The Double

The door opened. The man who stood there wasn’t Konstantin.

He was in his fifties with thinning sandy hair and a crumpled white shirt. He had the same lean look as Grigory—a man who used to be in the military, and has kept in shape. But his eyes were utterly different. They were too old for his face. They were too old for anyone’s face.

“Please sit,” he said, nodding at the chair. His Russian accent was heavy, his voice sad.

I didn’t move. “Who are you?”

“I am Maxsim.” He gave me a smile that had long ago been sapped of any warmth. “I used to work for the FSB. You know what that is?”

I nodded. Russia’s security agency.

He was carrying a folding table and a briefcase. He set the table up next to the chair and put the briefcase on top of it. “Please,” he said, waving at the chair. “Sit.”

I still didn’t move. I knew what this was but my brain was rebelling against it. “What are you going to do to me?” I whispered.

He sighed. “I am going to ask you some questions.” He looked around at the room. “Is what I do here. Unusual, that it is girlfriend I am questioning.” He sighed again. “But...not so unusual.” He opened the briefcase. From my position down on the floor, I couldn’t see what was inside it and I didn’t want to. He nodded at the chair. “Sit.”

I shook my head.

He came over to me, grabbed my wrist and hauled me over to the chair. When I saw what was in the briefcase, I wanted to throw up. I recognized most of the tools from the dentist’s office.

“Please,” I said. I was suddenly breathless and however hard I sucked in air, it didn’t seem to be enough. “You don’t have to do this.” I knew there was no hope for me, now. I couldn’t hold out for long against the pain, but as soon as Konstantin knew the truth, he’d kill me.

Maxsim forced my arms down onto the arms of the chair and buckled them in place.

“Please,” I said, fighting against the panic and losing.

Maxsim pressed my feet against the footrest and buckled my ankles down too.

“Please!” My voice was cracking.

Maxsim picked up a pair of pliers.

And it began.

44

Konstantin

I WATCHED through the one-way mirror, palms sweating as they pressed against the glass. I’d been here before, several times. I didn’t enjoy it but sometimes it was necessary. This, though...this was different.

Christina gave a howl of pain that rose higher and higher. My toes curled in my shoes and I wanted to be sick. Maxsim had the pliers deep in the back of her mouth, pulling hard on a molar. “Which agency?” he was asking. “Which agency do you work for?”

He pulled at a different angle and Christina wailed, the sound echoing around the room and crawling down my spine.

She deserves this. She betrayed me. And it was far worse than if it had been one of my guards. She’d made me fall in love with her! That was the worst kind of deception.

And yet... when I looked into her eyes, I couldn’t believe she was some seductress, sent to tempt me. She was too shy, too awkward, too good.

Maxsim put down the pliers and picked up a drill. He gave the trigger an experimental squeeze and it came alive with a high-pitched scream that bit into my ears.

I knew I had to be strong. I’d been weak and look where that got me….

Maxsim raised the drill to her mouth. She started to buck and thrash in the chair, the restraints digging into her soft skin. God, she suddenly looked so vulnerable—

The drill’s note changed as it found a tooth. Christina screamed.

Be strong. One second passed. Two.

I suddenly turned around and threw open the door. Sprinted down the hallway and into the interrogation room. Maxsim saw me coming and pulled the drill from Christina’s mouth a split second before I grabbed him by the collar and hurled him across the room. “Get away from her!” I bellowed. “Can’t you see she doesn’t know anything?!”

As he hurried away, I fell to my knees in front of a sobbing Christina. My hands fumbled at the restraints, freeing her ankles and wrists. My stomach lurched when I saw the red marks on her pale skin where she’d strained against them. How could I have done this to the woman I loved? Of course she hadn’t betrayed me. I took her hands in mine, trying to rub the marks on her wrists away. “Christina, I—” I wanted to say I was sorry, but how could sorry make up for what I’d done?

And however much I wanted to believe she was innocent, I still needed an explanation. “Christina, please, you have to tell me.” My voice wasn’t angry, now, it was pleading. “Please: what were you doing in my office? What was that thing?”