Reunion Under Fire

by Geri Krotow

  “Whoa, okay, sorry.” He looked at his pile of fries, and then at Annie’s and Becky’s plates. “You usually share mine. You didn’t have to ask Annie.”

  “I wanted to,” Becky said.

  He looked at Annie, who watched him with interest. “Did I miss something? Is Becky not supposed to have french fries?”

  “I can have fries. I can’t have soda except on special occasions.” Becky spoke for herself, and pride welled in his gut. He’d do anything to keep her safe, protect her from the realities of life that crashed in no matter how hard he tried.

  “What happens when you have a soda? Do you turn into a soda monster or something?” Annie’s laughter was infectious.

  “No, but I can’t stop when I have a soda. Root beer is my favorite. I have it on Christmas and my birthday.”

  “That seems fair. Can I tell you something about me? I have the same problem with cookies. I can’t have just one. So I try to limit how often I eat them.”

  “That’s reasonable.” Becky nodded sagely.

  “What’s your weak link, Josh?” Annie’s shining gaze was on him, and he wished they were alone again so that he could be the sole recipient of her attention. He really was a selfish bastard.

  “You.” Her reaction was worth the risk as her pupils dilated and her lips parted. Yeah, she felt it, too. Even in a family restaurant in a public booth with his sister watching their interaction.

  Potent stuff.

  He shook his head. “What’s my weakness, Becky?”

  “Licorice! Josh is only allowed to have licorice on special occasions, too.”

  “You have a lot of rules in your house.”

  “Do you think I follow them all?” He lowered his voice, but Becky’s hearing was like a bat’s.

  “He doesn’t. Josh breaks the rules all the time.”

  “And why can I break the rules, Becky?” He grinned at his little, grown-up sister.

  “Because you’re an adult.”

  “That’s right.”

  Annie laughed, and he joined her while Becky giggled as if the whole conversation had been her idea. A part of him saw the three of them from afar, as a stranger.

  They looked like a family.

  * * *

  Annie left the restaurant no more settled than before the meal, but definitely with a full belly and heart. Time with Josh was never boring, and sitting and having dinner with him and Becky had seemed so natural and comfortable. It should scare her, how easily she’d fallen into her relationship with Josh, but she’d worry about it later when she had to make a decision. Josh knew she was here temporarily, and if he expected their relationship to end inside of three months, it didn’t matter whether she stayed or went back to the city. Not that she wanted to think about being in Silver Valley and not being with Josh. But the truth was that she could make a life here, regardless of what happened with Josh.

  She didn’t know what she was going to do at the end of her sabbatical, and she didn’t have to. At least she had a couple of options, including the yarn shop and the offer from Trail Hikers.

  A loud knock on her front door startled her from the monotony of packing her new clothes into her backpack. She peered through the peephole. Kit.

  “Hi, Kit.”

  “I’m sorry to come over here so late, but it’s important.”

  “Come on in. Can I offer you something to drink?”

  “No, no. Here, I’ve written down some notes.” Kit held out a piece of paper with several bullet points written in neat, legible handwriting.

  “Where will you tell Vadim you’ve been?”

  “He thinks I’m at the library doing research for a paper, and stopping here can always be explained with my knitting.”

  “Do you think you’re being followed?”

  “No. I don’t know. I’m not sure. I haven’t seen anything that could be certain, but I get the feeling that Vadim is being watched.” Kit wrung her hands and her voice shook.

  “Why do you say that?”

  Her eyes widened, her fear palpable. “Think about it. He’s responsible for this new group of women, keeping them safe wherever he’s hid them. He disappears all the time, which, trust me, he doesn’t usually do. His routine has always been to do the work in his home office whenever possible. He’s at the pawnshop on a hit-or-miss basis, as he has an entire staff running the place.”

  Annie watched her carefully, assessing Kit’s stress level. While Kit had obvious enthusiasm for her perceived mission, it was taking a huge toll on her.

  “But you still don’t know where he’s going?”

  Kit shook her head. “No clue. I could follow him, but that would end in disaster for the women. If I found out where they were, and couldn’t tell you where, it’d be their last chance. And if he catches me following him, or even gets a whiff of me snooping, I’ll lose my chance to help.”

  “Here. Let’s sit down.” She was glad she’d packed in her bedroom and not out here, where she’d typically spread things all over the dining-room table and sort them. Kit did not need to have any idea about the Appalachian stakeout.

  “How long do you think it might take him to get wherever he’s going?”

  “My guess is that it’s not very far, as he comes and goes frequently, instead of being gone for long stretches. I swear it’s in my backyard and I don’t know it.”

  “Could it be? Do you have a shed back there?”

  Kit laughed. “A shed? We have an entire indoor pool house, and there’s a guesthouse, too, for when his Russian big shots come up from the city. I hate those times most, by the way.”

  “You never mentioned any of this before.” At least not to her.

  “I didn’t see how it was important. And no one is in the back of our house—I swam this morning and spent time in the hot tub before class.”

  “Keep your eyes peeled. If you see anything, of course tell me or Josh right away.”

  “I only text you. I can’t risk texting anywhere but this shop, or to your number.”

  “You really believe Vadim’s watching you this closely, Kit?”

  “If not Vadim, the rats he works for. They watch everything. Even Vadim is paranoid about being listened to, tracked everywhere.”

  “What has he said about it?”

  “That it’s always prudent to be careful about who you speak to, what you talk about. And it’s not only to me, when he says that. He knows he’s being monitored. It’s what those thugs do best.” Kit looked like she was going to go off on another tangent, and Annie wanted to know why she’d come here in the first place.

  “What have you come here to talk to me about, Kit?”

  “I think the girls are in trouble. One of them, anyway. Vadim asked me who my gynecologist is, and told me to look up the symptoms I have listed on the paper.”

  Annie read the list of medical descriptions, which included sharp pains in the lower right pelvic region. “Is this one of the girls he has in captivity, you think?”

  “Yes. If they’re the same age I was, they are around fifteen, sixteen. Waiting to get their periods if they haven’t already.”

  “Usually women start their periods around age twelve,” Annie thought aloud.

  “When you’re healthy and your next meal is a guarantee, yes. But for someone like me, who never had enough to eat until I moved here, it’s different.”

  “Are you going to be okay going home now? Are you safe?” Annie had to get moving. She had to get to Josh’s and tell him what she’d learned.

  “I’m good. If he’s already home, he’ll think I’ve been out studying.”

  “What if he’s drinking?”

  “He’s not. Not yet. Once he stops, he can’t quit and he knows that. So he’s keeping away from the vodka. This is what concerns me the most. Like I told you before, he only stays
sober when he has hard work to do.”

  “Do you think he’d ask you to go with him, to try to help one of the girls?”

  “No. He’ll pay someone to treat them privately. I just hope he doesn’t try to bribe my doctor. It took me a long time to trust any medical professional after moving here, and of course needing to hide how I’ve been hurt.”

  “You’re an amazing woman, Kit. Remember, call me or 9-1-1 at the first sign of trouble. If you can, get out.”

  “Trust me, Vadim’s afraid his time’s running up since the police pressed charges against him for domestic violence.”

  “He’s not predictable, Kit. That’s what you have to keep in mind.” Annie knew, as did Kit, that if Kit faltered, if she thought for a nanosecond that Valensky wasn’t a threat, it could be the end for her.

  Chapter 12

  Josh had no sooner arrived home from leaving Becky at her apartment than his doorbell rang. His heart felt like it was on his damned T-shirt as he opened the door to Annie.

  “You’re the best medicine ever.” He motioned for her to come in.

  She stood before him in hiking pants, T-shirt and a plaid, long-sleeved camping shirt, her red hair a beacon to his desire.

  “What’s wrong?” Her lips had glossy stuff on them, and he wrenched his gaze from her mouth.

  “It sucks leaving Becky on her own, Annie.”

  “Come here.” He willingly went into her arms and pulled her to him, her head on his chest as he stroked her hair. Her arms were tight around his waist, and he made like the old sponge in his kitchen sink: he soaked it up. “Tell me what’s going on.”

  He moved his hands to her shoulders to put some distance between them, but when those pink lips reflected the overhead foyer light he caved. “In a minute.”

  She let him kiss her with no resistance, except for the soft insistence of her tongue as it met his in a long, savoring gesture. Her hands gently pushed at his chest, forcing them apart. “Let’s go into the living room, at least.”

  He followed her to the sofa and only then noticed the backpack she’d brought with her. “I like a woman who knows what she wants.”

  She looked at him and then where his gaze was, and let out a quick laugh. “It’s not what you think.” As he continued to stare at her, she blushed, and he loved that he did that to her. It was only fair, as his erection strained against his jeans. “Or maybe it is. Tell you what. I’ll sit over here for a bit.” She took the easy chair that faced the sofa. Her expression was somber as though she had to tell him something. Shoot—Kit must have contacted her again. The police officer in him grimaced. Since when did he let his need for a woman trump his law-enforcement training?

  Since Annie Fiero came back to Silver Valley.

  “What’s going on?”

  “Kit came by. She’s fine, as safe as she can be while still living with her husband. But she believes the girls are holed up somewhere close by, as Valensky is coming and going frequently. And he asked her for medical information. It looks like one of the captives is sick.” She pulled out the sheet with Kit’s notes. “Here, you can keep it. I took a photo of it.”

  He read the notes and swore. “This validates information TH just reported, too. Kit’s telling us the truth about all of it, Annie. And now one of the women could have appendicitis.”

  “Or an ovarian cyst.”

  “We need to find them sooner, then. Although I doubt Valensky would risk losing one woman—they place big dollars on each one successfully brought in.”

  “Right. What I learned at NYPD, though, is that ROC puts ROC first.”

  “They’ll let a woman die before risking their exposure, yes. But if Valensky doesn’t have a clue that Kit or TH is tracking him, he’s likely to try to seek medical help. He doesn’t want ROC asking him for reimbursement on a lost delivery.”

  “He asked Kit for her gynecologist’s name and contact information.”

  “I know him—he’s also Becky’s doctor. He’ll never take a bribe from organized crime.” He said it with more certainty than he felt. Even the slightest link to Becky in any of this made him cringe.

  Annie’s hand was on his, and she sat next to him on the sofa. “It’s okay. Becky’s safe. This has nothing to do with her.”

  He groaned. “Easy to say, Annie, but she’s my sister, and I will allow nothing like this to touch her if I can prevent it.”

  “She’s safe where she is, Josh. Is this more about the case or about leaving Becky tonight?”

  It felt like thorns from the rosebush his mother had planted before her death were stabbing his eyeballs. A solid throbbing started in his temples. “She deserves more.”

  “Josh, what more can you give her? It’s not practical for Becky to stay here with you anymore, except for the weekends she wants to come home. And you know yourself that she’s thriving—you saw it. She has a job, she’s making friends and she has her independence, or at least the sense of it, more than she would staying in her childhood home.” Annie started to rub his back.

  “Wait—I can’t do this now. I have to report to Claudia, because I can’t let it wait until morning.”

  “Okay. But you need to chill out before you go anywhere.” She pointed at her backpack. “I brought my stuff for camping in case you thought we needed to leave tonight.”

  He shook his head. “TH has agents all over the mountainside. We need to look like we’re legit trail walkers, doing a couple of days’ hike. Not a couple of bumbling idiots heading out at night, which by the way, would be a complete tip-off to us being part of a surveillance effort.”

  Her hand stilled on his back. “I didn’t think about that. I’ll leave shortly, then. What time do you need me here tomorrow morning?” She dropped her arm, and he immediately missed her touch and damned himself for it. He had no right to impose his needs, his desires on her. What could he offer her? A lifetime of him always needing to care for Becky? The chance that if anything happened to him, Becky would become her responsibility?

  “I’ll need to meet with Claudia and Colt first thing, to give them this latest bit. I’ll call in the highlights to the team working the case tonight, so they have a heads-up. We’re going to have to have EMTs standing by, without telling them why.”

  She went to stand and he stuck out his arm, keeping her next to him. “Wait.”

  He heard her exhalation and felt her tension. She was afraid he was going to call it quits with her right here, right now. And if he were worthy of her, he would. If he had any damn sense left in his brain, he’d tell her to get the hell out and he’d get another officer or TH agent assigned to the ROC human trafficking case. He looked at her while maintaining his wide-leg stance, elbows on thighs.

  “I’m a complicated man to be around, Annie.”

  “And I’m easy?” Her brows raised, her eyes sparkling with her conviction. “It’s not always about you, you know.”

  Awareness unwound in the dead cold center of him—the part that only she’d been able to warm up as of late. “Meaning?”

  She blew out an exasperated breath, making her red curls float around her. With the backdrop of the living-room lamp she looked like an angel. But this angel had a heart that he wanted to believe was big enough for both of them, hell, for all three of them, including Becky.

  “You think you have the corner on complicated? I worked with a cop for five years, a good man who ended up being a family friend, along with the woman he fell in love with and married. He’d been sober since before I knew him, and he was so excited to be married, looking forward to becoming a father. And yet the drain of working the worst kinds of cases, day after day, got to him. It was an ROC case that brought him to his bottom, in fact. He went back out there, started drinking and quickly escalated back to heroin. He was so despondent about it he took out his newlywed wife and himself on a beautiful, sunny Sunday morning in Brooklyn.
And he’d been under my care for PTSD from one especially difficult case. He’d witnessed his partner being tortured by a sadistic drug lord. It had pushed him too far. So even though he’d walked into my office for his weekly session only two days prior, he still lost it and killed himself and his wife.”

  “I’m sorry, Annie.” He was more than sorry. He wanted to be able to reach back in time and change all of this. Protect Annie from the deep hurt she’d suffered. He wasn’t a stranger to bad outcomes; they came with his job description. And normally he was very good at putting things in perspective. But with Annie he lost perspective. His awareness shrunk to her and whether or not she was happy. He hated that anything made her sad, and sad didn’t begin to describe what she’d gone through.

  “I’m not done.” She turned on her bottom, hitching one knee against the sofa back and crossing her outside leg in front of her. “I haven’t been able to hold a long-term relationship in forever. I can always blame it on an awful, abusive relationship I had in college, but that’s not true. It’s because my job swallows up all of me at times. And I feel too responsible for everyone else. It’s easier to keep it on a sex-as-you-need-it basis, no strings attached. Convenient, but soul sucking in its own way.”

  “Annie, you don’t have to tell me all of this.” But he was glad she had. His eyeballs were getting those stabbing jolts of irritation in them again. He blinked. “We’re not, we haven’t agreed to be, the friends we once were to one another.”

  “Screw high school, Josh. I’m glad we had each other, and as excruciating as it was, I’m grateful for the hot mess our prom night became.” She turned beet red. “I wouldn’t have wanted to experience that with anyone but you. And we’ve, um, come, oh man, that’s the wrong word. We’ve both learned how to enjoy ourselves in bed.”

  He grabbed a long red curl that fell on her cheek and slowly wrapped it around his index finger, the tips of his fingers touching her hot cheeks. Was there anything softer on earth than Annie’s cheeks? Her breasts. Her ass. Her...

  He swallowed as he watched her. “We have. Learned what to do with our best parts.” He ran his thumb over her bottom lip and was rewarded with the shudder he felt and saw go through her. “We share an unparalleled chemistry, that’s a fact.”