France

"It appears your help is as inadequate as your operation, Ivan Vokov."

Ivan turned away from the crumpled figure of his bodyguard. "You have overstepped, Kubavich, there will be a price."

"Indeed there will," Felix pulled Ava closer to the centre of the room. "And when I get what I came for, you will be paying it." Alek carefully moved to a new position, flanking Ivan.

"Should I be presumed to know what that is?"

"Vladim."

Ivan felt a physical jolt inside. How did he find out? "What about him. A piece of FSB filth".

The insult came out weaker than intended, and Felix smiled. "At least we agree on that. However, I find him useful from time to time; we exchange certain . . . favours."

"Wh- what has that to do with me?" Ivan moved to a chair by the fireplace, afraid his legs would collapse. Alek moved to a position behind him.

Felix moved Ava closer. "What would you say to that, my dear?"

"Felix? What do you mean? What is this--?" She feared they could all hear her heart thumping in her chest.

"Don't tell me you fail to recognize your handler, Ava."

"My what? I don't know what you mean." She pleaded with frightened eyes. "Felix, why- what is this about?"

"Tell her, Ivan. Tell her your little game is up." Felix backed away slightly.

"No! You are wrong! I don't even know her. This is Vladim I tell you. He has been after me for years. It's a trick, Felix!"

Felix glowered at him. "And you knew nothing."

Ivan looked down, shaking his head. "I knew what he was up to. I'm the one who sent the assassin." He looked up, eyes red, features raw. "Not to protect her," he waved an ambiguous hand, "I do not know her, I swear. It was to protect me. I knew he didn't have proof of anything, but if I could see what he was selling you . . ."

The story had the ring of truth, a type of truth that could be found all too often in their world. Felix looked hard and long at Ava. He cast his mind back to the night he had first seen her at the celebratory opening of The Guild's generously donated medical care facility. Felix knew community involvement was not only conducive to establishing a general admiration and trust, as well as being beneficial when favours were needed. Ava had been invited by a local politician, but left on her own when his wife, displeased with the lack of attention, ushered him away for a dressing down.

Felix had approached, sharing his observation of the scene, and they had fallen into comfortable conversation, leading to a continuation, after the celebration, at Felix's home. He thought about her resistance to his suggestion that she make it a more permanent arrangement, and how he had kept up his pursuit until she finally gave in.

She was staring at him now. Fear consuming her features, distorting the beauty he knew. Ivan was still denying vehemently, in the background, anything Felix suspected.

"Enough." Felix took a deep breath and beckoned Ava to come with him. He led her from the room and back out to the car.

"Felix, you have to believe--"

"Hush. We will only be a few minutes, then we will go to dinner."

She blinked, stunned. Dinner? Then the sound of three shots made her start. A moment later Alek appeared, and behind him a glow did a wavering danced in the windows of the dacha. Both men got into the car, and with a final glance at the flames devouring the tar in the pine logs, drove back the way they came.

"Take us to Varsho's, Alek. I'm in the mood for some barbecue."

England

Percy's complexion was ghostly. Even his precious tea wasn't having the usual effect. The phone call interrupting their meeting had left him boggled and speechless.

"Sir?" Mallory looked concerned.

"That was our European station reporting . . . Ivan Vokov was murdered and burned with his dacha."

"Christ!" Morrisey stood and paced about. "Felix, paranoid about that dossier, I'll bet money! Grant has effectively removed himself from the stage, and is letting us and the Russians carry out his plan."

"The very idea that a ranking member of an allied intelligence community would corrupt an entire network to cover a personal indiscretion is beyond the pale." Percy snapped, recovering his concentration. "Just to be clear, and forgive any repetition, you are telling me that Director Duggan had a child with this Ava Kapova, whom he is running as a mole in a major criminal organization, and to cover that- that fact, he created this entire dossier farce?"

"We believe he put the wheels in motion, for sure. Look what has been accomplished." Morrisey leaned forward, ticking points off his fingers. "He knows Vladim Iilyin wants rid of Ivan, but can't act on foreign soil, risking an international incident. He leaks the dossier to Vladim, all dressed up with official seals and signatures, and Vladim thinks he's found gold. He tells Felix, in exchange for Felix taking out Ivan. Felix wants proof first, hence the courier."

"Yes but, if Grant leaked the dossier, how did it get into a Russian briefcase and to a courier? Don't tell me it's a forgery."

"Guess we'll never know." He looked down, avoiding her eyes. "C'mon, you guys, I'm sure SIS has a cobbler who can put together a set of authentic looking documents, as does Grant. The courier was probably some asset he had on file who was expendable." Morrisey dropped his hands and stared at them both.

"Wait a minute," Mallory broke in, "he was receiving messages from a Russian handler."

"Sure. Vladim. Or someone who spoke Russian, anyway." Morrisey shrugged.

"Then why was he assassinated?"

"My best guess. Maybe, to enhance the authenticity, Grant found a way to inform Ivan about what was taking place, and Ivan took steps to prevent it."

"So it was Ivan who was messaging the assassin." Mallory nodded thoughtfully.

"This is outrageous." Percy picked up his cup and put it down. "All this time, money, and manpower spent on a sham! Three people killed just so he could hide an indiscretion!"

"And the fact that he really did have a mole inside The Guild."

Mallory's hands came up to cover her face. All the business about Grant giving her an asset inside The Guild was just a stage in his master plan. And he was ready to sacrifice her as well with the information in the dossier. She sighed and sat back in her chair, her eyes fixed on nothing - just staring.

Percy's phone buzzed again, and he picked it up slowly, listening. "Felix and Ava have been sighted in a popular restaurant enjoying a meal." He put the phone down and picked his tea up.

"How the hell did your people get onto Felix? We've been trying for ages." Morrisey blurted.

"CCTV from the site of the fire. Our people checked all the cameras and traffic in the area. Just a fluke actually, although he didn't seem to be worried about discovery either." Percy answered automatically.

Mallory sat up, her face changing from the previous desolation to a growing realization and relief. Ava is safe! Ivan must have confirmed that he knew nothing about a mole . . . still, Felix did what Vladim wanted . . . of course! Vladim is now the debtor.

"If only we had seen the contents," Percy was saying.

"Yeah, I wonder what they were." Morrisey added, concealing a smile.

"The bright side," Mallory suddenly beamed, "is that we now know Grant's plan didn't work, and there is a mole inside The Guild."

Percy stared at her then banged his little fist on his desk. "That's right! And we now have something quite damning on our good friend, Director Grant--" He suddenly broke off, looking at Morrisey.

"I guess we all have handy bits of secrets now, don't we." Morrisey admitted.

Mallory blushed, and Percy coughed several times.