Julia Gousseva - Gray Shadows - Russian Historical Thriller

Nikolai took a chair, flipped it around, and sat down right across from Oleg.

“Listen to me. And look at me.”

Oleg looked up again, fear and worry evident in his eyes.

“We can settle this issue here, and nicely,” Nikolai continued. “Or you could go to jail for a long time. A very long time. And then your life here will seem like paradise.”

“I really don’t know.”

“Fine.” Nikolai sat back and turned to Vanya. “Call the police. Tell them we have a network security breach.”

Vanya got up and walked to the phone on his desk.

“No, no, don’t call. Please!” Oleg said.

“We’ve wasted enough time with you. You can explain it to the police. I’m sure they’ll be interested,” Nikolai said, getting up.

Vanya picked up the phone and started dialing.

“All right, all right,” Oleg said. “It was me, but I swear I didn’t do any harm. That virus doesn’t do anything bad.”

“And the virus doesn’t collect data or copy files? Or corrupt files?” Nikolai said. He was now standing over Oleg, looking down at him.

“It doesn’t, I swear. It just slows down the computers.”

“So you put it into the computers on purpose, to slow them down?”

“Yes, but I didn’t think it was a big deal.”

“But why would you do that?”

Oleg paused, clearly embarrassed. “So I get called back to come work on them. It’s hard to make money here, you know.”

“And why should we believe you?” Nikolai said.

“Because I’m telling the truth.” He looked at Nikolai. “My wife is pregnant, and we need the money. She won’t be able to work for a while. Please don’t call the police!”

Oleg’s mention of his pregnant wife brought back Nikolai’s first conversation with Oleg, back in the car when he was driving Nikolai and Natalya from the airport when they first came to Upper Luzinsk. That part was true, but what was also true that when people got desperate for money, like Oleg seemed to be, they were willing to bend or break the rules in many ways, probably more serious ones than putting an innocuous computer virus into the network.

Nikolai motioned for Vanya to hang up.

“You’re in trouble, Oleg, and you’d better be telling the truth,” Nikolai said. “If we find out that you’re lying to us, you’ll be in really big trouble.”

“Can I go?” Oleg said.

“For now you can,” Vanya said. “But don’t even think of leaving town. We will be watching you. And I will let Pyotr Alekseevich know about this virus thing.”

Oleg grabbed his coat and hat off the rack and rushed outside. Through the window, Nikolai watched him hurry off as he struggled to put his coat on in the freezing wind.

“I don’t trust him,” Nikolai said. “What do you think?”

“The only thing I know for sure is that his wife is pregnant, and they need the money,” Vanya said.

“How much does he know?”

“He runs all kinds of errands for us, and probably for Luna Oil.” Vanya paused. “He listens to conversations in both companies and he’s obviously not above some cheating.”

“But how far would he go to get the money, do you think?” Nikolai said. “Could he be involved in that tunnel business?”

“I don’t have much experience with all this intricate stuff. I’m mostly just a plain old security guard.” Vanya paused. “But he doesn’t look like a murderer to me.”

“And what does a murderer look like?” Nikolai said.

“I don’t know. I don’t know anything anymore.”

“We’ll know more tomorrow, after Viktor runs more checks,” Nikolai said.

“Right.” Vanya nodded.

Nikolai’s phone buzzed. He glanced at the screen. “Excuse me for a minute, Vanya. It’s Pyotr Alekseevich.”

“I got to go check some things in the garage. Come over when you’re done here,” Vanya said and stepped outside.

Nikolai nodded his agreement and answered Pyotr Alekseevich’s call.

“I hope this does not complicate the situation more,” Pyotr Alekseevich said. “Svetlana is coming back here next week, and she wants to bring our son to meet me. It’s strange timing. She knows about the stress and the pressure of the board meeting, but once she sets her mind to something, there’s no stopping her.”

“It’s all right, but I appreciate that you told me.”

As soon as their conversation was over, Nikolai had an idea. He kept thinking about it, and he was also trying to imagine how hard it would be to know you have a child and not see him for so many years. It was a difficult situation for Pyotr Alekseevich and that added to Nikolai’s doubts about the plan that was shaping itself in his mind. He cast all the doubts aside. Na voine kak na voine , a war is a war, and all methods are fair.

Nikolai dialed Anatoly’s number and told him about the arrival of Pyotr Alekseevich’s son and ex-wife.

“Anatoly, I have an idea about that. Hear me out.” Nikolai started talking, and Anatoly listened quietly and attentively.

After Nikolai finished his explanation, he paused waiting for Anatoly’s reaction.

“Not a bad idea, but a little questionable ethically,” Anatoly said. “Not sure what the law would say about it.”

“I only have one law, and that is to save the life of my client,” Nikolai said.

“Under the circumstances, I agree,” Anatoly said. “Let’s do it.”

Nikolai left the relative warmth of the security office and went inside the much colder garage. Vanya was just finishing cleaning Pyotr Alekseevich’s BMW. He picked up the makeshift mirror device that Nikolai had made, and started looking under the carriage.

“You taught me well,” he said to Nikolai. “A new step in my car-cleaning routine.”

“And the most important one. You may have to do it first thing in the morning again.”

“Why is that?”

“Svetlana and Pyotr Alekseevich’s son are coming tomorrow, and they’ll need to be picked up at the airport.”

“She can’t wait, I see? Moved up her arrival by a day? I always thought those two would get back together, but what weird timing.”

“It’s okay. We can handle it,” Nikolai said. “Just send the car.”

The next morning, as planned, Nikolai called Vanya to check on the arrival of Svetlana and her son.

“They’re here. Everything is fine,” Vanya said. “What about the computer virus? Have you heard from Viktor?”

“Yes. Oleg was telling the truth. The virus is innocuous. It didn’t do anything bad to our system besides slowing it down.”

“That’s good to know,” Vanya said. “Still, what a trickster that Oleg is.”

“And do you know what JS stands for?” Nikolai said.

“How would I know? I don’t understand computers at all.”

“Job Security. And that’s exactly what Oleg was after.”

“Clever. Very clever,” Vanya said. “And how do we know he’s not going to do this kind of stuff again?”

“I think he’s learned his lesson,” Nikolai said. “And we have bigger problems to solve now anyway. Where is Pyotr Alekseevich’s family?”

“I sent them to the conference room. Pyotr Alekseevich will be there as soon as he’s free. You guys really take good care of your clients and their families,” Vanya said.

“How so?” Nikolai said.

“Svetlana said that Anatoly took them to the airport himself. Quite a boss you have.”

“I’m not surprised. Thanks, Vanya,” Nikolai said. “I’ll go greet them.”

Svetlana, dressed in jeans, boots, and a warm sweater, sat on a couch in the conference room. A cup of steaming tea was in front of her on the low table. In the corner, two secretaries were busy making copies and putting them in folders, probably in preparation for the board meeting.