Chapter 35

CHAPTER 35

Even in the midst of her cancer battle, Eva still electrified every room she walked into. She was a force of nature.

And while the women of polite South of France society may have frozen her out of their circles because they resented her wealth and beauty, to anyone else, having her around was like basking in the presence of a classic movie star. She was elegance and glamour personified.

Harvath could only imagine the energy she had summoned to be here. On top of that, she looked fantastic. There was no hint that she was undergoing treatment. Every millimeter of her was perfect. Her shitbag husband had zero idea how lucky he was.

"Who the hell is that?" Grechko asked.

"My little bird," said Harvath as he looked at his watch. "It's time for you to hit the men's room. Lock yourself in that stall and don't move until I come get you. Just as we discussed. Understand me?"

The Russian nodded and, after knocking back the rest of the wine in his glass, headed for the restroom.

No sooner had Eva been seated at the best table in the house than the arrival of another statuesque woman, also with her own security detail, sent a hush rippling across the room.

The moment Harvath saw Inessa Surkova, he understood why Grechko had sacrificed everything for her. He also understood why the defector was so concerned that, should she ever disappear, Tsybulsky would go to the ends of the earth to find her and bring her back.

In a word, the woman was stunning. But stunning wasn't descriptive enough. While men stole glances of Eva so as not to upset their wives, when Inessa passed through the room, they openly and admiringly stared, unconcerned with the consequences, and were completely unaware that their wives were staring as well.

She had the tightest jawline Harvath had ever seen and cheekbones so high, they rivaled the Andes. A silk dress of emerald green clung to her body and left little to the imagination. Her walk was infused with the kind of confidence only seen on the catwalks of Paris or Milan. How this woman had ended up a courtesan and not a high-fashion model was beyond Harvath.

As she passed, she glanced in his direction and he thanked God that he had already dispatched Grechko to the men's room. Had she seen him sitting there at the bar, before she really knew why Eva had asked her to dinner, there was no telling how she might have reacted. It could have ruined everything.

Harvath watched as Eva stood to greet her. The two women kissed on both cheeks, embraced, and, drawing their chairs closer together, sat down.

A waiter brought over the champagne Eva had ordered. It was a gorgeous bottle of Krug, just like the one Harvath had bought for S?lvi, which was still sitting in her fridge back in Oslo, waiting for them to enjoy.

Expertly removing the cork, the waiter poured a small amount for Eva. She took a small sip and nodded. After filling both of their glasses, the man left the two friends to catch up.

Eva had told Harvath that she wanted to get Inessa loosened up before springing the surprise on her. She believed that having a little alcohol in her system would help keep her calm.

And just in case Inessa got angry and stormed out, Eva wanted to have had a few moments with her to say goodbye.

Harvath deferred to her wishes. Eva not only knew women better than he did, but she also knew Russian women much better.

When their glasses ran dry, Eva didn't wait for the waiter to return. Grabbing the bottle from the bucket, she refilled them and proposed another toast.

As they clinked glasses, Eva placed her left hand on the back of her neck and gave Harvath a signal. Five minutes.

Texting the team, Harvath let them know that everything was in motion. He laid a couple of bills on the bar and headed toward the men's room.

The best thing about Muse was that it was a vintage building that had been updated and added on to over the years. In a previous life, back when Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat was a fishing village, it had been a cannery.

The frosted windows of the men's and women's bathrooms opened onto a narrow gangway, which led to a service area where fresh fish used to be offloaded from boats in the port and brought in for processing. It wasn't exactly the balcony from Romeo and Juliet, but it was better than trying to hide a man and a woman in the same stall at a busy, popular restaurant.

Entering the men's room, Harvath waited for one guy at the urinal and another at the sink to leave, before knocking on the door of Grechko's stall.

When the Russian unlocked it, Harvath stepped inside, and then closed and locked the door behind him.

Hopping up onto the toilet, he carefully swung the window open, and after checking to make sure the coast was clear, pulled himself through and dropped down into the gangway.

There was a pallet nearby and he propped it against the wall to provide Grechko with a makeshift ladder.

Once the Russian was in the gangway, Harvath pulled out his phone and swiped to the camera feature to record a video.

"Short and sweet. Got it?" he asked.

Grechko nodded and Harvath began recording. A few seconds later, it was done. He checked to make sure the audio was intelligible and then, grabbing the pallet, walked down to the window for the ladies' room, where he texted Ashby.

Having seen the dress that Inessa was wearing, he was glad that he had set things up the way he had. There was no way she could have climbed down into the gangway. Leaning the pallet against the wall, he texted the video to Eva.

Once the message had been sent, all he and Grechko could do was to be patient and wait. She was either going to come, or she wasn't.

As far as Harvath was concerned, the only thing better than her showing up and telling Grechko she wanted nothing to do with him would be her choosing not to show up at all. Both of those outcomes would make his night a lot easier. Easier, however, didn't appear as if it was going to be in the cards for him.

Moments later, he heard the window of the women's room being opened. Looking up, he saw Ashby poke her head out. When he flashed her the thumbs-up, she returned the gesture and disappeared back inside.

Harvath stood back so Grechko could climb the pallet and be as close to eye to eye as possible with the woman who had now taken Ashby's place in the window.

Before the defector had even started speaking, Harvath knew what Inessa's answer was going to be. He could see it just by looking at her.

After Eva had shown her the video, it must have taken every ounce of self-control she had to calmly get up from the table and walk slowly back to the ladies' room.

Instantly, their hands reached out for each other's. Inessa was overcome with emotion.

"How did you find me?" she asked in Russian, tears welling up in her eyes.

Grechko explained that they didn't have much time and launched into his speech. Harvath, though he spoke a little Russian, could only pick up a few words here and there. The defector was speaking very quickly.

When he came to the end of what he had to say, Inessa Surkova didn't need to ponder her answer. She had rehearsed it in the quiet of her heart a million times. "Etogo ya i zhдaлa," she replied, the tears now streaming down her face. This is what I have been waiting for. "Ya ne mogu predstavit' svoyu zhizn' bez tebya." I can't imagine my life without you.

Inessa had a ton of questions, especially as she was supposed to leave for Russia in the morning. Grechko explained that the details were still being worked out and that Eva would be their go-between.

Harvath looked at his watch and motioned to wrap it up. If Inessa was gone too long, her security team would start getting suspicious.

They kissed and she disappeared back inside the ladies' room. Ashby closed the window and locked it from the inside as Grechko hopped down off the pallet.

The man was overjoyed. "Thank you," he exclaimed, pumping Harvath's hand.

"Don't thank me yet," Harvath replied, trying to temper his expectations. "That was the easy part. From this point forward, things are going to get a lot more dangerous."