Agent Hill: Powerless by James Hunt Page A

whenever you give the word.”
    “And you can count on Germany’s continued support on the Eastern Europe front,” Andrea said. “I’ll be damned if I let those bastards past my country’s lines.”
    “Thank you, everyone,” the American president said.
    The conference call ended, and Andrea walked out of the secure room and back into the flurry that was the capitol building, meeting Alexander in stride as she made her way back to the main conference room to check the status of her country.
    “Water and food supply routes just opened back up in the north,” Alexander said, “and we’re receiving word from the Dutch that they’ll be contributing one thousand soldiers to the efforts in the east.”
    “Where are we at with the evacuation of the Polish?” Andrea asked, looking over the stacks of papers and notes that required her attention.
    “We’re working on getting them out as fast as we can, but some of them are reluctant to move.”
    “Well, tell them that they’re about to be put in the middle of war, and if they don’t want to be turned to rubble, they need to get the hell out of there now.”
    “Yes, ma’am.” He started to turn to leave as she made her way back into the main conference room, but abruptly stopped. “Oh, and I ran that query you asked.” He leaned in close so he could whisper, and looked around nervously. “On the woman.”
    “And?”
    “Nothing.”
    Andrea looked puzzled. “You conferred with the Americans?”
    “Yes, they had nothing. I even had our unit of underground Internet sleuths take a crack at it, and they came up empty-handed as well. The person you’re searching for doesn’t seem to exist.” He finished his sentence, but after Andrea looked at him, he quickly added, “From the resources we’ve used, Chancellor.”
    “Thank you.”
    Andrea walked back into the conference room, her head still spinning from both the conference call with her allies and the fact that they’d been able to find nothing on the woman. She knew she hadn’t imagined her. It wasn’t some dream or hallucination. But the fact that none of their resources had found anything, nothing, seemed cause for concern.
    The woman she met didn’t strike her as someone who had a hidden agenda. Her years in politics had left her with a nose that could sniff out the scaly underbelly of anyone she met. But still, there was always the possibility that she had been played.
    Andrea sat down and allowed her mind to wind down that path until she realized it was ludicrous. She wasn’t wrong. The woman existed. And she was going to do everything in her power to find her.

 
    ***
    Heath had placed a towel down on the crate before he sat down. It seemed that all of Russia was covered in a layer of filth. He picked at his fingernails with a file, rounding out any jagged edges to create a smooth, leveled surface. He stood out from the soldiers around him, dressed in their fatigues and Kevlar, helmets, gloves, and boots. He looked at them as much as they looked at him, while he wore his tailored suit, with a clean-shaven face, combed hair, and polished black shoes. Neither could understand why the other’s attire was necessary.
    But Heath simply finished the pinky nail on his left hand and tucked the file back into the inside of his jacket, flashing his holster to the soldiers still looking at him. One of the soldiers nudged his friend, pointing to Heath, muttering something in Russian, and the two laughed.
    “Care to share?” Heath asked.
    “You wear such fancy clothes,” the Russian said. “I was asking my friend here whether the man we’re going to pick up is your date.” The two soldiers chuckled again, and laughter rippled through the rest of the group.
    Heath answered with a half grin and reached back inside his jacket. He watched the soldiers tense up, and the laughter disappeared. But when Heath revealed the nail file he had used earlier, the soldiers relaxed, smiles returning to their faces. He