State Of The Union

“No, I didn’t know he spoke Russian, but there’s lots of people that-”

“His grandmother was from Minsk,” continued Sorce as he removed a file of his own and began reading from it. “She emigrated to the U.S. after her husband died during the First World War. She remarried and had three children, one of whom was the daughter who married Gary ’s father. Gary ’s parents worked long hours, and the Russian grandmother practically raised him herself.

“He was somewhat of a prodigy. By the time he was six years old, he not only could speak Russian fluently, he was reading and writing it as well. It was a cradle language for him and he took to it as well as he did English.”

“So he’s of Russian descent. Big deal. So are a lot of people in America. If being from a country that embraced communism at one point is a crime, you’d better get ready to lock up over half of the people in Miami and a good majority of downtown San Francisco,” said Harvath.

“Let me finish,” replied Sorce. “It was precisely his Russian skills that made him so sought after in the Army and later with the FBI. Do you have any idea what Heide was really doing for a living before she was killed?”

“You said so yourself. She was an art dealer. My mother still has a lot of paintings from her gallery hanging in the house back in California.” A bad feeling was beginning to build in Harvath’s stomach. He didn’t like the way things were going and he assumed that they were only going to get worse. When CIA Director Vaile chimed back in, he knew his premonition had been correct.

“Gary and Heide Lawlor,” said Vaile, “were two of the United States ’ top recruiters of foreign intelligence agents during the Cold War.”

There was a chuckle in Harvath’s voice as he spoke. “Heide Lawlor worked for U.S. Intelligence turning spies for us?”

Nobody else at the table was smiling. The three faces staring back at Harvath appeared to be carved of granite.

“Their focus was on Eastern Europe,” continued Vaile. “Heide Lawlor spoke German, Polish, and Czech. Gary handled the Russian transactions.”

“You’re not kidding, are you?” asked Harvath.

“He’s not kidding,” said Sorce. “In fact, Gary and Heide were so successful, they even received medals from the president in eighty-one at a top-secret ceremony at the White House.”

Harvath had never heard any of this. And though it was difficult to believe, it did fit Gary Lawlor’s character perfectly. The thing that scared Scot the most, though, was the realization of how little he might really know about Gary ’s past.

“I had no idea.”

“What you also probably didn’t know was that Heide’s death was no accident.”

Though Scot tried to maintain an impassive countenance, today would not have been a good day to play poker. Heide Lawlor had always been his “Aunt Heide.” As she and Gary didn’t have any children of their own, she chose to spoil him every chance she got. Christmases, birthdays, it didn’t matter. Heide never needed a reason to show how much she cared for him. Now, the realization that Heide had been murdered sent a sharp pain rocketing through his heart.

Harvath asked, “Did Gary know?”

“Yes,” said Vaile, “ Gary knew.”

“Who did it? And don’t just tell me it was the Russians. I want to know who specifically, killed her.”

“His name was Helmut Draegar.”

“Was?”

“Yes,was. He was undoubtedly the best operative the infamous East German Stasi had ever produced. His reputation was larger than life itself. It was said that he was the only man Carlos the Jackal ever feared. He was an extremely proficient linguist, an assuredly deadly assassin, and an operative’s operative.”

“Meaning?” asked Harvath.

“It means that his tradecraft was above reproach. He was a master of disguise and human nature. In the blink of an eye he could disappear, or have you eating out of his hand. Though the Russians had not given birth to Draegar, he was given honorary Russian citizenship-that’s how highly they thought of him. In short, he was the ultimate spy.”

“As you’re talking about him in past tense, I assume he’s dead. Am I correct?”

“Very,” replied Vaile. “Lawlor killed him.”

“Why was Heide targeted for termination?” asked Harvath.

“When you were as good at your job as she was, it causes the enemy to want to reward you with something other than a medal.”

“But you said Gary was just as good. Why not target him as well?”

“Exactly our question,” replied Vaile. “For a long time, we thought it was because the agents Heide had turned amounted to such major intelligence coups. Don’t get me wrong, Gary had his successes as well, but Heide’s were far and away of greater value. In short, while Gary might have been worth spending a bullet on, the prime target for the Russians was Heide.”

“But they were always together, weren’t they? I would have thought you could have gotten the two for the price of one very easily.”

“It would make sense, wouldn’t it?” asked Vaile. “Gary Lawlor had been credited with being extremely adept at keeping himself and his wife alive.”

“Until Heide was hit by the car.”

“Exactly.”