Brown, Dale - Patrick McLanahan 02 by Day of the Cheetah (v1.1) Read Free Book Online

So I tell you what I think he’s like, what he’s going
through, what kind of life he lives.”
                 “You
scared me to death. Why?”
                 “Because
you wanted it. I was only doing what you—”
                 “You
are crazy,” she said, grabbed up her clothes and put on her blouse and pants.
“Get out of here.”
                 “Janet,
wait . . .”
                 “I
don’t want to see you again.” She yanked open the front door to her bedroom.
“Now get dressed and get out.”
                 The
smile stayed, but he obediently put on his jeans and sweatshirt, gathering his
underwear and shoes in his arms. But just before he left her apartment he
turned to her.
                 “You’ll
miss me,” he said. “The sex you can get from any of the others. But you need the excitement of living with a
real American. It’s your high. It’s the worst transgression for a female KGB
operative. You love it.”
                 “Andrei
Ivanschichin Maraklov—”
                “My name is Kenneth James.”
                 “You
will not be allowed to leave the Academy. You will never see America except in
your own mind. That I promise—”
                 His
smile disappeared, but she couldn’t stop.
                 “I
will make recommendations to Mr. Roberts that you never be allowed to graduate.
You could compromise the whole operation.”
                 It
pleased her to see the panic in his face that had now replaced his smug
expression. “What are you going to tell them, Janet? That while we’ve been
screwing each other I somehow scared you and you think I’m crazy? You’ve no
credibility. A thirty-year-old ex-whore having sex with a seventeen- year-old
high school student. You’ll make a very reliable witness.” He stepped toward
her, his expression softening. “You’ll drag yourself down as well as me. Don’t
do it. I promise I won’t scare you again. Janet . . .”
                 She
pushed him away. “I don’t need credibility. I can destroy you without anyone
ever knowing it was me. A notation here and there, a rumor, a changed grade or
a negative entry on your progress charts. You will be on your way to a border
post before you know it. Now once more, get out.”
                 “Don’t
do it,” he was still saying as the door slammed in his face. “You’ll be sorry
if you do . . .”
     
    *   *   *
     
                 His
morning regimen had been the same for the past five years. Wakeup at five A.M., calisthenics and a morning three-
mile jog, breakfast by six-thirty. The Academy even taught students to enjoy
the typical American breakfast dishes while at the same time giving them
healthier, more substantial foods.
                 Classes
began at eight. Usually there was a bit of time before the morning
class—today’s was on the stock market and American economics—so James spent his
time reviewing the latest intelligence on his “target”—the real Ken James.
                 How
could anyone with so much going for him act the way James had? Maraklov asked
himself. The report said James was going to ace every course he was enrolled in
in his final semester of high school, including several advance-placement
college-level courses. At the same time a police blotter report noted that
James had been caught with a bag of marijuana. He was not charged with a crime,
only reprimanded—his stepfather carried a good deal of influence in the small
town where he lived. But James had risked his whole career on a one-ounce bag
of dried grass. Stupid.
                 No
pictures were included in the latest intelligence, but previous photographs
showed a tall, handsome youth shopping in fancy stores, driving expensive cars,
going to parties every weekend. He had seemed like a normal