Agent 6

Agent 6 by Tom Rob Smith Read Free Book Online Page A

Book: Agent 6 by Tom Rob Smith Read Free Book Online
Authors: Tom Rob Smith
Tags: Fiction, thriller
about. The teacher. Wouldn’t it be something to go see a school?

SECONDARY SCHOOL SEVEN
AVTOZAVODSKAYA
SAME DAY
    L EO SAT WITH HIS HANDS TIGHT around the steering wheel, furious at Austin for not understanding the danger he’d placed him in. The man’s actions were naïve—entirely foreign. Keen to prove his detractors at home wrong, he’d embarked on a program of calculated sabotage, brushing aside their plans with the playfulness of a man who had no comprehension of the regime he flattered. It did not tolerate mistakes. Grave risks existed for the people organizing his trip, including Leo. Yet it hadn’t occurred to Austin that there would be consequences if he saw anything that didn’t chime with the idealized vision that the Kremlin wanted him to export to the United States. These attempts to duck the official preparations were little more than a game, evidenced by the way he’d whistled all the way to Secondary School Seven where Lena worked.
    Leo stared in dumb terror at Secondary School Seven: a newly built box of classrooms supported on concrete legs. Fortunately, there was no risk that the school building itself wouldn’t pass inspection. The officials were greatly relieved that their guest had chosen an institution they would have gladly picked themselves. The risk was solely on Leo’sshoulders. He’d lied. When he’d claimed Lena was the woman he loved, he’d presumed the lie would fold into the conversation, an irrelevance immediately forgotten. It had been intended to save him from the minor embarrassment of admitting that there was no one he loved and no one who loved him. Now he bitterly regretted his foolishness. Why couldn’t he simply have admitted that he lived alone? There was no way to wriggle out from the trap. Austin was intent upon visiting a school and he wanted to see one that couldn’t have been prepared in advance. Leo had set him up perfectly.
    Stepping out of the car, he tried to think calmly, rationally, something he’d been unable to do for the past forty-five minutes. He knew that her name was Lena. He didn’t know her full name. He knew that she taught politics. Most important of all, he knew that she didn’t like him. His legs felt weak, like a condemned man walking to his execution. He weighed up the option of admitting the lie: He could stop the group and declare that he didn’t know Lena. He’d invented a relationship because he didn’t want to appear lonely. It would be a pitiful, humiliating confession. Austin would laugh it off, perhaps offering him some reassuring words about love. They could tour the school without visiting Lena. The officials would say nothing. Yet there was no question that Leo’s career would come to an end. At best he’d be demoted. More likely he’d be accused of deliberately undermining the opinion of a key ally of the Soviet Union. Since there was nothing to gain by admitting the lie, it was better to play along with it for as long as possible.
    It was lunchtime. Children were outside playing in the snow. Leo could use them to buy him some time, encouraging Austin to talk to the students while he slipped off and found Lena. He only needed a couple of seconds to prepare her. She didn’t have to do anything other than smile, answer questions, and play along with his lie. She was smart, he was sure of that. She would understand. She would improvise.
    As they entered the gates, Grigori hurried to his side, their first opportunity to speak in private since Austin’s request to visit the school:
    —
Leo, what is going on? Who is this woman?
    Leo checked that no one else was in earshot:
    —
Grigori, I lied.
    —
You lied?
    Grigori sounded amazed, as if he considered Leo an automaton, incapable of anything as human as a lie.
    —
About the woman, Lena—she doesn’t love me. She barely even knows me.
    —
Does she work here?
    —
She works here. That much is true. I think, at least. I can’t be sure.
    —
Why did you lie?
    —
I don’t

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