Belinda lowered herself onto the love seat along the wall just inside the office. It didn’t fit, not with the rest of the décor nor with the size of the room. But she figured Katie shoved it in there anyway so there’d be someplace more comfortable to sit than the olive-green, fiberglass chair across from her desk.
“Not even close. And I need to you keep that to yourself.” Alena worked for Katie. She had been for about two weeks. Belinda knew it was a way of getting out of the apartment she usually found herself sequestered in and had been for over a year. By that time, Belinda would have gone stark raving mad.
She couldn’t blame Alena for insisting the men in her life let her go to the clinic to at least help out. After all, the clinic was under FBI surveillance anyway. What difference did it make if Alena went there during the day? Hell, it probably cut down on the number of agents needed on detail with at least two of the women in the same location.
“You know I’d never say a word. Can I get you something? Water at least?”
Belinda shook her head. “No. Thanks.”
The door swung open farther, and Katie stepped in. She shut it behind her with a soft snick. Her face was scrunched with worry. “Belinda. You okay?”
“No.” Belinda stood and gave Katie a brief hug.
“I’ll go find something else to do,” Alena said.
“No. Stay. Whatever happens to me concerns all of us.”
“Okay.” Alena sat next to Belinda on the love seat while Katie pulled the ugly green chair over to sit facing them both.
Belinda pulled the letter out of her pocket and handed it to Katie.
A full minute went by before Katie muttered, “Shit.”
“Yeah.”
Katie handed the letter to Alena. “How’d you get here?”
“Snuck out the back of the office dressed like this, took a cab, got out of it a few blocks away, wandered up like a regular patient.”
“And you don’t think anyone followed you?”
“No.”
“Have you called Nikolav?”
“No.” Belinda met Katie’s gaze pointedly.
Katie’s shoulders fell, defeated. “Shit. I think we need to call Taylor.”
“Yeah. I wanted you to make that decision. You’ve known these agents longer. Somebody in that damn department is a mole. That makes me nervous and leery.”
“I know. But I’m confident that mole isn’t Taylor,” Katie said.
Belinda rubbed her temples. Her fingers shook violently. There was no way to stop them. “I didn’t know who to call or what to do, but I did know I didn’t want to involve Nikolav or any of the other guys. Not yet. He’ll go ballistic and start bossing me around like I have no choices.” She narrowed her gaze at Katie. “I could have gone straight to Rena’s townhouse and traded myself, but it seemed prudent for someone to know what was going on.”
“You did the right thing.” Katie reached out and patted Belinda’s knee.
Belinda grabbed Alena’s hand. “Please don’t call your brother or Ivan yet. I needed a place to think. Figure out what to do.”
“Are you crazy?”
For a second, Belinda feared Alena meant she thought they should call the men immediately, but then she saw Alena’s eyes cringe as she winced and understood her meaning before the woman continued speaking.
“If Ivan or Mikhail find out about this, they’ll send me to Siberia for safekeeping.”
In a different dimension, Belinda might have laughed at the analogy, but it wasn’t funny. And it wouldn’t have been comical to Alena, either. The woman had probably already been sent to Siberia before coming to the US, and it hadn’t been for safekeeping.
Katie went to her desk, set the letter on top, and used a key to open a drawer. She pulled out an older-model phone, flipped it open, and typed in a text. And then she handed it to Belinda. “I texted Taylor. She won’t answer. But she will show up soon.”
Belinda took the phone from her, confused. “Why are you handing me this?”
“It’s a burner. You might need it. I have a dozen of them in the desk.” She shut the drawer, locked it, and put the keys back in her pocket. “Where’s your phone?”
“I left it at work.”
“Good.”
Belinda pursed her lips and then released them. “I left everything except my ID, a credit card, and a few dollars. I didn’t think about anyone tracing me with that phone. I just didn’t want to field calls from Nikolav right now.”
“Yeah, well, anyone on the planet could have traced you with that phone, even without a tracking device. Easy. The fact that you left it behind is probably the only way you’ve made it this far without detection. Now we need to hurry before time runs out.” Katie glanced at the clock. “We don’t want Yenin’s people to think you’re still in that building after five. But we also don’t want them to have any clue where you are by then, either.”
Belinda shuddered. “I don’t like this.”
“Me neither.”
“Nikolav’s going to kill me,” Belinda muttered.
“Get in line. Ivan and Mikhail are going to freak,” Alena stated under her breath while she leaned back into the couch.
“Listen, I need to see patients. If anyone gets the idea I’m not running a business here, they’ll get suspicious. You two stay in here. I’ll come back when Taylor arrives.” Katie stood and stepped toward the door.
Belinda twisted around to face her. “How’s Taylor going to get into the clinic to meet with us without detection?”
Katie paused. “Trust me. That woman’s resourceful.”
As soon as they were alone, Alena spoke again. “I can’t believe you didn’t call Nik first.” She fidgeted and then put her hands under her thighs. Her gaze darted around the room. “I mean, I get why, but I’m not sure I’d have had the strength to make the same choice.”
Belinda realized Alena was trying to kill time, filling the silence with words. “All five of them are overbearing, aren’t they?” Belinda asked to keep the banter going and her mind off the insanity that was currently her life. She stood and started pacing.
“You don’t know the half of it,” Alena responded.
Belinda thought there was a good chance Alena didn’t know the half of it, but she wasn’t about to point that out. There was also a possibility Alena knew more than Belinda. She’d seen the blonde woman with Ivan. She was pretty sure he paid closer attention to her than anyone in the room, but then again, what did Belinda know? She’d only been around Alena a few brief times.
Perhaps she and Ivan had something going on. Nikolav hadn’t mentioned it, but it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility. On the other hand, Belinda might have read more into their relationship than existed.
About ten tense minutes passed before Taylor stepped silently into the office and shut the door behind her.
Belinda stopped pacing to face Taylor and almost didn’t recognize her. She’d done a bang-up job of getting into the clinic without detection, same as Belinda. Her brown hair was tucked into her shirt so it almost looked like she had short hair instead of long, gorgeous locks. She wore colored contacts that turned her brown eyes into green pools of water. And the best part—she shrugged out of the long-sleeved maternity shirt she wore and removed the fake belly that made her look seven months pregnant.
Alena gasped.
Taylor set the disguise aside. “What’s going on?”
Belinda pointed at the note still sitting on Katie’s desk. “What’s going on is that Yenin is holding my cousin Rena hostage and demanding I trade myself for her.”
“Dammit.” Taylor rounded the desk and leaned over to read the page. It was probably ingrained in her not to touch anything in case it had prints, but it was a little late for that. Belinda had already handled the letter so much, she’d ruined any evidence there might have been.
When Taylor finished, she sighed. “Dammit,” she repeated.
“Yeah,” Belinda agreed, taking a deep breath
and running her hands through her hair.
“Who knows about this?”
“You, me, Alena, Katie.”
“None of the guys?”
“No.”
Taylor cocked her head. “You didn’t call Nikolav?”
“He would have freaked.” Belinda lowered her hands and wrung her fingers together in front of her. She couldn’t slow her heart rate. What the hell was Rena going through? What had Yenin done to her? Would he kill her? Guilt ate into her. She worried about coming to Taylor with this note. She would regret this decision for the rest of her life if anything happened to Rena.
Taylor nodded. “You did the right thing.”
That’s what Katie had said.
She wasn’t at all convinced. But she wanted to give Taylor a chance to come up with a viable plan before she went off half-cocked and got herself killed.
“How the hell does Anton Yenin know what story you’re working on?” Taylor asked the room at large, not accusing anyone or even looking at Belinda. She seemed to think the ceiling had the answers. She put her hands on her hips and stomped back around the desk.
“We know there’s a mole in the FBI. Could that be it?”
Taylor rubbed her temples with both hands. “I can’t stand that idea, but I have to admit, it’s probably true.”
“And not farfetched,” Belinda pointed out. “There are so many people on our detail, anything’s possible. I’m sure you guys make good money, but we’re talking about a man with unlimited resources. How much could it possibly cost him to pay one of your guys more to feed him info?”
Taylor nodded. “You’re right. I know you’re right. And I’m clear someone is feeding Yenin info. I just don’t know who.” She sat in Katie’s desk chair and pulled out her phone. “I need to make a few calls, but Belinda, I think you need to be open to the idea of being moved to a safe house.”
Belinda nodded. “I’ll consider it after we get Rena safe. I’ll do whatever it takes if it keeps anyone else safe. But do you really think that’s the answer? How is my going into hiding going to make Yenin believe I’m no longer meddling?”
Taylor put the phone to her ear, waiting for someone to answer. “I’m going to send out a memo and tell everyone you quit your job. Obviously one of my people is working for the other team. Whoever that is will let Yenin know.”
Belinda gulped. “Who’s going to explain that to my boss? I didn’t even tell him I was leaving the office. I didn’t tell anyone about the note.”
“I will.”
Belinda nodded, trying to wrap her mind around the complexity of this situation while Taylor spoke into the phone.
She didn’t say much, but she didn’t have to. When she finished, she set the phone on the desk and met Alena’s gaze. “I think you should consider going with Belinda.”
Alena nodded. “I figured you’d say that.”
“It’s so much safer. I think we’re close to solving this, but I don’t want any more bodies added to the death toll.”
“My brother will freak. Ivan will too if I disappear without telling them.” Alena sat up straighter.
Taylor narrowed her gaze. “I wouldn’t suggest it if I didn’t think it was imperative. I’m sure you’ve been close to wanting to throttle your brother for the past year with the way he coddles you, but trust me when I say he probably kept you alive.”
Alena nodded, swallowing.
“Besides, we still don’t have any idea who was holding you for six months in Russia or why. But perhaps Yenin knows. It can’t be good.”
Belinda thought she might be sick. She hated to ask her next question. “Do you think he’s had people following me?”
“Every day.”
“Fuck.”
“Yep.”
Belinda lowered her gaze to the floor. “Fine. Move us to a safe house. Later. But what are we going to do about Rena?”
“I need to make some calls, come up with a game plan. Sit tight. Give me a few minutes.” Taylor stood and headed for the door. Of course. She would need someplace to speak in private.
But that didn’t make Belinda feel warm and fuzzy. It made her cringe.
When Taylor left the room, Belinda glanced at her watch. It was eleven in the morning. How long had Yenin had her cousin? Jesus.
Perhaps coming to the clinic was a bad idea. She kept second guessing herself. But the alternative was equally appalling. If she had gone straight to Rena’s house, there was every chance Yenin would have killed them both. The best case scenario she could come up with was Yenin releasing Rena and taking Belinda hostage.
And no one would have ever known what happened to Belinda.
But now?
Shit.
Alena mumbled something about using the restroom and left Belinda in Katie’s office alone.
Belinda’s heart raced in the silence, and her mind ran over the possibilities. The FBI knew what was going on. Belinda had done her job informing them.
Taylor had insisted there was no way the FBI would put Belinda’s life at risk for a trade. Not even a set-up with them watching from a distance. Too risky. They would undoubtedly surround the house to squeeze Yenin out.
But that presumed Yenin was inside. And it also presumed he didn’t have the guts to shoot Rena when cornered.
The plan sucked no matter how Belinda thought about it. Rena would undoubtedly end up dead. Even though she wasn’t Belinda’s favorite person, she was innocent in all this. And it was Belinda’s fault in the first place for attending that party and leading Yenin’s men to her family.
No. That wasn’t how she wanted the day to end.
She took a deep breath, stepped out into the hall, found no one looking, and glanced at the doors next to the office. One of them had to be an exit. She spotted the obvious choice. Would an alarm go off if she opened it?
All she could do was hope not because she was out of options. Holding her breath, she pushed the safety bar and inched the heavy metal door open. No alarm. She slid outside, slowly letting the door close behind her, and flattened herself against the brick wall.
A quick look around told her she was in a narrow alley between the clinic and the building next to it. No one else was in the alley. She turned left toward the back of the building, tugging the hood of her borrowed jacket over her head. Luckily it was chilly outside, making it not remotely strange she would bundle up.
She closed her eyes for a moment to think.
She needed to get to the L. Fast. She had enough cash in her pocket to get a ticket. A quick assessment of her surroundings oriented her to where the nearest station would be. She walked as slowly as she could manage to force herself. The less urgent she appeared, the less attention she would bring.
And God was with her. She didn’t dare glance around or behind her, no matter how badly she wanted to. She didn’t breathe for several blocks, either. If Yenin’s people were following her, what did it matter? If the FBI was following her, they would have snatched her immediately.
Shallow breaths. In. Out. In. You can do this.
»»•««
Nikolav slammed his fist into the speedbag in front of him for the millionth time. Sweat ran down his brow and dripped into his eyes often enough he was growing annoyed.
“You pissed off with someone, dude?”
Nikolav swung his gaze to the right to find Sergei standing there, a smirk on his face.
“Not getting laid regularly?”
Nikolav narrowed his gaze. “Fuck off.”
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
“You’d be wrong. Not that it’s any of your business.” Truth be told, Nikolav had never had sex so often in his life.
The problem was every time he slid into Belinda’s body, he grew more attached to her, and it scared the hell out of him. Dropping her at work on Monday had nearly made him lose his breakfast. Doing it again Tuesday, Wednesday, and today had been worse.
He shot Sergei a glare. “You getting laid, asshole? I hear you’
ve been sleeping at Ivan’s place. What’s up with that?” He yanked off his gloves, grabbed a towel from the shelf next to him, and wiped the sweat from his face.
Sergei smirked. “Maybe I am seeing someone.”
“Seeing someone? You make it sound like you habitually date the same woman more than once.” He lifted a brow. Sergei “saw” lots of women. He always had. Usually more than one at a time. Never anything serious. For his friend to phrase it that way was out of character.
Sergei glanced away, licking his lips. “Maybe it’s none of your business. Ever think of that?”
Holy shit. Nikolav froze. The guy was interested in someone. It was written on his face. He opened his mouth to ask who she was and then thought better of it. If Sergei wanted him to know, he’d tell him.
Nikolav’s phone rang on the bench next to his water bottle. He reached over to grab it, hoping it was Belinda. He hadn’t heard from her in a few hours.
The readout said Taylor.
“Hello.”
“Have you spoken to Belinda in the last ten minutes?”
“No. Why?”
Taylor exhaled and then dropped a bomb he’d never expected to hear. “Briefly, Yenin’s holding her cousin hostage. Wants to make an exchange. She came to me. I was working out a plan. She gave me the slip. Gotta assume she’s on her way to Rena’s.”
“Fuck,” Nikolav bellowed, already running toward the door. Keys. He needed keys. He turned to enter the locker room first. “Text me the address.”
“On it. And Nikolav…”
He grabbed a T-shirt and his keys. As he spun around, he slammed into Sergei. He’d completely forgotten his friend’s presence the second he heard Taylor’s voice. “What?” he said into the phone as he motioned for Sergei to follow him.
“Don’t get all hot-headed. Stay in contact with me. Stay in your car. Let the police handle this.”
“Sure.” He ended the call. Like fuck.
Chapter Twenty-Five
It seemed like hours before Belinda stepped onto a train and grabbed the handle above her head. No way could she sit. Still, she forced herself to keep a disinterested glare toward the floor.
Submit (The Underground Book 4) Page 22
