Grissom rolled his eyes. "Losing my touch, mate." He aimed and fired again.
"Just a bit low." Phil stood up and inspected the target. "Pretty close that time, though."
"You sure that thing's not moving?" Grissom joked.
Phil shrugged. "Pretty sure."
Grissom turned and lined up his shot. He peered over at Phil subtly as he aimed and fired again.
The target moved a half inch to the left.
Grissom whirled around. "You bloody bastard! You moved that thing!"
Phil grinned. "Guilty as charged." He walked over and accepted the gun from Grissom. "Sure was a good idea to squeeze a firing range into the security sublevel, don't you think?"
Grissom nodded. "Works out nicely. And I'm sure Mr. Bell will appreciate having yet another arena to one-up us in." He sat down. "Pretty hard to believe that she was still alive, wasn't it?"
Phil nodded. "You said I looked like I'd seen a ghost, and for all intents and purposes I had." He shot at the target and missed the ten-ring by about an inch. "Crap." Phil picked up a grease pencil from a nearby work bench and marked a little line on the side of the gun barrel. "But yeah, now you know why things have been so weird lately."
"And it explains the trouble with Leslie." Grissom concentrated for a moment, and a sandwich appeared in his hand. "But is it possible that she may have figured out what's going on too?"
Phil shrugged. "Anything's possible, really." He aimed and fired. "Bullseye."
"Nice shot," Grissom remarked as he took a bite of his sandwich. "The reason I'm wondering is because if she's really a bounty hunter, and if she's been assigned specifically to track you down, then there may be an intelligence connection in there somehow."
Phil nodded. "I still don't understand why the KGB has so many files on me, but nobody else has a clue who I am."
"I haven't finished breaking the encryption sequences," Grissom admitted, "so I guess you'll find out when I do."
"But do you really think that the GRU is after me?" Phil asked.
"That's what Leslie told you," Grissom replied. "I would say it's a pretty safe bet."
"And if Leslie didn't deliver me to them?"
"She's got information," Grissom said, "and she knows where you are. The GRU would count on that, and so their first course of action would be to track Leslie down and try to get what they needed from her. Once that was taken care of, then they'd come after you."
Phil frowned. "So now Leslie's the one being hunted."
Grissom nodded.
Phil dashed to a nearby phone. "I gotta talk to her."
"The line isn't secured yet," Grissom warned.
"Doesn't matter," Phil said. "Let 'em trace me here. She's the one they're after."
Puerta Mibela International Airport
The Learjet touched down precisely on schedule at the recently rebuilt airport. The pilot taxiied the small plane past rows of hangars, over to the smaller private terminal. A stairway was wheeled out as the jet came to a halt.
The door opened as the engines shut down. Two men in black suits and sunglasses stepped out. One turned to escort a third man down the stairway. "Welcome to La Perdita, sir."
Special Agent Steve Fisher smiled. "Thank you, Davis. I'm sure I'll enjoy my stay."
