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the realization that Heide had been murdered sent a sharp pain rocketing through his heart.
    Harvath asked, “Did Gary know?”
    “Yes,” said Vaile, “Gary knew.”
    “Who did it? And don’t just tell me it was the Russians. I want to know who specifically, killed her.”
    “His name was Helmut Draegar.”
    “ Was? ”
    “Yes, was . He was undoubtedly the best operative the infamous East German Stasi had ever produced. His reputation was larger than life itself. It was said that he was the only man Carlos the Jackal ever feared. He was an extremely proficient linguist, an assuredly deadly assassin, and an operative’s operative.”
    “Meaning?” asked Harvath.
    “It means that his tradecraft was above reproach. He was a master of disguise and human nature. In the blink of an eye he could disappear, or have you eating out of his hand. Though the Russians had not given birth to Draegar, he was given honorary Russian citizenship—that’s how highly they thought of him. In short, he was the ultimate spy.”
    “As you’re talking about him in past tense, I assume he’s dead. Am I correct?”
    “Very,” replied Vaile. “Lawlor killed him.”
    “Why was Heide targeted for termination?” asked Harvath.
    “When you were as good at your job as she was, it causes the enemy to want to reward you with something other than a medal.”
    “But you said Gary was just as good. Why not target him as well?”
    “Exactly our question,” replied Vaile. “For a long time, we thought it was because the agents Heide had turned amounted to such major intelligence coups. Don’t get me wrong, Gary had his successes as well, but Heide’s were far and away of greater value. In short, while Gary might have been worth spending a bullet on, the prime target for the Russians was Heide.”
    “But they were always together, weren’t they? I would have thought you could have gotten the two for the price of one very easily.”
    “It would make sense, wouldn’t it?” asked Vaile. “Gary Lawlor had been credited with being extremely adept at keeping himself and his wife alive.”
    “Until Heide was hit by the car.”
    “Exactly.”
    Harvath placed his right elbow upon the conference room table and pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. He wished they would get to the point.
    Sensing his frustration, Vaile offered, “Maybe I can be a little more clear. Toward the end of the time Gary and Heide were operating in Europe, Berlin in particular, we suffered some major intelligence losses. Somebody provided the Russians with highly sensitive information.”
    “And you never caught the person,” said Harvath.
    “Correct. We looked at everybody, including the Lawlors—”
    “Who obviously were cleared.”
    “At the time yes, but in light of recent events, Heide’s death has been drawn into question.”
    Harvath was incredulous now. “Are you trying to say you think Gary had something to do with it?”
    Vaile put up his hand to silence Harvath. “The Lawlors were working on agents from different parts of Russia and the Eastern Bloc and as such, reported to different supervisors. Shortly before Heide’s death, she mentioned to her supervisor that she was concerned about Gary.”
    “How do you know this?”
    “It took some digging, but I was able to track down a copy of her report in our files at Langley. She said Gary had changed somehow. She suspected he was working on some sort of project outside of his normal duties. He would disappear in the evenings and sometimes even for days at a time. He claimed it was work-related and he couldn’t discuss it, but when Heide’s supervisor looked into it, he informed her that there was nothing he could find to support Gary’s story. Shortly thereafter, Heide was killed.”
    “This is ridiculous,” said Harvath. “Gary must have been questioned up and down afterward.”
    “He was and he appeared very distraught over her death. It seemed genuine. It