“—so you should just ride with me.Ican drop you off on my way.It’llbe faster than the bus, and you won’t have to wait the extra twenty minutes, either.”
Thewoman looks so grateful thatIcould probably ask her for anything and she’d say yes.ButIknow enough about turning an asset who works for the opposition into one who secretly works for us to know that within a few minutes of meeting them isn’t the time to make big asks unless you have no other choice.Sowe both head out of the restroom, andIgo over to say goodbye to my “date.”
CHAPTER 11
SOCCER, SECRETS, AND STROLLERS
LEDGER
I’veexperienced a lot of things as an intelligence operative.Ihave to say that this is the first timeI’velistened to a conversation via my earpiece of two women in a public restroom, where one is an intelligence operative and the other is a potential asset.Itisn’t my first time, though, hearingZoebecome exactly who she needs to be for the situation.Shedoes it masterfully, which both impresses me— whenIsee it in action, and frustrates me— whenIexperience it used on me.
Thetwo women walk out of the bathroom, and through my earpiece,IhearZoesay toMila, “Letme just say goodbye to my date.”ThenZoewalks up to whereI’mstill sitting at our table and leans in as if she’s kissing the space right in front of my ear.Herbreath is warm, and it tingles as if that’s actually what she’s doing.Thetingle goes right up my spine and neck, too, and makes mybreathing kick up a notch, even though it has no business doing either.
Insteadof kissing me, though, she breathes in a low voice, “Followus at a respectable distance.AfterIdrop her off, we’ll regroup.”Thenshe pulls back, gives me a smile, and reaches for my hand, which she then squeezes.Imanage to come out of my stupor in time to remember our cover story and say, “It’sokay.We’llcatch up later.Goodluck with work stuff.”
Thebar’s windows are a little grimy and partially covered with signs and blocked by furniture, butIcan see the women standing out front, waiting for theirUber.Isay, “Damjan, you’re back, right?”
“Yep.”Ihear whatI’mguessing is the trunk closing. “Readyto go.”
“Getin the passenger’s seat and let me know when theirUberarrives.”Idon’t wantDamjandriving for two reasons— one,Damjan’sdriving isn’t exactly discreet.Andtwo—Ijust ate a bunch of sausages, onions, and bread, andI’mnot entirely sure that my stomach can handle his driving.
Theydrive on the right side of the road here, and except for some streets at odd angles, their roads aren’t too different from roads in theUnitedStates.Theirstoplights are even similar to ours.Thebuildings are a mix of single-story and multiple-story structures and range everywhere from run-down and graffitied to newer and well-cared-for.
IfollowZoe’sUberacross the river and along streets that are lined with trees and grass and nice buildings.Thecloser we get toMila’shome, though, the narrower andmore cracked the streets get and the smaller and closer together the homes are.
Ikeep further back asZoe’sandMila’sUberdriver dropsMilaoff at her small house on a street barely wide enough for one car, in a neighborhood filled with run-down houses and pavement.Nota yard— or even a patch of dirt— is anywhere.
Assoon asZoe’sUberis out of sight ofMila’shome,Zoehas the driver let her out on a slightly wider road.Whenthe driver leaves,Ipull off the road, park nearZoe, and get out of the car.It’sstill plenty light outside and warm without being too hot.Aboutseventy-five degrees, ifIhave to guess.
Assoon as bothDamjanandIare out of the car,Zoesays, “Ithink we can turn her.”Shesends a message toPackston, her tech op, and loops him in, and a moment later,IhaveKellalooped in, too, so the five of us are together on comms. “Packston, what have you got onMila?”
“Afew things thatI’vealso forwarded toKella.Herfull name isMilenaNikolic.Sheis twenty-one years old and currently lives with her sister,MajaNikolic, and her sister’s two kids— a five-year-old boy namedAndrejand an almost two-year-old girl namedAnja.Sheattended theUniversityofBelgradefor a year and a half, studying business administration, and living on campus.Shewas doing quite well, too.I’mlooking at her transcripts, and she got nines and tens in everything.Well, except forPublicSpeaking, where she got a six, so barely passing.
“Thenher brother-in-law,Bodgan, diedabout a year and a half ago in a work-related accident at a chemical manufacturing plant.Mila’ssister,Maja, couldn’t work and take care of the kids, soMilaleft school and moved in with her sister to help out.Milagot a job working forZoranSavovicas an administrative assistant toSavovic’sevent planner,Petra, and works during the day, then watches her niece and nephew after so her sister can work.”
“Andfrom whatIgot in speaking with her,”Zoesays, “she does a lot of the grunt work atSavovic’s.She’sa smart girl, but she never gets the chance to really shine.”
“Allright,”Isay. “Sowhat should we use to motivate her?We’vegot the standard money, ideology, coercion, or ego.”Igesture back toward her street. “Clearly, they could use money.”
Zoenods slowly. “Shedidn’t once complain about her pay or their living conditions, though.Thatdoesn’t mean it isn’t an issue, of course, but it wasn’t on her mind enough to bring it up during the short time we’ve had to chat.Shemostly talked about how bad it is working for her boss,Petra.”
“PetraPopovic,”Kellasays. “Itsays that she’s over events and special occasions atSavovic’smansion.Milais the only employee underPetra.There’sa picture ofPetra.Yeesh.Ifshe were a librarian, she’d probably shush you for breathing too loudly.Andthen make you write an essay on the importance of following the posted rules, right before claiming it as her own work.”
“So,”Packstonsays in our earpieces, “maybe you canconvince her to help you by saying if she does, it’ll stick it to her job.Helpher to get revenge.”
“Excepther helping us wouldn’t actually stick it to her job,”Isay. “Infact, it’ll help them, since they’ll be more likely to get the piece back afterAragundi’swanna-be’s steal it with our tracker in it.”
“Shedoesn’t seem like the vengeful type anyway,”Zoesays. “Besides, she doesn’t have an issue withSavovic— only withPetra.”Zoestarts tapping her bottom lip with her finger andI’mhaving a hard time not getting distracted by it.Maybeit wouldn’t be so distracting ifIhadn’t kissed those lips a year and a half ago and know exactly how they feel on mine.Toknow how it feels to hold her close while those lips are on mine.
Head.In.The.Game,Itell myself.
Inour earpieces,Kellasays, “Andit sounds like anything that made things worse forPetrawould just be pushed ontoMilaanyway, so that direction in general is a bust.”
“Whatabout finding a way for her to leave that job?”Iturn toDamjan. “What’sthe job market here like?Isoffering that a possibility?Ifshe hasn’t gotten a chance to shine, a new position might give her that chance.”
Damjannods. “Yeah,Ithink it’s a real possibility.Ihave some contactsIcould check in with.”
Zoeis nodding, too, and everyone else is silent for a moment.Sometimeswhen we discuss what kind of motivation will convince an asset to spy for us, we come up with an idea that seems perfect.Itdoesn’t feellike we’ve hit “perfect” forMila, but with the time we have to turn her, we don’t have access to the kind of information that will get us to perfect.
