He was SVR—”
“Nikolai was a double agent, Chloe,” I said, my voice dropping into that deep, flat register that brooked no argument.“He was recruited in Munich in 1999.
The biological targeting schematics he was moving through Damascus weren’t stolen from Russian labs.
They were planted by us to track rogue procurement networks in the Levant.
And in August of 2004, when his cover was blown by an asset in Moscow, he knew what was coming.”
I looked directly into her wide, pale hazel eyes.
“Your father didn’t die because I assassinated him, Chloe.He died because he swallowed a cyanide capsule in a safehouse in Graz to protect the identity of his American handler.
And the last thing he asked me before his heart stopped was to make sure his four-year-old daughter never, ever entered this room.”
Chloe shook her head violently, her lips trembling.“No.
No, that’s not…
