Snow Wolf (23 page)

Massey nodded. "Three people, to be
exact."

Lebel laughed, a derisory snort.
"Jake, have you lost your mind?"

" I'm not asking you to do it for
nothing. It's a business arrangement, pure and simple. You'll be well
rewarded."

"Correction, mon ami. It would be
suicide, pure and simple. Besides, money I don't need."

Lebel looked down at the square below.
The rain had finally come, lashing down on the shiny cobbles, pigeons
scattering to the rooftops. He looked back at Massey.

"Jake, please understand, I'm a fur
dealer, not a travel agent. I make a good life out of my trade with the
Russians. You know what would happen if they found out I was smuggling people
out'? I'd be making snowballs in some godforsaken camp in Siberia for the rest
of my life,"

"Hear me out first, Henri."

Lebel shook his head. "Jake, it's
pointless. God himself wouldn't convince me to take such a risk." Massey
stood. "I said hear me out. How many trainloads of furs do you take out of
Russia each year?"

Lebel shrugged his shoulders and sighed.
"Four, maybe six in a good year. It depends on demand."

"in sealed carriages?"

"Yes, in Sealed carriages. Six
carriages a train."

"And you're always there to
accompany the goods?"

Lebel nodded. "Of course. With such
a valuable cargo, I can't take a risk. Even with Stalin in command there are
bandits near the border with Finland. I lease a train privately from the
Russians that travels from Moscow to Helsinki."

"Do the Russians check you both
sides of the border, going in and coming out?"

Lebel smiled. "The border guards
check all the carriages with sniffer dogs, Jake. Believe me, nothing goes in or
out of that country without Moscow knowing about it."

"You mean almost nothing."

Massey took an envelope from his inside
jacket. He handed it across to Lebel.

"if that's money, Jake, I told you,
forget it."

"It's not money. It's a confidential
report. I want you to read it."

Lebel took the unsealed envelope and
opened it. Inside was a single page. He read the page and his face dropped. As
he looked back at Massey the Frenchman had the startled look of a fox caught
with a chicken in his mouth.

"What's the meaning of this?"
Lebel said almost angrily.

"As you can see, it's a report on
the last three consignments you exported from Russia. You've been a naughty
boy, haven't you, Henri? You had a hundred and twenty more sable pelts than you
claimed in the customs declaration, all hidden in a secret compartment under
the train."

Massey held out his hand and Lebel
returned the report, white-faced. He slumped into his chair and stared up at
Massey. "How did you know?"

"The Finnish customs found the
compartment under the carriage's floorboards. They had a discreet look at your
train in Helsinki Station after it came back.from Moscow two months ago.
Naturally, they reported it to us, just in case our friends in Moscow were up
to something. But now I know they're not. It's your operation, isn't it,
Henri'? Who else knows about this'?

Anyone in Russia?"

"The train driver," admitted
Lebel. "In fact, the method was his idea. He saw it done during the war by
certain criminals in Moscow, when food was being smuggled in from the country
for the black market."

"Can he be trusted?"

Lebel shrugged. "As much as any
crook can be trusted. He has a weakness for a certain ravishing young Finnish
lady who lives near the border in Russian-occupied Karelia. A big girl whose
tastes run to expensive French champagne and naughty silk underwear which I
provide him with. I guess he'll do anything for sex and money, but then won't
most men?"

"But it is your operation, isn't it,
Henri?"

An anxious smile flickered on Lebel's
pale face. "Jake, you've no idea. what the Finns charge me in import
taxes. Their inland revenue would put a highwayman to shame."

"So naturally, when your friend
found a way around it, you jumped in."

Lebel gestured with his cigar at the
report in Massey's hand. "Until you showed me that I thought I'd done the
clever thing, but now I know I was foolish. OK, Jake, what's the story? You get
the gendarmes to slap the bracelets on me and haul me away?"

"The American Embassy in Helsinki
advised the Finns to hold their report for the moment." Massey smiled
briefly. "But I've a feeling things might get pretty difficult for your
company if the Finns prosecute. And after that I think you'd find America was a
closed door for your business. You'd be ruined, Henri."

"Don't tell me, but you can save me
from all that?"

Massey smiled. "if you were willing
to cooperate."

Lebel sat back with a sigh. "I was
waiting for this."

"First tell me how you got around
the Russians. Don't they check your train?"

"Of course, but only coming in over
the Finnish border, not coming out. The carriages are examined by the Finns
after we cross the Russian border into their territory."

"Who else is in on this?"

Lebel hesitated. "Certain greedy
associates I deal with in Russia. Bureaucrats and railway officials. In fact,
it was they who put the train driver up to it. For a small consideration they
make sure the Russian guards turn a blind eye when the train passes through the
border checkpoint."

"Did you ever take out people for
Moscow?"

Lebel shook his head fiercely.
"Jake, I don't work for the KGB. Nor do the people I deal with, I swear
it. Their sole motivation is money. But to take people instead of furs would be
impossible, believe me, and the train driver would never agree. Furs are one
thing, people quite another. He'd be shot for Such a thing, not to mention me
if I was caught."

"What if the plan was
foolproof?"

"Jake, no plan is foolproof,
especially where the Russians are concerned."

"Foolproof and worth half a million
francs. Swiss francs, that is. Paid into your own Swiss account once you agree
to help. And if you do what I ask about Max Simon, there's a cherry on the
cake."

"A formidable solution, but I'm
still not interested," Lebel frowned with curiosity. "What's the
cherry?"

"If the Finns throw away their tile
on you so long as you promise not to be a bad boy again. Otherwise, Henri, I
can assure you, your hide's going to be nailed to the wall and you'll never
move another trainload of fur out of Russia."

Lebel's face showed his displeasure.
"Jake, you're a hard man."

"Believe me, I'm a pussycat compared
to the people who'll come after you."

There was a distracted look on Lebel's
face as he lit another cigar. For a long time he was silent, his brow creased
deep in thought, then he looked at Massey.

"What if I said I would consider
helping YOU, but not for money?"

"It depends on what you have in mind
instead."

"An extra passenger." Massey's
eyebrows rose. "You'd better explain."

Lebel told him about Irena.

Massey said, "She's Jewish?"

Lebel nodded. "Another reason why
I'd feel safer if she got out of'moscow. And I can't pretend some of my
contacts there haven't become noticeably icy toward me of late. I thought we
had left all that behind us with Hitler, but it seems not. Many times I thought
of trying to get Irena out, but the risks were too great. If the Finnish
authorities were to find her on board the train they might send her back to
Russia and me to prison. But you could make Sure that wouldn't happen, couldn't
you, Jake? And get her a legal passport and citizenship?"

"You're a dark horse, Henri. This
dacha Irena owns outside Moscow. Is it safe?"

"Of course, that's why we use it.
Why?"

"I'll explain later. Do you love
this woman?"

"What do you think?"

"I think we can do a deal."

New Hampshire. February 3rd It was almost
seven when Anna awoke. It was cold in the small bedroom, and when she opened
the curtains it was dark outside and she saw the thin fall of snow. The view
down to the lake was really quite special, she thought. She threw on her dressing
gown and went downstairs.

Stanski was sitting at the table drinking
coffee. He wore a military parka and sturdy boots, a small rucksack on the
floor beside him, and he looked up at her silently as she sat down.

Not for the first time she noticed the
photograph over the fireplace. A Couple and three small children. A pretty
blond air] and two boys, one dark, one fair. She thought one of them resembled
Stanski, but she looked away when she noticed him watching her.

Vassily placed a breakfast of eggs, cheese
and corn bread in front of her and said, "Eat, little one.'@

When the old man had poured her more tea
and left the room, she looked at Stanski. "Perhaps you'd better tell me
what we'll be doing today."

"Nothing too strenuous to begin
with, just enough to start getting you in shape." He smiled. "Not
that there's much wrong with your shape as it is."

"Is that meant to be a
compliment?"

"No, an observation. But it's really
a question of building, up your stamina. The training is purely a precaution.
It's over six hundred miles from Tallinn to Moscow, a relatively short route,
and that's why it was chosen. But if something goes wrong and you have to look
after yourself, then You had better be fit and prepared."

"I'm quite capable of looking after
myself'."

He smiled again. "Let's make certain
of it. We'll take a gentle walk in the woods. Ten miles to start with. When
Popov arrives in a couple of days the real training begins. Then, I assure you,
it gets a lot tougher." He stood. "One more thing."

She looked up and saw the blue eyes stare
down at her and for a moment she felt an odd flutter in her chest.

"What?"

"Something Massey will explain, but
I think you'd better know now. You'll be given a pill when we go in. Cyanide.
It kills instantly. You'll have to use it in a situation where it's likely
you're going to get caught and there's no way out. But let's hope that doesn't
happen."

Anna hesitated. "Are you trying to
frighten me?"

."No, just making sure you know this
is not some elaborate game we're playing here. And that there's still time for
you to change your mind."

"I'm quite aware it's not a game.
And I won't change my mind."

She dressed in the warm clothes Massey
had bought her, furlined walking boots and heavy trousers and a thick sweater
and navy oilskin. It was still dark as they set off through the forest. The
snow had stopped when they came to a clearing after half a mile, and Anna saw
the first rays of sunshine on the far horizon, streaking the sky orange and
red.

She noticed the way Stanski moved through
the woods. It was almost as if he was familiar with every inch of the forest,
every branch and twig, but she knew that was impossible. He halted in the
clearing and pointed toward a sloping mountain that rose up in the distance
through a thin bank of pine trees.

"See that plateau on the mountain?
It's called Kingdom Ridge. That's where we're headed. Ten miles there and back.
Think you'll be able to manage it?"

There was a smile on his face and she
thought he was goading her but she didn't reply, simply marched on ahead.

She was exhausted after the first two
miles. The rising ground made it hard on her legs, but Stanski walked as if he
were on flat ground and the tilt of the land seemed to make no difference to
his stamina. Once or twice he looked around to check on her, but by the fifth
mile, as they reached the top, he was way ahead.

She came out of the forest onto the
ridge, exhausted, fighting for breath, and by then the sun was up, the view of
the lake and forest below quite stunning. In the distance was an enormous ridge
of snow-capped mountains. In the morning light the rock looked as if it were
tinted blue. Stanski was sitting on a rocky outcrop overhanging the ridge,
smoking a cigarette. When he saw her he smiled. "Glad You could make
it."

"Give me a cigarette," she
almost gasped.

He handed her one and lit it for her.

When she had caught her breath she said,
"The view is incredible."

""The mountains you see are
called the Appalachians. They Stretch over a thousand miles."

She looked out at the view again, then
back at him. "Can I ask you a question, Stanski?"

"What?"

"You didn't want me to be part of
this, did you?"

He grinned. "Now what makes you
think that?"

"From what you said back in the
cabin- And besides, you strike me as the kind of man who likes to do things
alone. Tell me about yourself."