Stepping Out

Gothic Quarter Hotel, Barcelona, Spain

It had been a long time since Belyakov had directed a hunt. Before running assets taken from Oligarch countrymen, he had magnificent careers in the old Soviet KGB and ​the new Federal Security Service (FSB) beginning in 1994. 

From the start Belyakov enjoyed a charmed career. The men and women who entered the service in his class at the Felix Dzerzhinsky Higher School of the KGB were all ambitious and ruthlessly driven. After graduation the members of this class stepped over, and stabbed in the back the career people in front of them doing everything to climb within the organization.

They would all meet occasionally at Blue Monday to drink, laugh, and share stories about work. Their version of Karaoke was to tell stories about those at work they conquered and how they did it. Each story included a description or imitation of the person whose career was now over or derailed to nothing. Without exception, this class found this funny, and nobody exhibited empathy or shame.

Where did this attitude come from?

During training at Dzerzhinsky, each student took one class about how Western business companies operate. The class aimed to teach how to recruit Western Business people to be Soviet Informants.

The kernel of the message was, Western People were money hungry, power hungry, and ruthless in their mannerisms to get ahead at all costs.

The instructor was British and taught the class through an interpreter.

Did this class of young KGB recruits sense that change was around the corner and that they needed to be high up the ranks to survive? Or did the interpreter of the class emphasize that being ruthless climbers was the Western Way and ​that it led to the easier life they all wanted?

Belyakov was a climber who made friends, kept a giant Rolodex, and did favors for everyone when asked. His first foreign posting was at the Oslo embassy, where he met his wife.

Other postings included London, which was a top-tier posting. Later, he and his little family were sent to New York.

Along the way, he made hundreds of friends with whom he kept in touch.

As the Soviet system crumbled, a few ​important friends were at the center of what would become the Russian Federation. 

It was time to choose a side. Do you support a change, the old system, or something in between?

Belyakov thought of his friends, where they were now, and where they were going.

They traded messages on early email systems outside of Russia, and a consensus opinion emerged that everyone should exist in the middle as things were sorted out.

During this period, Belyakov and his family lived in New York. His two kids grew up Western and were funny, outgoing, and ​intelligent. Belyakov started learning one-liners from Western movies, television shows, and commercials from them. Family dinners were full of lines like "Pass the Pork Chops and Applesauce" and "I heard it through the grapevine today." For Belyakov, it became a hobby, and his favorite lines today are still from the movie The Godfather.

This transition period back home was idyllic for his family as Belyakov held in place, sniffed the wind, and waited.

One day in 1992, Belyakov was presented with a complete target package about a Russian who had gotten "too big for his britches" in business. A midlevel manager in the Yeltsin administration wanted his company and assets.

Belyakov knew who initiated this and knew it was time to make a choice.

The man in the Yeltsin administration was a "Made Man" in The FSB.  

Belyakov went to work.

His life was about to change.

Somewhere On The Coast of New Hampshire

Eve, Natalie Leuze, Tanaka, and Wally sat at the kitchen table.

Wally told Eve that Allston was coming home, but he could not tell her what was happening. Eve started crying when she heard ​Allston was almost home.

While Wally and Eve spoke, Tanaka and Leuze were chatting about episodes of Stanley's Girls. Natalie loved her fans, but she hated these aspects of encounters. She had heard it all before.

This was one reason why Natalie loved Eve.

They talked about today and tomorrow, not yesterday.

Tanaka could not believe she was speaking with Natalie Leuze, one of the world's biggest celebrities. Tanaka thought Natalie looked great and was funny. On the other hand, Natalie found Lisa Tanaka to be a bore.

Wally made contact with his three-person sweep team, and he asked for a SITREP. They replied ​they were in place and operating with nothing to report.

Wally and Eve were cracking each other up. They had met before in more tense circumstances when Wally noticed ​how good-looking Eve was. Her eyes were sharp and stunning, and Wally knew a lot was happening in this woman's brain. Wally liked her.

While they were all talking, Wally got briefed in his earpiece. The jet carrying Allston was diverted to the old Pease Air Force Base in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. This was a great move, but it would disrupt any FSB plans ​for Allston's Boston arrival.

Allston should be home within an hour. 

Portsmouth, New Hampshire

I am psyched; the Embassy in Barcelona planned to land me in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, which is ​close to home. It's been a hard three months working in Tijuana, always on point and tense. I can't wait to get home, get playful with Eve, and walk my boy by the ocean. I may take a few days off to get that Russian smell off of me.

The F.B.I. will brief me at some point, and I am curious about why I got yanked. Things were going great.

I gave the F.B.I. good information about the Agapov Organization, but I feel I could have gotten more details with a little more time.

Anatoly was a funny bastard, and despite his true colors, I liked him. We worked well together.

As we landed my two-man Church Mice, the CIA contingent told me they had to see me to my door. After that, ​they would spend a night in Portsmouth and start the journey back to Barcelona.

We had a good journey together, and though we didn't joke around "Allston Style," I determined that these were two dedicated, good men.

The ride home would be courtesy of The Air National Guard.