It would be in something called the metrology database.”

“On the backup tapes at my office. Alex Z from my office will bring them to you and set up a remote connection to Matson’s computer.”

Gage heard the beep of an incoming call an instant before he broke off from Blanchard.

“He’s back in the bathroom,” Alla whispered. “I suggested he hold back the low-noise amplifier software. He likes the idea.”

“Were there negotiations during lunch?”

“No. They’ll finalize the figure this afternoon.”

“We can’t let that happen. I don’t want them transferring the funds during banking hours in Switzerland today. Matson needs to make the low-noise proposal, then move the meeting to dinner.”

“But I don’t think I can delay them. Gravilov doesn’t take me seriously.”

“Then play mother to Matson. If you pretend he’s sick, he’ll keep believing it and will be convincing when he postpones his visit to the plant. There’s really no reason to go, they’re just using it to pressure him.”