Whatever he had seen during his consecutive trips to Russia had been allowed to surface and he wore it as a shield in the Russian Underground. Like the Shadow Man, Gabe was just another ghost in the machine.
Maybe it was the Stoli's, maybe it was the bizarre feeling of being feasted upon like delicacies in a prison encampment but whatever it was, I didn't want to go back to the hotel. The dreadful fascination of a life tethered to the stake of Communism was out here, waiting. I had to see more.