But what is Uncle Nicolai doing here?
Tom Barlow was now waiting patiently for his chance to exchange hugs with Uncle Nicolai. When it came, the two embraced and enthusiastically pounded each other’s back.
“Aleksandr said you were in Johannesburg,” Svetlana said.
“I spend a good deal of time there,” Uncle Nicolai said. He looked at Charley and offered his hand. In fluent, just slightly accented English, he said, “I’m Nicolai Tarasov.”
“Charley Castillo.”
“Who has captured Svetlana’s heart. Alek told me.”
“So what brings you to Cozumel by the Sea, Uncle Nicolai?” Castillo asked.
Tarasov avoided the question.
“Alek and I go back to our days with Aeroflot,” Tarasov said. “When I tried without much success to teach him to fly Ilyushin Il-96s.”
Castillo felt his temper turn on.
“Why don’t you want to tell me what brings you to Cozumel by the Sea, Uncle Nicolai?” he repeated, then added: “Somehow I don’t think this is a happy coincidence and that you’re all going to sit around eating fried chicken and telling stories about Grandma.”
“Why are you going out of your way to be unpleasant, Charley?” Svetlana asked.
Castillo switched to Russian: “Because Cousin Alek”—he pointed at Pevsner—“can’t seem to get it through his thick Russian skull that since I’m running this operation, it’s not nice to spring surprises on me. Like Uncle Nicolai just happening to drop in from Johannesburg to say hi.”
“You speak Russian very well; you sound like you’re from Saint Petersburg,” Tarasov said. “Aleksandr told me you did. Just after he told me to be very, very careful not to underestimate you.”
“I still don’t have an answer,” Castillo said.
“Just for the record, Charley,” Tom Barlow said, “I’m as surprised to see Nicolai as you are.”
“Goodbye, Uncle Nicolai,” Castillo said, motioning toward the door. “The next time you’re in town, make sure you call.”
“Now, wait just a minute, Charley!” Pevsner flared.
“Why do I have to spend all my time making peace between you two?” Svetlana asked.
“Maybe because Alek the Terrible has trouble understanding I don’t recognize him as the tsar,” Charley said.
Both Barlow and Tarasov chuckled.
Pevsner gave them both an icy glare.
“‘Alek the Terrible’?” Tarasov quoted. “I like that.”
“I got in touch with Nicolai to see what he could contribute to our scenario,” Pevsner said after a moment.
“And can he?” Castillo challenged, and then looked at Tarasov. “Can you?”
“I’m trying to run down something I heard, about an incident that took place at the El Obeid Airport in Sudan,” Tarasov said. “That may take a little time. And I think there’s at least a good chance that if a Tupolev Tu-934A was used in this operation, I know where they landed in Mexico.”
“What took place in Sudan?”
“They found a lot of dead people at the burned-down airport,” Tarasov said. “From what little I know so far, it sounds like something that one of Yakov Sirinov’s Vega Groups would do. No witnesses.”
“And the airport in Mexico?”
“Laguna el Guaje,” Tarasov said. “In Coahuila State.”