Elena’s grey eyes found his. “The investigators.” She looked about the room. “It was too organized, you know - random chaos. Just one big mess, nothing was taken - at least nothing that I could determine.”
He followed her eyes as they moved around the room. Nikolai was murdered here, in this very apartment. He shivered as a chill went down his back.
“Do you have the report they made?” he asked.
She nodded.
“Can I see it?”
She frowned, trying to decide why he wanted it. Finally she gave up and went to the writing desk nearby and opened the drawer. She shifted through some files before pulling one out and handing it to him. He assumed the Russian letters on the front read Nikolai Nagregor.
He opened the manila folder and took a second to glance at the information before moving on. Elena had found him. The thought sickened him as he saw the color photographs of her husband lying on the floor. He could only imagine what finding a loved one like that would do to a person. He immediately admired the woman for continuing with her life. She didn’t seem affected too much because of it. It couldn’t have been easy. He took in what Elena had called the mess ‘random chaos’ and she was right. It was plain to anyone to see. The apartment hadn’t been burglarized but it certainly had been tossed. Someone had been looking for something in particular. He doubted they found whatever it was. Nikolai was by all accounts a great agent. There was no way in hell he left something worth his life out in the open for anyone to find.
“You’re right. I think they were looking for something. You know Pochenchov said Nagregor found a mole inside Russian Intelligence.”
Elena’s head jerked up from looking at his hand, she pinned him with her cool gaze. “You asked about Nikolai?”
Lucas nodded. “Yes. I had a hunch. I’m not much into coincidence and Nikolai’s murder just didn’t sit right. I believe he learnt something someone wanted to keep secret.”
Elena mulled that over. “Did Pochenchov say who?”
He looked into those grey depths, losing himself for a moment before moving his attention back to the conversation.
“No. But I’m going to find the son-of-a-bitch. He has a lot to answer for. I just have to lay low for a while.”
Elena wrapped the white bandage around Lucas’s palm. He could tell she had done this before. The bandage was tight enough to stop the bleeding and keep the wound clean but loose enough that he didn’t lose any feeling in his fingers. With a husband like Nikolai he assumed he would have taught her how to correctly clean and bandage wounds.
Elena stood and started gathering up the used cloths. Lucas looked up from admiring her handy-work.
“You’re really good at that, thanks.”
Elena nodded, her lips pressed into a tight line. He caught hold of her wrist, effectively stopping her.
“Elena, what is it?”
She sat heavily in her chair and looked over at him. She looked like she was about to give a cancer patient bad news.
“You should know I have no standing with SVR. I was only reinstated to my status as active liaison officer yesterday so that I could work on your case.”
“Why?”
She frowned. “Because no one else wanted the job.”
Lucas shook his head. She was either evasive or hadn’t understood what he was asking. He was hoping for the latter. He didn’t like thinking that she was lying to him or purposely being ambiguous. He acknowledged the unreasonable thought. He barely knew her and she had no loyalty to him and knew it was stupid to think she owed him any. But still he would like to think she was being honest with him.
“No, I meant why were you on probation?”
She looked over at him and sighed.
“Nikolai, I kicked up a stink. Wouldn’t leave it alone, I’ve been chained to my desk for the past six months buried and forgotten under paperwork.”
Lucas heard heavy footsteps stop outside her door, followed by a large fist knocking.
A man’s voice came at them through the door, his Russian thick, his voice gravelly. “Elena Ivanova? Please open the door!”
“Govno,” Elena cussed, jumping up from her seat. Lucas didn’t have to know the language to recognize the four letter expletive.
She looked down at him and whispered, “SVR.”
“Fuck,” no time for niceties, he needed to get out of there now. “Look do you want to find out what happened to Nikolai?”
Elena’s eyes widened, “Of course I do.”
“Then we’ll have to make a break for it.”
Elena gave him an ‘are you kidding?’ look. They were two storey’s up, that fact and other things stood in her way. The SVR agent began pounding on the door, repeating his warning. Lucas was quickly running out of time.
“Are you serious? I could lose my job if I ally myself with a wanted man. Not to mention that Russian’s don’t exactly have a good reputation for treating traitors.”
He understood her position and concern, she was stuck between a rock and a hard place and he felt like an ass asking her for help. He knew he was desperate enough to play the Nikolai card. “We know that someone is playing on both sides within the agency.”
Elena nodded, her eyes going from her door then back to him. “A tip from a known weapon’s dealer, that won’t stand. And not to mention you don’t have a name or even a suspect.”
Lucas was beyond desperate. There was no one else that could help him. He was alone in a foreign country, a wanted man and he didn’t speak the language. He was far from home and in a shit load of trouble. It would take Jim weeks to get him out alive – if he even survived the day which at the moment wasn’t looking too promising.
“Elena please,” he implored. “I can’t do this myself. I need your help.”
Her brow furrowed and a look of surrender passed onto her face.
“Sraka,” she muttered under breath. He didn’t think he wanted to know what that meant and didn’t ask. He had a feeling it was about him. He gave her a huge grin, her eyes narrowed. He certainly wasn’t as charming as he thought or she was just immune to his gift.
Lucas grabbed her arm and dragged her over to the window that overlooked the street. Elena only had time to snatch up her purse from where she had dumped it earlier before Lucas was pulling her with him across the room.
Lucas could hear the agent trying to break in. The door shuddering as the man’s shoulder connected with the wood. He opened the window and gave a cursory look out before turning to Elena.
“Brace yourself!”
Elena’s eyes widened, she was not looking happy. “Are you serious?”
He gave another look out the window and shrugged. “Don’t worry. I’m sure the snow will break your fall.”
I hope.
“Or a leg,” Elena stated.
Yeah or a leg, he thought. She didn’t need to make it sound like this was something he wanted to do, they had no other choice. He didn’t fancy spending twenty to thirty in a Russian prison freezing his balls off.
Elena hiked up her skirt until it reached the top of her thighs, just long enough to keep her modesty although she wasn’t concerned about that in their current situation but it was nice to keep some sense of decorum and climbed through the window onto the small ledge outside. Lucas followed shortly after and joined her.
“Ready on three, one…”
The sound of snapping wood reverberated throughout the apartment. The SVR Agent had obviously broken in, within seconds two more agents barged in with their guns drawn. They certainly don’t mess around here. He wondered at what it would take to provoke them into shooting, probably not a lot.
Elena grabbed his hand. “Three.”
She jumped taking Lucas with her, both landing on their backs in the snow. Lucas was on his feet in seconds while Elena tested the mobility of her appendages. He grabbed her hands and deftly pulled her to her feet. He kept hold of one of her hands and started dragging her down the street before she could p
rotest. He could see more SVR vehicles approaching in the distance, as they drew near he yanked Elena into a nearby alley and pushed her behind a dumpster, following closely. He watched as the cars drove past and let out a deep breath, one crisis averted. He could feel Elena shivering beside him and for the first time, noticed she wasn’t wearing a coat.
Shit, he hadn’t thought of that when he decided to jump out the window. With this temperature she would be a popsicle within the hour. He took off his coat and handed it to her, she shook her head. Lucas grabbed her arm and roughly shoved it through the sleeve hole. She relented and worked her arm through the other one before buttoning the coat up. She gave him a grateful look.
The coat was still warm from his body and she felt her stomach flip when she took in a deep breath and could smell him. He had an unusual scent, part cologne part pure male. She snuggled deep inside his jacket which was several sizes too big for her and trailed in the snow as she walked.
They had to get off the street and into a safe place wherever that might be. Lucas took Elena’s hand again and together they joined the other people on the busy street.
Chapter 9
Director Vladimir Mishkin sat as his desk and listened to the report his men issued him. Elena Ivanova had resisted SVR’s efforts to seize the American Special Agent. Although it was still unclear if she was a willing participant or if Special Agent Gates had taken her against her will, threatening her with bodily harm, fleeing into the streets. His men were currently searching for them now.
They had to bring Lucas Gates in, he killed one of their own, accidentally or not and his men would be after blood. It would be quite difficult to bring him in alive. His men were not known for their pleasant treatment of cop killers. As for Elena she made her decision the moment she went out that window with Lucas.
Vladimir knew he shouldn’t have put her back on the job so quickly. She hadn’t been ready. But liaising with the American Special Agent was a job no one had wanted and in a ditch effort to appease the US Government decided to bring her back into the daily grind. She had not accepted the report given to her and had gone off the deep end shouting conspiracy. She had to get it through her thick head that Nikolai’s death was just plain bad luck. Although he had to admit he had a tough time swallowing that as well. But he was not one to question. More than likely it was another government’s agent who had had it out for Nikolai Nagregor or he just plain got caught up in the crossfire.
After Nagregor’s death, Elena had been interviewed in standard formality to determine what she knew about her husband’s job. What secrets did she know that could put her or her country at risk? The agency had been relieved to find out that Nagregor had kept to the regulations, non-disclosure to spouses or relatives. He had not usually been one to follow the rules, only when they suited him but he had known the risks. Now his widow was in deep trouble. There would be no getting her out of this unscathed, at least not until they knew the score. Lucas’s boss had emphatically denied any wrong doing on his agent’s behalf. James Fitzgibbon had told him, if Lucas shot an SVR agent he had a damn good reason for doing so. He had known Lucas for a decade now, knew the type of man he was and he wasn’t the kind to go rogue. He was a dedicated agent of the CIA and loved his country. He wouldn’t piss it all away by popping off another agent. Vladimir wasn’t concerned about the why. He just wanted to get the mess cleaned up and kept quiet. He gave the order. Bring in Lucas Gates under any circumstances. Pity the person caught in the middle.
Elena, Elena. You should have got out while you could.
Soon there would be nowhere safe for Elena Ivanova and Lucas Gates.
Chapter 10
After walking in silence for five minutes Lucas caught sight of a coffee shop and steered Elena towards it. He could feel the warmth radiating from the building and was already imagining a hot beverage flowing down his throat. He opened the door to the shop for Elena and she stepped inside finding her way to an empty booth and sat down, his winter coat almost swallowing her whole. She stood back up and removed his coat placing it beside another coat hanging over the seats of their booth and the adjoining booth occupied by a young couple.
Lucas realized just how cold he was as the heat in the room caused his limbs to thaw out, giving him acute pain. He tried to keep his face impassive not wanting to concern Elena even more in their current quandary. He rubbed his hands together grateful when the feeling slowly returned.
A tired looking waitress came up to them, a weary half smile plastered on her face, she looked first at him then at Elena.
“What can I get for you?” she asked in Russian.
Elena replied in the same language. “Two coffees please.” She looked at Lucas and asked in English, “Milk or sugar?”
“Neither,” he answered. Elena then proceeded to relay the information to the waitress who then wandered off to get their coffees.
They sat in silence. Lucas wondered what the hell they were going to do. By asking Elena to help him he has made her an accomplice. She would now also be wanted by the very people she worked with, all resources she might of had now gone. Whatever happened, he thought, he would make it up to her. Somehow he would right the wrongs he caused and make sure she didn’t suffer because she was the unfortunate one to have been handed the job of being a liaison to him. He would also find out the truth of Nikolai’s death while he was at it.
He owed her that much at least.
He thought about Nikolai and about his case, they were all connected. He just didn’t know how. Six months ago Nikolai Nagregor was assassinated, Pochenchov all but admitted to that and Lucas knew without doubt the assassin was a professional. Even if he was stone cold drunk he still wouldn’t let a punk ass burglar get the jump on him. It took a professional to get rid of a professional. Now that thought stunk to high heaven.
“Who do you think Nikolai would’ve trusted enough to discuss the possibility of a mole inside Russian Intelligence, someone using their status within the agency for illegal activity?”
Elena shrugged, “Depends.”
Her mind went rapidly through the list of people she knew within the agency. She couldn’t picture any of them willing to sell out. But you never knew with people did you? she thought. It could be anyone. Besides who was to say the mole was SVR. Russian Intelligence covered a lot of ground and a lot of agencies.
“On?” he encouraged when she didn’t speak. He could see her mind working rapidly. He wondered what she was thinking.
“On how far he thought it went up the ladder.”
The waitress set down the mugs of steaming coffee and walked away. He and Elena gratefully sipped at each of theirs. The hot liquid warming his body right down to his toes, he almost moaned out loud in delight catching himself at the last second.
Lucas thought about that for a minute, “As far as Director Mishkin?”
Elena shook her head, “No, I wouldn’t accuse Vladimir without supporting evidence.”
Lucas looked thoughtful, “And he never spoke to you about it?”
“No, we never spoke of work. It was prohibited. He was an agent, I am a liaison. There was no correlation between the two. It was purely need to know and I didn’t need to know,” she said simply.
It was the one area Nikolai did not bend. Even though he often brought home his work he never discussed it with her. Whether for her safety or because it was a regulation she could not say. She assumed it was both reasons but the former more than anything.
Her eyes went to a small TV mounted to the wall behind the counter. A morning talk show was absently playing on screen. Elena froze when the show was interrupted for a breaking news bulletin, behind the news anchor hers and Lucas’s photos appeared, his was his passport shot and hers was her SVR photo ID.
“Oh no,” she whispered, her face pale her eyes larger than normal.
“What?”
Elena motioned to the TV. “Look.”
Lucas looked at the television.
Oh fuck
.
He was expecting eventually that the agency would splash their photos everywhere he just hadn’t expected it to be so soon. Either someone was very efficient in getting his passport photo or they had it lying around. The thought made him pause, who and why did they have his photo. Were they expecting this? Did they plan it? Was this a contingency plan? Questions flew about his head, causing his head to pound.
He stood up. “We better get out of here.”
Elena nodded, dropping down some bills on the table and turned to retrieve Lucas’s coat. Together they walked out of the coffee shop. The young couple in the booth beside them paid their bill. Deciding it was time to move on and stood up, the woman reaching out for her coat, only then noticing it was gone.
Chapter 11
Elena closed and buttoned up her new coat. She hadn’t liked stealing the woman’s snug winter jacket but it had been necessary. At least the woman could enjoy the rest of her day, Elena couldn’t. She was now officially on the run.
She didn’t blame SVR for putting out the bulletin. She had aligned herself with Lucas and in their eyes against the agency. She was going to find it difficult to explain her actions when this was all over if she even got that chance. Right after she and Lucas knew what the hell was going on.
Lucas hadn’t seemed to mind her thievery, in fact he looked amused. She guessed he was a ‘when the chips are down, every man for himself’ kind of guy. He walked over to a light blue Chevrolet parked at the kerb and retrieved what looked like a cell phone from his pocket. He pointed the antenna at the vehicle and she watched speechless as the indicator lights flashed as the central locking was disabled and the engine automatically started.
She shook her head, boys and their toys. Lucas walked over to the driver’s side and opened the door. She had half expected the alarm to go off and that they would be caught in the act.
“We’re going to add grand theft auto to our crime spree?” she asked.
Lucas looked at her, surprised. “Well yeah, unless you want to walk all day?” his face telling her he was not looking forward to it.
Russian Law (Law Series ) (Volume 1) Page 7
