―Oserov looked at me with that dark look of his,‖ Tarkanian told Arkadin much later, ―but he was powerless to do more than yelp like a kicked dog. He knew my importance to Dimitri, and this kept him in line. Barely.‖

―You‘re right about one thing, we‘re dealing with baboons,‖ he told Oserov, throwing him a bone. ―And baboons are motivated by only two things: the carrot and the stick. I‘m going to provide the carrot.‖

―Why should they want anything to do with you?‖ Oserov said.

―Because the moment you hit town you‘re going to do what you do best: make life a living hell for them.‖

This answer drew a rare smile from Oserov‘s face.

―And do you know what he said to me then?‖ Tarkanian whispered to Arkadin much later. ―He said, ‗The more blood, the better.‘‖

And he meant it. Forty-three minutes from the moment he entered Nizhny Tagil, Oserov found his first victim, one of Stas‘s oldest, most loyal soldiers. He put a bullet through one ear at close range, then went to work butchering him. The head he left intact, looking out from the chest cavity in a gruesome parody of a cheap horror film.

Needless to say, the rest of Stas‘s men were incensed. Business ground to a halt. Three death squads with three men each were sent out, searching for this new killer. They knew it wasn‘t Arkadin because the killing wasn‘t his typical method.

They weren‘t frightened yet, but that would come. If there was anything Oserov knew how to engender in others, it was fear. Choosing another victim at random among the photos in the dossier Maslov had given them, Oserov stalked the gang member. Finding him on the doorstep of his house, with the door open and his children peeping out, Oserov shot him, shattering the bone in his right thigh. With his victim‘s children screaming and his wife running to the front door from the kitchen, Oserov sprinted across the pavement, leapt up the concrete steps, and put three bullets in the man‘s abdomen in precisely the places where he‘d bleed most heavily.

That was day two. Oserov was just warming up, there was far worse to come.

Pinprick,‖ Humphry Bamber said. ―What do you mean, Pinprick?‖

Veronica Hart shot Moira a nervous look. ―I was hoping you could tell us,‖ she said.

Hart‘s cell buzzed and she walked out of earshot to take it. When she returned, she said, ―The backup I ordered is waiting outside.‖

Moira nodded, leaned forward, toward Bamber, forearms resting on her crossed knee. ―The word pinprick was paired with the name of your software program.‖

He looked from her to the DCI. ―I don‘t understand.‖

Moira felt the air go out of her. ―I met with Steve just before… before he disappeared. He was terrified of what was going on at the DoD and the Pentagon. He intimated that the fog of war had already started to permeate the atmosphere at both places.‖

―And, what, you think Bardem has something to do with that fog of war?‖

―Yes,‖ Moira said firmly. ―I do.‖

Bamber had begun to sweat. ―Christ,‖ he said, ―if I had any idea the real-world situation Noah was going to use the program for included war—‖

―Excuse me,‖ Moira said hotly, ―but Noah Perlis is a high-ranking member of Black River. How could you not know—or at least suspect?‖

―Back off, Moira,‖ Hart said.

―I will not back off. This—idiot savant—has given Noah the keys to the castle. Because of Bamber‘s stupidity Noah and the NSA are planning something.‖

―Something what?‖ Bamber‘s voice was almost pleading. He seemed desperate to know what he was complicit in.

Moira shook her head. ―That‘s just it, we don‘t know what, but I‘ll tell you one thing: Unless we find out and stop them I‘m afraid that we‘ll all live to regret it.‖

Bamber, clearly shaken, rose. ―Whatever I can do, however I can help, just tell me.‖

―Go get dressed,‖ Hart said. ―Then we‘d like to take a look at Bardem. My hope is that we‘ll get a better idea from the program itself what Noah and the NSA have in mind.‖

―It won‘t take me a minute,‖ he said. He ducked out of the office.

For a time, the two women sat in silence. Then Hart said, ―Why do I get the feeling that I‘m being outmaneuvered?‖

―You mean Halliday?‖

Hart nodded. ―The secretary of defense has decided to reach out to the private sector for whatever he has in mind—and make no mistake, no matter how clever Noah Perlis is, he‘s taking his orders from Bud Halliday.‖

―Taking his money, too,‖ Moira said. ―I wonder what Black River‘s bill for this little escapade is going to be.‖

―Moira, whatever differences we‘ve had in the past, we agree on one thing—that our former employer is without scruples. Black River will do anything if the price is right.‖

―Halliday has a virtually unlimited source, the US Mint. You and I both saw the flats of hundred-dollar bills Black River transshipped from here to Iraq during the first four years of the war.‖

Hart nodded. ―One hundred million in each flat, and where did the money go? To fight the insurgents? To pay off the army of indigenous informers Black River claimed to get their intel from? No, you and I know, because we saw it, that ninety percent of it went into blind bank accounts in Liechtenstein and the Caymans of dummy corporations owned by Black River.‖

―Now they don‘t have to steal it,‖ Moira said with a cynical laugh,

―because Halliday is giving it to them.‖

A moment later they rose and went out of the office as Humphry Bamber emerged from the men‘s locker room. He was dressed in neatly pressed jeans, polished loafers, a blue-and-black–checked shirt, and a gray suede car coat.

―Is there another exit?‖ Moira asked him.

He pointed. ―There‘s an employee and delivery entrance behind the administrative offices.‖

―I‘ll get my car,‖ Moira said.

―Hold on.‖ Hart opened her phone. ―It‘s better for me to do it; my people are outside and I need to instruct them to deploy outside the front entrance to make it look as if we‘re taking Bamber out that way.‖ She held out her hand and Moira gave her the keys. ―Then I‘ll go get your car and pick you two up around back. Moira?‖

Moira drew her custom Lady Hawk from its thigh holster while Bamber goggled with his mouth half open.

―What the hell is going on?‖ he said.

―You‘re getting the protection you wanted,‖ Hart said.

As she disappeared down the corridor, Moira motioned to Bamber, allowing him to lead her back toward the admin offices. She used her DoD-issue ID on the few managers who questioned their presence in the health club‘s back office.