Divide and conquer - Tom Clancy [87]
"We might be able to narrow it down a little more," Orlov told her.
"If someone wanted to get out of the country quickly, he would assume a nationality the Azerbaijani would not want around."
"Iranian," Odette said.
"No," Orlov countered.
"Iranians might be detained. Russian is more likely. And there are two Russians at the hotel." Odette said she might be able to narrow it down even further by checking the room telephone records.
"Good thinking," Orlov said.
"Hold on while we're checking. Also, Odette, there's one thing more."
Odette felt her lower belly tighten. There was something about the general's voice.
"I spoke with Mr. Battat a few minutes ago," Orlov said. Odette felt as if she'd run into a thick, low-lying tree branch. Her momentum died and her head began to throb. She did not think she had done wrong, leaving a sick man at home. But she had disobeyed an order and could think of nothing to say in her defense.
"The American is on his way to the hotel," General Orlov continued evenly.
"I told him to look for you in the lobby. You're to wait until he arrives before you try to take down your man. Do you understand, Odette?"
"Yes, sir," she replied.
"Good," Orlov said. The woman held on as Orlov's staff checked the records. Her palms were damp. That was less from nervousness than from having been caught. She was an honest woman by nature, and Orlov's trust was important to her. She hoped he understood why she had lied. It was not just to protect Battat. It was to allow herself to concentrate on the mission instead of on a sick man. According to the hotel's records, two of the five men staying there had not made any calls from the room. One of them, Ivan Ganiev, was Russian. Orlov told her they were also checking the computer's housekeeping records. According to the last report, filed the day before, Ganiev's room, number 310, had not been cleaned in the three days he had been there. Meanwhile, Orlov went to his computer and asked for a background check on the name. It came up quickly.
"Ganiev is a telecommunications consultant who lives in Moscow. We're checking the address now to make sure it's valid. He doesn't appear to work for any one company," Orlov said.
"So there's no personnel file we can check for his education or background," she said.
"Exactly," Orlov said.
"He's registered with the Central Technology Licensing Bureau, but all it takes to get a license is a bribe. Ganiev does not have family in Moscow, does not appear to belong to any organizations, and receives his mail at a post office box." That made sense, Odette thought. No mail collecting in the postbox, no newspapers piling up on the stoop. None of the neighbors would be certain whether he was there or not.
"Hold on, we have his address," Orlov added. He was silent for a moment. Then he said, "It's him. It has to be."
"Why do you say that?"
"Ganiev's residence is a block from the Kievskaya metro stop," Orlov told her.
"Which means-?"
"That's where we've lost the Harpooner on at least two other occasions,"
Orlov said. Battat walked into the lobby just then. He looked like Viktor did after ten rounds of boxing in the military amateurs. Wobbly.
Battat saw Odette and walked toward her.
"So it looks as though he's our man," Odette said.
"Do we proceed as planned?" This was the most difficult part of intelligence work. Making a determination about life and death based on an educated guess. If General Orlov were wrong, then an innocent man would die. Not the first and certainly not the last. National security was never error-free. But if he were correct, hundreds of lives might be spared. Then there was the option of attempting to capture the Harpooner and turn him over to Azerbaijani authorities. Even if it could be done, there were two problems with that. First, the Azerbaijanis would find