"I ran the name through the computer. Zip," his wife responded. "I'm starting a new file on the name. Maybe the Brits have something."
"Want me to call Basil about it?" the DCI asked.
"Let's see what we develop first. Get the fax off to John right away, though."
"It'll go out soon as I get the cover note done," Mary Pat Foley promised.
"Hockey game tonight." The Washington Capitals were closing in on the playoffs, and tonight was a grudge match with the Flyers.
"I haven't forgotten. Later, honey-bunny."
"Bill," John said over the office phone forty minutes later. "You want to come into my office?"
"On the way, John." He walked through the door in about two minutes. "What's the news?"
"Check this out, pal." Clark handed over the four pages of transcript.
"Bloody hell," the intelligence officer said, as soon as he got to page two. "Popov, Dmitriy Arkadeyevich. Doesn't ring a bell-oh, I see, they don't know the name at Langley either. Well, one cannot know them all. Call Century House about it?"
"I think we cross-index our files with yours, but it can't hurt. It would appear that Ding was right on this one. How much you want to bet that this is our guy? Who's your best friend in the Security Service?"
"Cyril Holt," Tawney said at once. Deputy Director. I've known Cyril back to Rugby. He was a year behind me there. Outstanding chap." He didn't have to explain to Clark that old school ties were still a major part of British culture.
"Want to get him into this?"
"Bloody right, John."
"Okay, let's make the call. If we decide to go public, I want us to make the decision, not the fucking Russians."
"They know your name, then?"
"More than that. I've met Chairman Golovko. He's the guy who got Ding and me into Tehran last year. I've run a couple of cooperative operations with 'em, Bill. They know everything down to my dick size."
Tawney didn't react. He was learning how Americans talked. and it was often very entertaining. "You know, John, we ought not to get too excited about this information."
"Bill, you've been in the field as much as I have, maybe a little more. If this doesn't make your nose twitch, get something to clean your sinuses out, will you?" Clark paused for a second. "We got somebody who knows me by name, and is hinting that he can tell the Russians what I'm doing now. He's gotta know, man. He picked the London rezident to tell, not the one in Caracas. A terrorism guy, maybe a guy who knows names and numbers, and we've had three incidents since we got here, and we've agreed that's a lot for so short a time, and now this guy comes up on the scope, asking about me. Bill, I think it's time to get a little excited, okay?"
"Quite so, John. I'll get Cyril on the phone." Tawney left the room.
"Fuck," John breathed, when the door closed. That was the problem with black operations. Sooner or later, some bastard flipped the light switch, and it was generally somebody you didn't even want in the room. How the hell has this one leaked? His face darkened as he looked down at his desk, acquiring an expression that those who knew it considered very dangerous indeed.
"Shit," Director Murray said at his desk in FBI Headquarters.
"Yeah, Dan, that about covers it," Ed Foley agreed from his seventh-floor office in Langley. "How the hell did this leak?"
"Beats the hell out of me, man. You have anything on this Popov that I don't know about?"
"I can check with Intelligence and Terrorism divisions, but we cross-deck everything to you. What about the Brits?"
"If I know John, he's already on the phone to `Five' and `Six.' His intel guy is Bill Tawney, and Bill's top-drawer in any outfit. Know him?"
"Rings a vague bell, but I can't put a face on it. What's Basil think of him?"
"Says he's one of his best analysts, and was a primo field-spook until a few years ago. He's got a good nose," the DCI told Murray.
"How big a threat is this?"
"Can't tell yet. The Russians know John pretty well from Tokyo and Tehran. Golovko knows him personally - called me about the Tehran job to compliment him on the job he and Chavez pulled off. I gather they hit it off, but this is business, not personal, y'know?"
"I hear you, Don Corleone. Okay, what do you want me to do?"
"Well, there's a leak somewhere. I haven't got a clue vet where it might be. The only talk I've heard about Rainbow has been people with codeword clearance. They're supposed to know about keeping their mouths shut."
