The Charm School

actually smell the big dog in the split second before he put a bullet into its open mouth.
    Hollis stood and helped Lisa to her feet. “Okay?”
    “Okay.”
    They got to the front door, and Hollis nodded to her. She turned the doorknob and found it open. Lisa put her pistol in her parka and slipped inside.
    The guard was sitting in a chair in the large foyer by the light of a dim lamp, aiming his automatic rifle at her. Lisa partly closed the door behind her and stood motionless. The guard said, “Who are you?”
    She put her finger to her lips and whispered in Russian, “I am Lisa Rhodes, the new American woman. The colonel wishes to see me.”
    The guard said, “He never told me.”
    “He told the men outside.”
    The guard grinned. “And what do you suppose the colonel wants to see you about at this hour?”
    “He wants to have sex with me.”
    The guard smirked and put his rifle on the desk. He said, “I’ll have to sneak upstairs and nudge him.” He pulled off his boots. “Get into the living room and get out of your clothes. That’s where he has to do it with his old lady upstairs.” The guard stood in his stocking feet.
    Lisa pulled the door open and jumped aside.
    Hollis ran through the door and fired as the man reached for his rifle, then rushed forward and grabbed him before he fell. Hollis sat the man back in his chair and saw the frothy blood forming at his lips and could hear the sucking chest wound as the guard tried to breathe.
    Hollis took Lisa by the arm and propelled her toward the front door. He whispered, “Go. No arguing.”
    “Please… Sam, be careful—”
    Hollis opened the door and pushed her out, then turned back to the guard, who was staring at him. Hollis walked past him, then turned, clamped his hand on the man’s shoulder, and fired a bullet into the back of his head, holding him in his seat.
    Hollis left the foyer and went toward the staircase.
    The stairs creaked, but he continued on up. A woman’s voice said, “Natalia, is that you, darling?”
    Hollis stopped. He heard footsteps, then the woman’s voice called out, “Petr, Natalia is in her room.”
    Burov’s voice came back. “It is the guard. Come back to bed.”
    Hollis heard footsteps again and the sound of a door closing. He climbed the remaining steps and came to a large upper hallway. To the left were two half-open doors that would be the bedrooms of Burov’s daughter, Natalia, and probably his mother. To the right was the closed door that would be the master bedroom. Hollis went to the closed door, listened, then turned the knob, threw the door open, and shoulder-rolled into the room, coming up into a firing position, his pistol aimed at the bed. “Don’t move!” The room was dark except for a small red bulb, and as Hollis’ eyes adjusted to the light, he saw it was actually a red star glowing atop a wood model of the Kremlin’s Spassky Tower. That seemed odd, but odder still was the single empty bed on which lay a rag doll. Hollis understood, but it was too late.
    He heard the revolver’s hammer click behind him, and Burov’s voice said, “Drop the gun.”
    Hollis dropped the gun.
    Burov said, “Don’t stand. Turn around on your knees.”
    Hollis turned his body slowly toward Burov. Burov flipped on an overhead light, and Hollis saw Burov standing in the doorway, barefooted, wearing flannel pajamas and pointing a big revolver at him.
    Burov said, “Some families practice fire drills. We have other sorts of drills here. And you think Russians are stupid.”
    Hollis didn’t reply.
    “The stupid one,” Burov said, “is the one who is on his knees looking into the barrel of a gun.” Burov regarded Hollis curiously. “What is your purpose here?”
    “To kill you, you idiot.”
    “No, you would have simply shot bullets into that bed. You said, ‘Don’t move.’ You wanted to capture me. Where did you get that gun?”
    “None of your business.”
    “Are you alone?”
    “What do you think?”
    “I think not. Did you kill the guards?”
    “Yes.”
    “And my dogs?”
    “Yes.”
    Burov nodded thoughtfully, then said, “My phone doesn’t work, and I think you have people downstairs. So we are both in a bad position.”
    Hollis said nothing.
    “Is this a rebellion? That would be lunacy. There are six hundred armed Border Guards here. Do you want to negotiate for Dodson’s life?”
    “I want to give you a lecture about how much power comes from the muzzle of a gun. It depends on