The First Billion

"Watch it!" barked the linebacker.

You're in Russia. It's dangerous over there.

"Sorry, sorry." Byrnes raised his hands defensively. He turned toward Svetlana. "Excuse me. I'll be right back." He mumbled the words "rest room" and "freshen up."

"I help you," she said, resting a hand on his waist. "We go upstairs together. I show you way."

"No, no. I'm all right, really. Where do I go?"

"Up. To right side." She pointed the way, then wrapped her arms around him. "You no leave Svetlana?"

Suddenly, she didn't look so much the unapproachable Russian ice princess as an insecure twenty-year-old frightened she might lose her evening's pay.

"No," he said. "I no leave Svetlana. I come right back." Jesus, now he was even talking like her.

He set off to the rest room, lurching along the bar before recovering his sea legs and guiding himself up the stairs. Inside the john, he turned the tap on full and took turns slapping cold water on his face and taking deep breaths. A minute passed and he began to feel better. That was some vodka he was drinking. Two doubles and he was on his ass. He promised himself he'd have a word with the hotel concierge, tell him he had something different in mind when asking about a place where a gentleman could get a few drinks and some di

Laying both hands on the sink, he took a close look at himself in the mirror. "Come on, kid," he whispered. "Snap out of it."

Staring back was a vital, handsome father of two teenage children gracefully approaching middle age. Strands of silver streaked a generous head of black hair. Fatigue shadowed his flinty eyes. His bold, clefted chin, the brunt of a thousand jokes, evidenced a slight but noticeable sag. Squinting, he wondered what had happened to the gallant airman who had flown his nation's fighters in two armed conflicts, the able pilot who had deadstick-landed a flamed-out F-15 and bailed out over open ocean after he'd lost his hydraulics.

"Still here," tolled a fighting voice deep within him. "Just get lost once in a while."

"You are a huckleberry," he said aloud, angered by his lack of self-restraint. "Your little lady friend probably had your drink spiked. Five'll get you ten her big buddy is waiting downstairs at this very instant to give you his best regards. You came to do a job, not fuck around. Get thyself out of here. Now!"

Five minutes later, Grafton Byrnes left the rest room. His tie was straightened, if a little wet. His jacket was buttoned. His wooziness had faded, replaced by a whopping headache and an ironclad desire to get as far from the premises as possible. Walking to the head of the stairs, he glanced down at the bar. Svetlana was deep in conversation with the two bullies who'd been sitting next to him.

Idiot! he thought. It really was a put-up job.

Spi

Retreat. Go to plan B.

But even as he turned to reenter the building, the door slammed shut. There was no handle or doorknob to gain entry.

Byrnes swallowed hard, a bolt of unease creasing his shoulders. He wasn't sure if he was frightened or exhilarated, but a moment later he was attacking the fire escape. Rung by rung, he descended the rickety structure, his steps cautious but not unsure. Six flights of stairs took him down three floors, and when he reached the ground he stood stock still, amazed the thing had actually held together.

He was still dusting the rust off his hands when the emergency exit flung open and his favorite flat top emerged onto the landing, six floors above. "Allo, Graf," the Russian called. "Stop. I want to talk. You owe Tatiana money."

Tatiana? What happened to Svetlana?

It took Byrnes less than a second to decide to get the hell out of there. He might owe Svetlana, or Tatiana, or whatever her real name was, an apology for his sudden departure, but he certainly didn't owe her any money. And even if he did, he didn't want to give it to her pimp. Somehow he didn't peg the guy as a believer in win-win negotiation.

A deep breath and Byrnes was off, ru

The Novy Arbat had been built in the early sixties as Khrushchev's answer to Manhattan's Fifth Avenue. Four lanes of traffic flowed in either direction, lined by a succession of nondescript offices and run-down apartment buildings, the kind where air conditioners dripped coolant from jury-rigged perches and half the windows were caked with grime. Maybe the Bowery, carped Byrnes, but Fifth? No way.

Reaching the street, he raised a hand in the air. "Taxi!"

It was a Russian tradition for ordinary drivers to offer their services as taxis in exchange for a few dollars, marks, or francs. In a heartbeat, a red Lada had pulled over and Byrnes was in the passenger seat.

"Hotel Baltschug," he said, then a second later, "No, wait." Digging his hand into his pockets, he found the address of the network operations center he was supposed to visit. If this was Russia, he wanted to get the hell out of it as quickly as possible. He checked the sky again. Plenty of light remained to get his job done. Finish tonight and he could catch the first plane out in the morning. He'd be back in San Francisco at four and in the office by five. Plowing through his E-mails would never be so much fun.

"You know Rudenev Ulitsa?"

"Rudenev?" The driver appeared confused, then it came to him. "Rudenev! Da. Da." He was a small man, near sixty, with a Tatar's eyes and a hairline that started about an inch above his eyebrows. Living proof the Mongols had reached the gates of Moscow.

"Rudenev Ulitsa 99," Byrnes said, yanking a hundred-dollar bill out of his wallet and handing it to the man. "And hurry!"

Five seconds later, the Lada was barreling down the center lane of the Novy Arbat. Byrnes looked over his shoulder out the back window. Late-evening traffic had already closed in around the car. For a moment, he was able to glimpse the parking lot in front of Metelitsa. A long line of cars was pulled up to the valet. Men and women ambled toward the entrance. He saw no sign of his newest friend.

"Rudenev. How long?"

The driver held up a finger. "One hour."

Byrnes sat lower in his seat, catching his breath.

He knew it had been a lousy idea to come to Russia.