by TJ Hamilton
“Shit.”
“Don’t enter it incorrectly again,” Liz snaps.
Simon enters the code again. This time the green light comes on and the machine beeps once. The entire door swings open in front of us.
I look to Liz. “What would’ve happened if Simon entered the code incorrectly again?”
I’m saying this mainly for Tatiana’s benefit. I’m sure it’s something catastrophic, but I just want her to hear it. Plus, I love that Simon got it wrong. He would be squirming with fury inside.
“The detonators in the bottom of the building would’ve gone off and most of the building would collapse. Except for this vault. This vault would be exposed, and the Russians wouldn’t like us very much at all if that were to happen. They don’t appreciate too many international spies being in their country.”
I feel Tatiana’s eyes burn into me. I look at her and smile. When it comes to the agency, not even the most hardened criminals can beat our tactical response to stopping the world’s organised crime. I want Tatiana to know this so that her decision to stay on our side doesn’t crack.
Simon holds the steel door open and I step through and am greeted by Mei-Mei the moment I do.
“Hello, Agent Thyme. It is a pleasure to meet with you again.” Her voice is quiet and respectful.
I still don’t know how I feel about Mei-Mei, but I daren’t show it so I smile politely. “It’s good to see you too, Mei-Mei, and thank you for your help.”
Her almond eyes flash to me and her stare doesn’t falter for a moment. What did I say wrong then?
The room is fitted out completely in stainless steel, and reminds me of an office from a sci-fi movie. The computer monitors lining the walls show that they are recording the audio feed from the bugs in the hotel room. The adjoining monitors display a feed that instantly translates the conversations in English.
“I thought you could speak Russian?” I direct my question to my brother.
“Yes, but Mei-Mei can’t.”
“Speaking of which,” she walks over to a desk and grabs some of the transcripts, “we’ve intercepted some of the conversations between the older cousin, Dmitri, when they were searching through your things at the hotel. I find these a little disturbing, but I would like a Russian translated opinion on it before I act.”
My brother takes the paperwork from Mei-Mei. His eyes frantically search the pages of Russian transcript. The moment he’s finished, he stares at Mei-Mei with disbelief. Liz grabs it from a vacant Simon and frantically searches over the words of the conversation before she looks at Simon with almost the same expression.
“What is it?” I snatch the transcript out of Liz’s hand.
I stare at the letters but not a single word looks remotely familiar to the English language. Tatiana steps up beside me and starts reading aloud the words in Russian. She runs her fingers along the words but stops reading before she gets to the end of the last sentence. She doesn’t continue with the last four words.
“He wants you dead.” The colour in Tatiana’s face drains and she looks as if she’s seen a ghost. “Dima wants you dead.” She trembles.
“What’s going on, Simon?” I frown.
“It’s Dima. He’s old school. He doesn’t want Tench marrying someone who isn’t either from another family in the business or from Russia. He doesn’t trust you, so he wants you out of the picture permanently. He doesn’t want you to make it to get your plane home.”
My heart starts to drum wildly. “Is Tench involved in this too?”
My brother shakes his head. “Tench doesn’t know anything about it. Dima will just have you disappear. It’s Russia.” He shrugs.
Even though I’m a total hypocrite, the knot in my heart loosens at the knowledge that Tench doesn’t want me dead.
“It was a really stupid idea to say yes to marrying Tench, you know?” Simon’s tone is low and full of anger.
“Was I supposed to say no? That would’ve gone down a treat!”
I storm out of the room and try and find a kitchen somewhere to get myself a drink of water. I find an entire luxurious hotel suite on the lower floor of the vault. I take a bottle of water from the coffee table in the lounge area and an orange from the fruit bowl. I pace while I peel the orange. What the fuck am I supposed to do now?
“Are you okay, Mi?” Liz comes down the stairs into the suite.
“Fine. But what am I supposed to do about this now?”
“Do you want the good news or the bad news?” Liz replies.
I stop pacing and throw another piece of orange into my mouth. “Is that a joke?”
She shakes her head. “Sorry. I forget you’re still not used to having death threats. The agency’s usual response to this type of interruption is to have the threat removed immediately, so when our boss calls back in we will find out if we have the clearance to take down Dima Kozar.”
“What? We’re going to assassinate Dmitri Kozar?” I can’t swallow my orange so I spit it out into the sink.
“Well I think you will have the orders to assassinate Kozar.”
“And how the fuck do you suggest I do that, Liz? Kill him with the power of pussy? I don’t even have a gun here.”
Tatiana comes down the stairs next. Her heels click on the stairs as she steps. She smiles sweetly at Liz.
“I’m sorry, I haven’t been properly introduced yet. I’m Tatiana …”
Liz breaks into what sounds like a well-rehearsed speech. “Pavlenko. Yes I know who you are. I’m agent Liz Donohue. Thank you for your assistance with this information. Your country will thank you properly once it’s all over.”
“Which country? Australia or Russia?”
I walk over to Tatiana and grip around her shoulders. “Tia, if you decided that you wanted to relocate after the operation has been completed the agency will grant you that, won’t they Liz?” I turn to Liz.
Tatiana’s lips purse as she smiles sarcastically. “What, and leave the ballet? Not after everything I’ve done to get to the top. I would never choose to walk away.”
In that moment I see the greed that runs through Tatiana. She is willing to do anything to stay at the top of her game. Then, I guess she has always had this in her. When she left for Russia, she did originally land the opportunity through sleeping with the middle-aged talent scout when she was just a young girl. She was never an amazing ballerina.
Can someone like that truly be trusted?
She sits down on the couch and smooths her hair after having it in a turban all morning.
“Do you have a mobile phone, Tatiana?” Liz asks.
“Yes, of course. Why?”
“Could I have it please? I need to stop any signals from being sent out from it. In case the Russians are tracking you.”
Tatiana reaches into her delicate white Chanel bag and pulls out her iPhone. Liz takes it off her and looks at the red case on the back. The words Later. First, Ballet are written in English across it in bold black letters with jewelled accents. I smile and shake my head in amusement. Her attitude towards her life is light. She accepts the path she has chosen for herself. Maybe that’s something I need to do more of. No one forced me to be a hooker. No one forced me to be an undercover agent, but here I am doing it. I just need to accept everything that I’ve done and make this the best life that I possibly can for myself. First, I just have to get rid of the Dmitri Kozar.
Right on cue, Simon and Mei-Mei come down the stairs with some more information.
“The orders are in. Mia, you are to take Kozar down tomorrow. Here are the directives.” Simon hands out the paperwork to both Liz and myself.
I read over it. Tomorrow, Kozar is going to invite me for drinks at one of his clubs, where he plans to kidnap me. Simon will infiltrate and drive Kozar’s vehicle for pick up. In the limousine, sit with my back to the driver and fire two rounds into his chest and one in the head, in case he is wearing soft armour. I will be taken to a location and held overnight. Ransom will be sent to Tench
with footage of the kidnapping. The body of Kozar will be disposed of by the agency’s Russian connections. News will be leaked to the media that Kozar is dead in a direct attack on the Bratva gang.
Sounds simple enough, right? What am I thinking? Kill the top dog of a Russian gang in a completely brazen assassination. Great!
I stare up at my brother for a moment and sigh. “Really? Simple as that?” I ask.
He nods. “If you don’t kill him, Mia, he will kill you. You remember that. I will be with you if you can’t do it. I will do it.”
“What weapon will I use?”
Liz speaks with confidence. “We have your FLOS firearm with us. I will have to load it with hollow-tip rounds to make sure the projectile stays within him and doesn’t pass through the body.”
“Sure.” I nod, avoiding the magnitude of what she’s saying.
Tatiana sits quietly on the couch the whole time. Her face has a constant frown of worry. My brother sits next to her and smiles.
“It’s good to see you again, Kira.”
She looks up, her eyes bore into his for a moment. “It’s been a long time since anyone called me that.”
His shoulders shake as he chuckles. “I can see that you’ve made a really nice life for yourself here in Russia.”
I tilt my head and smile at Tatiana, knowing the truth about her situation. I want to tell Simon everything about her so that he understands what we’re up against, but I know this would only bring shame upon Tatiana.
“So why don’t you tell us everything you know about the operation these guys have going with exporting girls? Do you know where they hold them before they’re sent off?”
Tatiana frowns and shakes her head. “No, I don’t, sorry. Could I have a tea please?” She looks up towards Mei-Mei.
Mei-Mei’s eyes narrow. I shake my head and snort in Mei-Mei’s direction. “It’s alright, Tia. I’ll get it for you.” I make my way into the kitchen and prepare Tatiana some tea.
What is with Mei-Mei and getting annoyed with people all of a sudden? She’s a sour bitch if you ask me, I mumble to myself as I prepare a pot of tea.
Liz clears her throat from behind me.
“Oh, Liz. Hi. Sorry just sorting stuff out in my head.” I look around her quickly and whisper, “Hey, what’s wrong with Mei-Mei? She seems to be really angry.”
Liz smiles. “She just hates always being ‘the help’ just because she’s an Asian agent working with us.” Liz rolls her eyes. “She gets a bit uptight about it, but she’ll get over it.”
“Well, she really needs to get over it. I’m the one who has to fuck the POIs … just because I was a prostitute!” My voice is a little louder than intended and Mei-Mei comes into the kitchen.
“Is everything okay?” she asks softly.
“No, actually, Mei-Mei. Everything is not okay.” Liz glares at me, but I chose to ignore her. “No one thinks you’re the hired help just because you’re Asian. We all have a role to play in this operation. Do you think this is fun for me, too? Do you think I enjoy getting fucked by the agency and fucked by Tench? This is worse than prostitution, trust me. So you need to pull your head in. We all have to do things we don’t like, okay? Your attitude makes me wonder whose side you’re really on.” I snatch the pot of tea from the kitchen bench and storm past a stunned Liz and Mei-Mei.
I catch Simon removing his hand from Tatiana’s leg as I enter the room. When he sees it’s me his shoulders settle and he relaxes. I raise my brow and slowly shake my head.
“So … Ki … Tatiana tells me that she thinks there is a new shipment of girls arriving into town any day, and that’s why Tench is here, to oversee everything.” Simon slips back into agent mode again.
“Yes that makes sense.” I nod. “Some of the things I’ve heard him say when he’s on the phone to these guys is that there was something wrong with the last shipment.”
“I wonder what that means?” Simon frowns. “I’ll go over all the transcripts tonight. There’s more to this.”
There’s a pause in conversation in the room between us for a moment.
“Liz,” I call out, and Liz strolls into the room with Mei-Mei sheepishly following behind. “You know how I always had a hunch about Miss Stephanie being involved in all of this? Well, I think she is the Australian connection. She has all the contacts for the country’s most powerful men.”
Liz slowly nods. “I’ll get onto the boss immediately and they can run concurrent surveillance on Miss Stephanie back in Australia. I heard Simon say there’s a new group of girls in town being prepared to send off. We need to find out where these girls are and intercept the shipment. If there was something that went wrong with the last lot, I can guarantee it meant some girls didn’t make it. We can’t allow that to happen again. Mia, you have to do what you can to rescue these girls.”
My heart shatters for these young women. Liz is right. We need to stop them from their impending doom. I chose prostitution; they didn’t. They’re simply sex slaves, sold by their own families. First kill Dima, then rescue the girls, then Tench will be my final target. All in a day’s work really.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Three hours into our briefing with Tatiana, Simon gets up.
“Okay, time to get you girls back. I’ll drop you off at a building that has an unmarked entrance into St Isaac’s cathedral.”
“I don’t have a headscarf.” Tatiana’s brow pulls in with concern.
Liz rolls her eyes. “I have one you can borrow.”
“Sorry, Liz, I feel foolish. Russian women always carry headscarfs with them in case they ever go to church.” Tatiana looks down at her hands in her lap.
Liz’s eyes soften. “It’s nothing,” she replies.
Tatiana can be such a strong and graceful woman, but at other times she’s just a lost little girl.
“Mia. Follow me,” Liz demands and walks back up the stairs to the office. “Here …” She hands me a small sheet full of skin-coloured dots that look like tiny Band-Aids. “These are earpieces and microphones for you to communicate with us. Stick the earpiece behind your ear, and the microphone under your watch.”
“Excellent. Finally, I can hear you barking orders at me.” I smile and hug Liz.
She doesn’t take as long to react to the embrace for once and holds me tight, too.
“Stay safe out there.” She smiles.
We pile into the car again with Mei-Mei included, and make our way over the bridges and back towards the Bronze Horseman statue and St Isaacs’s Cathedral. I tie my headscarf around my head and Tatiana does the same.
She looks over at me and beams. “Is that this current season Hermes? It’s so lovely, Mi.”
I nod. “Yes. It is part of this summer’s collection. I had it ordered in for me from Paris. It seems this life we have comes with a few benefits.” I wink.
Could I give this all away? Designer clothes, diamond rings, sports cars, private jets, and mansions? Could I give that all up to live a quiet life on an island? I watch the buildings race outside the window for a moment before I tap my FLOS firearm that’s in my Kelly bag. This life has a high price to pay. Absolutely, most definitely, I can leave all of this behind.
We pull up at a building with scaffolding covering it for renovations.
“Wait here,” Simon says before getting out of the car.
We all watch as he disappears into the building. Sitting in silence together, we look around briefly but still struggle to start the conversation.
Mei-Mei is surprisingly the first to speak. “You’re right, Mia. I am sorry for being stubborn. Sometimes when you only think of yourself, you forget to think of others. I understand your role is harder.
“I always wanted to be in your shoes for so long now. To have the love that Tench has for you. I was always envious of how easy it is for you western women. But now I see that it’s also a curse.” She looks down at my engagement ring.
I hold my finger out and move it side to side between my fingers, wa
tching the light catch the cut of the beautiful black diamond. Brilliant blues catch the light’s refraction as I twist the ring.
Simon startles all of us as he launches inside the car again. He turns to us in the back seat. “The priest is expecting you. He knows Tatiana Pavlenko is making a special visit to the church so he will personally show you around the cathedral.”
Tatiana smiles and drapes the two long lengths of her scarf over her shoulders. All her movements feel like they’re wrapped in tradition. I stare at Tatiana in the headscarf. There isn’t anything Australian about her now. She embodies Russia.
“Thank you for your help, Tatiana.” Simon takes her hand and holds it for a moment, before he gives me a kiss on the cheek. “Sissy, please take care. You can communicate with us now, use it.” I nod and slide out of the car with Tatiana behind me.
We walk through the back entrance and are met by the Russian priest.
“Privet Otets,” Tatiana says as she takes hold of the priest’s hands.
He responds in Russian and draws the sign of the cross in the air above her before Tatiana kisses his hands. She looks up to him again and introduces me in Russian. The priest smiles a warm and caring smile, and holds his hands out for me to take.
“Hello, Father,” I say, and take hold of his hands just as Tatiana did.
The priest turns to me and speaks in English, “May the Lord bless you, my child.” He makes the sign of the cross above my head and I kiss his hands too, out of respect.
“Thank you for meeting with us like this, Father. I have been very excited to visit your church,” I say.
He smiles. “We always welcome new visitors to our place of worship. Come, my children, let me show you around the cathedral.” The priest glides along the floor in his full-length black gown.
We follow the priest around the entire building and make our way into the main area of the cathedral. The space is awe-inspiring and beyond anything I’ve ever seen. The detail of fresco paintings draws your eye all the way up to the top dome in the centre of the room. The overwhelmingly enormous space instantly has an effect on you and makes you want to whisper.
