Chapter 16

(Note: If you haven’t read the story “Calm like a Bomb” yet, the protagonists from that story are crossing over to this one.)

Directors Richards and Haspel sat in MI6’s executive conference room along with Director Younger and MI5 Director Sir Andrew Parker watching Republican guard Colonel Rostamifir answer questions from his interrogators. The video had been dubbed in English since the interrogators were questioning him in his native Persian.

“Tell us about the rest of the safe houses that you have in London.” The interrogator asked.

“Five ... yes, f-f-five of them in London. Jus-s-st five.” Rostamifir replied.

“Why are you in London?”

“Over ... overseeing...” Rostamifir shook his head like he was trying to clear it. “Overseeing a n-n-new pro ... project.”

“Colonel, why do you feel the need to lie to us? We’ve had you under surveillance for over a month now.” one of the interrogators asked as he pushed two fingers into the shoulder of his broken arm.

He tensed up feeling the slight pain in his shoulder. “NOT ... Not l-l-l-lying ... That is ... th-th-the truth!” Rostamifir said from his drug-induced stupor.

“You told us that you were here to facilitate getting more information from the American embassy. And now you’re telling us that wasn’t your mission?”

“It ... was my ... my mission, but th-th-there was a s-s-s-secondary mission that I was p-p-p-putting into ... place.”

“What was your secondary mission?” The interrogator asked.

“I ... Was tasked to ... set up ... a n-n-n-network of ... wa-wa-watchers...” he replied as his head started to droop.

The second interrogator picked up the nozzle of a pressure sprayer. He pumped the handle 5 times and the sprayed Rostamifir in the face to wake him up again.

“Answer our questions and then you can sleep. What kind of watchers are you setting up?” He asked.

“Car-r-r-r watchers...” Rostamifir replied.

“That doesn’t make sense, why are you going to watch cars?” The interrogator asked.

“Wait a moment, car watchers, are you going to watch the streets, not the cars?” Another interrogator asked.

Rostamifir nodded his head yes

Director Younger stopped the video at that point. “I’ve already been to see the Prime Minister and he’s read the transcripts of this interview. He’s already contacted Highways England regarding this. In conjunction with MI5, hence why Sir Parker is here with us today. MI5 is going to start looking at all the traffic poles within 100 miles of London. If the team hadn’t discovered the camera outside the embassy, we’d have virtually no idea how to proceed.”

“Sometimes, even a blind man finds a short cut.” Director Haspel told him.

“Regarding your facilities manager...” Younger told them opening a file folder. We’ve found and detained Dariya Yahontov. Other than admitting she’s sleeping with your facilities manager; she has not admitted to being a Russian agent. She’s employed in London and has all the correct visas and permits to work in London.” Younger told them.

“Can you send us what you have on her, and we’ll forward it to the team and have the subject look at it.” Director Harris asked.

“Everything we have on her is on that.” He told Hank as he slid a jump drive over to him. “Also, there was something else that you should see in the interview.” Director Younger said as he picked up the remote and started fast-forwarding to the part he was looking for.

“What do you mean you are getting identities for others?” The interrogator asked.

“We are ... s-s-sending our brothers to satan to h-h-help the righteous.”

“What brothers are you sending?”

“The n-n-no ... Now hated brothers are coming.” Rostamifir said

“Where are your now hated brothers going to help the righteous against satan?”

“The ... infidels away ... away f-f-from home.”

The same interrogator tapped him on his broken bone and the Persian started screaming in pain.

“Where are your now hated brothers going?”

“They will br-br-bring justice for the believers...”

They watched as an alarm went off on the console behind them. One of the interrogators turned off the alarm and looked at the machine. He grabbed a stethoscope, a blood pressure cuff, and started examining the Persian. “His blood pressure is dropping ... change out the IV and add 5 cc’s of Narcan.”

Director Younger stopped the playback. “He’s still at a secure facility. That sort of thing happens with drug-assisted interrogation at times. As for what he was talking about with ‘now hated, we’re almost positive that he’s referring to the 65th Special Forces brigade in Iran. The Shahs of Iran called them the NOHED unit. As for what else he’s saying, we’re not sure of.”

Haspel looked at Director Richards who was making notes to follow up on after the meeting was over. He looked up at Haspel who just nodded her head. “Directors, we’ve been apprised of communications from the Balkan peninsula to various places in Europe. There’s definitely been an upswing in the amount of cell traffic and movements from the camps in Serbia, Bosnia, and Croatia. At the same time, we’ve been tracking movements all along the Azerbaijan and Iranian borders. We think that the supreme leader is wanting to make a statement when Ramadan ends next month.”

“Do you have any other evidence of this?” Director Parker asked taking notes.

“In the last 18 months, we’ve seen a lot of traffic OUT of Syria. We believe that they were fighters from Europe, specifically, the Balkan peninsula, and they’re are moving back to their homes.” Director Richards explained. “These are the ones that realized that ISIS was going to lose and decided to get out rather than be a prisoner in Syria. We’ve tracked more than a few cargo boats into various ports in Greece, Albania, and Bosnia.”

“We’ve detained several that we know went to fight for ISIS and then tried to sneak back into the country.” Director Parker told them. “A couple of the fighters, we suspect, are recruiting for radical Islam.”

“If you give us their names, we might be able to run down some contacts and supporters for you.” Director Younger told him.

“I’ll have them for you by the end of the business day.” He replied writing on his notepad.

“Lastly, I wanted to bring to your attention some satellite shots of the Takavar base at Kermanshah.” Director Younger passed a folder to the Directors Haspel and Richards.

Opening then up, they looked at the pictures. They saw Russian cargo planes sitting on the tarmac on an Iranian airbase. “How many of them have left and do you where are they went?” Director Haspel asked.

“The planes went into Georgian airspace and landed in Tbilisi. As for how many went, our sources on the ground tell us it was a battalion’s worth of men and equipment.” Director Younger told her.

“Hank get on this when we’re done here. I’m going to have to brief the President tonight on this.” Haspel told him.

“Yes ma’am. I’ll call Chiam when we’re finished here and have him see what he can find as well.” He replied.

“Is there anything else Will?” Haspel asked.

“Would you care to join us for lunch?” Director Parker asked her.

“Thank you for the invitation, but I think this is going to be a priority for us. Gentlemen, thank you for the information, I’ll have the latest from the team by tomorrow morning for you.” Gina said shaking both their hands.

“Sir Alex, Sir Andrew, thank you for your time.” Hank told them as he did the same. When he and Gina were in the elevator headed down, he spoke again. “I’ll make some calls regarding the Takavar units when we get back to the embassy and have something for you to brief the President when we get back.”

“How capable are they?” She asked.

“Oh, they’re very capable. Their problem is that they don’t have nearly the funding that the British or American JSOC programs do. Their tactics are still Warsaw pact based around overwhelming with numbers instead of the surgical precision operations that we favor. But they are good at creating insurgencies.” Hank told her.

“So, not quite a Green Beret?” She asked him.

“Good analogy.” He told her as they got off the elevator and climbed into their vehicle to ride back to the Embassy.

Back in Coma Ruga, Lana was talking to David and Denise. They had wanted to try and get an idea of the banks in the middle east were taking the money she moved into them. She was busy telling them about the pipeline she used to take money from the businesses that were giving the money.

“No, the money that was given to the charities was completely above board on the donor’s side. They could deduct it off their taxes with no reparations from your IRS.” Lana explained.

“So how then did you get the money out of the country?” David asked.

“I want to apologize in advance, for the headache I am going to give you following me on this.” Lana said with a smirk.

“It’s THAT complicated?” Denise asked.

“I’ll spare you the small details so you can keep your sanity.” Lana told her. “The federal tax code has about two dozen different sections that can be used for foreign donations. IRC 170c says that for a donation to be charitable, it has to be made to an organization created or organized in the United States. Your basic charity is a 501c that gets just money. Then there’s a 501c3 that will take goods, money, or other assets. Other assets are defined as things that can be sold and the money used for the charity or donated to someone in need of the item. Another part of being a 501c3 is that it can be a private foundation. Most of the money they receive is from investments that are made on its behalf or from endowments. Think of it like Bill Gates dying and leaving some of his money in a non-profit that will give to other organizations on HIS behalf. The biggest problem you run into is if a 509c3 organization has to support another charity in order to keep its tax-exempt status. You can’t have a 501c and then turn it into a 509c3 charity due to its conflicting tax statutes.” Lana explained.

David looked over to Denise who had a smile on her face. “You understood that?” He asked.

“No, but I understand how she got the money out of the United States.” She said to him looking at Lana.

“ ... Don’t keep me in suspense.” David replied.

“Correct me if I’m wrong, Lana?” She asked. Lana nodded her head. Denise looked something up on her phone and started to speak again. “You have the list of donors that give money, endowments, and, like you said, other assets. You do the paperwork for them and turn it into the IRS according to law. But since there is over one million 501c groups, the IRS can’t take the time to run a full audit on even a fraction of them.” She paused to look at David as he tried to understand what Denise was saying. “She does her job. She fills out the proper paperwork for the IRS and submits it like she’s supposed to. If they’re caught down the road, there’s a 99% chance it’ll be well outside the statute of limitations before anyone catches it on an audit.”

Lana’s smirk was even larger now. “There are actually 1.5 million 501c organizations listed in 2017. And you are correct in every detail, Denise. The IRS does not have nearly enough people to properly administer the charitable donations aspect of the United States tax code. To be honest, there are many things that should not be tax-deductible but are.”

“So, you literally correctly do your job and rely on the system not to be caught?” David asked. Lana nodded her head yes. “If you’ll indulge me, I’m curious about something. Realistically, if you were really motivated, how much money could you get out of the country before you were caught?”

“If I had access to the IRS’s 501c database and had enough places to hide or launder the money, billions.” Lana replied. David whistled in disbelief.

“So, tell us about the banks you use on the Arabian Peninsula, please.” Denise asked.

“First one and the biggest one that the state has accounts with is the Commercial Bank of Dubai. They have 6 accounts that I have deposited money in for the last 5 years. Before that, it was HSBC Qatar. The reason behind the bank in Qatar is that the management has been known to look the other way from time to time when the rules are bent. For example, I received an email from my handler telling me that the account in Qatar was going to be empty due to the war in Syria. There is a penalty for taking that specific type of account to a zero balance. The accounts and branch manager received ‘gifts’ from the state and they looked the other way for 24 hours until I could get enough capital put into the account from the US to be compliant.” Lana explained.

“Do you have names for the managers?”

“Myself, no I do not.” She replied.

At that moment, Denise’s phone went off. She had just email from Hank. Right after that, her phone rang. She looked at who was calling and then answered it. “Hello Director Richards, how are you this fine and B-E-A-utiful afternoon?” Denise asked Hank as she walked into the living room to take the call.

“Shut up Denise, it’s a typical Spring day here in merry old London, cold and rainy.” He replied with sarcasm in his voice. “Are you talking with the subject at the moment?”

“Yes, David and I are.” She replied.

“Good. Would you please call Bruce Schacht at the number I just emailed you? The FBI task force for the Michaels family needs some background on Mary Winnigham. Also, call me after you get done with Bruce, the President wants to move on the Qatar, Dubai, and Yemin money so tell the subject to be prepared to answer some questions about them as well.” Hank told her.

“I’ll let the subject know. Anything else we should know?” She asked him.

“Yes, Michelle is coming for a few days while you conduct the Kolab shindig. She’s also got the highlights from the Rostamifir interview and a couple of other things for you.” Hank told her.

“I’m sure Dom will be more than happy to see her.”

“Oh, I’m sure. I have to tell you; Michelle snuck a couple of pictures to me from when she was there the last time. I’ll admit, I’m envious.” Hank told Denise.

“I know what happens in July. I’ll talk to the CEO about you and Andrea using it for your anniversary this year. Please don’t forget, I’d hate to see what she’ll do to you if you forget it a second time.” Denise said with a chuckle.

“Oh no, Carla reminds me when it gets close and I have a reminder on my phone with a week’s notice. Sleeping on the couch for three days was NOT pleasant. I want this year to be special since the kids are all out of the house now.” Hank said laughing. “I’ll let you get back to work. You take care of yourself and give the team a chuck on the shoulder for me.” He told Denise disconnecting the call.

Denise walked back into the kitchen and sat down. “I’m going to be calling Bruce here in a few minutes, he’s going to ask you about Mary Winnigham.” She said writing the numbers from the email that she had just gotten.

“I will tell him what I know. I do remember a few things that seemed ... off regarding her and her relationship with Sacha.” Lana told her.

“Like what?” David said starting his recorder again.

“When I first got to Linear Solutions, their relationship seemed more like it was forced. During my time there, it only got worse. When I saw her 3 years ago, the look on her face when I mentioned Sacha was one of disgust and hatred.” Lana told him.

“Do you think that he’s still abusing the swallows that come into the country?” David asked.

“I am almost positive he is.” Lana replied.

“What do you know about the other swallows, does anything stand out about any of them?” Denise asked.

“May I use your pad and pen please?” She asked Denise. She slid it over to her and Lana wrote a name down.

“Hanna Symanski?” David asked. “Who is she?”

“She is an agent working in Washington DC as a high-end escort.” Lana told her.

“I thought you didn’t know any of the other women that came into New York.” Denise asked.

“Hanna was different. She was a genuinely nice girl and we got along well. She was in shock from seeing America for the first time, and it reminded me of myself when I first got there.” Lana told her fondly remembering her time with Hanna. “I will tell you this about her. Hanna is very intelligent. She has a master’s degree from Georgetown in behavioral psychology and aside from being an escort, she is a licensed sex therapist.”

“So, you keep in contact with her then?” Denise asked.

“Up until I was captured, I did. We talked quite often, both in-person and over the phone. We’d listen to each other and let the other vent about life and whatever else is bothering us.” Lana told her. “I have a good idea about what you’re going to ask next to I will save you the trouble. Yes, her client list is filled with politicians and Washington DC’s elite.”

“How big is her client list?” David asked.

“It is not how big the list is, it is who is actually on the list.” Lana told him.

“She’s talked to you about it before?” David asked.

“She’s mentioned a few names, and I have used a few of them to get information for Greg senior.”

“Specifics please.” Denise asked.

“May I use your pad and pen again? I will write it out for you along with the specifics of what I was after.” Lana asked. Denise slid it over to her and she started writing. She took a few minutes, but when she was finished, she handed the pad back to Denise.

David looked over at the pad and whistled. “Look at all the names ... Wonder what their wives would think?” he asked.

“Look at this one.” Denise said pointing to the Chief of the DC Police’s name. They read down the list till they got to a particular name. “Oh my...”

“You need to let your bosses know about this.” David said.

“You don’t want to tell your SAC?” She asked him.

“No. There would be heads spinning and the political chess game that would be put into play would be even worse than it is right now. No, let the agency handle it.” David told her.

“I can see where you’re coming from. It’s not every day you find out that House Intelligence Committee chairman is screwing a Russian agent.” Denise said with a smile.

Lana spoke up at that point. “Actually, he doesn’t fuck anyone. Hanna and I did a threesome with him once. I was surprised by his behavior to say the least.”

“Please do share with the class...” Denise asked her.

“He likes ... strong women ... and being told what to do with great cruelty.” She said with a smile.

“Did he know who you were?” Denise asked with a grin.

“No, he wore a mask and I kept quiet the whole time. And before you ask, yes I have recorded footage of the session.” Lana told her.

Denise looked up at the ceiling for a moment, sighed deeply, and started speaking again. “I was told that the President wants to move on the Arabian Peninsula accounts. Other than us finding the money on your computer, we know nothing about them. Who runs the accounts and what is the money used for?”

“All the accounts are administered by the SVR. I cannot tell you who it is due to their supervisory membership being classified as a state secret. If I had to guess, it would be someone from the Directorate of Economic Intelligence. The Qatar account is used to fund transportation resources for various other projects the state has going. The Dubai account is strictly an emergency covert slush fund for overseas operatives. And the Yemen account is used to fund Boko Haram in Africa. None of the accounts have ties to the state.” Lana told them.

“How much does Russia give Boko Haram in a year?” David asked.

“Generally, they offset what other Islamic countries give them to operate, so it varies. The biggest outlay I have ever seen is nine million. What the state does more often is ship weapons and ammunition to Boko Haram.” Lana explained.

“How did you come by this information?” David asked her.

“A conversation with an SVR courier named Vasili Churelynko let me put the pieces together so to speak.” Lana told her. She paused for a second noticing that neither of them was writing his name down. “You already know about Churelynko.” She said as a statement and not a question.

“Chugunov.” Denise told her.

“Excuse me?” Lana asked.

“His name is Mikhail Chugunov. Your bosses let you think he was a courier that worked in London. In reality, he was a NOC for the SVR, and we think also the GRU.” Denise told her.

“I see. What happened to him?” Lana asked.

“We can only guess. We do know he was selling information to the Iranians about both the US and Russia. When we went to get him, he’d disappeared. He should hope that we get to him before Kostyukov or Naryshkin do.” Denise told her.

“I agree. Both men are not very understanding about that sort of thing.” Lana said with a smirk.

Denise looked at David. “Let’s get this over with.” She said as she picked up her phone and dialed the number.

“Code in...” the voice on the phone said.

“1-1-3 alpha 2-7 confirm...” Denise spoke into the phone.

“Transferring, please hold.” The voice asked.

Denise put the phone on speaker and then set it in the middle of the table. Less than a minute later the call was picked up. “Bruce Schact...”

“Bruce, it’s Denise. I was asked to call you in regard to some questions you have.”

“We were waiting for your call. Just so there’s no surprises, Annette Giancarlo is here also.” He told her.

“We figured she would be. How are you, Annette?” Denise asked.

“Hello Denise, I’m fine thank you. Is Lana close by?” Annette asked.

“She’s sitting here across from me...” Denise told her. “Go ahead Lana...”

“I am here Annette, how are you?” She answered.

“I’m good thank you. How’s your foot?” Annette asked.

“Better now, I am off the crutches and can walk on it now. I still cannot run, but I am pleased with the progress.” Lana told her.

“I’m glad to hear it. Bruce has questions he wants to ask you about Mary Winnigham. I’ve got a copy of your immunity agreement so you can answer them without reservation, ok?” Annette told her.

“Thank you for looking out for me Annette.” Lana replied.

“Bruce, just so you know, David is here as well and might offer some insight on how to procced.” Denise told him.

“That would be appreciated. Lana, what can you tell me about Sacha and Mary’s relationship?” Bruce asked.

“As far as I know, it has always been one of mutual disregard or even adversarial at times. They are forced to work together, but they do not interact unless it is necessary.” Lana told him.

“When you worked for Linear, how many times a day would they speak?” Bruce asked.

“There were days that they never spoke to each other.” Lana replied. “I told Denise earlier that the last time I saw Mary in person, her face showed extreme hatred of Sacha when we spoke of him. After our conversation in the bunker, my guess would be that Sacha has not stopped abusing the other swallows that have come into the United States.”

“Would you give me your personal opinion of Mary?” Bruce asked.

“She does care about the swallows that come in. She seemed genuinely concerned about my wellbeing and how well I adapted to the United States. She was always asking if I had questions and would volunteer information to me about things that I didn’t understand. When I felt overwhelmed at my surroundings, Mary was always there to comfort me.”

“Would you say that she acted the same way with any other women that came into New York from Russia?” Bruce asked.

“She did with a couple. Mostly, I was the one showing the new women around New York in the beginning.” Lana told him.

“When she did have to speak with Davynskov, what was the tone she was using with him?” Bruce asked.

“It was professional if they were in the office area. They never gave anyone the idea that they disliked each other.”

“If they were in private?” David asked her.

“Have you seen the movie “Mr. and Mrs. Smith’?” Lana asked. “Think of the scene where they were trying to kill each other at their home. That would be close.”

“Wow...” Annette said quietly.

“How many times has she spoken to him in private?” Bruce asked.

“She told me that they do all their communicating in the office. Outside of work, they send texts, but only if it is a significant emergency.” Lana told him.

“Define significant please.” Denise asked.

“Something is happening with one of the swallows, the FBI is investigating again, or if the office was broken into or burning.” Lana told her.

Bruce paused for a moment. “Could you tell me about Mary’s personal life please.”

Lana thought for a moment before answering. “Mary did not have much of a personal life. She would work and take care of the other swallows that are still in New York. She is a Mets and a Rangers fan and usually sees 10 to 15 games in a season. Mary is also into the New York City ballet. She has donated a good amount of money to them over...” Lana suddenly froze and looked down at the table.

Denise spoke up. “Lana are you ok?” she asked.

“I am fine, I just remembered something I saw in my third year at school 6. There is a picture of someone who could pass for Mary at a young age in the dorm hallway in the school.” Lana told her trying to remember the name under the picture. “The name will come to me, please continue with your questions, Mr. Schacht.”

“You think that Mary might be a graduate of your school?” Bruce asked.

“I do not know. All I remember was seeing the picture. The likeness is too great to ignore.” Lana told him.

“Can you tell me about the picture then?” Denise asked.

“She was wearing a leotard, tights, and ballet shoes. She was posed like she was dancing.” Lana told her. “We were given an explanation of all the pictures and who they were. I remember being told that she was from the Bolshoi and that she was a great asset to the state.”

“If you had to guess, how close is the girl in the picture to Mary?” David asked.

“I would tell you that I am almost certain it is her before twenty years of age.” Lana said.

Denise was making notes on a pad of paper. “Bruce, I’ll follow up with this after we’re done talking. I think we’ll have a better chance of finding out anything about her than you will.”

“Agreed,” Bruce said. “Other than what you’ve told me, is there anything else that you can remember?”

“Yes, she would spend time in Brighton Beach on the weekends. The few times I went with her, I was introduced to people, who I found out later, were involved in the Russian syndicates.” Lana told him. “I met a few, I think the Italians call them, capos...”

“Russian equivalent is Brigadier in case you’re wondering.” David told Bruce.

“I was actually, thanks. Can you remember any names?” Bruce asked Lana.

“They did not use formal names just nick-names.” She told him.

“Can you tell me what they translated into?” David asked.

“There was one they called ‘Nozhi’ which means ‘knives’. Another was called ‘Mashina’ and that’s ‘machine’. There were a couple of others, but those two stood out the most. Everyone there deferred to them and no one went against them.” Lana told him.

“The bureau has lots of pictures of Russian mob bosses, I’ll let her take a look a bit later and email up the chain with what we find.” David told him.

“Perfect, thank you.” Bruce told him. “How friendly was she with the people she was talking to?”

“Very. If I had to guess, she was involved or sleeping with the one called Machine. The way they looked at each other was in a very romantic way. There were other cues that she gave off those times as well.” Lana told him.

“Are you good at reading people Lana?” Bruce asked.

“I spent my 17th and 18th year learning about behavioral patterns, facial expressions, body mannerisms, and eye movement. I am actually very good at reading people.” Lana said with some pride in her voice.

“What was your opinion of me when we first met?” Bruce asked.

“May I be honest with you sir?” Lana asked.

“I would expect nothing less.” He replied.

“You should play poker professionally,” Lana told him. Everyone on the call, including Lana, started to laugh. “Your façade never slipped, and I could not read you at all. I am sure it serves you well as a prosecutor.”

“Thank you for your honesty Lana, and yes, it does serve me well.” Bruce asked still chuckling. “I have just a couple of more questions and you can get back to whatever it was you were doing.”

“It is fine, I will answer all you want to know about.” Lana told him.

“From what you’re telling me, I’m of the opinion that Mary is fully involved with Sacha. If she was quietly contacted away from work, would she be open to talking to the taskforce about Sacha?” Bruce asked.

“That I cannot tell you. There are times when I could see fatigue in her eyes after talking to Sacha; then there are other times there is a determined look in them and she loves her job. That would be something for your agents to answer.” She replied.