“I’m sleepy, Dana. I’m going to bed.”
“All right, darling.” Dana watched him go into the study and thought, He’s changed so much. He seems like a different boy. Well, from now on we’re going to be together. If something’s bothering him, I’ll find out what it is. It was time to leave for the studio.
In the apartment next door, the tenant looked at the television set and spoke into a tape recorder.
“The subject has left for the television studio to do her broadcast. The boy has gone to bed. The housekeeper is sewing.”
“We’re live!” The camera’s red light flashed on.
The announcer’s voice boomed out, “Good evening. This is your eleven o’clock news on WTN with Dana Evans and Richard Melton.”
Dana smiled into the camera. “Good evening. I’m Dana Evans.”
Seated next to her, Richard Melton said, “And I’m Richard Melton.”
Dana began, “We start our news tonight with a terrible tragedy in Malaysia…”
This is where I belong, Dana thought, not running around the world on some wild-goose chase.
The broadcast went well. When Dana returned to the apartment, Kemal was asleep. After saying good night to Mrs. Daley, Dana went to bed, but she was unable to sleep.
I have the information you want. I have made a reservation in your name at the Soyuz Hotel in Moscow. Come immediately. Tell no one about this.
It’s a trap. I’d be a fool to go back to Moscow, Dana thought. But what if it’s real? Who would go to all this trouble? And why? The letter could only have come from Boris Shdanoff. What if he really knows something? She was awake all night.
When Dana arose in the morning, she telephoned Roger Hudson and told him about the note.
“My God. I don’t know what to say.” He sounded excited. “This could mean that someone is ready to tell the truth about what happened to the Winthrops.”
“I know.”
“Dana, it could be dangerous. I don’t like that.”
“If I don’t go, we’ll never find out the truth.”
He hesitated. “I suppose you’re right.”
“I’ll be careful, but I must go.”
Roger Hudson said reluctantly, “Very well. I want you to stay in close touch.”
“I promise, Roger.”
Dana was at the Corniche Travel Agency buying a round-trip ticket to Moscow. It was Tuesday. I hope I won’t be gone too long, Dana thought. She left a message for Matt to tell him what was happening.
When Dana returned to her apartment, she said to Mrs. Daley, “I’m afraid I have to go away again. It’s just for a couple of days. Take good care of Kemal.”
“You don’t have to worry about anything, Miss Evans. We’ll be fine.”
The tenant next door turned away from the television set and made a hasty telephone call.
Boarding the Aeroflot plane to Moscow, Dana thought, It’s déjà vu. Maybe I’m making a big mistake. It could be a trap. But if the answer is in Moscow, I’m going to find it. She settled back for the long flight.
When the plane landed the next morning at the now familiar Sheremetyevo II airport, Dana collected her bag and walked outside into a blinding snowstorm. There was a long line of travelers waiting for taxis. Dana stood in the cold wind, grateful for her warm coat. Forty-five minutes later, when it was finally Dana’s turn, a burly man tried to push in ahead of her.
“Nyet!” Dana said firmly. “This is my cab.” She got inside.
The driver said, “Da?”
“I want to go to the Soyuz Hotel.”
He turned to look at her and said in halting English, “You sure you wish to go there?”
Dana said, puzzled, “Why? What do you mean?”
“That is very not nice hotel.”
Dana felt a frisson of alarm. Am I sure? Toolateto back off now. He was waiting for an answer. “Yes. I—I’m sure.”
The driver shrugged, put the taxi in gear, and started off into the snowbound traffic.
Dana thought, What if there is no reservation at the hotel? What if all this is some stupid joke?
The Soyuz Hotel was located in a working-class district on the outskirts of Moscow on Levoberezhnaya Street. It was an old, unprepossessing building with brown paint peeling off the exterior.