All The Way

by Tricia Jones

  “My sources confirm Leah is with Pavel.”

  She stared at him and the intake of breath was involuntary. “Yes.”

  Seeing the worry in her eyes, he wondered if she knew what that could really mean. Did she know of Pavel’s past? Had she some idea of the implications of her sister being with him? Impossible.

  “As I suspected, they’re in Athens.” He wondered how much else to tell her, then decided it couldn’t hurt to give her more information. She wouldn’t make the link. “He shared a place there, before he went to prison.”

  She stared down into her glass. “It makes sense to start there, doesn’t it? At his last known address?”

  “He’s not there.”

  She looked up, nodded. “He’ll know you have his address.” She bit her lip. “I just tried to call Leah again. I was tempted to threaten her, tell her that you’re on the case.” She almost smiled. “She was always wary of you. I thought she might respond to my calls if she knew you were helping me search for her.”

  He forced a casual tone. “It’s best she doesn’t know I’m involved. If she tells Pavel, he might retaliate by driving them deeper into oblivion.”

  “But surely, if Pavel wants to get back at you—”

  “We don’t know that at this point. Not for certain.”

  “God.” She put down her glass and sat on one of the sofas. “I can’t believe this is happening. Leah and I always had a rocky relationship, I’ll admit that, but at some level she always minded me. But this… Why is she doing this?”

  “She’s sixteen. At such an age romance is exciting.” He thought of what he’d been doing at sixteen, what he’d been involved in, but right then he didn’t know what else to say. How could he say that by going with Pavel, by believing that Pavel was actually interested in her, the kid had put herself at extreme risk.

  “I get that and understand it. But what I don’t get is what’s in it for Pavel? A man like Pavel could have any woman he wanted, so why Leah? If you’re right, and he’s getting back at you, why would he think you would care? We’ve been history for two years now. It doesn’t make sense.”

  It made all too much sense, Nikolai thought, but he wasn’t about to admit as much to Grace. He wasn’t about to admit that her leaving had sliced him in two and that Pavel had known it. “Has she been in touch with him?”

  “No. Surely I would have known.” She picked up her drink again and sipped. “But then she’s away at school during the week, I can’t keep tabs on her all the time. Hell, I even let her have a cell phone. She kept on at me so much, all her friends had got them, why couldn’t she have one, why did she have to dip out just because I didn’t understand and was a stick in the mud, that sort of pressure.”

  Suddenly weary, she laid her head back against the sofa. “Do you think she’s been in contact with him all this time?”

  “Easy enough to check.”

  She glanced at him, met his steady gaze. “You mean prison records? Don’t they check all incoming and outgoing calls?”

  “Da. I have someone on it.”

  She closed her eyes. “Thank you.”

  He lifted a shoulder, as if checking out prison records was an every day activity. In his world, maybe it was.

  Grace didn’t want to dwell on that. “Did you lose touch with Pavel when he was in prison?”

  He nodded, then sat opposite her. “We had little left to say to each other, or so I thought. I should have known I would remain his nemesis.”

  “I sensed you had a difficult relationship, but why would he consider you his nemesis?”

  “Many reasons.”

  And that, Grace realized, was all she would get from him. It made her want to scream, but instead of pushing it down inside her the way she had done so often before, she wanted to push him. “You never spoke much of your family. In fact, you barely mentioned them.”

  “It did not impact in any way on our relationship.”

  “No. I suppose it didn’t. Were you and Pavel once close?”

  “Once.”

  “Before Viktor died?” She raised her chin when he narrowed his eyes. “Or am I skirting too close to the personal? You know, all I really know about you is that you lost your family when you were seven and went to live with your father’s friend, his wife and their son. Up until then, did you have a good childhood?”

  He took a swig from his glass, his face tight, expression guarded. Such familiar territory, Grace thought as she watched him. All those bricks stacking up, all those barriers. She could almost see them, like some sort of castle gate driving its battens into the ground to keep out the enemy. She wasn’t about to let him off the hook. “What of Pavel? Did he look up to you while you were growing up? What is he? Three years younger?”

  His mouth barely moved as he answered, “Four.”

  “Which makes him thirty. Thirty years old to Leah’s sixteen. God, what does he want with her? What possible attraction can he have with a teenager?” Her own line of questioning wasn’t exactly making her feel better. “How soon can you find out about Athens? Where they might be living?”

  “It’s already in hand. Vadim will have made the link.”

  “Vadim. The man you spoke with earlier?”

  He nodded.

  “Is he good at his job?”

  “The best. I trust no-one more.”

  It should have comforted her. It did. But somehow it made their own relationship even sadder. He trusted the man called Vadim, but he’d never trusted her. “How long has he worked for you?”

  “More years that I can remember. He’s also a friend.”

  “Good. That’s good.” Something else he’d omitted to tell her during their affair. “How could we have been together all that time and I never knew these things about you?”

  “We both knew the score from the start.”

  “Yes, I suppose we did. I remember your words perfectly. Lovers, you said. Nothing more.”

  “And you agreed.”

  “Yes.” But soon into their superficial relationship she’d wanted more. Much more. She’d wanted to know about him. To share. To find out about his past, his dreams for the future. She’d wanted to know about the small child who had lost his family so young, about the events that had shaped his life since. He had revealed nothing.

  The thought pushed through the sadness and left irritation in its place. “Tell me, Niko. Had it not been me in the bar that night, would you have selected another woman?”

  He kept his eyes on hers. “Perhaps.”

  Well, she’d asked. What had she expected? Some declaration of attraction to her alone? “You didn’t waste any time, as I recall.”

  “Nor you. Nor did you seem in a hurry to leave my bed once you were there.”

  “I wasn’t. I admit that. But then even sexual attraction grows weak when there’s no substance to underpin it.”

  “If you wanted more, you should have chosen another man.”

  She wanted to say that she did. That she had. That in their two years apart she had forced herself to go on the dates her friends had set up for her. Had enjoyed some. Yet, he was always the shadow over her heart. The emptiness that no other man could fill. Even with his covert ways and guarded mind, she had never quite been able to shake him loose.

  Not that she’d let him know it. “Perhaps you’re right. I should have chosen more wisely that night.”

  His nostrils flared. “If your goal was to hook a man for the night, you can hardly berate me for wanting a woman. Any woman.”

  The cut to her heart went deep and her breath hitched. “It seems we both made the wrong choice. You chose a woman who wanted more from a relationship than sex and I chose a man who couldn’t give a damn about anything but.”

  “So you made me pay.”

  “By asking you questions about your life? By trying to build something between us that had more substance than a quick tumble between the sheets?”

  “You managed to do better than that. You turned
me over to the authorities.” He sat back, contemplating her through those ice cold eyes. “Tell me, Grace. Was it a spur of the moment decision or did you take your time building a case against me?”

  Although he sat back, his relaxed pose didn’t fool Grace. She didn’t care for the telltale line of his mouth.

  Hadn’t she wanted this? Wanted him to vent about what she’d done? Wanted them to have it out? Clear the air? Now that it appeared they were doing so, she was in danger of changing her mind.

  Rehashing the past could never clear the tension between them. It would only make things worse.

  “Despite what you want to think, you’re wrong. Before anything else, I had to consider Leah.”

  His gaze narrowed. “Don’t use your sister to take a cheap shot at me. Why not admit you wanted to punish me for not being the man you wanted. For not spilling my guts at every opportunity. For not giving you more attention.”

  “You pompous, arrogant prick. You think I was around for your benefit alone? Oh, you were right, Niko, I knew the score. I was in your bed to warm it, to be available when you needed a quick release from sexual frustration. I knew it and chose to accept it. But don’t think for a minute that you were the be all and end all of my life. If you really think I’d go to the trouble of, in your words ‘turning you over to the authorities’ you really are deluded. I had better things to do with my life than plot and plan your demise.”

  “Am I supposed—”

  At the buzz of his phone he turned away from Grace. He stared at the floor between them as he listened, then after a few moments, said, “Arrange it,” before disconnecting.

  Grace leaned forward, her stomach doing a slow roll as he looked at her. “What?”

  “We have an address.”

  Chapter Four

  “Why aren’t we doing something?” Grace asked for the umpteenth time that morning. It was infuriating. Hanging around the apartment while Nikolai worked on his laptop in his study. All she could do was pace and drink coffee. Copious amounts of coffee.

  “We wait.” Nikolai continued to tap at the keyboard, focused and seemingly oblivious to Grace’s mounting irritation.

  “For God’s sake, Niko. If you say we wait once more, I swear I’ll…”

  “We stay here until we know for sure they’re still at the address we have.”

  As her system buzzed, Grace pressed. “When will we know for sure?”

  “Vadim will call.”

  As Nikolai took yet another call that wasn’t from Vadim, Grace went into her room and tried Leah again. Despite her own mental warnings to stay calm, Grace’s messages were getting more and more threatening. The last one warned Leah of how Grace would be in danger of breaking bones when she finally got hold of the girl. It was futile, of course, and would have no effect on her sister. If she knew anything, she knew that pushing Leah always had the opposite effect. The girl would simply dig her heels in and do exactly the opposite.

  Grace lowered herself to the bed and waited for the message centre to click in. “Leah, this is getting to be seriously worrying. If you don’t call me, or at least send me another text, I’m going to the police. I know you’re with Pavel and that’s okay. We can work something out. If you want to see him, then fine. I promise I won’t stop you. We know…”

  Remembering Nikolai’s warning, Grace took a breath. “I know you want to be with Pavel and I also know he’s just been released from prison.” Saying the word sent a sharp shiver down her spine. “Please, Leah, call or text me and let me know you’re okay. Text the word okay, if that’s all you want. I don’t care but just let me know you’re all right. I love you.”

  Grace hesitated before ending the message. Was there anything else she could say to persuade Leah to call? Anything? She wracked her brains but nothing came.

  When she clicked off she called Leah’s friend in England. The one who’d told her about the mystery man Leah had been seeing. Thankfully, she still had the girl’s cell number on memory. It rang several times, then she heard the hesitant voice. “Suzie? It’s Grace, Leah’s sister. I just wondered if you’ve heard from Leah? I don’t want to know where she is,” Grace lied. “I just need to know if you’ve heard from her.”

  The line remained silent for a few breaths. Then Suzie said, “No. I haven’t heard anything. No messages or anything.”

  Grace knew she was lying, but she wasn’t too old to remember how the teenage sisterhood worked. “Please, Suzie. I only want to know she’s okay.”

  “I’m sorry, I don’t know. She hasn’t contacted me.”

  Since she knew she wouldn’t get anything more from the girl, Grace gave in. “Okay. But if you do hear from her, will you contact me? Just to say she’s fine?”

  “Okay.”

  “And when…if you speak with her, please tell her I’m worried and need her to contact me.”

  “Okay.” The phone clicked off.

  Thoughtful, Grace wandered out into the sitting room and found Nikolai speaking with another man. He was tall, almost as tall as Nikolai, but leaner, his face more weathered. “Grace.” Nikolai beckoned her over. “Meet Vadim Melnoch.”

  “Have you news?” She hurried over to where Vadim held out his hand. “Are they at the address?”

  Vadim smiled and lowered his hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Grace. If only the circumstances were less tense.”

  The smile turned his battered face into a warm, almost jovial one, and Grace remembered her manners. “I’m sorry.” She held out her hand to have it accepted by Vadim. “Thank you for what you’re doing to find my sister.”

  “Whatever I can do, I do willingly.” He gave a little bow. Any other time Grace would have been charmed by the action, but right then all she could think about was how the look the two men exchanged chilled her blood. “What?” she asked addressing Nikolai. “What is it?”

  He took her arm, turning her toward her room. “Pack,” he said briskly.

  “We’re leaving for Athens?” For the first time in days, she felt a weight lift. “About time.”

  “Your flight leaves within the hour.”

  “My flight? Aren’t you coming with me?”

  He almost marched her toward the guest room. “You’re going to London.”

  “Is that where they are?”

  “No. It’s where you will be. You are staying there until this is over.”

  She shook off the arm he still held. “I’m not going back to London. I’m going to find my sister and neither you, nor your…” She glanced at Vadim who was busily trying to act as if he were ignoring them. “I’m coming with you.”

  His cheekbones hardened as he gritted his teeth. Then he steered her into the room and closed the door. “You want your sister back? You’ll do as I say.”

  Grace whirled on him. “You agreed I would come with you. You agreed, Nikolai.”

  His jaw tightened more. “Things have changed.”

  “What?” She shivered a little. “What’s changed?”

  “At this point Pavel doesn’t know I’m involved. If he thinks you are still in London, he may be confident you haven’t yet made the connection to me. He’ll believe I am currently unaware of his actions and that will give us an advantage.”

  “But if he really is doing this to get back at you, why wouldn’t he already assume you’re involved? Leah told her friend she was seeing someone with the initial P. I wouldn’t have to be a genius to work it out and he’d know I’d come to you the moment I realized Leah was with him.”

  “As you said, we have been apart for two years. He won’t credit you with making the connection so fast. Right now, our best chance of finding them is having Pavel think we don’t know he’s involved.”

  She felt a little sick. “I…I just left a message for her. I told her I knew she was with Pavel.”

  He shot her a look. “Did you say I was involved? That you had come to me?”

  Had she? Hell, she couldn’t remember. “I don’t think so. I was goin
g to, but then I remembered what you’d said.” She looked up at him, met his hard gaze. “Have I made things worse?”

  He didn’t answer as, frowning, he started to pace. “You need to send her another text.” He faced her, slipped his hands in his pockets. “Tell her you’ve changed your mind and will leave her alone for a couple of weeks. That you’re going back to London and she can contact you there. I’ll continue to search,” he said, holding up his hand as she started to protest. “Hopefully, that will allow Pavel to relax. I’ll make sure that if he checks, he’ll be assured I’m still in Paris.”

  “I’ll send her the text, but I’m not going back to London.” Grace started to get to her feet, but Nikolai moved toward her and placed his hands on her shoulders to keep her rooted. “She’s my sister, Niko. My responsibility. I made a promise to keep her safe, keep her happy. I can’t go home until I know she’s okay.”

  Hunkering down, he took her hands. She saw it then, the flash of tenderness she’d glimpsed only once before. A couple of months into their affair a close colleague of Grace’s had died and she’d been upset. He’d comforted her, tended her, then put her to bed and held her through the night. It was the one fleeting moment when she’d felt as if they’d shared a life, not just a bed.

  “I have to come with you,” Grace whispered through a tight throat. “I can’t go back to London knowing she’s out there with him. If I lose touch with her now, I might never find her. You know what she’s like. Once she digs her heels in about something, she’ll never back down.”

  He remained silent, his blue gaze holding hers captive. In his eyes she could almost see the battle he fought…and the moment he surrendered. He drew in a long breath as he pulled his shoulders back and stood. “Be ready to leave when I say.”

  ****

  Four hours later, they were on his jet bound for Athens. Nikolai, who’d been silent and working on his laptop for the past hour turned to her. “Give me your phone.”

  Grace stopped flicking through the magazine that had barely held her attention. “What?”