The Man from Leningrad Page 15

  “What’s that in your shirt pocket?” the officer asked, staring at Maddux’s chest.

  “Oh, this?” he said patting his pecs. “It’s my grandmother’s lucky coin she gave me right before she died. She told to keep it always and I’d have good luck.”

  “Well, she doesn’t need it anymore—and it obviously doesn’t work for you since your luck just ran out.”

  The officer held his hand out.

  Maddux contemplated his options with punching the officer in the face as preferential. However, two more officers exited The National and turned down the alley, headed straight for Maddux. He had to think fast or everything was in jeopardy of being lost.

  “I have some more money upstairs,” Maddux said, refusing to offer the coin. “A lot more. What if you come with me to the lobby and I’ll bring you twice what I just gave you?”

  The officer smirked. “Why don’t you give me that coin and we’ll go up to your room to get your money together? Or else I’ll arrest you.”

  Maddux exhaled slowly. He clenched his fists but resisted the urge to deliver a jaw-breaking uppercut. And given the fact that two more officers were rapidly approaching, that course of action wasn’t the most prudent. Instead, he placed the coin into the officer’s hand and turned back toward the hotel.

  “Follow me,” Maddux said.

  Chapter XXVIII

  MADDUX UNLOCKED THE DOOR, turning on the light as he entered the room. Clothes were scattered on the floor, while papers cluttered the desk in the far corner. He stepped over a pair of slacks wadded up next to his suitcase. Strewn on the bed was the hotel uniform he had worn earlier. Maddux realized the environment would lead to more uncomfortable questions if given long enough to ask them.

  “What you’re looking for is right over here,” Maddux said, maneuvering his way through the mess as quickly as possible.

  “Did you refuse to allow the maids to clean your room this morning?” the officer asked as he scanned the room.

  “I was in a hurry earlier to get out of some stuffier clothes.”

  “Do you work here at the hotel?” the officer asked.

  “Ah, here it is,” Maddux said, ignoring the officer’s question while waving his passport high in the air. Maddux hustled back across the room to show it to the officer. The document was as much of a distraction as proof that Maddux wasn’t some criminal roaming the streets of Moscow. He wasn’t sure it really mattered to this particular cop.

  “This looks like the same outfit the bellboys and concierges were wearing when we entered through the lobby a few minutes ago,” the officer said as he snatched the passport from Maddux. “Are you sure you don’t work here?”

  “You have my passport,” Maddux said. “Just take a peek inside and you’ll see that I actually live and work outside of Moscow. However, I do have business in Russia from time to time.”

  The officer snapped the passport shut and handed it back to Maddux.

  “Now, the real reason I followed you back to your room—the money,” the officer said, giddily rubbing his hands together.

  Maddux reached into his bag and pulled out a handful of bills, totaling more than two hundred rubles.

  “Is that enough?” Maddux asked.

  The officer’s eyes lit up as he used his thumb to sift through all the money.

  “That should be sufficient,” he said. “Have a nice evening.”

  Once the policeman exited, Maddux closed the door and leaned against it, exhaling long and slow as he slid down to the ground. He heard the elevator ding all the way down the hallway, signaling that the coast was clear.

  Maddux scrambled to his feet and rushed over to Rose’s room. He tapped lightly on the door.

  After a few seconds, she opened the door to let him in.

  “Do I need to remind you that this is a business trip, Ed?” she said sternly.

  “Quite the opposite,” Maddux said. “Get some more comfortable clothes on quickly. We have to follow the police officer I just had to bribe with all my change.”

  Her eyes widened as she stared at his, shaking her head subtly as if she was begging him not to say it out loud.

  “You didn’t—” she said, letting the rest of her sentence hang.

  Maddux turned his back while Rose put on a new shirt.

  “I’m done,” she announced. “You don’t need to keep staring into the corner.”

  Maddux hung his head. “I didn’t really have much of a choice. That officer was going to arrest me if I didn’t give him all the money in my pocket and then some.”

  “So you just offered up the five ruble piece without pondering the consequences?”

  “Every single second I was thinking about what was going to happen next, especially to that coin,” Maddux said. “I ran through all the scenarios in my mind, much like I do while playing a chess match. I realized I couldn’t win if I opted to hold onto that one piece. So, I needed a distraction to get him up here—and I need you to help me track him down the old fashioned way. Think you’re up for the challenge?”

  She nodded. “Ready as ever.”

  “Good,” Maddux said. “We need to get moving. Every minute we sit here talking, he’s putting more distance between us, making it far more difficult for us to track him back to his house.”

  “So that’s your grand plan?” Rose responded. “We’re going to break into his house and retake possession of the coin?”

  Maddux nodded. “Got any better ideas at the moment, because I’m all ears? Once we get moving, there isn’t any going back. Do you understand that?”

  She nodded. “Got it. Let’s go.”

  They raced along the hallway and then down the stairwell, skipping several steps at a time before hitting the street from a side exit. Rose located the officer almost immediately. He was walking at a leisurely pace, extorting anyone—no matter how innocent—who dared to step into his path.

  After another ten minutes, he finally arrived at his home. Instead of dwelling in a towering apartment building that was in desperate need of an attentive super, the officer lived in a house with a yard. A bone and a water dish on the sidewalk leading up the front steps signaled that the man also had a dog, which was a rarity in Russia. Families could barely afford to keep their families fed, often standing in long lines for grocery items that the government deemed staples and distributed to everyone, the amount determined by family size. Having a pet and the money to afford feeding it was one of the highest forms of privilege, though Maddux wasn’t sure policeman received a livable wage. Even if he didn’t, his extortion of various people roaming along the sidewalk late at night seemed to pan out well for him.

  Maddux and Rose crouched down and watched from across the street as the officer entered his house. The name Stanislav was etched on the mailbox by the edge of the road. Upon locking the door behind himself, he took off his jacket and meandered into the kitchen where he dumped all of his coins into a jar before stuffing in a few paper bills on top. He eyed all the money he had amassed and smiled knowingly, apparently pleased with the results.

  Remaining nearly still for the next half hour, Maddux and Rose continued to wait until the officer turned off the kitchen light and bounded up the stairs. They could see him brushing his teeth before the last light in the house dimmed and he officially declared the day over.

  But it was only getting started for Maddux and Rose. Everything they worked for on this mission was going to be for naught if they couldn’t retrieve the coin with the microdot inside. And Maddux was determined not to let that be the case.

  Satisfied that the officer had long since fallen asleep in bed, Maddux and Rose crept onto the porch and jimmied the lock until the door sprang open. Stealing across the hardwood floor, they entered the kitchen and sought out the coin jar. Maddux slowly lowered his hand inside and felt around for the larger denomination of coins. When he found one, he pulled it out examined it and then placed it aside.

  Where are you? Come to papa.

  Ro
se wore a permanent grimace on her face, cringing at every false move Maddux made. He nearly dropped several coins at once on the floor that would’ve made a loud racket, but he avoided it by clasping one coin in the crook of his pinky finger. After five minutes, he finally found what he was looking for. He quickly pocketed the ruble before rearranging everything to look almost exactly as it did before they’d arrived.

  However, the floorboards creaked hard when Maddux turned back toward the front door. Before he could dash outside, a golden retriever barreled down the steps right toward them. The dog barked then growled. It was the only thing standing between the duo and freedom.

  Maddux spun around and made a dash toward the back door, but he was stopped short when a gunshot rocked the house.

  “That’s far enough,” the Russian police officer said. He crept down the steps, his gun trained on Rose.

  “Don’t think she isn’t willing to sacrifice herself for a good cause,” Maddux warned.

  The next thing he heard was the sound of the officer cocking his gun.

  “I can arrange for that to happen to her—and just when I thought we were starting to get along.”

  “You’re a thief,” Maddux said. “You extort people to pad your already comfortable existence.”

  “Don’t forget my dog, Kirill,” the officer fired back. “He also enjoys the fruit of my labor.”

  “Well, Officer Stanislav, my colleague and I are going to walk out this back door and strongly encourage you to forget this whole episode ever happened,” Maddux said.

  “You know my name—how very unfortunate for you.”

  A bullet ripped through the air and zipped just inches away from Maddux’s head before hitting the wall behind him. The ringing in his ears made him realize that the officer would hardly be concerned with killing two Americans.

  Stanislav tied both of them up, placing them on their knees and tying their hands behind their back. He then dialed a number on his phone.

  “You won’t believe what just walked into my house,” Stanislav said. Without saying another word, he heard the voice on the other end yelling excitedly.

  The man on the other end said something, to which Stanislav replied, “I think so. Just hurry over here. I need your opinion on something.”

  Stanislav hung up and circled the room, closing in on Maddux and Rose with each time around as if contemplating how to kill his own prey.

  Maddux scowled as he looked at Rose. From the look on her face, he could tell she was growing weary of the theatrics. Maddux wanted to fight his way out of the situation, but he couldn’t. With his hands tied behind his back, all he could do was watch for an opportunity. Something would surely present itself—but he was running out of time.

  “You two should get comfortable,” the officer warned. “You’re going to be here for a long time until I find out what’s really going on.”

  Chapter XXIX

  MADDUX CLOSED HIS EYES and tried to focus. With everything at stake, he needed to sell a believable lie to Stanislav, a story with a promise that he would be better off releasing them instead of handing them over to the KGB. Inventing such a tale wasn’t an easy task. But eventually, Maddux harkened back to his training and came up with something.

  Shooting a sideways glance at Rose, Maddux nodded subtly.

  “Just follow my lead, okay?” he whispered.

  “Got it.”

  “Officer Stanislav,” Maddux began before a brief pause, “I can address you as Officer Stanislav, can’t I?”

  Stanislav inspected the firing chambers in his revolver before replacing the one he used as a warning shot.

  “You can call me whatever you like, but it won’t make any difference,” Stanislav said. “The little mind games you’re about to attempt on me won’t work. I know what to say when caught and how to make yourself appear as someone your captor can relate to. I fought in the war. So, you can save your breath.”

  Maddux sighed and jammed his shoe hard onto the floor, releasing the blades on the sides. He continued the conversation while slyly sawing away on the rope that bound his hands.

  “That is quite a relief. Spinning a story isn’t something I’m very good at.”

  “What now? Are you going to simply tell me the truth?” Stanislav asked before breaking into a chuckle. “If you think I’m going to believe a single word that comes out of your mouth, you are far more naïve than I ever imagined.”

  “When you’re the son of a Russian diplomat who was been raised in the U.S. and later assumed a different identity to infiltrate the American’s primary intelligence agency, you understand if Soviet loyalists perceive you as a threat. But you also can’t allow your cover to be blown.”

  Stanislav smiled before setting his gun down then breaking into a slow clap.“That is an imaginative story, one that can’t possibly be true.”

  Maddux shrugged. The CIA had taught him that the key to telling a believable lie was to make it as close to the truth as possible. Recasting personal details to fit an alternate narrative was highly effective. And while convincing the captor that the story is true would be a nice bonus, the overarching goal was to make him wonder if there was some truth to the story, forcing him to choose to either ignore that possibility or act on it.

  “Is that a chance you’re willing to take?” Maddux asked. “If my identity is burned by your foolish attempt to extract a payday from the KGB, you may find yourself staring down the barrel of a Soviet gun sooner rather than later.”

  “Your story seems rather convenient if not completely contrived,” Stanislav said, picking up his revolver and continuing to inspect it.

  Maddux severed the last strand of his bindings before reaching into his pocket to produce the precious five ruble.

  “Could I contrive this?” Maddux asked as held up the five ruble coin containing the microdot.

  Stanislav looked up, eyes wide, mouth agape.

  “How did you—” he asked, training his weapon on Maddux.

  “Never mind that,” Maddux said. “I’m not foolish enough to take you on without a gun. I’m not going anywhere. But please focus on my question.”

  Stanislav sighed and narrowed his eyes. “You will pay dearly if you try some stunt. I’ll shoot the girl first.”

  Rose shuddered. She shook her head and pleaded for Stanislav not to shoot her.

  “It’s a simple question, Officer Stanislav,” Maddux said, holding up the five ruble again.”

  “It’s just a piece of money—and not nearly enough for me to let you go on your way at this point.”

  “To the untrained eye, this appears to be just an ordinary coin with no special value. But to a spy, this piece of metal certainly isn’t worth the amount stamped on its face—it’s worth far more.”

  Maddux then unscrewed the top and showed the two pieces to Stanislav. He edged closer to his captives, aiming his weapon at Rose.

  “What is it?” Stanislav asked.

  “It’s a microdot, and it’s full of Soviet state secrets—at least, that’s what the Americans will think is on it. I’m supposed to give this to them and they will scuttle several boats into the water to attack a Soviet sub that won’t be there. And by the time they figure it out, it’ll be too late. I’ll be able to blame it on some other spy who was giving me disinformation and the dance will start all over again.”

  “I don’t believe you.”

  “If you let us go so I can finish this job without jeopardizing my cover, I promise not to speak of this incident to anyone, and no harm will come to you,” Maddux said. “Right now, you think you’re going to be a hero by bringing us in, but you won’t be. You’ll soon be paying for your mistake by slaving away in a Siberian mine for the rest of your life.”

  “With great risk comes great reward.”

  “This is a very American saying,” Maddux said. “Perhaps you are really the spy.”

  Stanislav narrowed his eyes as he glared at Maddux.“How dare you insult me in this manner. I should put a
bullet in your head right now. You’re a desperate man, lying to save himself. I won’t hear any more of this.”

  Maddux shrugged and then held out his wrists toward Stanislav.“Just think about this moment as it will be one you will forever regret,” Maddux said. “I’m going to make sure the KGB knows what a fool you are so that you will be dismissed from your position as a police officer.”

  “Shut up,” Stanislav roared.

  Maddux cocked his head to one side and arched his eyebrows.“Aren’t you going to tie me up again? If I’m really that much of a threat, it wouldn’t be wise to leave me unsecured.”

  “I said shut up.”

  A knock at the door made Stanislav edgy. He glanced between the door and Maddux before striding across the room and yanking him to his feet. Shoving the gun into Maddux’s back, Stanislav pushed his prisoner toward the door and marched behind him.

  “You seem nervous,” Maddux said. “Didn’t you call your friend? There shouldn’t be anything to worry about.”

  “I’m not about to take my eyes off you, not even for a second.”

  That’s when Stanislav noticed Maddux’s shoes. Jumping back, Stanislav ordered Maddux to take his shoes off.

  “You are no magician,” Stanislav said. “Just cheap tricks with your shoes. Don’t even think about using them against me.”

  Maddux knelt down and carefully pushed the blades back into place before setting the shoes aside. He stood and placed his hands in the air in a posture of surrender.

  “Showing me to your friend also puts him in jeopardy too,” Maddux warned. “Do you really want to do that to your friend?”

  Stanislav backhanded Maddux, sending him stumbling backward a few feet.

  “I won’t warn you any more,” Stanislav said.

  There was another knock at the door, snapping Stanislav out of his death stare. He still didn’t move, sighing and looking up as if he was contemplating what Maddux had just asked.

  “My friend will be fine,” Stanislav said with a snarl.

  He opened the door.