Brad Thor - Foreign Influence

The next leak went to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, which reported that the house, located in a largely rural area, contained a significant stash of weapons and cash. It went on to say that while the victim’s identity had yet to be established, it was believed to be an Asian male in his late twenties or early thirties.

By the time Hessischer Rundfunk Television updated its viewers, the narrative was almost perfectly formed. Along with the weapons and money found at the house of the suspected black market information broker were several passports which the suspect had attempted to destroy. The name of the suspect and any names at all gleaned from the passports were being withheld by German authorities pending investigation.

While the names were being withheld from the German citizenry and its press, they were already being circulated through international intelligence channels. Mixed in among them was the name Tony Tsui.

Finally, Der Spiegel did a follow-up piece identifying the laptop removed from the scene as being suspected of containing sensitive German military secrets. Because the laptop was protected by an extremely sophisticated encryption system, it was very likely the government would seek outside specialists to help crack it.

Other international media outlets were already picking up on the story and running with it. Tony Tsui was as good as dead. That was the easy part.

Reed Carlton was a master spy who had spent a lifetime in the espionage and counterterrorism arenas building a network of friends, contacts, and people who owed him favors, but there wasn’t anything he could do to satisfy Adda Sterk’s second and final request before she would cooperate.

Looking at Nicholas, she said, “I want his dogs.”

Before Harvath could even respond, Nicholas had told the woman to go perform an impossible sex act upon herself and had lunged once more for the wrench.

“Why do you need the dogs?” Harvath had demanded.

“Collateral. As long as I have them somewhere where he can’t get to them, I know he won’t allow anything to happen to me.”

“At this point,” cautioned Harvath, “you’ve got a lot more to worry about from me than you do from him.”

The woman looked at him. “If I have the dogs, it’s in his best interest to make sure I’m safe from everyone, including you. When I’m someplace safe, I’ll make sure the dogs are returned. Take it or leave it.”

It was a discussion Harvath hadn’t wanted to have in front of Sterk so he had called Peio in to keep an eye on her while he walked Nicholas outside to talk to him.

It wasn’t surprising that a dwarf would hit below the belt and Nicholas took the low road right from the minute they exited the warehouse. He said that because Harvath didn’t have children, he would never understand what is was that Sterk was asking. Nicholas not only ranted at him, he threatened to have Harvath killed if he caved to her demands. As far as he was concerned, they were going to have to go back inside and start torturing her again because there was no way he was going to hand over his dogs to her. They would not be used as an insurance policy. End of discussion.

The man’s love for his dogs was one of the things Harvath had long respected about him. He could have berated him for beating Sterk so badly with the wrench. He could have blamed him and told him that’s what he got for taking out his anger on her in such a way, but he didn’t. He had done the same and worse in his life. Sterk had tried to have Nicholas killed and Harvath would have expected anyone in that situation to want revenge.

“We’re not going to give her your dogs,” he said.

“Then what are we out here discussing?”

As Harvath explained his plan, a smile crept across the little man’s face. When they stepped back inside, Harvath watched as Nicholas said a convincing good-bye to his dogs and then turned to face Sterk.

“If anything happens to my animals,” he said, “I will make sure you die a death even you couldn’t imagine. Am I clear?”

Sterk grinned and Nicholas raised his hand to strike her, but Harvath stopped him. “Enough.”

The doctor arrived an hour later. She rang Harvath’s cell phone to tell him she was there.

He stepped outside the warehouse to find a very fit, very attractive woman in her early thirties. She was leaning against a van identical to the one that was parked inside. Her reddish-brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail. She had blue eyes, full lips, and a wide mouth.

“I’m Scot,” he said offering her his hand. When she took it, he felt a bolt of lightning pass between them.

“Riley,” she replied, breaking off the handshake when she realized it had gone on a few seconds too long. “I’m sorry it took me so long. That was quite a to-do list I was handed.”

“How’d it go?”

“You can see for yourself,” she replied, stepping away from the door.

Harvath slid it open and looked inside. There were two large crates with two large, white dogs inside. Stacked next to them were boxes filled with Adda Sterk’s personal belongings from her home and office as well as two laptops, three desktop computers, and stacks of portable drives. “That’s what I call a house call. You work fast. I’m impressed.”

“That’s why they pay me the big bucks.”

He stepped back and closed the door. “The Old Man said you do security too?”

“That’s also why they pay me the big bucks.”

Harvath was definitely intrigued, but he didn’t have time to ask the questions that were going through his mind. “We’ll bring your patients out shortly.”

“I’ll be standing by.”

Harvath fought the urge to look back over his shoulder at her as he walked back into the warehouse. Though he couldn’t be completely sure, he was fairly confident that she was watching him.

Back inside the warehouse, he made a beeline for Adda Sterk.

“I’m thirsty,” she said.

“Too bad. I’ll give you one more chance to leave the dogs out of this.”

“No. No dogs, no deal.”

“Fine,” he said as Nicholas handed him his laptop.

Based on Sterk’s instructions, they logged on to a Swiss discussion forum under her account. Harvath looked up the user name she had given him and typed a quick message. Five minutes later he received a response.

When the instructions were complete, Nicholas loaded the dogs into the back of his van and watched as Peio drove them out of the building.

He returned twenty minutes later. Harvath had him help Riley load Michael Lee into her van and then he stood guard outside.

When Harvath checked the forum, there was a message waiting. The handoff had taken place and the dogs were being taken to “the country.”

He had no idea who the person in the discussion forum was. It could have been Sterk’s boyfriend, a student who owed her a favor, or a neighbor. He didn’t care. All he wanted was the information he needed to stop any more bombings and nail the people responsible.

Though the handoff had moved faster than he had anticipated, they had wasted a lot of valuable time.

He showed Sterk the confirmation message and said, “I’ve done everything you asked; now it’s time to live up to your end. I want to know who is behind the bombings and how I stop them.”

“I’m still thirsty,” she replied.

“As far as anyone is concerned, Tsui’s dead. You’ve also got the dogs. I’m not giving you anything else until you begin cooperating with me.”

“Fine. Although without water, I’m probably going to have some trouble speaking.”

Harvath was done getting jerked around. Turning to Nicholas, he said, “Go heat the cigarette lighter back up.”

As the Troll walked toward the van, Sterk looked up at Harvath. “That won’t be necessary. I’ll give you what you want.”