The Spy Devils by Joe Goldberg (top rated books of all time .TXT) 📕

Bridger just stared at Chen. Chen met Bridger’s stare with one of his own. Sweat was bubbling off his skin, but he remained motionless.

“Tell me everything, or I crush this finger, then the next and the next, until I hear the truth,” Bridger said slowly, as he tightened the pressure on the plier handles. Chen winced as his nail cracked. The end of the finger immediately started to turn red.

“You want…truth…call your…mother,” Chen said, his voice a mix of pain, resolution, mocking, and anger.

Bridger released his hold on the pliers, which hit the table with a loud clang.

“What did you say?”

“Call…your mother. She will be…interested in my…well-being,” Chen panted in short breaths, but sounding more to Bridger like the professional intel officer that he was.

Bridger looked at his phone, and as if she was listening, three electronic chirps filled the room. An ‘M’ appeared in the caller ID. He picked it up and answered.

“Just calling to see how I am doing, May?” He didn’t hide the pleasure in his voice.

“You can be so insufferable. Please do not harm Mr. Chen or any more of his security guards.”

“Oh. You are late to the party. Unless you have more, we are all out of security guards.”

“Don’t be annoying. Is Minister Chen with you?” Exasperation laced her voice.

“Yep. We were negotiating on how many fingers Chen will lose before he decides to talk.”

“May I speak with him?”

“Nahhhh. I don’t think so.” Bridger picked up the pliers and started to tap them on the table. Tink. Tink. Tink. “How long has he been a source? Or is he a target—or both?” She paused. That moment confirmed it. “If I don’t get the answer I want, I will return him to you in pieces, starting with one finger at a time.”

Silence. Sigh.

“He is the most significant penetration of the MSS. Ever. Deputy Minister Chen is positioned to rise to the highest levels of the Chinese government. Procuring Hillcrest is the accomplishment he needs to ascend to the top. If that happens, the MSS would be run by a CIA asset.”

Bridger sat back. He wasn’t often stunned, but that news stopped him cold. He looked at Chen, who sat with a pleased thin-lipped smile on his face.

“Wow. That is significant. I guess he is so significant he was worth risking my life?” Tink, tink, tink went the pliers.

“Oh, don’t be so melodramatic. Choices had to be made to save the operation—a very important operation that has been years in the making. The only reason you are even involved was Bondar went off schedule. You would have made the same decision.”

“The Devils were years in the making, too—if that matters.” He tossed the pliers on the table, sending a disturbingly loud clang through the small room.

“I had every confidence you would successfully extricate yourself. My confidence seems well-placed.”

“But he didn’t get the case. I am sure Chapel told you that. I blew it up and almost got blown up, too—thanks for asking.”

“Yes, he didn’t get the case.” Her voice sounded as tired as Bridger felt. “But there are always alternatives in a complex operation. You know that.”

“I don’t know. I also know that Beast is dead.” He hadn’t entirely accepted that Beast was gone. He closed his eyes to lock in the emotion. Bridger’s mouth turned bone dry. He sucked some saliva and swallowed. “Who killed him? Do you know?”

“I heard. That is sad news. Bridger. But I can assure you that Minister Chen had nothing to do with that.”

“Maybe not. Maybe yes.”

“He didn’t, believe me,” she said calmly.

“Believe you? That’s funny coming from you.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Beast is dead.”

He hung up. He had his answer.

They cleaned Chen as best they could and packed him in a stolen Kia Sportage. With a bag over his head, they drove around Kyiv, then let him out on a corner outside Holosiiv Park.

When they drove away into the drizzle of the night, Bridger was confident of one thing—he knew where to find the person who killed Beast.

53

Who Killed Beast?

Kyiv, Ukraine

Bridger checked his watch.

A few heartbeats before 2 a.m.—just short of twenty-four hours since they gassed and released Chen.

Twenty hours since Bridger and the Spy Devils added an important asset to the team. They had stopped by Pavlo’s one-room apartment and offered the former Bondar employee a temporary position as an expert on the Bondar financial structure and building security. With very little cajoling, Pavlo accepted.

He had constructed a plan, but the borderline impromptu scheme he came up with was a little rough around the edges. He was preparing to wing it—one last time.

It would be another ninety seconds before the new Spy Devil team of Pavlo and Imp, which Milton had already begun to call ‘Pimp’—to Imp’s displeasure—turned on the lights in the residence.

Bridger gave the Spy Devils four hours to eat and get some sleep.

He tried to do the same, but it was difficult. It was hard to comprehend the revelation about Chen being a double agent run by May. After four hours, they went back on the attack.

Getting into the residence was simple.

The Pimp team had disabled the security systems and locked the security panic doors, effectively sealing off Bondar’s security guards. Snake had placed the portable mobile phone jammer on the roof. Milton and Beatrice had the Devilbots up. One on overwatch, the other doing close-in surveillance outside the windows of the residence floor.

Bridger sat in the shadows at Bondar’s wooden desk, admiring the enormity of it. It was impressive, he thought. Bigger than the Oval Office. He tried not to be too juvenile with the “compensating for something” cliché.

The den covered one-quarter of the top floor. The light coming through the windows illuminated deep blue carpeting. Massive wooden doors. Two deep green leather high-back guest chairs, with curved mahogany legs, were opposite him. Bookcases and tables mirrored each other. A sitting area occupied the space to the right of the door. On top of an