The Traitor's Story by Kevin Wignall Read Free Book Online Page B

but . . .”
    The solution leapt out at Finn—a hundred attendant questions coming with it, but a solution all the same. And it hardly mattered that he didn’t know how it would work, because he knew immediately that it was the girl’s only real hope.
    “I know one. A Russian.”
    Harry laughed. “We all know Russians, Finn, but that’s—”
    “I mean a Russian who could help.” He looked at Katerina, gave her an encouraging smile. “Could she stay here a while? I can’t take her home with me. Even if we could understand each other, how would I explain it to Sofi?”
    “How long for? I mean, yeah, of course she can stay. But how long? What’s your thinking?”
    Finn nodded, realizing that one way or another he was about to test his friendship with Harry to the limit. They’d known each other eighteen months, had bonded from the start, had been through a lot in that time, but this was the point at which Harry might begin to doubt he knew Finn at all.
    “The Russian I know, he’ll be in Stockholm, I think a week from now. We could go on the overnight ferry, no need to get her a passport. He’d be able to deal with everything from there.”
    Harry made a show of accepting that much, or of at least deferring acceptance for the time being, but said, “Can you trust him? You know, the girl just escaped who knows what, we don’t wanna hand her over to someone who’ll sell her to the highest bidder.”
    There was no question in Finn’s mind. “I trust him completely, Harry. I trust him as much as I trust you. Maybe even more.”
    Harry laughed at the slight. “Do you trust him more than Jerry de Borg?”
    Finn smiled. It was one of their private jokes—“Jerry de Borg”, their stock invented explanation for everything that went wrong.
    “Maybe not, but Jerry de Borg isn’t a powerful Russian.”
    Harry laughed again, but then stopped abruptly and stared at Finn in shock.
    “You sly bugger!” Finn hadn’t expected him to take even this long to work it out. “It’s you! Jesus, I thought they’d suspect me . . . I suspected Perry, but it’s you.” There was an implicit acceptance in the tone of Harry’s response, the suggestion that the crime had been stripped of all seriousness by Finn’s involvement, but the shock was still there and he shook his head. “You’re the least likely.”
    “Because?”
    “You don’t speak Russian. You’ve only been here eighteen months, flitting around the Med for five years before that.”
    “Which is, of course, where I met him, and he speaks pretty good English.” Finn sat forward in his chair, put his coffee mug back on the tray and said, “Look, Harry, I never sold him anything. We’ve been in business together, and yes, I made things happen, things I’m not going into now, but I never betrayed my country—never, you have to take my word on that. Now, if you want to hand me in, fine, you’re my friend and I’ll accept that, but let me get this girl safe first.”
    “I am your friend, so why on earth would I wanna hand you in? If you say you didn’t do anything to damage our country, then I believe you. Just swear to me you didn’t compromise anyone and that’s enough.”
    “I swear.”
    Harry seemed to accept that, but asked almost as an afterthought, “Why did you do it?”
    “Boredom, I suppose.” Harry laughed. “I’m serious, you know. Flitting around the Med, as you described it, all very nice, but I felt like the big game was somewhere else. I met Alex, we had a shared interest in history, he’s a nice guy . . .”
    “A nice guy .”
    “Actually, yeah. I know his background, I know he’s been ruthless and could be again, but he is a nice guy. And, as embarrassing as it sounds, it was exciting, you know?”
    Harry took it all in and sighed. Katerina had been watching them avidly and she looked at Harry now, knowing it was his time to respond, waiting for his words as readily as if she’d understand them.
    “So he tipped