Silent Thunder

It had to be here somewhere.

Vladmir Yaltsin, Dimitri Ivanov…

Ivanov!

She stopped and pictured the file folder in her hands. Wrinkled manila, soft from wear.

Focus on the file page.

Perfect. Clear as day…

Dammit.

Cathy hung up the phone after twice trying to dial Ha

"Mama, will you read me a story?"

"Not now, Do

" 'Beauty and the Beast.' " She came over to the couch and plopped down beside Cathy. "I like the beast better than the other princes. He's not boring."

"No, he's not." She pulled her into the curve of her arm and brushed the straight, fair hair back from her daughter's forehead. "Suppose we do it together? It's always better that way. You need to practice reading the story yourself."

"That's what I told her." Ro

"I'm not bothering her," Do

"I like reading with you. It's one of my favorite things." Cathy held out her hand to Ro

"I came to see you earlier." He moved toward her. "You were on the phone with Aunt Ha

How much had he heard? Probably enough to worry him. "She sends her love."

Ro

"So do I. But she'll be fine, Ro

"The Beast," Do

"That will take you an hour," Ro

"Will not," Do

"She just wants to-" He stopped and then nodded. "Yeah. I noticed you were getting better yesterday when you were reading that Dora book."

"You did?" Do

"Honest." He dropped down on the floor at her feet. "Go ahead. Let me know if you have trouble with a word."

"I won't have trouble." Do

Was that what this was all about? Good God, her five-year-old was administering therapy. The story made Do

"Beasts have to be ugly," Do

Only in fairy tales, Cathy thought. Ha

And the finale of the story would bring not a happy but a deadly ending.

Ha

"I wouldn't have expected a garden like this behind an ordinary motel," she said.

"Beautiful flowers are a cheap way to dress up the ordinary."

"I never would have taken you for a botanist," Ha

"I'm not." Kirov nodded toward one of the plaques. "I'm more interested in the Shakespeare quotes."

"Your stepbrother was a fan of Western literature. I guess that's something you shared."

"I suppose." He frowned. "But we certainly didn't share a love of mythology. I still don't know why there was a mythology book in his cabin. I did a few crude chemical tests on some of the pages last night, and I don't believe there are messages scribbled in invisible ink. That would have been too easy. Pavski had a chance to go through all those books before the Kremlin jerked the sub away from him and sent it to Finland. He obviously found nothing."

"Those are some of the most widely read stories in the history of the world. Maybe there's no special meaning to it at all."

"Possibly, but I knew all the men who might have occupied that cabin, and it doesn't seem like something that any of them would have cracked open. Strange."

"How well did you know them?"

He raised an eyebrow. "The crew? I tried to know them as well as I knew every piece of equipment on that sub."

"That's smart. I guess your life depended on each and every one of those people."

"More to the point, they were trusting their lives to me and their other officers. The least I could do is to try and get to know them."

"You knew some of them for a long time, didn't you? All the way back to the naval academy in St. Petersburg?"

"It was called Leningrad at the time, but yes. Some even earlier than that."

"Earlier?"

"I had known the assistant engineer since grade school."

Chalk one up for Kirov, Ha

"What was his name?"

"Alex Rotonoff. A good man, yet limited outside his narrow expertise."

Chalk up another one.

They rounded the corner and proceeded down another path. "If I remember your file correctly, your father was a sailor."

He smiled. "Your famous memory at work. Yes, my father loved the sea."

"And his father before him?'

"A wagon maker. My father and I insisted that our love of adventure came from my grandmother."

"Your father's first command was a supply vessel in the Aegean Sea, the Danitelvia."

"Actually, that was his second. His first was another supply ship, the Lettenski, but his command only lasted about seventy-two hours. The ship developed engine problems and eventually had to be scuttled." He cocked an eyebrow at her. "I'm surprised you didn't know that, since I'm sure a copy of his service record was attached to mine. I suppose there's a limit to that memory of yours, eh?"

The bastard knew he was being tested, but she wasn't ready to make an issue of it yet. In any case, he'd passed with flying colors. If he was lying about being Ivanov, he'd certainly done his homework.

She shrugged. "What are we waiting for now?"

"I'm waiting to hear back on a few inquiries I've made about McClary, and my computer is downloading the contents of that GPS device as we speak. By the way, how did your call with Cathy go?"

"Fine."

"Was it?"

"Yes."

His gaze held her own, and it was obvious he didn't believe her. Either he was extremely perceptive, or she was a bad liar. Both, she decided.

He didn't push it. "Good," he said gently. "I know you're worried about her. Let's head back to my room. The GPS download should be finished anytime now."