The Escape (John Puller 3)

“Have

you spoken to her since you last saw her?”

“A couple of times.”

“What did she say?”

Audrey blanched. “Look, it was personal.”

“Okay, has she ever mentioned to you a man named Ivo Mesic or Anton Bok?”

“No.”

“Have you ever seen this man?” He handed her a photo of Bok.

She gazed down at it while Puller watched her closely, looking for any sign of recognition. She handed the photo back. “No, I’ve never seen this guy. He doesn’t look, I mean he doesn’t look American. And those names aren’t American.”

“He’s Russian.”

“And you’re saying my mother knows this guy?”

“She worked with him when they were verifying the reduction of nuclear warheads.”

“So you mean when she was doing her job?” she said snidely.

“We know that your mother has a cabin in Rappahannock County, Virginia.”

She looked genuinely surprised. “I didn’t know about that.”

“Do you know of any other properties that she has?”

“She has a condo at Wintergreen, the ski resort near Charlottesville.”

“You have the address?”

She gave it to him and Puller wrote this down. “Okay. Anyplace else other than the home in Springfield?”

“Not that I know of.”

“She ever mention to you any plans to leave the country?”

Audrey stood. “Look, what the hell is going on?”

Puller closed his notebook and stood. “I’m sorry to have to tell you that your mother is a suspected spy.”

“That’s bullshit! What proof do you have?”

“I’m afraid I can’t tell you that.”

“Because there is no proof.”

“No child wants to believe something like this about a parent. But we are investigating her. I wouldn’t be here otherwise.”

“I don’t believe you!”

Puller looked down at Audrey’s cell phone lying on the table. “Why don’t you try to call her now?”

“Why?”

“Just to check in. Say hello.”

“Why, so you can like track the call?” she said accusingly.

“I don’t have any equipment with me to trace the call. And you have to stay on the phone for a while to do it. Just say hello and tell her you’d like to see her sometime soon. That isn’t a problem, is it, Audrey?”

“It’s no problem,” she said angrily. “But I don’t feel like calling her, okay?”

“Audrey, this is a very serious matter. I don’t want to believe that you’re involved in this in any way. I just think you’re caught in the middle of something that you shouldn’t be. I want to help you get through this. So just call your mother. This is not about you. It’s about her.”

Keeping her eyes on Puller briefly, she slowly picked up her phone and punched in a number.

“Speakerphone, if you don’t mind,” said Puller.

She hit the button and put the phone down on the table. Puller could hear the phone ringing and then it went to voice mail. Reynolds’s voice came on. Puller hit the end button and said, “If you do hear from her, please give me a call.” He handed her one of his cards, which she reluctantly took.

“My mother has done nothing wrong!”

“Then she has nothing to worry about, does she?” said Puller.

Tears had started to spill down Audrey’s cheeks. “You’re a real shit, you know that! You think you can just walk in here and dump all this crap on me?” She looked ready to throw her coffee at him.

“Just call me, Audrey. When you talk to her.”

Puller turned and left the shop, got into his car, and drove back to the safe house.

CHAPTER

72

SUSAN REYNOLDS TURNED off the tracker device that was connected to the bug she had put on John Puller’s vehicle while it was parked in front of her daughter’s shop. She had followed the electronic signal to its destination.

Or almost to the end.

She had turned off two streets before Puller, but she had watched the dot on the tracker reach its destination. She drove off and reached the motel where she was staying under an alias. She had changed her appearance and was using cash for her room. She sent off a secure email with the street address of the safe house.

Several hours went by before her phone buzzed. She picked it up. It was Anton Bok.

“I’ve reconnoitered the area,” he said. “It’s definitely a safe house. Five exterior security. My heat imager recorded five inside. Probably John Puller, Knox, and Robert Puller plus two interior security.”

“That makes nine security counting John Puller and Knox,” she said.

“Formidable, but not impossible,” said Bok calmly. “However, we can leave it. Live to fight another day.”

She shook her head and smiled. “Anton, our fighting days are over. But we’ve had a good run. Over twenty years. The Pentagon obviously didn’t work, but just about everything else did. It’s a record to be proud of. We served our leaders very well. We were the best operatives they’ve ever had. The idiots never suspected me all those years. Not until now.”

“My country is proud, Susan. Very proud of me. And you. And they will welcome us with open arms.”

“But there is unfinished business,” she said.

“Unfinished,” he agreed. “Robert Puller.”

“I’ve grown to detest his brother almost as much.”

“Then two birds with one stone,” said Bok.

“Three counting Knox. I’m not forgetting her. Private wings standing by?”

“At a moment’s notice. We can be in Russia by tomorrow. We have a medal to give you.”

“I would much prefer an evening with you.”

“We will have many of those. There is a very nice dacha near Saint Petersburg that will be ours. It has a garden.”

“I like gardens. But the recon?”

“The house is at the end of a cul-de-sac. The front door faces