The Kremlin Letter

In 1969, The Highwayman recruits Charles Rone and four new operatives for a covert operation. The recruits are Janis, 'The Whore'; The Warlock; and B.A., a thief. They form a tight-knit team drawn from a shadowy postwar network to retrieve a dangerous letter.

The letter promises United States aid to the Soviet Union to destroy Chinese atomic weapons plants. It is solicited by a high-level Soviet official through Dmitri Polyakov, who has sold Soviet secrets to the U.S. In response, U.S. and British authorities plan to buy back the letter, but Polyakov dies under pressure from Soviet counterintelligence led by Colonel Kosnov.

To secure a vacant apartment in Moscow, the team blackmails Captain Potkin, the Soviet head of counterintelligence in the U.S. They threaten his family to coerce permission for the use of his Moscow residence. Potkin agrees to cooperate, effectively providing a base for their operation inside the Soviet Union.

The team arrives in the Soviet Union to begin the operation. The Highwayman, terminally ill, sacrifices his life to divert the attention of Soviet counterintelligence away from the rest of the group. His death clears the path for the mission but marks a turning point in the operation.

Janis partners with a brothel operator who hints at a Chinese spy known as 'The Kitai' as a potential source for names of officials and others to whom he can sell heroin. Janis plans to keep prostitutes addicted to ensure control and leverage. This pursuit widens the web around the letter and its contacts.

The Warlock integrates into a community of intellectual homosexuals and begins an affair with a university professor. One of the professor's students reveals Polyakov had a relationship with Vladimir Bresnavitch, tying Polyakov to high-level Soviet connections. The infiltration expands the network surrounding the letter.

Years earlier, Bresnavitch sought to oust Kosnov in favor of Robert Sturdevant, a primary operator in The Highwayman's old group. Kosnov betrays Sturdevant to protect his own position, and Sturdevant disappears, presumed dead or driven to suicide. The rivalries set the stage for later betrayals connected to the letter.

Bresnavitch used Polyakov to fence stolen artworks in Paris, and Ward travels there to follow leads. The Paris detour draws Ward deeper into the net of double-crosses behind the letter. This detour widens the search beyond the initial operation.

On the day of the operation, Potkin reaches the Soviet Union and informs Bresnavitch about Rone's plan. Janis, B.A., and Ward are apprehended, while Warlock commits suicide rather than be captured. Rone escapes and attempts to arrange a re-purchase of the letter with the Kitai, who responds with hostility.

Rone tries to bargain with the Kitai to repurchase the letter, but the Chinese spy attacks him. Rone deduces that the Kitai and his network hold the letter, not his allies. The confrontation reveals the scale of the Chinese involvement in the operation.

Rone turns to Erika Beck, Kosnov's wife, with whom he has been having an affair. Erika later reports that B.A. has taken poison and is expected to die. Rone realizes Bresnavitch orchestrated the raid without Kosnov's knowledge, signaling Bresnavitch as Polyakov's traitorous Soviet official contact.

Rone threatens to expose Bresnavitch unless Ward is released. Bresnavitch agrees, attempting to preserve his own position in the web of counterintelligence. The confrontation tests loyalties among the surviving operatives.

Ward proceeds to eliminate Erika Beck by shooting her after Bresnavitch's agreement to release him. The killing removes a potential complicating factor for Ward and deepens the rift between the protagonists.

Ward confronts Kosnov and begins listing agents betrayed by Kosnov, then shoots Kosnov in the kneecap. Kosnov's scream signals the collapse of his control and the destabilization of the counterintelligence machinery around the mission.

While heading for a plane to leave the country, Rone learns that Ward is actually Sturdevant and intends to stay, having struck a deal with Bresnavitch to lead counterintelligence. Ward then reveals that B.A. is alive and hands Rone a note threatening Potkin's family as a coercive bargain: 'Kill Potkin's wife and daughters or I kill the girl.'