The Ajax Protocol-7 by Alex Lukeman Page A

involved?"
    How did she know that? he thought.
    She seemed to read his mind. "I can hear you thinking, General. I'm right, aren't I?"
    He sighed. "We have someone in custody. We are, ah, questioning him. What you would call a person of interest, yes?"
    "Have you been watching American television again, Alexei?"
    He laughed. "You have so many crime shows. America must be a very dangerous place, with all those persons of interest wandering around."
    "Don't believe everything you see on television," she said. She paused.
    Vysotsky waited. Now we're getting to it, he thought.
    "We worked well together in the past, " she said.  "I propose that we cooperate again. You and I both want to prevent another incident."
    "What do you have in mind?"
    "You have full access to whatever your people discover and I do not."
    "You wish to share information?"
    "If we work together, we'll be more effective than if we work alone."
    "What have you discovered?"
    "Nothing concrete, yet. A suspicion, only. It may lead to something or not. If it proves accurate, I'll tell you."
    More than a suspicion, Vysotsky thought. "Are you thinking of sending your team here?"
    "I have no plans to do so, but it could be necessary in the future. That is one reason I'm calling. I don't want there to be any misunderstandings if it becomes necessary."
    Vysotsky ran through the options in his mind. The riots had shaken the Kremlin. Whoever discovered the cause would be rewarded. He had nothing to lose by cooperating with her. Harker was offering an opportunity he couldn't pass up.
    "I also would like to avoid misunderstandings. If you keep me informed, I think we have an agreement. Who else knows about your suspicions? Your FBI? Langley?"
    "For the time being, no one else. You know we have serious security leaks."
    Not long before, there had been a rash of publicity about a high profile American defector who had ended up in Russia.
    Vysotsky smiled to himself. "Yes, you do. How do you want to proceed?"
    "I'll pursue this on my end. If I discover something, I'll pass it on to you. I would like you to do the same." Harker paused. "Do you have any leads yet from your person of interest?"
    "Not yet. But I don't think it will be very long until I do."
    Thousands of miles away on the other side of the world, Elizabeth could hear a ruthless certainty in his voice. She was glad she wasn't the one Vysotsky was questioning.
     
     
     
     

 
    CHAPTER 15
     
     
    Nick had always thought counseling was an admission of weakness. A man ought to handle things on his own had been his dominant thought almost as long as he could remember. Even so, it had finally come home to him that he had to do something about his PTSD. It gave him nightmares and headaches. It was driving a wedge between him and Selena. It interfered when he was in the field.
    He'd chosen Dave Milton from a short list recommended by other vets. Milton had made Major in Special Forces, no mean feat. He'd lost an arm in Afghanistan. Those two things gave him a lot of credibility with Nick. Now he was back in Milton's office.
    The doctors he'd talked to when he'd come back from the war had told him his guilt about the child was misplaced and that it wasn't his fault. That feeling guilty just made the stress worse. That was like telling him the sky was blue. Intellectually, he already knew that. But they didn't really understand. They hadn't been there. They didn't know what it felt like, but Milton did. That was the difference. Nick trusted him.
    Milton was a black man, about Nick's height but a little heavier. Today he had on a blue shirt and a tie. The left sleeve of the shirt was attached with a gold safety pin against his shoulder. Milton was the kind of man who seemed at ease with himself, a man who knew who he was.
    They'd been talking for a half hour. Nick told Milton what had happened at Bethesda, in a general way. Milton's clearance was good, but it only went so far.
    "You're keeping something back," Milton