"I'm your niece fromLeningrad," Anna said, "on my honeymoon with my new husband."

Gorev smiled, sucked on his cigarette andblew out smoke. "It's believable enough, I suppose. We get quite a lot ofRussian visitors to the old town. Tomorrow night, I plan to put you both on thetrain to Leningrad. After that you'll be out of my hands. You'd better show meyour papers so I'll get the names right if I'm asked."

Stanski and Anna handed Gorev theirpapers. there was a rumbling noise of vehicles beyond the windows and they allstood. Gorev went to peer through a chink in the curtain. After a few momentshe came back.

"Russian army trucks heading towardthe coast. Those damned maneuvers will keep half the town awake." . He sawthe look of alarm on Anna's face. "Don't worry, girl, they're not going tobother us. Not even Beria's KGB friends will touch you here."

"What makes you so certain?"Anna asked.

"Because I've got two KGB officersstaying at the inn."

Stanski and Anna stared at him in alarmand Gorev grinned. "They're both harmless. Here for a few days of drinkingand carousing. And having the KGB as guests is always an advantage. That waythe militia don't harass me."

"Who are the officers?" Stanskiasked.

"A colonel and a young captain. Oldcustomers paying a return visit to a couple of local tarts they met whilestationed here a while back. They prefer to stay at the inn rather than Tondybarracks. It's more discreet and a lot safer and believe it or not the food'sbetter. Besides, every once in a while our boys come out of the forests andshoot up the barracks. It keeps Ivan on his toes and let's him know we're stillin business."

He handed back their papers, then drainedhis glass and sat it on the table. "Right, let's get you settled in.You'll sleep upstairs. My two guests are still out on the town with theirgirlfriends and no doubt they'll be drunk out of their minds when they getback, so they won't bother us."

Gorev led them along the hallway past theinn's bar and dining room, up a flight of creaking stairs to the second floor.He took a key from a metal ring hanging on his greasy belt and opened a doorand flicked on a light.

Inside was a small, shabby, oak-beamedbedroom.

" It isn't the height of luxury, butit's warm and comfortable and you have your own bathroom." He grinned."And seeing as though you're on your honeymoon I trust you won't have anyobjection to sharing a bed?

I've left clean sheets and blankets.Breakfast is at eight in the dining room beside the bar. I expect to see youthere, playing the newlyweds."

"Thanks, Toomas."

"My pleasure. Like they say, myenemy's enemy is my friend. Sleep well."

He bid them good night and closed thedoor. Stanski turned the key and looked at Anna as she made the bed. He sat ona chair and studied her face as he lit a cigarette.

"What are you looking at?"

"You. Has anyone ever told you howbeautiful you are, Anna Khorev?"

She couldn't resist a smile. "Yousound like a very bad actor reading an even worse script. And remember my namefor now is Anna Bodkin. Aren't you going to sleep?"

"I'd rather sit and watch you."

She looked at him, her voice suddenlymore firm. "Understand something. What happened last night is not going tohappen again. I was vulnerable, that's all. And if you're waiting for me toundress you're wasting your time. I'm going to do it in the dark."

"Can I ask you something?"

"What?"

"Do you love Jake?"

She thought for a moment, surprised bythe question. "What I feel toward Jake is none of your business. But ifyou must know, he's one of the finest men I've ever known."

"I think he's in love with you, morethan just a little. And you know what's really odd? I'm not sure that makes mefeel entirely happy."

Anna didn't speak, just sat there,considering what he had said.

Stanski put his cigarette in the ashtray,then stood up and pulled her toward him. She could feel his strength but sheresisted, and then his mouth was on hers, kissing her fiercely.

She pulled back and said, "No!Please, Alex, don't. And put out that cigarette or we might both be burned todeath and save the Russians the bother of killing us."

"Interesting."

"What is?"

"You said 'the Russians.' As if youwere no longer one of them."

"Put out the cigarette and get somesleep."

He stubbed out the cigarette and as Annawent to switch off the light he reached again for her hand.

"I said no ... !"

But he held her while his other handbegan to undo the buttons of her blouse. She went to stop him but he gentlypushed her hand away and put a finger to her lips.

"Don't speak."

There was a determined look in his eyes.Part of her wanted to protest, but another part of her wanted to feel close tohim, to be held and protected again.

He undid her bra, untied her ribbon, andher hair spilled about her shoulders. He looked into her eyes. "Anna, whathappened between us, I want you to know it was good. Maybe the closest I'veever felt to a woman."

"No doubt you tell that to everywoman you sleep with?"

"Not true. Maybe you were right.Maybe I've never really trusted anyone enough to let them get close."

She looked up at his face and she knew inall honesty he meant it. A feeling of guilt came over her, but it passed, andthen something stirred inside her. She felt a surge of passion overcome her andshe kissed him fiercely on the mouth in the darkness.

Helsinki.

A log fire blazed in a corner of the roomon the second floor of the American Embassy, and as Branigan came in his facewas grim as he stared across at Massey seated nearby.

"The doc says you've got a mildconcussion but you'll live." Massey rubbed his neck and said, "How doyou know for certain Saarinen's dead?"

"The Finnish Air Force tried to stophim at our request. They picked up the crash on their radar when Saarinen wason the homeward leg, and the signals went dead. By all accounts it looks likehe bumped into a patrolling Mig."

A look like pain appeared on Massey'sface. "Why did you try to stop him, for God's sake?"

Branigan looked him in the eye. "Ishould have thought that was obvious. You really fucked up, didn't you, Jake?You're going to get the book thrown at you for this." Branigan slammed hisfist on the desk. "And don't look so dumb and innocent, buddy. I didn'tcome all this way just to have a fireside chat. I'm talking about the bodies inthe woods. I'm talking about Braun-and Akashin."

Massey had turned quite pale, then hesaid quietly, "How did you know?"

"After we learned about Akashin andPopov we decided to pay the cabin a visit." Branigan paused, and saidangrily, "You should have contacted me as soon as you had problems. Whydidn't you?"

"The men at the cabin came lookingfor trouble. But I figured they only wanted Anna. After it was over we buriedthe bodies. Stanski still wanted to go through with the mission. Nothing wasgoing to stop him after Vassily was killed. I went along with him. Maybe I waswrong, but too much planning had gone into it and I wanted it to succeed. Iknew once you learned what happened you'd want to reconsider the mission orcancel. But I thought that would be a mistake. I figured how could it reallymatter if we went ahead? Akashin or the men who came to kill Anna couldn't haveknown about the operation and they were all dead. I figured maybe we had enoughtime to go ahead with the plan before you figured out what had happened."