The Man from Leningrad Page 14

  “I can handle it from here, Roman,” Hambrick said.

  “Sorry, I can’t leave you in here alone with these two. Direct orders.”

  “I see,” Hambrick said. “Well, they’ll be out of here in just a moment.”

  “I’ll wait,” Roman said.

  Maddux felt his chance to communicate slipping away but wasn’t about to go down without making a sincere effort.

  “Would you like for me to pour you a drink, Mr. Hambrick?” Maddux asked.

  His father nodded. The two men locked eyes again before Maddux glanced down at the cart. He picked up the champagne as if to show it his father, holding it up for a few seconds. Studying Hambrick’s eyes closely, Maddux watched as his father saw a five ruble coin placed perfectly in the center of a piece of white cardboard, exposed from the previous hiding place directly beneath the bottle. Then Maddux tapped the bottle next to it subtly with the back of his finger.

  Hambrick nodded knowingly before cocking his head slightly to one side.

  “Thank you,” Hambrick said.

  Maddux forced a smile and wheeled the cart around toward the door with Rose in tow.

  Roman gestured for them to hurry up as he propped the door open. After leaving the cart just outside the door, they headed back down the hallway. They returned to Maddux’s room and didn’t speak until the door was shut behind them.

  “What now?” Rose asked.

  “We wait.”

  Chapter XXVI

  JOHN HAMBRICK SLIPPED the coin into his pocket before offering Roman a drink. The guard politely declined before returning to the hallway to stand watch. Once the door latched shut, Hambrick couldn’t hold back the tears. He gave up so much for his country, starting with his wife and children. While leaving his marriage was difficult, his wife Gladys was the one who encouraged him to pursue the opportunity. She told him his sons were grown and they would be fine without him. Maybe that was the case, but seeing Eddie again for the second time in about a month made Hambrick realize he wasn’t fine without them.

  The life of Herman T. Maddux had almost disappeared, memories swallowed up by a bigger purpose. At least the mission seemed more important at the time. Even if Hambrick’s sons really understood, would they agree that protecting their country and her freedoms was such a significant calling that they wouldn’t mind going through life thinking their father jumped to his death from a bridge? At least Eddie knew the truth now. Hambrick only wished he could have a conversation with his son about it.

  Maybe one day.

  Hambrick dug the coin out of his pocket and inspected it. After fiddling with it for a few seconds, he separated the head from the tail, revealing a microdot. Then he felt the other bottle and noticed a Zapp outfit tucked inside. What his son wanted was clear—he needed information. But what information exactly? Hambrick didn’t have enough time to put everything he knew onto a microdot and transfer it back to Eddie, even though he had no instructions how the exchange would take place.

  Ultimately, the plan had always been for Hambrick to become deeply embedded within the Soviet military’s engineering corps and eventually spill all the secrets when the time was necessary. But this was a brazen attempt by his son to make contact, one that reeked of desperation. Hambrick was well aware of everything that was going on, particularly with the Soviet navy. He had to be. The missile defense system had to be operational by the time they launched the attack. And while he had done his best to delay it, the day of reckoning was drawing near without a way to stop it—or maybe not.

  Hambrick couldn’t decide what information was more important—the location of the subs or the weakness within the missile defense system. And that was just a small portion of what he knew. There were other details that the U.S. needed to know that he hadn’t been able to communicate. Over the past year, Hambrick’s movements had become restricted by the Soviets, not because they feared he might return to the U.S. but because they were afraid someone might try to abduct him or extract information from him in some other manner. Standing in the hallway just outside his door, Roman wasn’t a guard who had just been assigned to watch Hambrick while at The National. The Russian agent was a highly trained KGB operative who had been on Hambrick’s detail since the extra security initiative began. And Hambrick admitted he would do just about anything to get rid of the man always lurking in the shadows.

  Hambrick’s feeling to free himself of Roman had never been stronger. In a small timeframe, Hambrick needed to create room to record everything he knew and distill it onto a microdot.

  Taking a seat at the small desk in the corner of the room, Hambrick began to sketch out his notes, detailing everything he knew that he hadn’t been able to transmit back to Washington over the past year. At first glance, the information was overwhelming. But Hambrick shrugged it off and kept working. The experts would know what to do with it.

  Once he finished, he went into the bathroom and took pictures and began developing them. That was a critical part of the step in reducing the information down enough to fit on a microdot. If Roman decided he needed to use the restroom, simply turning the light on in the room might ruin the film. So before beginning the process, Hambrick poked his head out of the front door and shared his plan to take a long bath with Roman.

  “No interruptions, please,” Hambrick said. “If you need to use the restroom, there’s a public one downstairs.”

  “But I’m not allowed to leave my post anyway,” Roman said. “I’ll be fine, sir.”

  Hambrick retreated back inside the room, tempted to lock the door. However, he didn’t want to draw more attention to the fact that he didn’t want Roman around. That would only make the guard more curious.

  Hambrick turned on the water, filling up the tub while he set up the darkroom using the tools Eddie provided in the Zapp kit. Working quickly, Hambrick took pictures of all the documents he drew up, including some of the rough schematics of the missile defense system. He developed the film and began the process of distilling the images down so small that they could be placed on a microdot.

  Once he was finished, he drained the water in the tub and took down all the supplies he had used to develop the photographs. After he finished that, he opened the five ruble coin and placed the microdot inside. Then he eased the money into his pocket and cleaned up any remaining evidence, flushing liquids and hiding two small bottles in the toilet tank.

  He exhaled slowly as he scanned the room once more for any possible evidence. The only thing left was the bottle that had contained the Zapp outfit. The bottom was unscrewed, so he put it back in place and set it on top of his desk.

  A few seconds later, a knock at the door startled him.

  “Dr. Hambrick, it’s time for bed,” Roman said.

  “I’m just tidying up a bit.”

  “I need to get in.”

  “One moment,” Hambrick said before hustling across the room. He unbolted the lock and swung open the door, allowing Roman access. Rolling the service cart across the room, he stopped it near the desk.

  “Thank you,” Hambrick said as he started piling the tray and dishes onto the cart.

  “I’ll sleep on the couch by the door there,” Roman said.

  Hambrick finished cleaning up.“What time are we leaving in the morning?”

  “The general wants you on the noon flight to Leningrad.”

  Hambrick nodded and headed straight for his bed, stopping at the foot of it to remove his slippers and bathrobe. He was focusing on his task and not watching Roman as he spoke.

  “Turn the lights out when you are finished.”

  “What’s this?” Roman asked.

  Hambrick spun around to see Roman holding the bottle of champagne that had been used to store the Zapp outfit.

  “Oh, it’s just some champagne,” Hambrick said, walking over nonchalantly toward the table.

  “But it’s empty,” Roman said.

  “I may have had a few glasses tonight while you were in the hallway,” Hambrick sai
d, still oblivious to the reason for Roman’s inquisition.

  “But the cork is still in it.”

  Hambrick furrowed his brow and reached for the bottle.

  “Let me see that.”

  Roman glared at Hambrick as he took it.

  “What’s going on here? I know that you didn’t shove a cork back into the top of a champagne bottle, did you?”

  Hambrick laughed nervously. “What do you mean? I do that all the time.”

  “Are you insane?” Roman asked rhetorically.

  Hambrick realized the result of this interrogation wasn’t going to end well. He needed to act fast. In a deft move, he stomped on Roman’s foot, eliciting a yelp from the KGB operative. As he reacted to the pain, Hambrick drew back and smashed the bottle into the back of Roman’s head, knocking him out.

  But Hambrick knew he couldn’t stop there. Dragging Roman’s body into the bathtub to make the cleanup easier, Hambrick bashed the guard’s face several more times. Once there was no pulse, Hambrick lifted Roman out of the tub and hurled him from the sixth floor window. Roman’s already-dead body hit the sidewalk adjacent to Mokhovaya Street with a bone-crunching thud.

  Hambrick looked at his watch. It was just past midnight and hardly anyone was out on the street. But he kept the window opened and shouted.“Help!”

  The hotel’s doorman rushed outside and looked at the body and then up at Hambrick.

  “He just jumped,” Hambrick shouted. “I tried to stop him, but I was too late.”

  “I’ll send the police right up.”

  Hambrick nodded and then gathered every bit of evidence he could find and dumped it into a trash bag. He raced down the stairwell and deposited the garbage in a dumpster in the back alleyway. After sprinting back up the steps, he returned to his room. He quickly mopped his brow then washed out the tub.

  That’s when he noticed a splotch of blood on the washrag. He rushed back into the bedroom and searched for a place to hide it. Without any viable options, he took a deep breath and shoved the rag beneath a napkin, further hiding it with the plate cover.

  Less than a minute later, several police officers and a KGB agent stormed up to the sixth floor. The commotion woke several guests, sending them spilling out into the hallway to see what was happening.

  “Go back to your rooms,” one of the officers said. “There’s nothing to see here.”

  A few people attempted to ask questions, but the officers ignored them, continuing to usher them away from Room 605. While obviously curious, the people eventually obeyed without raising any serious objections.

  With the hall cleared, the KGB agent shut the door and glared at Hambrick.“What exactly happened here?”

  Hambrick shook his head. “I don’t know what got into Roman. I was about to get into bed and had my back turned to him. He said something about being tired of this life and when I spun around, he was running toward the window. I begged him to stop, but it was too late as he hurled himself off the balcony and onto the sidewalk.”

  “We’re going to need to look at all the evidence in this room,” the agent said. “Don’t touch a thing, Dr. Hambrick.”

  Chapter XXVII

  MADDUX AND ROSE were sitting in the lobby and drinking tea when they saw the doorman rush inside and tell someone to call the police to report a suicide. Just the mere mention of the word suicide brought back a flood of emotions for Maddux. Despite the fact that he’d just seen his father a few hours before in the flesh, the pain from believing that he had jumped from the Brooklyn Bridge was still too real for Maddux.

  Could he have jumped for real this time?

  Maddux didn’t know how long he’d been sitting there, but he was jolted from his thoughts when Rose shook his arm.

  “Come on, Maddux,” she whispered. “We’ve got to move.”

  “What? Why?”

  “That was your father’s body guard,” she said. “We need to get upstairs quick and see what’s happening right now.”

  They sprinted to their rooms and changed quickly into their hotel employee attire, Maddux in his tux, Rose in her maid’s outfit.

  They got off the elevator on the sixth floor and found themselves on an empty corridor. However, voices from down the hall drifted their way, and they could see a bright light streaming from one of the doorways.

  “Just play it cool,” Maddux said as they approached.

  He knocked on the doorjamb and eased inside the room.

  “I’m sorry, but this is now a crime scene,” the KGB agent said. “You will have to come back later.”

  “I apologize. We were making our rounds and thought we could take the room service dishware back downstairs as we are wrapping up our cleaning duties for the evening.”

  The agent glanced around the room and noticed the cart sitting out in the open.

  “I’m sure it’s fine to get this out of here,” he said, picking up the plate cover to see what was underneath it. All he saw was several napkins wadded up.

  “Thank you, sir,” Maddux said as he grabbed the cart and then steered it toward the door.

  “Just one moment,” Hambrick said, rushing over to his nightstand to collect some change.

  “Come on,” the KGB agent said as he glanced at his watch. “We need to complete our investigation quickly.”

  Hambrick nodded and slipped a handful of coins onto the tray.

  “Thank you,” Maddux said before he and Rose veered into the hallway and toward the elevator.

  Rose eyed the coins and started to reach for them.

  “Don’t even think about it,” Maddux said. “Be normal.”

  They had almost reached the elevator lobby when one of the officers called out after them.

  “What now?” Maddux muttered under his breath before turning around.

  He swallowed hard and then took a deep breath before responding.

  “Do you need something?” Maddux asked.

  The officer waived a napkin at them. “You forgot this.”

  Rose smiled and strode back toward him to collect it.

  “Thank you,” she said. “Have a nice night.”

  Once she returned, the elevator dinged and the doors slid open. Another pair of men who looked like KGB agents pushed their way past Maddux and Rose and rushed toward the room.

  After loading up, neither of them spoke until they returned to Maddux’s room. Rose flipped on her distortion machine and signaled that it was safe to speak freely.

  He lifted the lid and saw a bloodied rag.

  “Would you look at this?”

  “Something happened before your father threw Roman out the window.”

  “He must’ve seen the Zapp outfit supplies. We need to get this washcloth out of here right now,” Maddux said as he sifted through the coins.

  He held up the five ruble coin and then opened it up. The microdot was secured inside.

  “He did it,” Rose said, a grin spreading across her face. “He really did it.”

  “But nothing of consequence has been done yet. We need to get this back to Bonn as soon as possible.”

  He slipped the coin into his shirt pocket and then put the rest of the coins into his pants.

  “I’ll take this downstairs in just a minute after I change. In the meantime, you need to get everything packed and ready to go so we can leave first thing in the morning.”

  “Roger that,” Rose said. “How does six o’clock sound?”

  “Early enough.”

  She smiled as she eased out of the room and back across the hall.

  Maddux left his shirt on but exchanged his pants for a pair that wasn’t as dressy. He also slipped into some more comfortable shoes and put on a trench coat. Stuffing the bloody washcloth into his pocket, he took the stairs down. Pushing through the door, the blast of cold air jolted his senses. The reality of his situation was stunning—standing outside a historic Moscow hotel after midnight following the retrieval of some of the biggest state secrets to come from the Soviet governmen
t and military. And he did it all with the help of his father.

  After tossing the rag into the dumpsters, Maddux marched back toward the hotel. But he didn’t make it there before a policeman stopped Maddux in his tracks.

  “Papers, please?” the officer said, holding out his hand.

  “Ah, yes,” Maddux said. “Let me get them for you.”

  Maddux stalled by feeling around his breast pocket and then checking his back and side pockets. He feigned a grimace.

  “I must have left them upstairs. If you wait a moment, I will retrieve them for you. You can even accompany me if you like.”

  The officer cocked his head to one side and stared at Maddux.“You know what? It’s been a long day. I would prefer to go home right now and skip arresting you. So, what about a small fee instead?”

  “I don’t think so,” Maddux said.

  “In that case, I could just arrest you right here for walking around without proper documentation.”

  Maddux sighed and looked off in the distance, remaining silent.

  “What were you doing out here anyway, comrade?” the officer asked.

  “I was just trying to get some fresh air.”

  “At this time of night? I don’t think hardly anyone who would believe such a ridiculous story.”

  “I’ve had a lot on my mind,” Maddux said. “Lots of pressure at work and family issues.”

  “That’s unfortunate. Did your wife put you out on the street tonight?”

  Maddux realized the belligerent officer wasn’t going any where. A payoff was the best course of action to avoid drawing any more attention or scrutiny to himself.

  “How much do you want?” Maddux asked.

  “How much is in your pocket?”

  Maddux dug into his pocket and produced the coins from his father’s tip. He poured them into the open hands of the officer.

  “That’s all I’ve got. Will that do it?”

  The guard sifted through the money before dumping it into his pocket.

  “That’s really all you’ve got.”

  Maddux raised his hand. “I swear on my grandmother’s grave.”