Near Dark (Scot Harvath #19)(70)

Harvath nodded. “He claims it was a team of Russians. And not only had he been tortured, but he had been forced to admit his role in the operation, and give up the name of the person he had been working for. You.”

Landsbergis didn’t believe him. “Now you’re lying. Antanas Luk?a is like family. There is no way he’d ever reveal my name—to anyone.”

“We’ll see how good you are under a similar scenario. Something tells me you won’t find it so hard to believe once we get started.”

“Is this what you wanted?” S?lvi asked, as she walked in with the roll of plastic sheeting.

Harvath nodded.

“Where should I set it up?”

“Let’s do it in the dining room.”

“Wait,” offered Landsbergis. “If he really did reveal my name, why didn’t anyone ever show up and pay me a visit?”

Harvath was watching him, intensely, as he spoke. There was no tell this time, no microexpression that gave away a lie. He appeared, at least on this, to be telling the truth.

“No one came to you? No one at all?”

Landsbergis shook his head. “No one.”

“But you still told someone,” said Harvath. “Who was it?”

The VSD man averted his eyes, just as the truck driver had before admitting what he had done.

A couple of seconds later, he asked, “When did Antanas get his visit?”

Harvath continued to indulge him. “A couple of weeks ago. Why?”

It was then that Landsbergis dropped a bombshell that Harvath had never imagined was coming. “I know who gave up Carl.”





CHAPTER 32


As if on cue, Harvath’s phone started beeping. The drone was almost out of power. He programmed it to land in the backyard and returned his attention to Landsbergis.

The VSD man laid out everything that had happened, answered every question Harvath had, and didn’t hold back on any of the details. He was convinced the Lithuanian was telling him the truth. It was too big a story, too big an indictment not to have been.

Via Harvath’s earbud and their encrypted call, Nicholas had heard the whole thing. To call it a bombshell was to put it mildly.

Leaving S?lvi to keep an eye on Landsbergis, Harvath stepped out of the kitchen to lay out what he wanted to do. Nicholas and Lawlor were going to have to get a buy-in from McGee and the President on his plan.

Once he had finished the call, he went outside and retrieved the drone. The charger for it was in its hard-sided case back in his Land Cruiser, along with another, smaller battery. It wasn’t the optimal situation, but he’d have to deal with what he had been given.

Like Harvath, S?lvi had parked in the woods and hiked in. They decided to put Landsbergis’s car in the garage and take him with them. It was as if they were reading each other’s mind. Neither of them felt fully comfortable leaving the VSD man alone.

They arrived at Harvath’s vehicle first. After swapping out the dead drone battery and putting it on its charger, he gave S?lvi a ride to her vehicle, which turned out to be a sleek Audi Q5.

“Not bad,” said Harvath. “NIS must give you a hell of a per diem.”

“Actually,” she replied, hopping out of his Land Cruiser, “the moment they found out I’m Norwegian, they wanted to give me an upgrade.”

“Right. I’m sure that’s exactly what it was.” Badass and smartass—he really did find that combination attractive.

Landsbergis had given them the address of his boss, which Harvath plugged into his GPS. Once S?lvi had pulled out onto the road behind him, he headed toward their destination.

It was located in the center of Vilnius, not far from the Old Town, at the top of Algirdo Street. The former embassy of a failed state, the building had three floors, a walled courtyard, underground parking, and multiple CCTV cameras.

For the rest of their ride, Harvath peppered Landsbergis with questions as he tried to come up with a plan. He also asked him about Carl—how they had met, what they had worked on together, and how much the Lithuanian government—in particular its State Security Department—knew about him.

Some of the discussion was uncomfortable, even painful—for both of them. It was clear that Landsbergis had not only appreciated Carl, but had also genuinely enjoyed working with him. Like Harvath, the VSD man felt guilty over having a role in the Norwegian intelligence operative’s death. Carl brought out the best in everyone he worked with and inspired deep loyalty. His loss, especially in the midst of the ongoing battle against a revanchist Russia, was going to be felt by everyone who had ever worked and fought alongside him.

The longer they drove and the further they talked, the greater Harvath’s confidence in Landsbergis grew. The man was not only intelligent, but humble. As information came in, he was able to quickly weigh, catalogue, and analyze it. When the time came to make an assessment, he did so dispassionately, without influence from his ego. He was guided by something much truer and much more valuable—his moral compass.

Bottom-line—Landsbergis was a guy who did the right thing. Which was why, when they arrived at the rendezvous point, two blocks from the target, Harvath handed him his Glock back.

“What’s this?” the Lithuanian asked.

“What’s it look like? Take it. Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.”