Katie hesitated for an instant and then nodded. “Deal.”
“They found evidence inside the building that purportedly shows The Phoenix Group was behind the Red Menace campaign.”
Katie sprang out of her chair. “What? You’re sure?”
“Sure the evidence was there? Yes. What it really means, I don’t know yet.”
“And my eyewitness also overheard the killers saying they were there on orders from Gorshkov.”
“Damn it, why didn’t you tell me that?”
“Look who’s talking about holding things back? Like you, I tend to keep things close to the vest. But if The Phoenix Group was involved in putting together the Red Menace campaign, that would explain why the Russians on orders from Gorshkov attacked the place.”
“But it’s not true. The Red Menace stuff was planted.”
“How can you be certain about that? I did see those materials in Anna’s office. Maybe she wasn’t researching it. Maybe she was doing it.”
“And just left the stuff lying around for you to see while the whole world is trying to find out who’s behind it?” he said incredulously.
Now Katie looked unsure of herself. “I guess that doesn’t make sense, but where does the world war thing come in? I must have missed that.”
“Gorshkov has pledged that whoever was behind the smear would open itself up to attack.”
“The Phoenix Group was attacked, not a country.”
Shaw took a deep breath and said, “The Phoenix Group is run by the Chinese, or at least has deep ties to them.”
Katie exclaimed, “The Chinese? You’re sure?”
“Yes. I met with one of the owners. He confirmed it.”
“But do you seriously believe Russia will attack China?”
“Who knows? But the last thing we need to find out is that the answer to that question is yes.”
“But if the Russian government sent their killers in as retribution against The Phoenix Group, and they know about the Chinese connection, then that seems to be an act of war right there. I’m actually surprised Gorshkov hasn’t gotten on the world pipeline and told everyone he did it.”
“He can’t. Most of the people killed were British citizens. Blowing up a bunch of Taliban in the mountains of Afghanistan is one thing. But you don’t waltz into London and wipe out nearly thirty of their people and then start bragging about it. I don’t care if you are Russia. The Brits have nukes too. And their closest ally is America. And not even Gorshkov wants to take on that eight-hundred-pound gorilla. And we don’t know for certain that the Russians are aware of the Chinese connection.”
“But nothing you’ve told me is a reason not to write the story. An eyewitness says some Russians in Gorshkov’s pay did it. I’ll say nothing about the Red Menace stuff or the Chinese connection because I told you I wouldn’t. But the fact that the Russians hit that building came from my source and is a story the world needs to know.”
“Come on, who can’t read between those lines! And if the Chinese think that the Russians took out one of their offices? They might retaliate against Moscow.”
“But even you said the Red Menace stuff was bull crap. It was planted. The Chinese weren’t behind it.”
Shaw shook his hands in exasperation. “Exactly, Katie. Don’t you get it? The Russians wouldn’t have planted that stuff, especially if they knew of the Chinese connection. What would have been the point? They wouldn’t go out of their way to pick a fight with China by framing them. The two countries are too evenly matched militarily. If they were going to pull a stunt like that they would’ve chosen a country a lot easier to blow out of the water. Hell, start with the A’s and nail Albania. That war would be over in twenty-four hours. But China? They have three soldiers for every Russian grunt. And they have nukes too.”
Katie looked confused. “So what exactly are you saying?”
“That the Russians didn’t do it. And The Phoenix Group isn’t behind the Red Menace and neither are the Chinese.”
“Okay, then who is behind it all?” she said doubtfully.
“There’s a third party involved. A third party that is playing a game I don’t completely understand, but that I know is somehow designed to pit Russia and China against each other.”
“So you’re saying my source is lying about the Russian involvement?”
“If he said he overheard people speaking in Russian who said they worked for Gorshkov, then, yeah, I think he might be lying, because I don’t believe the killers were working for Russia. Or else, and it’s a real stretch, they somehow knew he was in the building and let him live so he could tell what he’d heard, or what they wanted him to hear.”