“Have
you spoken to her since you last saw her?”
“A couple of times.”
“What did she say?”
Audrey blanched. “Look, it was personal.”
“Okay, has she ever mentioned to you a man named Ivo Mesic or Anton Bok?”
“No.”
“Have you ever seen this man?” He handed her a photo of Bok.
She gazed down at it while Puller watched her closely, looking for any sign of recognition. She handed the photo back. “No, I’ve never seen this guy. He doesn’t look, I mean he doesn’t look American. And those names aren’t American.”
“He’s Russian.”
“And you’re saying my mother knows this guy?”
“She worked with him when they were verifying the reduction of nuclear warheads.”
“So you mean when she was doing her job?” she said snidely.
“We know that your mother has a cabin in Rappahannock County, Virginia.”
She looked genuinely surprised. “I didn’t know about that.”
“Do you know of any other properties that she has?”
“She has a condo at Wintergreen, the ski resort near Charlottesville.”
“You have the address?”
She gave it to him and Puller wrote this down. “Okay. Anyplace else other than the home in Springfield?”
“Not that I know of.”
“She ever mention to you any plans to leave the country?”
Audrey stood. “Look, what the hell is going on?”
Puller closed his notebook and stood. “I’m sorry to have to tell you that your mother is a suspected spy.”
“That’s bullshit! What proof do you have?”
“I’m afraid I can’t tell you that.”
“Because there is no proof.”
“No child wants to believe something like this about a parent. But we are investigating her. I wouldn’t be here otherwise.”
“I don’t believe you!”
Puller looked down at Audrey’s cell phone lying on the table. “Why don’t you try to call her now?”
“Why?”
“Just to check in. Say hello.”
“Why, so you can like track the call?” she said accusingly.
“I don’t have any equipment with me to trace the call. And you have to stay on the phone for a while to do it. Just say hello and tell her you’d like to see her sometime soon. That isn’t a problem, is it, Audrey?”
“It’s no problem,” she said angrily. “But I don’t feel like calling her, okay?”
“Audrey, this is a very serious matter. I don’t want to believe that you’re involved in this in any way. I just think you’re caught in the middle of something that you shouldn’t be. I want to help you get through this. So just call your mother. This is not about you. It’s about her.”
Keeping her eyes on Puller briefly, she slowly picked up her phone and punched in a number.
“Speakerphone, if you don’t mind,” said Puller.
“At a moment’s notice. We can be in Russia by tomorrow. We have a medal to give you.”
“I would much prefer an evening with you.”
“We will have many of those. There is a very nice dacha near Saint Petersburg that will be ours. It has a garden.”
“I like gardens. But the recon?”
“The house is at the end of a cul-de-sac. The front door faces