The Spy Who Came for Christmas (32 page)

^{Andrei. Where's Andrei?}

^{Kagan whirled again toward the front window.}

^{* * *}

^{HE WAS DRENCHED
in sweat. His breathing was frantic. He knew that barely two minutes had elapsed, but the intensity of the fight had made the passage of time seem much longer.}

^{The baby kept wailing. Then suddenly, it stopped.}

^{At once, Kagan heard Andrei's voice, but this time, it didn't come from the radio's earbud. Instead it came faintly from the area outside the house. Although Kagan had the sense that Andrei was shouting, the explosions had traumatized his ears enough that he had to strain to hear what was being said.}

^{"Pyotyr!" the voice called. "Don't say a word! Shut off your radio transmitter!"}

^{Wary, Kagan didn't respond.}

^{"Do you hear me?" Andrei shouted. "Shut off the transmitter!"}

^{What's he up to?
Kagan wondered. Tense, he did as he was asked.}

^{"Okay, it's off!" Kagan's words seemed to come from inside a tunnel.}

^{"I figured you were the one who survived. Otherwise, Yakov or Mikhail would have opened the door."}

^{"It's nice to know you have confidence in me."}

^{"More than you can imagine," Andrei said. "By the way, I
shut
off
my
radio transmitter also. The clients and the Pakhan can't hear us."}

^{"What are you doing?" Kagan aimed toward the half-broken window. More snow flurried through it. "All your shots were aimed high. If you'd continued the attack from the front, I'd have been killed."}

^{"You mentioned destiny. I figured I'd let Mikhail and Yakov decide it for me. If they won, then the child was meant to be delivered to our clients."}

^{"I thought you didn't believe in destiny." Kagan kept aiming through the window.}

^{"Of course I do. I'm Russian."}

^{"Tell me why you held back."}

^{"Things happened tonight, Pyotyr."}

^{"Yeah, it was a busy Christmas Eve."}

^{"The Pakhan called me certain names," Andrei said.}

^"Names?"

^{"Hooyesos. Govnosos. Kachok. Koshkayob."}

^{"That's a lot of disrespect."}

^{"He sided with the clients against me. He threatened me. Worse, he threatened my family."}

^{'And nobody threatens your family."}

^{"Believe it. Pyotyr, suppose I do defect. Where do you think I should ask for my wife and daughters to be relocated? You know Anna. What would she like?"}

^{"Considering tonight's weather, I think someplace warm." Kagan was reminded of why his parents had chosen Miami.}

^{"Or perhaps she's tired of living near water and would enjoy a change of scenery."}

^{"That's something you'll need to discuss with her."}

^{'As soon as we finish here," Andrei said from the front of the house. "You and I have hunting to do. If I'm going to}

^{switch sides, I can't leave my enemies alive to come after me and my family."}

^{Kagan heard a voice behind him. It belonged to Ted, who was saying something urgently. Then Kagan realized that Ted wasn't speaking to anyone in the house, and that he'd done something remarkable.}

^{"Andrei," he said through the shattered window, "Ted turned out to have more nerve than we imagined. He risked his life to save his wife and son. Now he searched one of the bodies to get a cell phone. He's talking to the police. How he got through I'll never know. But he did. I mention that in case you have a surprise planned."}

^{"You think I'm not telling the truth?"}

^{"I think that if this is a trick to grab the baby, you've got less than five minutes to make your move."}

^{"What kind of friends don't trust each other?" Andrei chided. "Actually, you're the one who has less than five minutes. If we're going to make this work, we need to get out of here right away. When I gave Yakov the key to the house, I kept the car keys. I used them a few minutes ago to back the Range Rover out of the garage."}

^{"I don't hear it."}

^{"I wouldn't expect you to, given what those explosions must have done to your ears. What caused them?"}

^{"The big one was a microwave I blew up."}

^{"Always resourceful. I'm sure Yakov and Mikhail were startled enough to lose their momentum."}

^{"For certain, Yakov did."}

^{"The bastard shouldn't have run away when that drug lord tried to kill me in Colombia. Pyotyr, make up your mind. If}

^{you want me to defect, you need to get out here and help me do what's necessary."}

^{The snowfall was now so thick that Kagan could hardly see anything beyond the window.
Is he trying to fool me into showing myself?
he wondered.}

^{'Andrei, do you know what Santa Fe means?"}

^{"Someone in the crowd mentioned it tonight. Holy Faith."}

^{"I guess it's time to have some faith of my own."}

^{Anything for the baby,
Kagan thought.
I need to keep Andrei occupied. I need to keep him away from the house.}

^{"All right, I'm coming out."}

^{He turned toward Ted, who lowered the cell phone and told him, 'A SWAT team and an ambulance are on the way."}

^{"Thank God," Meredith said. She stepped from the laundry room, appearing through the smoke that lingered in the kitchen. The lights outside provided enough illumination to show Kagan that she held the baby.}

^{"Are you all right?" he asked.}

^{"Scared. Sick." She glanced nervously toward Yakov's body, then quickly away.}

^{"And the baby?"}

^{"He isn't hurt."}

^{Kagan felt a momentary relief that was suddenly broken.}

^{"Wait a minute. Where's Cole?"}

^{"Cole?" Ted's voice was stark. "Where are you, son?"}

^{"Cole?"
Meredith looked around desperately.}

^{Kagan almost panicked, fearing that the boy had been shot, but then he heard a faint voice.}

^{"I'm here," Cole said. He limped from the shadowy hallway. Dragging his baseball bat, he made his way unsteadily among the drawers on the floor. Even in the shadows, Mikhail's body was obvious.}

^{It made Cole stop.}

^{"Cole, can you see me?" Ted asked. "Keep your eyes on me. Don't look down, son. I'm coming to get you."}

^{Broken glass scraped under Ted's shoes as he walked over. He picked up his son and lifted him over the corpse.}

^{When Ted set him down, Kagan put a reassuring hand on Cole's shoulder. He'd been puzzled by something that had happened during the gunfight, but now he understood.}

^{"Cole, when I told you to find a new hiding place, where did you go?" Kagan asked. "You came from the hallway. Were you in the bathroom?"}

^{"Yes." Cole sounded as if he was in shock. "I was lying in the bathtub."}

^{"The second man charged from the master bedroom," Kagan continued. "But I was out of ammunition. The only thing
that
gave me time to
grab
my knife
was that he
tripped."}

^{"Of course," Meredith said. "He tripped on one of the drawers you set down."}

^{"No, he knew about the drawers," Kagan told her. "And he was moving confidently. I don't think it was a drawer that tripped him."}

^{"Then what happened?" Ted asked. "Why did he fall?"}

^{"You'd better ask Cole."}

^{"I don't understand. What are you talking about?" "Tell them, Cole," Kagan said. "Your mother and father should know how brave you are."}

^{"Brave?" Ted sounded baffled.}

^{The boy hesitated. "I had to help. With all the noise, the man didn't hear me crawl out of the bathtub. When he ran past, I stuck out my bat."}

^{"Ton
tripped him?" Meredith asked in amazement.}

^{Cole fidgeted with the baseball bat. "I didn't know what else to do."}

^{Meredith spoke softly. "My dear brave boy."}

^{"He's more than a boy," Kagan said.}

^{"I hear sirens," Cole said, looking up.}

^{With little time remaining, Kagan stepped toward Meredith and the baby she held. He put a finger on the tiny forehead.}

^{"The child of peace? Lord, I hope so. Grow strong and healthy, little guy. Make me believe that it's possible to have peace on earth and goodwill to all."}

^{Andrei yelled from outside. There was nervousness in his voice now. "The sirens, Pyotyr."}