Games

FBI Regional Headquarters - New England - Chelsea, Massachusetts

Wallace Q Hughes was angry at himself for not thinking Russia's FSB and China's MSS would cooperate with each other regarding Thomas Allston. 

This would be considered a screw-up placed on Wally's shoulders and in his personnel jacket.

No FBI protocols were implemented regarding the two giants cooperating, but Wally should have considered the possibility of this happening.

At the end of last year, there were signs cooperation between the two security operations was actively happening. In New England, a long-term F.B.I. Confidential Informant (C.I.) in the New England district took a trip to be with relatives in China during the Golden Week Celebration. She never returned to her home in America or her thriving import/export business on the South Shore of Boston.

There was no phone call or letter explaining she would stay in China. There was no announcement from the Party or MSS an American Spy was being detained. Her family in Massachusetts was distraught and tired of the unanswered queries to the Chinese officials about where their mother was.

Two years ago, this C.I. was a critical protected witness in an extensive nationwide investigation involving arms shipments to Russian operators in the United States. Her face most likely ended up on the F.S.B.'s facial recognition system. Then, after the new era of cooperation between China and Russia began, it was shared with the Chinese Ministry of State Security.

The theory is that this C.I., a wonderful Mother, Wife, and Businesswoman, arrived in China and was scooped up by the Ministry of State Security and was either executed or thrown into a remote labor camp.

Other C.I.s run in other regional districts of the F.B.I. had similar mysterious ends. 

Other agencies began to suffer losses. The Drug Enforcement Agency was hit the hardest. There were three unexplained C.I. shutdowns.

Wallace needed to alert Thomas Allston he was in immediate danger. Then he had to get him out of Spain and back home.

He needed help from an agency that had never cooperated with the FBI, as well as Russia and China cooperated with each other.

The first order of business was letting his boss know there was a "situation." that would cause Wally's boss to have to work.

He would leave the unpleasant business of asking the C.I.A. for help to him.

Wally sent out a flash that alerted three people at once, and then he waited for the fun to begin.

Phase One of Operation SMP (Save My Pension) had just begun for Wallace Q. Hughes.

The Gothic Quarter - Barcelona, Spain

Belyakov considered the situation. His organization had done nothing wrong. An American spy was discovered during the vetting process. Troy Manolo's knowledge of the inner workings of the Agapov organization was minimal.

Belyakov had to get it right.

Killing Manolo here in Barcelona is possible, but it would cause a focus on the convention and who the Agapov Organization is. That would cause an INTERPOL shitstorm and would hinder executive movement for years. It was an INTERPOL red notice that kept Nikolai Agopov on his boat. He couldn't go anywhere.

Belyakov ruled that out. 

Having Manolo return to the U.S. and then killing him next to the strip club was the next possibility. That was the dispatching of an American spy in another country but one where The Agapov Organization enjoyed protections from a Drug Cartel. There would be no embarrassment for the president, but nothing would be gained from finding an American Spy.

The third possibility was the one that would allow Belkakov to maintain favor with the President.

The boss loved his bargaining chips, which he offered to America in exchange for cash, prisoner exchange, or policy change. Lefortovo prison held a handful of suspected American spies. The FSB kept them healthy, unlike the stupid North Koreans, and they were only sent to brutal labor when the FSB wanted to add pressure to the situation.

Belyakov thought we must get Manolo to Russia, where we could detain him, extract truths, and then bargain on a geopolitical basis for his return.

This was the way to please the uppers.

Belyakov started planning.

The Cardinal And The Jack Coffeehouse - Cambridge, Massachusetts

Eve was running a busy shop this morning when the dishwasher came to the front and told her that someone was at the back door to see her. 

Eve's heart raced a little, thinking that it might be Allston, and when she opened the door and saw Natalie Leuze standing there, perhaps a touch of disappointment was emitted.

She hugged Natalie, pulled her inside, and said, "I was hoping for Allston, but you'll do."

"How are you, Nat?"

"I'm busy, Eve, but I woke up missing my Tennessee friend this morning, so I drove down from Maine to grab a muffin or two. I want to stay out of the papers today."

Eve put in a permanent two-top set up outside her tiny office.

"Please have a seat, and I'll get some coffee and a few muffins that just came out of the oven.

Natalie sat down and thought about the wonderful kindness and friendship that Eve had given her when everything was turned upside down.

It was good to see her.