The Kremlin's Candidate: A Novel

CIA star asset DIVA saw Vladimir Vladimirovich to the door. She did not kiss him good night, with all the shining raccoon eyes of the security detail fixed on her in her silk kimono from the darkness. They shook hands instead, the feel of the president’s calluses scratching her palm.

The electric whine of the golf carts speeding uphill faded. It was dead quiet inside, but the pines outside stirred noisily in the breeze. No audio bugs working tonight in the dacha, right? Dominika retrieved Agnes from the closet and they walked downstairs in silence. Dominika opened another bottle of champagne and poured two glasses, leaning on the marble island with her elbows, her head in her hands, exhausted. Forty minutes to the arrival of the USV.

Agnes ran her fingers through her white forelock. “Half a cup of white vinegar with a teaspoon of baking powder,” she said, also leaning on the marble top. They were like two cowpokes at a bar.

“What?” said Dominika, looking at her glass.

Agnes shook her head. “Not to drink; it’s a homemade douche solution. I assume you’d rather not carry the president around with you all night.” Dominika laughed. She liked this Polish Cold Warrior. Thank God she could carry Dominika’s message to Benford personally. And thank God Dominika would be able to get her out of Russia in one piece. But she didn’t have vinegar and there was no time.

“How often does this happen?” asked Agnes.

“This is the first time,” said Dominika, trying not to sound defensive. She noted Agnes’s nonjudgmental expression. “But I expect his attention will grow more acute now that I am a member of his inner circle.”

“It’s important not to blame yourself. No self-recrimination, not ever.”

“I don’t dwell on anything but doing what I have to,” said Dominika.

Agnes nodded. “In Poland, it was the same for me. I slept with half the politburo for their secrets, and with three Soviet colonels on the military advisory staff in Warsaw.”

“I trust you sleep well at night? No nightmares?” said Dominika, impressed.

Agnes averted her eyes. “And what does Nathaniel think about this?”

Dominika stiffened. Here it was. “What Nate and I have together is apart from all this. What we have together is despite all this,” said Dominika, with an edge in her voice. Agnes looked down at the floor.

“Tell me,” said Dominika, standing straight to look at Agnes squarely. “What is it exactly that you and Nate have together, if I may ask?”

“You can rest easy, General Egorova,” said Agnes softly. “We worked together, and I love the boy, but his heart belongs to you. You have nothing to fear from me.” The two women knew the unspoken parts, which needed no further discussion.

Agnes looked at her watch. “When does that damn boat arrive?”

“Exactly at midnight about thirty minutes from now,” said Dominika. “You must carry back the thumb drive that explains the whole situation, MAGNIT’s identity, and Nate’s status. It’s absolutely critical that you talk to Benford or Forsyth. Even if you have to call them from a phone booth in Varna, just tell them CHALICE.”

“Do you have something that is waterproof that I can carry the thumb drive in?” asked Agnes “I don’t want to risk getting seawater on it.” Dominika ran upstairs, dug out the thumb drive, and stuffed it into the now unwrapped Hussar condom from the bedside table drawer and tied a tight knot in the rubber. Back downstairs, she flipped it to Agnes.

“Are you serious?” she said, holding the rubber between thumb and forefinger.

“Don’t worry,” said Dominika. “One owner, never been driven, low mileage.”

“Okay, now it’s waterproof. But if I don’t get the message to Benford in time, you are in grave danger, isn’t that so?” asked Agnes.

Dominika nodded. “If you consider that the execution chamber in Butyrka Prison constitutes grave danger, then you are correct.”

“So if something befalls you, something catastrophic, and Nate eventually is released, it leaves the field open for me, wouldn’t you say?”

“Absolutely,” said Dominika, staring at her. “He would be all yours.” This was one cat hissing at another, establishing the relationship. Agnes’s crimson halo was steady and bright. She would not betray the cause any more than Dominika would, and they both knew it. Agnes looked again at her watch.

“All right,” she said. “Let’s get down to the beach.”