Page 73 of The Collector
“But Magnus Larsen belongs to you.”
“I bequeath Magnus to the Agency. He’s all yours, Adrian.”
“You’re the one who burned him. And you’re the only one who can turn him around. Besides, you and your service are rather good at stealing sensitive nuclear-related documents, as I recall.”
Gabriel lapsed into silence. He had run out of objections.
“How can you pass up the opportunity to help us avoid World War Three?” asked Carter.
“Who’s engaging in hyperbole now?”
“Certainly not me.”
Gabriel looked at the photograph of the safe in Nikolai Petrov’s office. “Do you know what will happen if they get caught?”
“They will spend the next several years in a Russian penal colony. If they’re lucky.”
“Which means that one of us has to go on the record with the Danes.”
“I’ll leave that in your hands.”
“What about Komarovsky?”
“We wait to hear from him.”
“And then?”
“We let Komarovsky make the next move.”
38
Berlin
“Tell Adrian to find someone else.”
“I tried. He says there is no one else.”
“It can’t be done.”
“It has to be done, Eli. We have no other choice.”
They were headed into central Berlin through a driving rainstorm. Lavon was behind the wheel of a Mercedes C-Class sedan. Gabriel was strapped securely into the passenger seat. There was a reason Ari Shamron had turned Lavon into a pavement artist. He was one of the world’s worst drivers.
“Perhaps you should switch on the wipers, Eli. They really do work wonders in conditions like these.”
The car drifted into the opposing lane of the motorway as Lavon searched the dashboard for the appropriate knob. Gabriel reached across the cockpit and adjusted their heading.
“Try turning the barrel at the end of the indicator arm.”
Lavon followed Gabriel’s suggestion, and the lights of the Berlin skyline came suddenly into focus. “Has it slipped your mind thatMagnus Larsen was the one who acquired the nuclear fuel for this forthcoming false-flag attack?”
“Which makes him the ideal person to clean up the mess.”
“He’s a Russian asset. And not just any asset,” added Lavon. “He’s Vladimir’s private plaything.”
“Not anymore.”
“Are you sure about that?”
