Midnight Black

Court is driven to an unknown location and tied to a chair, his kidnappers—Denis and his associates—surrounding him. When the pillowcase is taken off Court’s head, Denis and the others question Court about why he asked Arkady to get in touch with Katarina. The questioning goes on until the kidnappers accept that Court is neither a CIA agent nor a Russian spy.

Court tells the Legion members that he needs their help to free someone from a prison in Mordovia. Since Yarovoy and Nadia are imprisoned there as well, the Legion can use Court to their advantage. The NRC and the Ukrainians will be carrying out a similar operation in parallel. Denis tells Court that they will verify all his claims before deciding to help him, and they return him to Arkady’s home.

The next day, Arkady calls Court to his office so that he can rent him a room under his Nicaraguan alias. This will ensure that Court has a backup story in case he is discovered. As Court and Arkady discuss current affairs in Russia, the older man rues that most tenants in his building support the ongoing war against Ukraine. The only people Arkady trusts are his wife, Olga, and Su-Jin, the building’s maintenance man, who emigrated from South Korea 25 years ago.