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blinds into the empty rooms. Marina strode through the house to the dining room, an inside room with no windows, where a large steel cabinet held her communications equipment. The only frivolous note was a large mirror, fixed to the wall, so that Marina could watch herself as she worked. Sometimes she wondered about her passion for mirrors. All she knew was that watching herself, no matter what she was doing, excited her, made her perform better. |
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In the fax machine's tray lay a sheet with a series of numbers. The caller had not created the coded readout, the computer hadfrom a program written by Marina Suslova. She set the sheet in a copy holder, sat down before the computer, and decrypted the message. She raised her eyebrows. The message was from Joe Ryerson. She had been expecting something from him, but not so soon. |
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A third of the message was his usual bragging nonsense. But the remainder was interesting, if exasperating. So the fascists she'd hired in San Francisco had done only part of their work. At least Pierre Grau would not be meeting with Nathan Abramov in this life, she thought sardonically. Ryerson's message confirmed what she had heard on the early newscasts, about Grau's death, but neither source said anything about the woman, Anna Neville. Perhaps Neville and Grau had not been together, and the attempt on Neville would have to await a more convenient time. The skinheads with whom she often had to work were always vicious, but not always efficient. The Intelligence Directorate was strapped for personnel. In the good days, the KGB had never had to go outside the organization for assassins. Well, it was a new world now, Marina thought. On occasion, one even had to do the job oneself, distasteful as it might be. |
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Ryerson's message asked that she call him at his hotel in San Francisco at ten A.M., Pacific time. It was just past noon in Silver Spring, 9:11 in San Francisco. She looked at the Rolex on her slender wrist. It offended her sense of security to make telephone calls exactly on the hour. On the off chance |
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