But he had to find the Wolf.

Where was he? Out there somewhere. Butwhere? An order had gone out to army, militia, and KGB commanders within atwo-hundred-kilometer radius of the forest to mount patrols and checkpoints incase he had evaded the dragnet. But so far nothing had turned up, despite asearch lasting through the night. If the Wolf had escaped and was headed towardMoscow, it made Lukin's job more difficult. There were so many places a mancould hide in a densely populated city.

As he sat there, he again thought aboutthe two missing pagi in the Wolf's file. Why had Beria not allowed him to seethen What was in there that could be so secret? Something occurred to him. Itwas well known in Dzerzhinsky Square that He secretly despised Stalin, andultimately wanted to succeed hit If the Wolf achieved his goal, that might playinto Beria's hands. Perhaps he really wanted to impede Lukin's efforts? therewas some clue in the missing pages which might be Lukin, then it was adangerous game he was caught up in. The simplest way was to ask Beria for thepages and see what happened, but even that might be courting trouble.

The door opened and Pasha entered. Hisuniform was crumpled and his eyes bloodshot.

Lukin said, "You look like you'vebeen sleeping in a ditch.

Pasha rubbed his neck and grinned."No, just one of those bunks divisional stores stuck us with-a ditch wouldprobably be more comfortable."

"Any more word from the patrols andcheckpoints?"

"They still haven't found him. Butsomething has to turn up soon-he can't have vanished off the face of the earth.So the woman didn't talk?"

"Not yet. I want you to arrangesomething for me." He wrote a phone number on a slip of paper, handed itacross, at explained to Pasha what he wanted him to do. Pasha looked unhappy."You're sure about this, Yuri?"

"I'm afraid so. Beria wants to seeme, and he's going to want results fast."

Pasha shrugged and left. The telephonerang and Lukin picked it up.

"Lukin."

"Yuri?" Nadia's voice. "Iseverything all right?"

Right now Lukin felt he wanted to lie inhis wife's arms at sleep, drain the exhaustion from his body. He had been awakethree days. Three days that seemed like hours to him, but must have seemed likeweeks to Nadia because he hadn't contacted her.

"Yes, everything's fine, mylove."

"I called yesterday. They wouldn'ttell me anything. Whel you were or when you'd be coming home."

"The case I'm working on, it'staking longer than I thought How are you?"

"Missing you. Come home tonight fordinner. I know y(

when you're like this. You get soinvolved. Please, Yuri. It'll help you relax."

"I can't say, Nadia. You'd betternot expect me."

The line was silent for a long time."I love you, Yuri."

"I love you too."

Then it clicked dead.

It was almost two o'clock when Lukindrove through the main gates of the Kremlin and parked in the Armory courtyard.

Five minutes later he was ushered intoBeria's sumptuous office on the third floor by a Guards captain. There weresilk tapestries on the walls and Bolchara rugs scattered on the floor and thefurniture was expensive Finnish oak. Beria sat behind his desk and he looked upfrom some papers as Lukin entered.

"Major, sit down."

Lukin pulled back a chair.

Beria looked over. "I believecongratulations of a sort are in order."

"Thank you, comrade."

Beria reached over to a cigar box on thedesk and selected one. He frowned. "But you let the man slip from yourgrasp. Not good at all. You disappoint me, Lukin. Has the woman talked?"

"Not yet, comrade."

Beria's eyebrows rose as he lit thecigar. "But you interrogated her?"

"This morning."

"Considering the seriousness of thematter I thought even some slight progress would have been made by now. In theold days we used to be able to break women within hours. They're much moresusceptible to torture, especially the threat of rape."

Lukin suppressed an urge to look away indisgust. "It will take a little time. She was injured, as my reportexplains-"

"I read the report," Beriainterrupted sharply. "You failed to capture the American not once, nottwice, but three times. I expected more from you, Lukin."

"I can assure you I'll find him,Comrade Beria."

"To do that you must have some ideawhere he is. Do you?"

Lukin hesitated. "I believe he'sstill in the forest area, hiding out. In that kind of weather and terrain hecan't have gone far. There are over a thousand men searching the area as wespeak. I've also alerted regional KGB commanders and requested roadblocks beset up on all major and minor roads in the area.

All public and private transport will besearched. It's only a matter of time before the Wolf turns up, dead oralive."

"I hope that's so, Lukin. For yoursake." Beria fingered a pen on his desk, the slim fingers playing with ita moment, then he said, "But so far you haven't exactly inspiredconfidence. Perhaps I should interrogate the woman myself? I think it's time totake off the gloves, don't you? A little violence to soften her. I know youthink it's easier to catch flies with honey than vinegar, but you see, we oldhands do have a way in these matters."

Lukin looked at him. He could see thegleam in Beria's eye as a grin played on his face. The images Lukin had seen onthe screen flashed before his mind and he felt sick.

"With respect, I don't believesimple torture is going to work in her case. I don't believe she'll respond toit. I need just a little time to gain her trust and confidence. The best way todo that is to deal with her alone. Just me and her.

"But will she talk then?"

"I believe so."

Beria toyed with his pen, as if trying todecide. He sighed. "Very well. We play it your way for now. I'll give youforty-eight hours. Forty-eight hours to make her talk and to find the man.After that, if you haven't succeeded, you hand her over to me and Romulka willdeal with her and take over the case. You're dismissed. That is all."

When Lukin hesitated, Beria stared athim. "What's the matter, Lukin? Is there something on your mind?"

"I have a request to make."

"And what request is that?"

"I couldn't fail to notice therewere two pages missing from the Wolf's file. I'm certain Comrade Beria had goodreason not to include those pages in my copy. However, it strikes me that allinformation concerning the Wolf should be made available to me. It may help meapprehend him."

Beria half smiled. "You're quiteright about the pages, Lukin. But you already had the chance to catch the Wolfand failed, three times, without the supposed benefit of the pages you speakof. But believe me, you have all the information relevant to your mission. Yourrequest is denied. You may leave."

Lukin stood and walked to the door.

"Lukin ..."

He turned back. The black piggish eyesstared at him.

' "I believe you and Romulka had aslight disagreement yesterday. Try to remember, you're working together, not asadversaries. See that it doesn't happen again. And something else you shouldknow about. Romulka is bringing the Frenchman, Lebel, to Moscow, arriving thisafternoon. I think it best that Romulka deal with him alone. He's much moreexperienced in these matters." He paused and puffed on his cigar."Forty-eight hours. Not a second more. Don't fail me, Lukin."

Moscow.

February 28th, 8:30 A.M. The undergroundtrain thundered into the Kiev Station with the sound of a thousand poundinghammers and squealed to a halt. As the doors rolled open, Stanski stepped outonto the platform.