Chapter 14

Inside the Attorney General’s office, Bruce Schact and Annette Giancarlo were talking with Christopher Wray and Gina Haspel regarding Svetlana’s offer. The recording of the interview that special agent Miller had made was playing

“I am willing to give you the names of the victims, the contractors that did the work, and the bank accounts where the payment was sent. In exchange for all of this, all I ask is immunity from prosecution.”

The AG stopped the recording. “What do you think Bruce?”

“I think my suspicions about her, in the beginning, were true. She’s smarter than we gave her credit for.” He said with a smirk. “As far as what she has to offer, I looked at what agent Miller sent us. Everything matches up. The dates of the killings line up with what she told him.”

“From the preliminary investigation we did, we can agree that three of the killings look politically motivated.” Director Wray told the AG.

“How sure are you?” The AG asked the FBI director.

“Ninety-five percent, sir.” Wary replied.

“Director, I know you’re not involved in prosecuting her, but I asked you here for your opinion about the informant. Can we trust her?” the AG asked her.

She thought for a moment before answering. “If you will indulge me for a moment, I’ll explain my thoughts on this whole thing.” She replied.

“Please...” The AG told her.

“Svetlana Michaels is dead. The woman we have in Spain with the team is,” She looked at a note on her phone. “Katerina Cirillo. We changed the DNA in the system to match the woman we buried. I will grant you that she did plan this whole thing and like Bruce said, she is smarter than we all thought. At this point, who cares? She clearly knows more about the Russians, the Michaels family, and the operations in New York than we first thought. If she’s willing to give it to us, then sign the immunity letter and see what she has for you.”

“What about her being a Russian operative while she was here?” Director Wray asked.

“You want her to pay for her crimes? She is and will be for the rest of her life.” Haspel told him.

“How so?” Bruce asked her.

“Look at Svetlana’s life. She was a social media influencer. She had a metric buttload of followers on social media and people that knew who she was from the running community. She was a national champion adventure racer and was married to the Undersecretary of the Interior. She lived on Central Park West in New York when she wasn’t in Washington DC with her husband. Her income was $150 thousand a year from her accounting firm. We all agree with that correct?” She asked. Everyone nodded their heads in agreement. “She went from that to being locked down in Spain guarded by the team and under 24-hour control. Granted it’s a nice prison, but it’s still a prison. When this is all over, she’s going to have to start a new life someplace secluded and out of the way. She won’t be able to do nearly anything like she used to. She’s also going to spend the rest of her life in hiding and looking over her shoulder for people that might recognize her.”

“I see where you’re coming from. She’s already in prison and she’s under a life sentence of watching her back and never being able to let her guard down again.” Bruce told her.

“You’re on board with her immunity then?” AG Barr asked.

“Yes, sir. From what I heard from her interview at the Raven Rock facility, she can give us more than we could get on our own.” Bruce replied.

He looked over at the FBI director. “Director Wray, I can see the wheels turning in your head, what are you thinking?” the AG asked him.

“I agree with Director Haspel’s line of thought. She’s going to be in a prison of her own making for the rest of her life. So, let’s get what she knows and go after those involved.” He told the AG.

Bill Barr looked at his desk for a moment and then looked to Bruce Schacht. “Bruce, get me the immunity agreement by the end of the day so we can get it to the team ASAP.” The AG told him.

“You’ll have it inside the hour.” Bruce told him.

“Mrs. Giancarlo, it appears that your client is in the clear.” The AG told her.

“Yes, sir. On behalf of my client, thank you for this.” She replied.

36 hours later

Colonel Mahmoud Rostamifir had no idea where he was. The last thing he remembered was meeting an Irish woman where he gets his evening tea. He tried to move around, but he found his body was sluggish and slow to react. He tried to lift his head up, but the dizziness hit him hard. He laid his head back down on the gurney and tried to look at his surroundings.

“Doctor, he’s awake ... Yes, I’ll have them for you when you arrive.” He heard the male voice say. Rostamifir heard footsteps and then the voice spoke to him. “I’m going to check your blood pressure and heart rate, please do not move too much.” He told him.

“You will call my embassy at once and tell them where I am.” He tried to say it with some force, but his speech was slurred. He tried to stand up, but the man caught him and gently pushed him back on the bed.

“Please stop, you’ll reinjure your arm if you move too much. You’ve been unconscious for almost 3 days, so you need to allow your body to adjust to moving around, Ok?” He calmly told him. The colonel nodded his head in agreement. “Now, do you have a headache or ringing in your ears?”

Rostamifir paused for a moment not completely understanding what he was saying. After a minute, the Iranian spoke. “I have a headache and my ears are ringing, yes.” he replied.

“Do you remember how you got here?” The man asked him.

“No, the last thing I remember, I met a woman at the café I get evening tea from.” He told the man.

A door opened and another man walked in. “How is he Mick?” He asked in a thick.

“Morning Sean. His pulse and heart rate are within normal parameters, but he’s got all the symptoms for a concussion.” Mick told the other man.

“What symptoms?” Sean asked Mick.

“Headache, slurred speech, ringing in the ears, and memory loss. I’m positive that if you let him up off the gurney that he’d fall over. He also ordered me to call his embassy and tell them where he is.” Mick told him. He turned and walked out leaving Rostamifir with Sean.

“Mr. Rostamifir, I’m Dr. Wallace and I’ve been overseeing your care. You had a bit of an accident and you were admitted three days ago for observation. Do you understand what I’m telling you?” He asked the Iranian.

Pausing for another couple moments, he nodded his head. “You are a doctor and you have been treating me.” He repeated.

“Good.” He said making a note on his chart. “I already reset the bone in your arm. We’ve been using an air cast on your arm till you woke up. But now that you’re awake, we’ll get it replaced with an orthopedic cast in the next day or so. Also, your right arm is going to be a bit sore for the next few days, ok?” Sean told him.

“Please, I have no recollection of what happened, can you please tell me how I got here?” Rostamifir asked.

“The investigation is still going, so as soon as I find someone who knows, I’ll send them in here and have them talk to you, will that be ok?” The doctor asked.

“Yes, thank you doctor.” He replied with a small smile.

“We’ve been decreasing your pain meds from your broken arm, but I’ll make sure you’re comfortable and able to sleep tonight.” He told the colonel. He looked at his chart and made some notes. “One more thing Mr. Rostamifir, please don’t try to get up and walk around. If you need help going to the WC, call the nurse and someone will come to help you, ok?”

“I will do as you advise. Thank you for your efforts doctor.” He replied.

Mick walked back in with an IV bag and a syringe. He hung the bag and changed out the line. When he was finished, he put the syringe into the IV line added it in. “Mr. Rostamifir, you’re going to feel drowsy in a couple of moments, if you start to feel pain during the night, please hit the call signal and a nurse will be in to help you.” He told him. Mick finished what he was doing and wished him a good night. Mick walked out to the nurse’s station and made notes for the next shift.

Three men came walking up to Mick as he was finishing his notes. He handed them a flash drive. “This is all his records from his stay here. All his injuries have been treated and Dr. Wallace signed off on his release and he’s ready to go.”

“Thanks Mick.” Jonny Kasim told him. He looked over at Gerald Phillips and his partner who were standing by the door and nodded. They walked into Rostamifir’s room and unplugged the bed from the monitoring equipment on the wall. They started to roll him out of the room and his eyes shot open.

“Where are you taking me?” He asked one of the men.

“The doctor cleared you, so we’re taking you out of the intensive care unit to a wardroom. Nothing is going to happen to you, I promise. Go back to sleep and everything will be better in the morning, I promise.” Gerald told him.

“Thank you...” Rostamifir told him as he closed his eyes and went back to sleep.

The three men just chuckled quietly to themselves as they moved into an elevator and hit the basement 3 button.

Rostamifir thought he was dreaming when he looked up and saw the woman from that evening at the café in London. She was wearing the same suit he remembered from that evening. Smiling, she walked closer to him. The woman stopped by his bed and put her hand on his cheek. He smiled remembering how attractive she was to him. She looked at his pupil dilation and then let go of his face.

“Hello, I’ve missed you.” She said in her charming Irish lilt.

“I have missed you as well.” He told her. “I never did find out what your name was.”

“Yes, you did, your memory is just a bit rough at the moment.” She replied.

“This is a wonderful dream I am having.” He said looking around.

“Oh, you’re not dreaming in the least.” She said as she walked off.

“Wait, where are you going?” Rostamifir asked her.

“It’s time for me to go. It’s going to start now.” She said as she walked into the darkness that surrounded his room.

“What is going to start now.” He asked her.

“Payback for the women you’ve hurt, you useless twat.” She said as she walked out.

He watched as four men walked in wearing masks and sunglasses. Getting anxious, he tried to move away from them. Three of the men grabbed him and held him still.

“We’re going to give you a break and let your arm heal a bit before we start having fun with it.” One of the men said to him. The other three grabbed him and held him still. The speaker pulled out a roll of duct tape and proceeded to tape his broken arm to his chest. When he was finished, he couldn’t move his arm at all. “There you go, that should hold you.” The man told him. “Go ahead lads, get him set up”

He tried to get away again, but the other three grabbed him and held him still. He tried to thrash and get them off him, but one of them hit him in the solar plexus and he doubled over in pain. Two of the men grabbed his arm. They wrapped a leather cuff around it, fastened and locked the cuff so he couldn’t get it off. They then knocked him down to the ground and did the same with his legs. When they were finished, they flipped him over so that he was lying face down. One of them put his knee in the back of his neck to hold him in place.

“Hey, do you think he tried this with any of the women he hurt?” The man on his neck asked someone.

“I don’t know two, but we can ask him later.”

Rostamifir heard a snap and a clink. He tried to look over at his arm but was slapped on the back of the head.

“Whoops, I forgot about your concussion, sorry mate.” The man on his neck told him. “Don’t worry, all will become clear in a couple of minutes.”

He felt his arm and legs being stretched out to the point it was painful. “Please, I will talk! Stop this and I will tell you whatever you want to know!” He screamed.

“Oh, I know you’ll talk you little shite. But we have to make sure you’re properly motivated before we let you talk.” Someone else told him.

The man that had been on his neck knelt down in front of him. “We’ll be back in a couple of hours to check on you.” He said patting him on the cheek.

“Please, I swear on my family’s honor, I will tell you what you want to know!” he yelled.

“I’m sure you will by the time we get done with you.” The man told him. He stood up; he and the other three men walked out of the cell and bolted the door behind them. He reached up to a speaker next to the door. “Ok, let it go.”

In the cell, bright lights came on and a piercing squeal started playing. Rostamifir struggled to get loose but failed to do so. He tried to calm himself and remember his interrogation training, but it was doing him no good. He started to tear up as the rope on his left leg started to tighten. He screamed in pain as it pulled tighter. It felt like it was going to rip his leg off. He screamed louder and then felt it start to slacken up. Suddenly his arm started being pulled. He screamed even louder it was already hurting from his accident.

Siobhan O’Malley sat in the control room watching Colonel Mahmoud Rostamifir being “softened up” for questioning. He smiled remembering some of the women that begged for mercy in his basement.

Back in Spain, the team had linked up with the boats again and were talking with Michelle about what was going on. She had flown back to Rota two nights earlier after she had received a message from Director Richards for her to contact him soonest. The team had settled into a couple of days of heightened awareness and paid more attention to their surroundings a bit more than they would have usually. They never left the compound with less than three people. David had taken Lana to an internet café to download more information about the bank in Macao for Denise so she could forward it to Diane. When she had left the compound, four people went with her.

Michelle, back to wearing her Naval service uniform, was sitting next to Dominic as they talked. “This is all from the bank in Macao that she had no idea that she owned?” Michelle asked.

“Yes. Lana was nice enough to do a ‘bank ownership for dummies’ cheat sheet for Hank to follow along. She also said that Diane would understand everything that was enclosed in the paperwork.” Denise told her.

“I’m going to be asked how she didn’t know she owned a bank and then discovered that she did.” Michelle asked.

“When she decided to execute her exit strategy, she started gathering information about Greg senior, Davynskov, and their dealings. It is on the interview recording how she found out.” Talitha told her.

“Does she know where the money actually came from to buy a controlling interest in the bank?” Michelle asked.

“Daddy Michael’s bank accounts in Panama and South Africa. Where it came from before that, we have no idea. Lana told us that it was not from the United States though.” Petra told her.

Michelle was making notes as she listened to Petra talk. “How sure is she that the accounts belong to Michaels senior?”

“100% positive.” Petra told her.

“If she didn’t know anything about the bank, how did she get the login information to get into the bank’s mainframe?” Michelle asked.

“When I asked her the same question, she told me she did the books for the offshore accounts belonging to Greg senior. She further went on to tell me that getting the passcodes to move money around from bank to bank was not hard to do; and that he keeps a small notebook hidden under a false bottom in the bottom left desk drawer in his office at his home in New York.” Denise told her.

“How much does he have in Macao?” Michelle asked.

“Around eighty million at the moment.” Petra told her.

“Speaking of Lana, I have a packet from the DOJ for Agent Miller.” Michelle said handing it to Denise. “From what I understand they approved her immunity in order to get the bigger fish.” Michelle told her.

“Yeah, we figured that they would.” Denise told her. She reached into her pack and pulled out a sealed legal envelope that had been stamped ‘TS Compartmented, HUMINT’ on it. She handed it to Michelle along with two copies of the chain of evidence form Agent Miller had made. “Here you go.”

Michelle read the form and signed the form and handed one copy back to Denise. “What is this?” she asked Denise.

“Everything the DOJ needs to open an investigation and successfully prosecute Miriam Michaels for Murder for hire and Greg for RICO.” Denise told her.

“Wow...” She said looking at the packet. “How did you get the stamps?”

“I had an extra set made when I was in Berlin. I never leave home without them.” She said with a smile. “Ok, spill, what made you leave the comfort of Dominic’s bed so quickly?”

Michelle looked at Dominic and grinned. “Director Richards had some information for me regarding Viking.”

“What does a wireless communication intercept device have to do with us? Are they going to use the warehouse to set it up in?” Denise asked Michelle.

“No, it’s still going to Stare Kiejkuty, not Warsaw. The thing that had him concerned was the fact that they mentioned Spain.” She told Denise.

“What does that have to do with us?” Dominic asked.

Michelle turned around and looked at Dominic. “You of all people should know what he is concerned since Viking history is a thing of yours.”

He thought for a moment, trying to think of a correlation between Viking and the team. His eyes got wider as he figured it out. “You’re kidding me?” he said to Michelle.

“Nope, that’s his line of thought, and he’s rarely wrong when it comes to his intuition.” She told him.

“Care to share with the rest of the group?” Talitha asked.

“Director Richards thinks that someone possibly knows Lana is alive.” Dominic told them.

“How did you get that from a voice intercept message?” Petra asked.

“Bear with me for a moment and you’ll understand. Your average American favors the idea that the Vikings, women specifically, were all blond-haired and blue-eyed. Over half of them were. But when you dive into the facts and real history regarding the people, you’ll find that there were a lot of red-headed women as well.” Dominic explained.

“Shit...” Steven said quietly.

“Yep.” Dominic replied.

“What does he want us to do? We’ve taken all the precautions we can.” Denise asked. “Besides, I kind of like the idea of having a hot tub and pool outside my office.”

“Trust me, I don’t want you going anywhere either. I loved being able to relax even if it was only 24 hours.” Michelle told her.

Denise thought for a moment and looked at Tali. “Can you reach out to Chiam and have him send out feelers for the Balkans?”

“I’ll code an email to him tomorrow morning.” She replied.

“I’ll email Director Younger and ask him to look into this as well. Tell Hank that we’re going to stay where we are until we have better evidence that they actually are looking for Lana.” Denise told her.

“That’s fine with me. It just means that I can visit again.” She said patting Dom’s leg.

Everyone laughed when Laura said “Get a freakin room...” under her breath.

“Ok, I brought the money I was telling you about. I took Lana’s suggestion and got Euros for you.” She said handing a Pelican case to Talitha. “Will $250 thousand be enough till we can pick you up?” Michelle asked.