Frank Batcher spent the better part of what was left of the night studying what came out of the midnight delivery to his mailbox and what he would tell his boss in the morning. It wasn’t every day that a source like this appeared. So far he had managed to hold off all the “do it by the book” people in his chain of command. They all wanted to focus on finding this “potential asset” and bringing him under control and direction. Something in Frank’s assessment of this new source was that he was smarter and a better student of the espionage craft than they were, and he would spot any attempt to identify him at the first attempt. Tomorrow morning he and his Division Chief would try to see the Director of Operations.

When Frank and his Division Chief walked into the Director’s suite, he was confident they had worked out a good approach. When Frank finished his briefing of last night’s event, the Director said, “Frank, what you are telling me is that you want to wait and take no action if and until your new unknown source contacts you again. Is that right?”

“Yes sir.”

“You know that will not sit well with all the process people around here who spend all their time trying to second guess the real case officers who actually run agents. Well, it just so happens I agree with you. It is often better to not make a decision than make one based only on protocol.

“Now you have to listen to me give you my theory about your source. For the last two plus years we have picked up indications that the KGB has been making a big search effort for something. In all my time in the world of clandestine operations, I have never seen anything like it. I’m going to tell you both something that does not leave this room.

“A little more than two years ago the KGB started paying an unusual interest in American banks. We had reports of KGB officers in or near banks in Minneapolis, Chicago, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Washington. Four of their experienced case officers were killed in broad daylight in their car parked across the street from a Mellon bank. All the men were armed. Two with AK-47s. None of them fired a shot. I believe a lone man killed them all with a .22 silenced semi-automatic.

“Some weeks later, three cars full of KGB officers attacked a farm house in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. For you golfers, that’s Arnold Palmer’s hometown. Three of them were found by the local police shot to death. A young woman and her infant daughter were found dead in the back pasture just a few yards from a tree line she was apparently running toward. She had a Browning 9mm and managed to kill three of them, while trying to escape carrying a baby.

“No questions yet. Hold them, please. A woman, two children and a man were living in that house under the name Webb. A thorough background check turned up nothing. No fingerprints on record. The Webbs arrived in Latrobe the day after the killings in Pittsburgh. They paid cash for everything, including a late- model Cadillac from Arnold Palmer’s dealership. There is no record of the two-year-old or the man, probably the father. They just vanished. No name and no identified vehicle.

“Two years later, your source shows up. Provides solid proof that he is or was a KGB officer. Does he have a motive for getting even with the KGB? I’ll say he does. The radio he gave you is a big deal. We’d never even seen one before. To top that he locates an illegal agent, cases his house, practically tells you how to take him down but suggests watching him might be a better tactic to keep from spooking other Russian agents in the same network.

“He also understands evidence he gave you probably couldn’t be used in court without his testimony, which you will never get. The last thing is that he gives you the name and address of a Russian illegal agent trained to conduct terror operations in Washington if war seems probable. He knew this agent’s mission, his personality and then to keep you dumb asses from getting killed, he does the job for you. Killing this terrorist, using guess what? A silenced .22. If we find any brass at the scene, I’ll bet it matches the brass from the shooting in Pittsburgh.

“Then your source drags the body into the bushes to give him time to take the dead terrorist’s keys and search his apartment where in less time than seems possible he finds the guy’s cache and the next night puts it all in your mailbox. At least he is human and needs sleep.

“Okay, Frank. I think I saw some bells go off in your head. Right?”

“Yes sir. There is only one way this source could know everything he has told us. This guy is a highly trained KGB officer who was running a network of illegal Russian agents in and around Washington. For some reason he decided to escape from them but recognized it would take a lot of money to hide with a wife and two kids. That money came from KGB operational funds in the banks with all the activity. This guy is smart, tough, and ruthless.”

“Yes, Frank. He is my kind of case officer. I want him working for us. I don’t care if we ever know his name. No one but the three of us needs to know. No briefing of successors without my direct orders and no support officers, no records. He will get no money. So, no financial records. We need a system to pass him information. Let him come up with one he can control.

“So here is what I want you to do…”

The scheduled 15-minute meeting took longer than an hour. Both Frank and his Division Chief didn’t say a word on their way back to their offices.

There is a reason that man is the Director of Operations, Frank thought. He showed me more in an hour than anyone else has ever taught me.

An hour after the meeting, Frank was called into his Division Chief’s office. The Chief said, “Have a seat, Frank. That was a remarkable meeting. Seldom have I seen the dots connected so clearly. This is going to get complicated. It could turn into a full-time job. I’m bowing out. I want you to report directly to the DDO on this. I’ve cleared the process with him. He’s fine with it. Turn over most of your workload to your deputy. I believe she is up to it. Good luck.”

“She is up to it. Thanks for your confidence and support.”

“Confidence you have. Support from here is questionable.”

Frank pondered that response as he walked back to his office. It wasn’t unexpected. His Division Chief had a keen sense of what could hurt his career and wasn’t big on taking chances. Frank knew that if this op went south, he was the guy holding the bag, especially if the current Director of the Clandestine Services moved on or out.

The last package from his new source included the identities and general locations of four other Russian illegal agents. For the next several months he had more than enough work. He also needed to hire and train six three-person surveillance teams, with instructions not to make waves. They needed to find and watch the agents pretending to be Americans. No arrests could be made if the court trial seemed problematic. Until proven otherwise, these people had to be treated as citizens with all the ensuing rights. Getting information out of your mailbox after midnight from some unknown person doesn’t make Russian spies out of people who look, act, and maybe are bona fide citizens.