Like most of Moscow's Metro stations, theKiev was an absurdly ornate construction; an underground palace of glitteringchandeliers and marble walls, decorated with bronze reliefs and red flagshanging from the ceiling.

The station was packed with early morningcommuters and the air reeked of stale food and tobacco and sweating bodies. AsStanski stood there trying to get his bearings, he felt a tap on his shoulderand spun around.

A young Tartar wearing a blue militiaovercoat over his uniform stood there. He held a cigarette in his hand as hisslanted eyes stared at Stanski. "You have a light, comrade?"

Stanski hesitated, then shook his head."Niet."

The Tartar grumbled and moved away intothe crowd.

The militiaman had startled him. He stoodthere for several moments, sweating, trying to regain his composure as peopleswarmed past. He was on unfamiliar territory and the noise and the crowds madehim feel uneasy. He saw the steep escalators at either end of the platform andtook one to the top.

There was no letup in the crowds when hereached ground Lebel. The station entrance hall teemed with milling bodies. Hesaw a number of military uniforms in the crowd, mostly army officers carryingbriefcases as they hurried briskly to and fro, but they paid him no attention.

There was a public toilet across the halland he went inside. The place was filthy and stank to heaven but there was awash basin and a cracked mirror on the wall. He looked at his face.

It was a mess.

His eyes were red and swollen from lackof sleep. Disheveled and unshaven and covered in grime, he still wore the coatViadimir had given him. But he had abandoned the motorbike in a remote woodoutside the suburb of Tatarovo, buried Anna's and his own suitcase and thehelmet and goggles a distance away, using his hands to dig in the hard-packedsnow. He had worn the extra clothes to keep out the cold on the motorbike andnow the garments stuck to him with sweat. He had walked a kilometer to thenearest train station at Tatarovo before transferring to the Metro. He achedfor sleep. He had been driving for almost fifteen solid hours through forestand on minor roads, having to avoid at least half a dozen checkpoints in thefirst two hours alone.

As he ran the water he thought: I lookterrible.

The fear of what might have happened toAnna had left him depressed and he tried desperately to keep the black moodfrom crowding in on him. But it refused to go away. Was she still alive? HadLukin caught her? He hoped for her sake she had bitten the pill, even thoughthat thought made him more despondent, but he remembered looking back at thelast moment, recognizing Lukin, and seeing him lunge at her. Somehow the majorhad survived the helicopter crash. How, it didn't matter. All that mattered wasthat the man was alive and determined to catch them.

If Anna was alive, he dreaded to thinkwhat Lukin might do to her, and suddenly a terrible surge of hate flooded him.He wanted to kill Major Lukin. Kill him with a vengeance.

The door to the toilet opened. A sergeantin army uniform came in and began to use the urinal. After a few moments theman glanced over idly.

Stanski finished washing himself andstepped out into the station hall again. He glanced back but the sergeanthadn't followed him. He noticed a number of militia and army personnel movingthrough the crowd, but none of them seemed remotely interested.

He left the station quickly and walkedtwo blocks to sky Prospect, the charge of people and traffic in the morninghour were almost overwhelming.

It took him almost ten minutes to findthe right bus stop on the Prospect and he looked behind him before he climbedon board, but saw no one watching or following him.

The sign above the wrought-iron gatessaid "State Orphanage Number 57. District of Saburovo."

Lukin showed his pass to the attendant inthe lodge and drove the BMW in through the gates. Pasha sat beside him in thecar. He looked uncomfortable.

"You mind going in alone, Yuri?These places always give me the creeps."

"Me too. But as you wish."

When Lukin halted outside the grimfour-story red-brick building and climbed out, he saw the massive front doorsopen. A middle-aged woman wearing a white doctor's coat came slowly down thesteps. Her face was a picture of stern authority and her cold eyes studied him beforeshe held out a limp hand.

"Major Lukin, I presume? I'm theorphanage matron."

Lukin ignored the woman's hand and showedher his ID. Her hard stare registered the affront and she inspected his ID cardclosely before she looked back at him.

"I must say the request your comradelieutenant made was most unusual. No doubt you have the written authority Irequire?"

"I think that ought to covereverything."

Lukin handed her the signed letter fromBeria. The woman's tone changed immediately.

:"Why ... of course, ComradeMajor."

"My time is rather limited. Thechild, if you please."

"Follow me."

The matron went back up the steps, openedone of the massive doors and stepped inside. A smell of carbolic soap and stalefood wafted out of the building.

As Lukin went to follow the matron up thesteps, some instinct made him look up.

At a window on the second floor, twoscrawny-faced young boys stared down wide-eyed at the green BMW with Pashasitting inside. Their faces had the look of caged and frightened animals. Whenthey saw Lukin notice them they vanished from the window.

Lukin felt a shiver down his spine as hefollowed the matron inside.

The dacha was in the Ramenki district,eight kilometers from Moscow.

Stanski got off the bus two stops earlyand walked the last five minutes down a secluded birch-lined road until hefound the address.

The wooden house was big, two-story andpainted green. It was set in its own large grounds surrounded by tall birchtrees. There were several other dachas nearby, lining either side of the road,but judging by the shuttered windows they were deserted.

A narrow pathway led up to the dacha andthere was a large woodshed off to the right toward the back.

He watched the place for five minutes,walking up and down the empty street. Because of everything that had happenedhe was two days early, and he wondered if the woman was home. The shutters wereopen but he saw no movement behind the curtained windows. He decided to riskknocking on the front door.

He walked up the pathway and knockedhard. Moments later the door opened and a woman appeared. He recognized herfrom Massey's description.

She looked at him cautiously."Yes?"

"Madame Dezov?"

"Yes?"

"I'm a friend of Henri's. You wereexpecting me."

The woman went visibly pale. She studiedStanski for several moments, then looked out nervously into the street.

"Come inside."

She led him into a large kitchen at theback. There was a stove lit in one corner, and beyond the kitchen windowStanski saw a long broad garden dotted with withered fruit trees and barevegetable plots.

The woman said anxiously, "You'rehere two days early. And there were supposed to be two of you? I was expectinga man and a woman."

Stanski looked at her. She was undeniablyhandsome. She had a full figure, generous hips and breasts. She wore nailvarnish, and the long nails were perfectly manicured, her eyebrows plucked anddarkened. He noticed she wore no wedding ring.

"I'm afraid there was a problem. Myfriend didn't make it."

The woman said hesitantly, "Whathappened?"

Stanski told her but didn't go intodetail or mention Lukin. He saw the look of fear on the woman's face and said,"Don't worry, she knew nothing about you."

"Are you certain?"