Snow Wolf (65 page)

"What will happen to my
daughter?"

"Anna ... "Tell me."

Lukin saw the utter misery in her eyes.
She was on the edge of tears but she didn't cry. He shook his head. "I
can't answer that, Anna. I honestly can't."

He saw the grief flood her face and
despite his own despair it almost broke his heart.

He touched her shoulder gently.
"We'd better leave now. There isn't much time."

Anna sat in the front passenger seat as
Lukin drove. She stared out beyond the windshield at the lights of Moscow.

He had signed the release and transfer
papers in front of a warden before he put the handcuffs on her. Five minutes
later they drove out of the Lubyanka courtyard and he had pulled up to the curb
and removed the handcuffs. After that he had been silent. She didn't care
whether he spoke or not. All she could think of was Sasha. It had almost broken
her heart to see her again. Holding the child in her arms had brought back a
flood of memories and she thought she was going mad with anguish. She felt as
if someone had stuck a dagger in her heart.

So much about her daughter had changed
and yet she was still Sasha. She remembered the smell of her, the feel of her
skin. And then came a flood of grief when she realized all the moments they had
missed together in their lives.

And then Lukin had taken her away and she
would never see her again.

She had wanted to die at that moment in
the park, because only death would put an end to her suffering. And now she was
consumed with worry; what would happen to her daughter?

Despite what Stanski had done, somehow
she didn't seem to care. She looked at Lukin as he drove. She hated him. Hated
him for what he was and what he had done to her.

She wanted to kill him.

Looking at his face, she realized he was
close to the breaking point. For a brief moment in the cell she had felt
compassion for him, but now she thought of Sasha again and her anger came back.

Finally, she couldn't bear the silence
any longer.

"Give me a cigarette."

Lukin looked across at her. "Are you
all right?"

"Just give me a cigarette."

He pulled in and searched in his pocket.
He gave her his cigarettes and lighter and pulled out from the curb again. Anna
lit a cigarette and saw that her hands were trembling.

"May I have one too?"

She lit another and handed it across.
Lukin glanced at her. "Stanski must love you."

"Why?"

"To do what he's done. He's either
very courageous or else he loves you so much he's being reckless." When
Anna didn't reply, Lukin said, "Does he love you?"

"He's not doing this for love."

"Then why is he doing it?"

"Because he doesn't want to see me
harmed or killed by bastards like you."

Lukin looked across at her steadily.
"Anna, let me tell you something. I've never killed or hurt a woman in my
life. And as far as asking for the job of finding Stanski, I was ordered to.
But one thing I will tell you. If he harms Nadia, I'll kill him."

Lukin switched off the engine and doused
the headlights. As he stepped out of the car he said to Anna, "Please
wait, and don't leave the car."

He started to walk toward the deserted
convent. Halfway there he looked back at the BMW. Anna Khorev was still sitting
in the passenger seat. He heard an owl hoot.

There was an arched entrance in front
which led into the convent. When he reached the archway he halted. A rusted
trellis gate stood at the end. He stepped up to the gate. It was padlocked with
a heavy chain. Beyond stood a collection of dilapidated whitewashed buildings
set around a small courtyard with a fountain in the center.

He heard a voice behind him.

"Turn around slowly."

Lukin turned, his pulse racing, as
Stanski stepped toward him out of the shadows, the Tokarev pistol in his hand.

"Up against the wall and spread your
feet."

Lukin bit back his rage and did as he was
told. When he had finished searching him, Stanski said, "Where's Anna?"

"in the car."

"You came alone?"

"Only with the woman. Where's my
wife ... ?"

"Later."

Lukin was spun around to the right and
Stanski pushed him forward. "Walk toward the car."

"My wife ... we agreed,
Stanski."

Lukin glanced back and felt the barrel of
the gun in his neck.

"How do you know my name?"

"We knew all about you and the woman
before you parachuted onto Soviet soil."

"What else do you know?"

"You're here to kill Stalin."

There was a silence, then Lukin felt the
gun press hard into his neck. "Keep looking straight ahead and walk. You
try anything and I drop you."

"You're either a very brave man or a
complete fool. After tonight you won't stand a chance of getting near Stalin.
The entire army will be searching Moscow for you. Take my advice and forget
what you came to Moscow to do. You're throwing your life away. And
Anna's."

He felt the sudden sharp blow on the back
of his skull and a bolt of pain jolted him. "Now why don't you shut the
hell up and keep walking."

They reached the BMW and Stanski flashed
an electric flashlight in Anna's face. "Are you alone?"

"Yes."

"Were you followed?"

"I ... I didn't see anyone."

Stanski shone the light around the inside
of the car. "OK, step out slowly."

When Anna stepped out, Stanski said,
"At the back of the convent there's a road by the river. You'll see a car
parked. Someone's waiting in the driver's seat. Get going, fast."

Suddenly Stanski fired a shot into the
BMW's right front tire. It hissed and deflated. He did the same with the
driver's side.

He came back and aimed the Tokarev at
Lukin's head, then said to Anna, "What the hell are you waiting for.
Go!"

Anna didn't move as she looked at
Stanski. "What about Lukin's wife?"

"Get going. Leave this to me."

"Don't kill him."

"Just do as I say. Get going.
Now!"

"No. Not until you release his wife
and promise me you won't harm them. Not until you do that."

Stanski stared at her in disbelief.
"Just whose side are you on, for God's sake! Move!"

Anna didn't flinch. "I mean it. I'm
not going until I know his wife's safe and you won't harm him."

Stanski had a wild look on his face and
for a moment Anna thought he would kill both her and Lukin.

"Please, Alex." He said
angrily, "Go to the car. The woman's inside. Bring her here. Quickly. I
haven't got all night."

"You won't kill him?"

"No. Now move. Get his wife."

She moved away toward the convent at a
run.

Stanski gestured to LUKIN with the gun.
"Get down on your knees. Then lie flat on your stomach.@' Lukin turned
pale. "Are you going to kill me?"

"Do it or I take your head off
now."

Lukin knelt, then lay in the snow on his
stomach. "if you're going to kill me do it now. Do it before my wife
comes. I don't want her to see this."

Stanski put the tip of the barrel against
the back of Lukin's skull. He cocked the hammer.

For a long time he hesitated, then he
said, "It's tempting, but not this time, Lukin. I think your life's just
been saved. I can't think why. But let me tell you this. If I see you again
after tonight you're dead."

Stanski heard a noise and turned. Anna
raced out of the shadows of the convent wall, clutching Lukin's wife by the
arm.

They had come halfway when Stanski
shouted, "That's far enough! She comes the rest of the way alone."

Anna let go of the woman's arm. Stanski
was already moving back toward the convent, the Tokarev still aimed at Lukin.
He passed Lukin's wife and then shouted at Anna, "Get back to the
car."

For a second she hesitated, as if to be
certain that Lukin and his wife were safe, then she turned and ran. Stanski
started to follow her, moving backward, the gun still trained on Lukin, until
finally he turned and trotted toward the convent walls.

When Stanski was twenty meters away,
Lukin pushed himself up from the snow and grabbed Nadia.

"Get in the car!"

He saw the naked fear on his wife's face
as he pushed her into the BMW.

"Yuri-please-what's going on-?"

"Start the car. Drive to the end of
the street and wait there. Drive carefully, the front tires are punctured. But
get the hell out of here fast. Do it, Nadia, no questions!"

He slammed the car door and already he
was reaching under the left front fender, He worked feverishly , fumbling until
he found the knotted cord and tugged. He felt the Tokarev revolver slip free as
the knot released. He placed the weapon on the hood and felt under the fender
again, tugged at the second cord, and the bigbarreled Negev flare gun plopped
into the snow.

He worked like a man possessed, sweat
dripping down his face. He put the Tokarev under his arm and grabbed the flare
gun. When he looked back through the windshield he saw Nadia's face stare at
him in horror as she saw the weapons.

"Go! Nadia, get the hell out of
here!"

For a moment she seemed to hesitate, then
he banged on the hood with the butt of the Negev and roared at her.

"Quickly, woman! Go!"

The BMW exploded into life.

The car started to move, slowly at first
until the punctured tires gripped the snow, then it shot forward.

As the BMW roared away, Lukin looked back
at the convent. He could still see Stanski's figure moving toward the river in
the shadows of the wall, sixty meters away.

For a moment Stanski appeared to turn,
hearing the roar of the BMW as it raced away. Lukin dropped the Tokarev in the
snow, cocked the Negev flare gun, raised it above his head and squeezed the
trigger.

A deafening crack erupted as a burst of
brilliant orange light exploded above in the darkness and the flare turned
night into day.

In the glare of light Lukin saw Stanski
halt, his figure illuminated. Already he was turning, reacting.

At the same moment a black Emka came
roaring out of nowhere, its engine screaming like some wild animal. As the car
skidded to a halt in front of Lukin, Pasha burst out of the driver's door
clutching a machine-pistol.

Lukin dropped the flare gun and grabbed
the Tokarev. In one swift movement he knelt, rested his elbow on his knee and
cocked and aimed the revolver. He caught Stanski clearly in his sights and
squeezed the trigger. The shot ' missed and ricocheted off the convent wall. As
he aimed again, suddenly Pasha opened up with the machinepistol, flame leaping
from the barrel as lead exploded in puffs of snow in front of Stanski, shots
ringing around the convent walls. What happened next Lukin could hardly
believe.

Stanski calmly knelt, aimed and fired
twice.

The first shot kicked up snow but the
second hit Pasha and he screamed and rolled over.

Before Lukin could aim again, the orange
light started to flicker and a tendril of smoke plummeted to the ground. The
flare extinguished and light plunged into gloom. Lukin heard an engine splutter
to life.

He clambered to his feet, running forward
like a man possessed, ignoring Pasha's body lying in the snow, firing the
Tokarev blindly into the darkness after Stanski.

When he reached the road by the river he
was just in time to hear a car roar away.

Ramenki District, Moscow.

The Skoda pulled up outside the dacha and
Stanski, Anna and frena climbed out.

Irena led them inside, and when she had
lit the wood stove and oil lamps she went into the kitchen and came back with a
bottle of vodka and three glasses. She poured them each a drink with trembling
hands and swallowed her own quickly.

Her face was white with anger as she
stared over at Stanski.

"We all could have been killed
tonight. I thought you said there wouldn't be any trouble?"

Stanski put a hand on her shoulder.
"Take it easy, Irena. It's all over and you're safe."

"Safe? When I saw the sky light up
and heard the shooting I thought I was dead for sure. We're lucky we didn't
have half the army on our backs after what happened. And it's hardly over. Look
at me, I'm still trembling."

Stanski picked up his glass. "But
you're still alive, Anna's free, and no one followed us. All in all, not a bad
end to the evening, I'd say."

Irena saw the slight smile on Stanski's
face and shook her head in exasperation. "If you're trying to be funny,
your humor's wasted-my nerves are too frayed."