No Time for Heroes (63 page)

The killing of Gusovsky and Yerin ended the inter-Mafia conflict: the fighting that followed was between second-level Chechen battling for succession to the leadership.

‘It was how it should have been settled,' said Pavin, when they learned of the death of the Chechen leaders.

‘There isn't any satisfaction,' said Danilov.

‘There shouldn't be, not in vengeance,' said the other man.

It was the day the summons to the Interior Ministry arrived, from Vasili Oskin.

There was tea and further congratulations, this time for the way the prosecution evidence had been assembled and presented. There was also the news that the Rome trial was expected to begin in November. It was predicted to last three months, and the Italian authorities had been assured Danilov would be available throughout the entire hearing.

‘So you will be away from Moscow for a considerable time,' said the soft-voiced deputy minister. ‘It could even extend beyond that period.'

Was he here for nothing more than a hypothetical discussion about a trial he'd always known he'd have to attend? ‘I'll make a diary note of the date, to avoid any overlap with cases here.'

‘However long it takes, it will mean your being away from Petrovka,' said the man. ‘And there is still the unresolved matter of the directorship. I clearly can't continue as the titular head.'

It wasn't a hypothetical conversation, Danilov accepted. ‘Clearly not,' he agreed cautiously.

‘There's been widespread discussion, about your being appointed,' disclosed Oskin. There is a strong feeling among many people the position is rightly yours, after the success of this most recent case …' He hesitated. ‘… and another strong body of opinion that precisely
because
of that success, you are far too valuable an investigator to be elevated into an administrative role …'

They weren't even bothering to change the excuse. Danilov waited to feel disappointed – robbed again – but nothing came.

‘… And then there is this further long absence, in Italy. The Bureau could not be left without a commander for an indeterminate period …'

‘No,' agreed Danilov. If there was a feeling, it was boredom.

‘So the appointment is to be made from within this Ministry, not from the Militia,' said Oskin. ‘A trained lawyer. Vadim Losev. A very able man. He will have the title but in effect it will in future be a joint command. And you're being promoted, to full General.'

‘I am sure we will work well together,' said Danilov.

That evening, as he had done on several nights since her death, Danilov detoured to Novodevichy cemetery on his way home to Kirovskaya to stand by the marked grave, knowing he had to stop doing it but unwilling to, so soon.

‘They did win, darling,' he said. ‘I fought like you said I should, but they still defeated me.' He wondered if he would ever learn who they were. And what he could do about it, if he ever did. He wouldn't bother to tell Olga, not yet. She'd only become upset, even with the confirmed but meaningless promotion. He'd tell her about Italy, instead. She could start making another shopping list.

A Biography of Brian Freemantle

Brian Freemantle (b. 1936) is one of Britain's most prolific and accomplished authors of spy fiction. His novels have sold more than ten million copies worldwide, and have been optioned for numerous film and television adaptations.

Born in Southampton, on the southern coast of England, Freemantle began his career as a journalist. In 1975, as the foreign editor at the
Daily Mail
, he made headlines during the American evacuation of Saigon: As the North Vietnamese closed in on the city, Freemantle became worried about the future of the city's orphans. He lobbied his superiors at the paper to take action, and they agreed to fund an evacuation for the children. In three days, Freemantle organized a thirty-six-hour helicopter airlift for ninety-nine children, who were transported to Britain. In a flash of dramatic inspiration, he changed nearly one hundred lives—and sold a bundle of newspapers.

Although he began writing espionage fiction in the late 1960s, he first won fame in 1977, with
Charlie M
. That book introduced the world to Charlie Muffin—a disheveled spy with a skill set more bureaucratic than Bond-like. The novel, which drew favorable comparisons to the work of John Le Carré, was a hit, and Freemantle began writing sequels. The sixth in the series,
The Blind Run
, was nominated for an Edgar Award for Best Novel. To date, Freemantle has penned fourteen titles in the Charlie Muffin series, the most recent of which is
Red Star Rising
(2010), which brought back the popular spy after a nine-year absence.

In addition to the stories of Charlie Muffin, Freemantle has written more than two dozen standalone novels, many of them under pseudonyms including Jonathan Evans and Andrea Hart. Freemantle's other series include two books about Sebastian Holmes, an illegitimate son of Sherlock Holmes, and the four Cowley and Danilov books, which were written in the years after the end of the Cold War and follow an odd pair of detectives—an FBI operative and the head of Russia's organized crime bureau.

Freemantle lives and works in London, England.

A school photograph of Brian Freemantle at age twelve.

Brian Freemantle, at age fourteen, with his mother, Violet, at the country estate of a family acquaintance, Major Mears.

Freemantle's parents, Harold and Violet Freemantle, at the country estate of Major Mears.

Brian Freemantle and his wife, Maureen, on their wedding day. They were married on December 8, 1956, in Southampton, where both were born and spent their childhoods. Although they attended the same schools, they did not meet until after they had both left Southampton.

Brian Freemantle (right) with photographer Bob Lowry in 1959. Freemantle and Lowry opened a branch office of the
Bristol Evening World
together in Trowbridge, in Wiltshire, England.

A bearded Freemantle with his wife, Maureen, circa 1971. He grew the beard for an undercover newspaper assignment in what was then known as Czechoslovakia.

Freemantle (left) with Lady and Sir David English, the editors of the
Daily Mail
, on Freemantle's fiftieth birthday. Freemantle was foreign editor of the
Daily Mail
, and with the backing of Sir David and the newspaper, he organized the airlift rescue of nearly one hundred Vietnamese orphans from Saigon in 1975.