Black Ghosts by Victor Ostrovsky

normally, don’t rush, and don’t look for a tail. I’ll handle that. If you have a tail, we don’t want to scare them off, do we?”
    Edward took up position on 59th Street between Madison and Park. From there he could see Donoven’s pink face and gray raincoat approaching. He could easily have spotted a tail had there been one. When Donoven turned on Madison, Edward quickened his pace and headed down Park, arriving in plenty of time to see Donoven turn on 53rd, heading for Lexington. Edward knew that if he was clean here, everything was fine.
    Edward let him enter the hotel. Then he dialed the lobby and had the desk clerk call Donoven to the phone. He told him to come across the street to a small diner next to the San Carlos Hotel.
    â€œSo we finally meet,” said Edward, extending a hand and a smile to the man standing by the door.
    â€œEdward?” said Donoven, looking somewhat lost.
    â€œYes, yes. Come and sit down.”
    It was clear from his expression that Donoven was not expecting such a welcome, not after all the running around he’d been made to do. “Sorry to have dragged you all over the place,” Edward said as they sat at a sticky table to the rear of the establishment.
    â€œI must say, that was quite a walk. I’m quite out of breath.”
    â€œSo, what do you have for me?” Edward dived right into the subject matter.
    â€œAnd you for me?”
    â€œMine is a payment for yours, so let’s have it, pal. We both have other things to do.”
    For the next twenty minutes Donoven talked, leaning across the table, his voice low. Edward felt like offering the man a breath freshener, but since he had no intention of meeting him again, he decided to suffer through Donoven’s halitosis. He took notes and occasionally dropped a question. Donoven was not reluctant to give him the answers. As Edward was showing no sign of being ready to pay him, he kept talking. There were still some details missing, but Donoven, who was now sweating more than he had after his short walk, promised to get them.
    â€œWhen?”
    â€œWhen I get back, most of what you need should be waiting on my desk. It will, however, cost you.”
    â€œNot me. It will be Larry who will deal with you then. I’m just helping out for the moment.” Edward took the envelope out of his coat pocket. As he was about to hand it over, he said, “One more thing. Why did they kill this General Kozov, or whatever his name was?”
    â€œHe was the commander of the Black Ghosts.”
    â€œSo why kill him?”
    â€œI don’t know. Perhaps they didn’t like him. It would seem rather stupid, though.”
    â€œWhy is that?”
    â€œWell you see, only he can, or rather could, activate their computer. It has a security system in place that scans the general’s iris to verify it’s him before they can get access to the system. Without that, if activated the system self-destructs.”
    Edward handed Donoven the envelope. The man tore off the end and peeked inside at the bundle of one-hundred-dollar bills. His pudgy pink face beamed. Without another word Edward got up and walked out of the diner. He was starting to get the picture, and it was not a pretty one.

CHAPTER 6
    The White House, the Oval Office, Washington, D.C.
February 21
10:55 hours
    Â 
    The most powerful man in the world reached into his desk drawer and pulled out a small tube of Rolaids. He crunched up two of the chalky white tablets, hoping they would calm his stomach, which had been acting up intermittently since breakfast. He made a special effort not to let the minor pain show on his face. He knew for a fact that if one of the two men in his office at that time were to notice, it would only be a matter of minutes before his personal physician would be notified and he would face a tedious battery of tests over at Bethesda Medical Center. And he was in no mood for that.
    James Fenton,