From Russia Without Love by Stephen Templin Read Free Book Online Page A

over his shoulder.
    “What were you two talking about?” Hannah asked, Sonny standing beside her.
    Chris looked for a trash receptacle to dispose of his toothpick but saw none, so he handed it to one of the wait staff. “I’ll explain in the car. Are we ready to go?”
    Hannah and Sonny nodded and followed him as he weaved through the crowd toward the front door. Outside, they loaded into the BMW, and Chris flicked on the lights and drove away from Xander’s estate.
    Hannah checked the side-view mirror. “Sonny guarded the hall while I gained physical access to the laptop in Xander’s study,” she reported. “You remember after our last mission how Young showed us how to bypass the login?”
    Chris nodded, focused on both Hannah and the road.
    “I got into Xander’s laptop and logged into Young’s website.” One merely needed to use the target’s device to log into Young’s website and then he could access the device remotely and begin hacking. Then he could install hidden monitoring software that wouldn’t show up in the start menu, control panel, or index. Using the hidden software, he could keep a keystroke log of e-mails, chats, and other internet usage. In addition, the monitoring software took routine screen captures. “Young is hacking Xander’s computer as we speak.”
    Chris grinned.
    “What?” Hannah asked.
    “I actually sent Young a digital recording of my conversation with Xander and asked for a voice match. The more time I spend around that man, the more my spider senses tingle.”
    “Me, too.”
    “Me, three,” Sonny said.

4
    _______
    I n the villa north of the pool, Animus stood in the living room while Evelina sat slouching on the sofa. “What was that all about?” he asked.
    “What was what all about?”
    “Who was he?”
    “Who was who?” Evelina said innocently.
    He was determined to get an answer. “You know who I’m talking about,” he said.
    She sighed. “If you must know, his name is Chris. He’s a legal attaché from the US Embassy.”
    A hard knock came at the door, and they stopped talking. Animus reached for his pistol, keeping it concealed under his suit jacket as he approached the door and looked through the window. “It’s your father.”
    She stood up from the sofa. “You know how he doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”
    Xander was more than a mentor to Animus, he was the father Animus never had. While Animus’s contemporaries earned their bachelor’s degrees in subjects like business and biology, he earned his in the art of killing. And Xander was his sole professor.
    Animus answered the door and invited him in.
    “I was looking for you,” Xander said as he stopped in front of Evelina. “I could not find you in the main residence, so I came here.”
    “Is something wrong?” she asked, worry creasing her brow.
    “Before the party, I tried to reach you, but your phone was off. I sent a text asking you to stay away from the party. And I left the same message with your answering service.”
    “I’m sorry. I was having trouble with my phone,” she explained.
    Xander took a deep breath. “It is okay. I understand, sweetheart.” He paused for a moment. “There was an American here tonight from the State Department, a legal attaché.”
    Evelina hesitated for a moment. “Yes.”
    “Did he ask you about Michael Winthrop?”
    “He did, but I didn’t tell him anything,” she said.
    “Are you sure? I will not be angry. It is simply important that I know what you told him.”
    “I didn’t tell him anything. When he brought up the subject, I walked away and came here.”
    “He was not like any diplomat I have ever met,” Xander said. “Too calm for a bureaucrat. Did either of you see what his colleagues were up to this evening?”
    Animus and Evelina shook their heads.
    Xander hugged Evelina and kissed her on the head. “Could you bring us some drinks, please?”
    She smiled and left the room.
    “Our Albanian friends might need some help,”