woman to be carrying around. It was a bear.
“My granddaughter’s beloved bear. My beautiful Susie’s bear that I gave her when she was very little.”
Everyone simply stared at her, no doubt wondering if she had at that very instant lost her mind.
“It is with Susie’s permission that I do this.” She took a small penknife from her purse and cut the stitching holding the bear together. She parted the seam, reached in and pulled out a small box.
“I had a craftsman in Russia make it for me.” She took out a key, unlocked the box and took out a thumb-size electronic device with a USB port. “Does anyone here have a computer?”
The scene on the computer screen was a small sparsely furnished room. Four people were seated around a wooden table. A younger Lesya and Rayfield Solomon were on one side. Across from them was Roger Simpson as a young man. And next to Simpson was another man who hadn’t really changed all that much.
“Carter Gray,” Alex said.
Lesya nodded. “It was Rayfield’s idea to secretly film this. The mission was so monumental, you see.”
As they watched the four discussed the assassination. It seemed that Andropov had already been killed, and they were now focusing on Konstantin Chernenko as the only man standing in the way of Gorbachev’s rise to power.
“You did wonderfully the first time, Ray and Lesya,” Gray was saying. “There wasn’t the slightest doubt that Andropov died from natural causes.”
“There are certain poisons that leave no trace,” Lesya commented. “And there are those high up in the Soviet Union who were not sad to see poor Yuri go.”
“Perhaps it will be the same with Chernenko,” Simpson said, “now that he’s been named the general secretary.”
Gray cut in. “But wait a bit. At least a year. It will allow us time to arrange things on our end and cut down on suspicion. All roads now point to Gorbachev taking power after Chernenko dies.”
“If we wait, Konstantin may accommodate us without poison. He is not a well man,” Solomon pointed out.
“So we give it a year,” Gray said again. “Then if he’s still alive, you and Lesya can make sure he isn’t living much longer.”
“And the director and the president are on board with this too?” Solomon asked.
Simpson answered, “Absolutely. They see it as critical to world peace and the destruction of the Soviet Union. As you know, there are many on the Soviet side who want this too.”
Gray was beaming. “You’ll both be heroes,” he said. He turned to Lesya. “Your coming over to our side has made all the difference. If there is peace between the U.S. and what’s left of the Soviet Union, it will be in large measure because of you. And though it can never be made public, you will have earned the eternal gratitude of your adopted nation. You and Ray have risked your lives countless times on behalf of this country and I bring a message directly from the president that he expresses his heartfelt gratitude for all that you’ve done for America.”
The film ran for a few more minutes and then stopped. Lesya said, “I have never seen any human beings who could lie as well as your Carter Gray and Roger Simpson. Next to them, I was but a rank amateur.”
“Why the hell didn’t you show us this before?” Alex demanded.
“When you gave us the written orders?” Finn added.
“Only fools give up all they have on the first go-round. You keep something back always. I had the film saved and put on this device before I placed it inside the bear and gave it to Susie.”
“My God, people died, Milton died,” Caleb said in a hushed tone.
“I could do nothing about that,” she said simply. “If we had given them this too, where would we be? People would still be dead. Your friend would still be dead. And we would have nothing.”
“But what do we do with this?” Alex said.
“I want to meet with Carter Gray.”
“What!” Finn exclaimed.
“Gray and I must sit down face-to-face.”
“What if he won’t?” Alex said.
Lesya smiled. “Let me talk to him on the phone. Then he will see me.”
CHAPTER 95
“IT’S BEEN A LONG TIME, Lesya,” Gray said as the two sat across from each other. They were in a motel room in Fredericksburg, Virginia. “You’ve changed quite a bit,” he added politely.
“Given recent events it is clear that you haven’t changed at all.”
“You said on the phone that you had something I needed to see?”
“I know you have men outside. You always have men outside, Carter.”
you want? I’m sure you’ve thought about that too over all these decades.”
“Oh yes, I have thought about it. And I know exactly what I want. And I have been waiting to tell you for thirty years, you son of a bitch. And you’re going to sit there and listen. And then you’re going to do exactly as I say.”
When she had finished, Gray rose to go. “Can I expect to have the original of that film and all copies in return for doing what you’ve asked?”
“No, you cannot. You only have my word that I will take it to my grave. And you and Simpson should consider yourselves fortunate. I could destroy you both. Nothing would make me happier. But I am a person who actually thinks of things besides my own happiness. And that is the only thing that has saved you and the miserable Simpson. Now leave me. I do not want to see you again. Oh, but you can tell the good senator something for me.”
“What’s that?”