CHAPTER 66

CIA Headquarters

Langley, Virginia

October

ANDY DANREB WAS A big man, taller than Reece, with broad shoulders and large Slavic hands. He wore his graying hair short and carried himself in a way that suggested he’d once served in uniform. Though his oxford blue dress shirt was neatly pressed and his pants were clean, he wore the exhausted expression of a man who’d been beaten down by the government’s bureaucracy for his entire career. He greeted his visitors with little enthusiasm. His small office was cramped thanks to the stacks of books, papers, and files that sat upon every surface, including the floor. Without apology, he cleared stacks of books from the two chairs opposite his desk and motioned for Reece and Freddy to sit. He was one of the Agency’s foremost Russian experts, a relic of the Cold War kept on ice for occasions such as these. Break glass in case of war.

“We came a long way to see you, Andy. ” Freddy spoke first.

“Probably a giant waste of your time but we’ll see. What can I do for you? ”

There was a slight Chicago accent there that Danreb hadn’t shaken.

“We need your help on something. Have you ever heard of a Russian expat living in Switzerland who people in intel circles call ‘the Colonel’? ”

“Кyкoльньій мacTep, ‘the Puppet Master’. . . his name is Vasili Andrenov. ”

Danreb switched between Russian and English effortlessly.

“Who is he? ”

“He was a colonel in the GRU, Soviet military intelligence. If there was a tin-pot insurgency or coup during the latter half of the Cold War, he was there stirring the pot and handing out weapons. He specialized in spreading chaos and misery around the world. ”

“So, the KGB didn’t run those operations? ” asked Reece.

“No, military-specific operations were always GRU. KGB was busy fucking off in the capital with all the embassy intrigue BS, regardless of what all the eighties spy movies would have you believe. GRU was out doing most of the wet work in the field. ”

Danreb spun his chair and dug into a stack of files cluttering the top of his inkjet printer. Within seconds he turned back around and opened the folder to an eight-by-ten black-and-white photo of a young Andrenov standing among some soldiers holding Soviet weapons in what looked like Africa. A shock of sandy hair hung below the brim of the dress cap worn pushed back on his head, the distinctive striped undershirt of the Soviet airborne and Spetsnaz forces visible inside the open collar of his camouflage jacket.

“This is him in Mozambique, I think, no, maybe it was Angola. . . no, Mozambique. He almost single-handedly provided the weapons for all the African insurgencies in the seventies and eighties. ”

“Would he have been the one who supplied the MANPADS that shot down the two Rhodesian airliners, one in ’78 and the other in ’79? ” Reece asked.

“I’d bet on it. ”

Reece’s eyes narrowed, thinking of Rich Hastings’s sister who had perished in the second attack.

“How did this guy get to be such a player? ” asked Freddy.

“The same way everyone does in a communist system. His father got him the job. Oh, he was a real monster, that one; one of the orchestrators of Stalin’s purges. He coordinated the Katyn Massacre in Poland during the war. ”

“I’m not familiar with it, ” Freddy admitted.

“I’m not surprised to hear that. What’s twenty thousand dead among sixty million? Basically, the Russians had a long-term plan to take over Poland after the war. They didn’t want to leave anyone who was going to make trouble, so they did what they always did: killed everyone with a brain. They rounded up officers, lawyers, professors, anyone who could organize. They marched them one by one into a soundproof room and shot them in the back of the head. They had a door on the other side of the building where they’d sling the bodies into the back of a truck. The bodies were dumped in the Katyn Forest, hence the name of the massacre. That’s what happens when you don’t have a Bill of Rights. The German army actually discovered the bodies when they invaded. The Russians tried to blame it on them. The Nazis documented it in typical German fashion, and the Russians finally fessed up to it at the end of the Cold War. ” He paused. “I’m rambling. Anyway, Andrenov the elder came out of that as a big shot, and his son’s path was set early. No muddy plows or greasy factory work for young Vasili. ”

“What a legacy. Is Andrenov still working for the Russians? ” Reece asked.

“No, not for the government at least. Russian president Zubarev is a moderate, at least by their standards. Andrenov is a hard-core Russian nationalist trying to stoke the fires of the empire’s last gasp. ”

“What does that mean? ”

“Russia is a dying nation, literally. Their life expectancy is so bad that the average Russian never makes it to retirement age. Booze, drugs, HIV, heroin, TB, overall bad health—they are in rough shape as a people. On top of that, their birth rate has been in the shitter for generations. Don’t you guys read Zeihan? ”

“Who? ”

“Forget it. Anyway, ethnic Russians are dying off in droves and there’s no one to replace them. The only group that’s growing in Russia is the Muslim population and to folks like Andrenov, they aren’t real Russians. The nationalists want the Russians to push their boundaries out to places like Ukraine and Poland to grab both their people and resources. If they can annex those people, Mother Russia will live on. ”

“A land grab to save a dying empire, ” Reece stated.

“That’s it, ” Danreb confirmed. “Look at human history. It’s what nations do. Stalin forcibly relocated people in an attempt to grow the empire. I actually think they’re going to push south as well, into places like Azerbaijan and maybe even Turkey. ”

“What about NATO? ” Freddy asked.

“It’s already begun in Crimea. What did NATO do about that? Don’t get me wrong, they’ve got Europe nervous. Sweden has reinstated their draft, which has everything to do with this, but without U. S. leadership, no one except perhaps the Germans are in a place to oppose Russian expansion. Remember, they shot down an airliner full of Europeans over Ukraine, and the world shrugged its shoulders. ”

“But the current Russian administration didn’t invade Crimea. That was the last guy, ” Freddy said.

“Exactly, he was one of Andrenov’s people and, with him out of power, the Colonel is out of favor with the current administration. Andrenov would love nothing more than to see Putin, or someone like him, back at the helm. ”

“Would Andrenov be bold enough to attempt a coup? ” Reece wondered aloud.

“He’s spent his entire career doing just that around the world, so I wouldn’t doubt it for a minute. ”

“Sounds like someone could scoop up Andrenov and charge him with war crimes or something to get him out of the picture, ” Reece offered.

“Yeah, good luck with that; between his bullshit charity and all of the K Street suits he has on retainer, he’s untouchable. I’ve been sounding the alarm on him for years, but it all falls on deaf ears. This asshole should be behind bars but instead he’s throwing galas that are attended by half of the U. S. Senate. ”

“What do you mean? ” Reece asked.

“Andrenov runs a foundation focused on ‘helping the downtrodden across the globe, ’ or some such nonsense. It’s really a front for influence peddling around the world. You want to drill for oil in Nigeria or mine for lithium in the ’Stans, you give the foundation eight figures and their people on the ground open those doors. The funds are cleaned up and distributed to politicians through Stewart McGovern’s lobbying firm. Money makes a lot of friends in D. C., especially in an election year. ”

“Sounds like someone we should talk with, ” Reece observed. “Any idea who he might use as hired help if he were going to make a move? ”

“Impossible to say. Between his GRU days and his foundation, he has endless contacts around the world. ”

“We have some single-source intel that he may be using an ex–Syrian general to hire mercenaries, ” Freddy added.

“I’ll buy that. I think his fingerprints are on both sides of the Syrian Civil War, but that’s not my area. If I were in your shoes and had that information, I’d be waterboarding Syrian generals until I could link Andrenov to something concrete. ” He paused. “But that’s probably why they don’t let me leave this building. ”

Reece was starting to like this guy.

“We’ll do our best. On another topic, do you know Oliver Grey? ” Reece asked.

“What about him? ” Andy replied, his demeanor stiffening.

“What are your thoughts on him? One hundred percent off the record. ”

“I’ve never trusted that little weasel. I brought up some questionable behavior of his a few years back and was told to stay in my lane. You wouldn’t believe the PC bullshit in this place. ”

“Any chance that he’s somehow associated with Andrenov? ”

“It wouldn’t shock me in the least. I’d honestly be surprised if Andrenov didn’t have a minion somewhere in this building. ”

“Appreciate your candor. ”

“What are they going to do to me? Put me out to pasture in a tiny office somewhere and bury me in paperwork? ” Danreb waved his hand around at his surroundings.

The two frogmen exchanged looks.

“We seriously appreciate your help, ” Freddy said.

“Don’t let your guard down with Andrenov, ” Danreb warned. “He’s evil, but more importantly, he’s a capable son of a bitch. ”

“We won’t. Thanks again for your time, ” Freddy said.

“Hope it was worth the trip. Call me if you need anything. ” Danreb handed each man a business card.

“So, we could have called you instead of flying halfway across the world to meet with you? ” Reece couldn’t resist.

“That was before I liked you guys. ” He rose and extended his hand. “Welcome home, Mr. Reece. ”

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