Read Online The Will Of The People (Conspiracy Trilogy Book 1) by Christopher Read - Free Book Online Page B

yet
explained exactly how, or what happened to him before he entered
Russia in late December. The terrorists work in three-man cells,
each apparently independent of the other. Nazarenko has yet to
reveal the total number of cells and the location of his particular
group, but it’s likely all of the cells are based in and around
Moscow. He claims not to know who finances August 14 or who its leaders are;
Eglitis is more like a chief of staff.”
    “So Eglitis,”
interrupted the Prime Minister, “is the key. Find him and we will
have them all.”
    “I’m not so sure,” Grebeshkov replied slowly. “For August 14 to rely
heavily on just one man would be foolish, especially someone who
has a serious heart condition; I think it would be too easy to
assume Eglitis knows the location of each and every
cell.”
    The discussion
widened, Grebeshkov fielding a range of questions from around the
table. Conjecture as to the total number of cells was one of the
questions left unresolved, although Grebeshkov was confident as to
his own figure of at most four.
    Next on the
Prime’s Minster’s mental agenda was finance. “Mikhail, I believe
that’s in your brief?”
    The FSB’s Anti-Terrorism Chief noticeably straightened his
back; he was already under pressure for his section’s lack of prior
intelligence concerning August
14 , and he was unsure as to how this
latest report would be received. With relatively few leads, tracing
the origin of August
14’ s money had
proved difficult, but not impossible.
    “Section 3-42,
Prime Minister. Several financial transactions have now been traced
back to their source, which are inevitably cash-deposits made into
Ukrainian or Polish accounts. Last November, Eglitis purchased a
plane ticket from London to Moscow using a British account, the
money routed through Turkey and Latvia, but originating in Poland.”
He paused, as though for effect, “The Polish account was in the
name of Lech Kaczyński.”
    There was a
stunned silence, broken eventually by Golubeva, “They’re mocking
us,” she said incredulous.
    “No,”
Grebeshkov said quietly, “They’re showing us they don’t care.”
    There now was
little doubt as to where the terrorists’ loyalties lay. Five years
as President of Poland, Lech Kaczyński’s death in April 2010 had
seen over 100,000 people attend his commemoration ceremony, and a
day of national mourning had been declared across Europe. The cause
of the Polish Air Force Tupolev crash near Smolensk was still
controversial, several investigations failing to satisfy those
looking for Russian complicity. Also killed were the President’s
wife, former president Ryszard Kaczorowski, government members,
senior military officers, and relatives of victims of the Katyn
massacre. As the crash had occurred on Russian soil, the initial
investigation was carried out by the Russian authorities. Their
report had placed the majority of the blame onto the Polish pilots,
as had the follow-up Polish report. Yet conspiracy theories
abounded, ranging from a deliberate assassination of the Polish
President to suggestions that Russia was merely trying to prevent
him from attending the Katyn ceremony. It was a wound that was
taking a long time to heal, and any terrorist link to Poland would
bring its own set of unique problems, not least because it was part
of NATO.
    It was another
twenty minutes before the Director of the SVR, Arkady Valentin,
gave his report. Valentin had been one of the President’s few
surprise appointments and at just forty-five had become the
youngest ever head of Russia’s primary foreign intelligence agency,
his first success that of replacing the old guard, the few
dissenting voices swiftly silenced.
    “Section 8-106,” said Valentin, pausing whilst the others
turned to the relevant page. “The terrorists are invariably
disciplined, well trained, and familiar with the use of guns and
explosives, even a Stinger missile. We’ve managed to track some of
the