*Tallon*

Vinny was waiting for me at a nearby restaurant. I was annoyed that I had to walk away from Natalia so suddenly, but it couldn’t be avoided. I did need to find out how the talks with our Russian contacts had gone. Everything else that I did this week was going to hinge on how they reacted to the situation.

I didn’t get the feeling from Vinny’s tone that I needed to worry, but it was difficult not to dwell on the worst possible scenario. ...