Free Scorpion Winter by Andrew Kaplan Page B

true?”
    She got up from the desk.
    â€œWho’s saying this? Tell me.”
    It’s you, he thought. Because eight minutes after he had left the Russian embassy, Gabrilov had made a call on his cell phone that, thanks to the SIM he had replaced in Gabrilov’s cell phone and the software on his laptop, had enabled the NSA to track it to a cell phone registered in her name.
    â€œSuppose I said it was another country that was the source?”
    â€œWho, the Russians? It’s the SVR, isn’t it? Only a fool would believe anything from them,” she said, exhaling a stream of cigarette smoke. “The Russians want Cherkesov to win. They’ll say or do anything.”
    â€œNormally I would agree. Except, one,” he held up a finger, “it’s my job to check it out, and two,” holding up a second finger, “turns out they got it from you.”
    â€œFrom me? What are you talking about?”
    â€œFrom a cell phone that belongs to you.”
    â€œThat’s impossible! Besides, there are at least a hundred cell phones registered in my name. I bought them for the campaign.”
    â€œWhat about this one?” Scorpion said, holding up his cell with the number Gabrilov had called displayed on the screen.
    Iryna peered intently at it.
    â€œIt can’t be,” she said, brushing her hair away from her face. “It’s Alyona, one of my aides.” She looked at him curiously. “How did you get this?”
    â€œHow I got it is my business. Is it true?”
    â€œYou can’t print this. It’ll kill us,” she said, coming closer. He could smell her perfume. Hermès 24 Faubourg, he thought; hints of orange and jasmine, vanilla and sex.
    â€œIt’s my job; providing I can confirm it,” he said.
    â€œYou don’t get it, do you?” She shook her head. “If Cherkesov takes power, you think it’ll be like Democrats and Republicans in America? We’ll just call each other nasty names and try to screw each other? If Cherkesov wins, you think he’ll leave us around to oppose him?”
    â€œSounds like a pretty good motive for murder to me,” Scorpion said, watching her closely.
    She stubbed her cigarette out in an ashtray on the desk and looked out the window. “All right, how much?” she said.
    â€œDon’t,” he said sharply, getting up. “I’m not a whore. Don’t play me like one.”
    â€œI’m sorry,” looking straight at him. “Neither am I—despite being a politician,” she said with a wry smile. “What can I do?”
    â€œTell the truth. Help me get to the bottom of this. For instance, this Alyona. Did you know she was in contact with the SVR?”
    Iryna shook her head. “I’ve known her since she was a girl in senior school. She came to work for me as an intern. What you say she’s doing; it’s not possible.”
    â€œYou’d be surprised what people will do,” Scorpion said. “I’ve seen them betray their country, husbands, wives, everything they believe in. They do it for love, money, sex, revenge, sometimes out of sheer boredom.”
    â€œNot Alyona,” Iryna said, getting her cell phone out of her handbag. “She’s a serious girl, an artist. She believes in what we’re doing.”
    Scorpion grimaced. “So you say. Look, I need to talk to her. Where is she?”
    Iryna dialed her cell phone and after a moment said something rapidly in Ukrainian. She listened, then clicked off and looked at Scorpion.
    â€œThat’s odd. She was supposed to be in our Saksaganskogo office today. No one seems to know where she is. I should call her fiancé. She’s engaged,” she said, a flicker of a smile lighting her face.
    Her male aide walked in then and they spoke in Ukrainian. He handed her a sheaf of papers, pointing at something. She looked at Scorpion.
    â€œWe have new numbers,” she