Cold Front by William H. Lovejoy

Author:William H. Lovejoy [Lovejoy, William H.]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Endeavour Media
Published: 2015-08-10T00:00:00+00:00

Fifteen

The traffic regarding Garrett was getting hectic. After the message from the Air Force Intelligence plant, which Zanov had dutifully reported to the office of the KGB Chairman, to the chairman of the First Chief Directorate — who was now interested, and to Kamchatka, there had been many telephone calls.

Because a man went on leave?

Grigori Illiyich Zanov went back over the message copies accumulating in Garrett’s file. He knew something about missing scientists apparently, and therefore had been marked for execution. It was very strange, though he had to admit that men had been killed for less.

It was strange enough that Petrovsky had called once again and demanded prompt notification of any change in Garrett’s status. It was strange enough that General Korontoyev in the First Chief Directorate had come down to the sub-basement to use a scrambler telephone to make a call to the Soviet Mission in New York.

Zanov, because he no longer had other pursuits to capture his attention, had learned to pass the long hours of his shifts attempting to unravel intrigues within his own service.

He would especially like to unravel any that might possibly affect Major Boris Ivanovich Petrovsky in a negative manner.

So he attempted to monitor Korontoyev’s conversation with New York. He was aided by the overheated basement, which forced Korontoyev to leave the door to the soundproof cubicle ajar. Though he placed himself in a similar cubicle, on an apparent similar communication, Zanov was unable to overhear more than “Washington, D.C.,” “Alexandre,” and “Garrett.” The words told him little.

He knew by hearsay that Alexandre was one of the Motherland’s top assassins, and now he knew the agent was controlled through New York. A bit of deduction with the roster of the Mission might help him pin down the identity. At the very least, it gave him an investigative game to play while wasting away his time in the basement.

When Korontoyev left, he told Zanov to give top priority to any messages arriving from Alexandre.

“Alexandre, Comrade Chairman Korontoyev?”

“Yes, Major. He is to be given priority on all requests, and my office notified promptly. And I want you to stay through the next shift to handle it.”

That had been gratifying, knowing that he still had a talent that was wanted, and Zanov happily remained at his desk, forgetting to call Natasha and mention his added work assignment.

Nothing at all happened for several hours.

Finally, there was the cable saying that Garrett had apparently left the city with Morris by way of a rented car. It asked that agents in all American and European cities with international airports be alerted to the couple’s possible arrival or departure.

Zanov immediately sent the alert to all of the affected embassies, consulates, and residencies, then informed Korontoyev and received a compliment.

As an afterthought, he had an informative cable sent to First Base in Kamchatka.

Hours later, he was going off duty to painfully return to the drab apartment when the next key message came in: Garrett and Morris had been observed in Madrid, and the agent-in-place wanted to know what he should do about it.

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