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“I’m not going to warn anyone. We handle thousands of email -addresses. You can’t expect me to remember them all.”
In fact, Gadai didn’t. He had always known that this information would need to be pulled off the server and that there was danger in giving a man like Maxim access to a keyboard. Unfortunately, it was a danger he could do nothing to mitigate.
Gadai watched the Russian type, not understanding what he was seeing but doing everything possible to give the impression that he did.
“Where are the others?” Maxim said as he worked. “Are my people all right?”
“Of course. And they’ll remain that way as long as you give me what I want.”
He scrolled down a list of email addresses, finally clicking on one near the bottom of the screen. A name, and nothing else, came up. Pavel Katdsyn.
“Where can I find him?”
“I don’t know. I—”
Gadai spun the chair so that Maxim was once again facing his wife and nodded. She was still being held from behind, now with one of his men fondling her breasts. The knife came out again and a moment later her panties were being thrown across the room.
“Wait!”
Gadai held up a hand. “Why? Why should I stop my men when you’re telling me nothing but lies?”
“I know where Pavel lives. I can’t guarantee he’s there right now, though. I—”
“Where?”
“I have to use my computer again. If I turn around your men won’t hurt her? I have your word?”
“I want only the information I came for, Maxim. The fact that I don’t have it is the only thing keeping me here.”
The young computer expert went back to his keyboard, pulling up a Russian mapping site and zeroing in on a remote region to the north. “He’s here.”
There was no city or town marked, only what looked like an empty expanse of wilderness.
“You’re trying to tell me this man lives in the forest?”
Maxim switched from map view to satellite view and a small outpost revealed itself. One street with what looked like four buildings on either side.
“What is this?”
“It’s a . . .” He searched for the English word. “Commune. About thirty people live there.”
“Criminals,” Gadai said. “Staying out of the reach of authorities.”
“Yes.”
“Part of Russia’s organized crime network?”
“No. Mostly spammers and con artists. They traffic in a few stolen goods, but it’s mostly Internet scams.”
“What’s the closest access point?”
“You could fly into Ukhta.”
“That’s still more than a hundred kilometers away. How would I get to their location?”
Maxim ran a finger along a barely visible line leading from the commune. “It’s hard to see, but this is a road. It’s packed with snow this time of year, but they maintain it well enough to get a snowcat through. It’s how they bring in supplies.”
Gadai nodded. “You’ve done well.”
