He turned around in his seat and leaned close to her. “Because my boss doesn’t get anything out of this either way.”
“And mine does?” she said indignantly.
“We just don’t know that. Really who are you defending, Mishkin? Why in God’s name are you defending the gnome that sent his henchmen after you?”
She sent him a look that chilled him more than the weather outside the car could ever do. The three of them had then turned silent for the rest of the drive. Relief came at the sight of the train station. Elena leaned forward and hugged her brother from the back seat.
“Take care of yourself you hear?” he said.
She nodded. “Be good, and Dmitry?” he looked at her, waiting. “We are going to talk about that dummy account when I get home.”
Now it was Lucas’s turn to grin, the woman certainly didn’t let things slide. “Let’s go Elena.”
They got out of the car, Elena taking the bag containing their two guns and additional ammo with her and stepped out of the snow under the cover of the station. Lucas shook Dmitry’s hand.
“If you don’t like SVR you can always try the CIA.”
“Thank you Lucas, I’ll keep that in mind,” Dmitry promised.
“You do that.” He had one foot out the door when he turned back to Dmitry. “Oh...could I borrow your cell?”
Dmitry nodded and pulled the cell from his pocket. He held on tight when Lucas went to take it from him.
“Remember if anything happens to her, you my friend are going to have firsthand knowledge of playing Russian roulette. Only they’d be more than one bullet in the chamber, clear?”
Lucas nodded. “Clear, you’re a good man Dmitry. I hope I have the opportunity to see you again.”
“Let’s make it under better circumstances next time shall we? Do svidaniya Lucas.”
“And you Dmitry.” Lucas stepped back from the car, pocketing the cell phone. He tapped the roof of the car and Dmitry drove away. Elena held her hand up and waved goodbye.
Lucas joined her and together they walked into the station. They were both wearing beanies and scarves taking care to keep their identities hidden. They were so close now. So close to the action and still have time to do something about it. He wanted nothing to interfere with their plans. Of course that usually meant something will. They boarded first class and made their way to their compartment going down the tight almost claustrophobic corridor.
“Do svidaniya doesn’t mean you’re going to die, does it?” he asked Elena, badly mispronouncing the word.
Elena smiled, “No it means goodbye and its do svidaniya,” she replied, gently correcting him.
Lucas opened the door to their shared compartment and Elena collapsed on the seat, her hair bouncing as she sat down. Lucas sat across from her, she looked so clean and fresh and he could still smell the lavender. He knew it was going to drive him crazy for the next four or so hours. She leant forward and regarded him. He wondered how she was seeing him. He probably looked like homeless person, his hair and teeth unbrushed, his shirt and pants crinkled, yesterday’s stubble on his face. He hadn’t had the chance to clean himself up at Dmitry’s. They had left as soon as the ink was dry on the tickets. There had been no time to lose getting here. They were currently on the only train that would get them to St Petersburg before the Summit was to begin.
The snow was going to make it bad enough and the only luggage they had with them contained their two guns. He ran his hand across his mouth subconsciously and prayed his breath wasn’t too bad.
“That’s it,” Elena said, snapping her fingers as she had a ‘Eureka’ moment. She smiled at him, excitement causing her cheeks to flush. “Zimtovich was SVR’s liaison to FSB.”
He sat there trying to make heads or tails of what she had just said. He knew she was speaking English of that he was sure but the rest was going in one ear and out the other. But he didn’t want to rain on her parade and mention that it made no sense whatsoever to him.
He frowned, she enlightened him. “FSB stands for Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation, the successor of the KGB.”
He nodded, understanding up to this point so she continued, “FSB is also the security for the President.”
Ah – ‘Eureka’ moment, it all made sense now. He remembered back in her office, she had mentioned that fact but at the time it had had no bearing.
“That was Ducane’s plan all along, to wipe out both the American and Russian President’s. Along with half the UN summit,” he added.
Elena scoffed, “That’s rather ambitious.”
Lucas had seen worse. “It’s the perfect opportunity, two birds – one stone.”
Elena was right it was awfully bloody ambitious and Ducane could pull it off too. That’s the real scary part of the plan. Most assassination attempts were so far out of left field you weren’t even in the same state anymore.
“Well that certainly explains why Zimtovich now fits into a body bag, he simply knew too much.”
“What kind of information was Zimtovich privy to?”
Elena thought for a moment. “Presidential itinerary, Secret Service escape plans, code words, even the President’s bathroom breaks.”
Lucas grinned. “So basically everything, the whole kit and caboodle?”
She nodded. The train pulled away from the station on route to St Petersburg Moskovsky Station. Lucas looked out the window, the countryside a mash of blurs and white dots. He pulled out the cell phone he had borrowed from Dmitry and quickly worked out the time difference. Moscow was a good eight hours ahead than Washington. It would be around four am in D.C. He dialed a number from memory. Elena watched him with interest.
The phone rang several times before it was answered. The voice croaked down the phone line. “James Fitzgibbon.”
Lucas could tell he had just woke his boss up. He prepared himself for the backlash. “Jim.”
He didn’t get any further. “Goddamn it Gates, I send you to do one lousy job and you fuck it up. This has to be a new record for you.”
He could hear Maggie in the background telling him to calm down and hear Lucas out. God he loved Maggie, always the level-headed one and the only person he knew of that had balls enough to tame the James Fitzgibbon beast. No one else dared to in fear of being shot or sent out on a suicide mission.
“Now all that was blown way out of proportion Jim, you know that.”
Fitzgibbon sounded like he was going to have an aneurysm. “And you involved a Russian National while you were at it,” he scolded.
“Jim, your ulcers,” he heard Maggie say.
“Fuck my ulcers Maggie, when you get your ass back here Gates I’m going to tear you a new one. Have you any idea the shit I’ve dealt with over the last forty-eight hours because of you?”
Lucas looked over at Elena, whose eyebrows were raised. Lucas had no doubt that Elena could hear every word James was saying.
“Yeah well I didn’t have a choice. We’re fine by the way, thanks for asking.”
For a moment Lucas thought he’d hung up. “She’s with you now?”
“Yep and do we have a story for you. Bestseller,” he told his boss and mentor as he winked at Elena who smiled back in response.
He could see the relief on her face. She probably thought Jim would hang him out to dry after the crap Mishkin had more than likely been feeding him. But he knew Fitzgibbon was made of a lot more sterner stuff. He wasn’t one to charge an offence until he heard it from the horse’s mouth.
Lucas started at the beginning with Nikolai’s murderer. Along to the SVR agent he shot, to the knowledge that Ducane was here to take out the summit and oh...the President as well. Fitzgibbon stayed quiet the entire time, only when Lucas finished did he speak.
“Holy fuck.”
“Yeah tell me about it, we need some help here Jim,” Lucas stated. Elena sat forward hanging onto every word. “Pull out all those favors you have saved, we’re going to need all of them.”
/> “Okay give me more info, when and where did you say this was going down?”
Lucas relayed the information to him.
“Your partner in crime doesn’t have any suggestions does she?” Jim asked.
Lucas looked at Elena and repeated what Jim had asked. Elena thought for a moment, a frown creasing her brow. She sat forward in her seat, excitement lighting face.
“He could try contacting -” she broke off when Lucas handed her the phone. She took it, handling it like it was something that would bite. He almost laughed out loud at the sight.
“Hello?” she said tentatively into the phone. Lucas could hear Jim’s voice booming through but couldn’t make out the words from where he was sitting. “Yes, Special Agent Fitzgibbon that was how it happened,” she looked up at Lucas and smiled, turning slightly in her seat to give him her shoulder. “No sir, I made the decision on my own.” He could hear laughter in her voice, “He did not coerce me in any way.”
Lucas snatched the phone from Elena. “What kind of question was that Jim?” he growled into the phone. He could hear Jim and Maggie chuckling on the other end.
“Give me the phone Lucas,” Elena held out her hand and gave him a stern look. Like a naughty child who had taken something he wasn’t supposed to, he placed the phone back in her hand. “I apologize for the rude interruption sir,” she said while glowering at Lucas. “Yes. I understand. Permission to shoot him if necessary, I will, thank you sir.”
He was going to kill Jim, as soon as he got home he was going to track him down and kill him then he and Maggie won’t have to worry about the damn ulcers.
“Yes sir, are you ready?” she listened to Jim. “The agent’s name is Alexei Dimitrovich he would probably be on site now, tell him Elena Ivanova told you to contact him in regards to Nikolai Nagregor. Tell him everything that Lucas told you. He is with the FSB on Presidential duty. He will be able to remove the President out of harm’s way.”
She hung up and handed Lucas back the phone. “He’s a very nice man.”
Lucas glowered at her. He could see Elena and Jim getting on well with one another. They were both alike in many ways. He thought it would be nice to officially introduce the two. “You’re not really going to shoot me are you?”
She smiled. “Only if you get frisky.” Lucas’s eyebrow went up, she held up a hand stopping him for speaking. “His words not mine.”
He was thinking of getting frisky, that was half the problem. The scent of lavender and gardenias wafted through the air. He inhaled the sweet smell. Everything Elena did somehow tantalized him, aroused him. He liked how the light shined on her silky hair, how it fell on her shoulders. He remembered how it had felt to touch it during the brief moment when he had tucked the strands under his beanie and that was only her hair. He imagined himself combusting if he ever touched anywhere else on her person.
“Jim should keep his mouth shut.”
Elena sat back in her seat, closing her eyes. After a while Lucas looked over at her, he could tell she wasn’t sleeping, her breathing too fast. He could practically hear the gears moving inside her head.
“You’re quiet,” he commented.
She opened her eyes. “I was just thinking of Nikolai and how pissed off at him I am.”
He raised an eyebrow. “How so?”
She looked at him, an expression on her face asking ‘isn’t it obvious?’ Perhaps it was to a woman, but try as he did, he couldn’t see it.
“Nikolai had all this information and he never once shared any concerns with me about it. I mean I would have with him, rogue SVR agents, plots on the President, how did he think it was all going to go down?”
Lucas knew the answer right away, Nikolai thought like him. They both had the same training, the same things ingrained inside of them from birth, the burden of being the male of the species.
“He was trying to protect you,” he said simply.
Elena erupted. “How? He’s dead and I have the entire government chasing me. He should have told me, we could have done something about it, I could have protected him.”
She glared at him and if he’d been less of a man he would wish to sink into oblivion just to escape her but he just sat there calmly.
“Or you could be dead too, and then no-one would know. He hid the most valuable intel he had with you, Elena.”
Yeah and a lot of good that did, Nikolai was dead and they had only found it the day everything was going down. He didn’t even leave her any clues, nothing for her to follow. One thing that really grated on her nerves was when men protected their woman from everything, like the slightest hiccup would send them into hysterics. She wasn’t completely unreasonable. Elena knew there were just some things women couldn’t do and she had no qualms asking for help when it was needed but come on. Her life, her decision. It should not have been left up to him alone. Had Nikolai discussed his problem with her she would have been able to help, at least understand why he had been taken from her. It had been hard enough to deal with the loss without wondering why.
She didn’t like hearing his logic. “That doesn’t excuse anything,” she said. “He was putting me at risk by not telling me. Didn’t he ever think of that?”
She had to admit she could see where Nikolai and Lucas were coming from, but that still didn’t make it right.
“Woman’s logic,” he muttered under his breath but not low enough as she immediately retorted, “Well it always proves better then men’s.”
Chapter 20
James Fitzgibbon replaced his handset back in its cradle. He had certainly called it. Maggie looked over at him with interest, her once sleepy blue eyes now wide-awake. He had told her about Lucas’s predicament the moment he’d gotten home. She had immediately gone on the defense citing Lucas’s many virtues. Jim hadn’t realized what an altar boy Lucas was until Maggie had shared her view on the subject. She had also been intrigued with Lucas’s choice of fugitive partner and wanted to know all about Agent Elena Ivanova.
He too had been intrigued and through his contacts he had discovered the woman to be a widow, her husband murdered and was only just returning to work as a liaison officer when it had all gone down. She had sounded very competent and seemed to understand her circumstances very well. Elena Ivanova had also reassured him she was there of her own free will which truthfully had made him feel a whole lot better. Without a kidnapping charge he could probably get Lucas out of this mess.
God, what a damn mess Igor Zimitovich had left by being murdered in the States. The man didn’t even have the decency to die on his own soil while selling out his country. Jim had known from the moment he was told of the dead Russian that things were going to go south. He had only hoped they were well away from the investigation when it did. No such luck. He knew Lucas would do all he could to stop the attack. Lucas may have his faults despite Maggie’s claims but he was a good CIA special agent. He knew what to do and how to do it and he along with Agent Ivanova were on their way to St Petersburg now.
He looked down at the notepad resting on his thigh, at the name Alexei Dimitrovich. It was certainly a story for Hollywood but he didn’t doubt anything Lucas had told him. The threat was real and it was up to him to help. He picked up the handset once more. He had his work cut out for him. The Russian’s tend to be a high handed lot, denying that their security is at risk without first checking and rechecking for even the slightest chance. He was going to have to argue with them until he was blue in the face. He let out a long suffering sigh and looked over at Maggie as she climbed out of bed.
“It sounds like it’ll be a long day,” she said as she put on her flannel dressing robe and tied it closed. “I’ll put on some coffee.”
He thanked her as she left the bedroom, her honey blonde hair bouncing off her shoulders as she walked. She always seemed to know what he needed even before he did and he knew he often took Maggie for granted. She had been an amazing wife over the past twenty years. Understanding that there were certain things he coul
dn’t talk about. God he loved her. He was really going to have to start listening to her advice and get his ulcer checked out. James listened as the phone rang in his ear. Come on you bastard, pick up.
He was revving himself up for one hell of argument. Now that he knew what the hell was going on, he had more than Director Mishkin. He would be telling that bastard what was what. It was his agent that was about to swoop in and make things right. It was not his agent that was the rogue. Now that he had facts he could present he was going to shove it down the director’s throat.
He heard the phone pick up on the other end and was the first to speak, “Director Mishkin, SAC James Fitzgibbon here.”
Chapter 21
Vladimir Mishkin took the call. He had been up since the American Lucas Gates had first shot one of his men. He was tired and irritable, his temper short. He had stretched thin all his agents in a bid to locate the rogue special agent and Elena Ivanova but the American appeared resourceful beyond repair. He didn’t like having loose cannons running about his city. The cost for damages had already exceeded the budget for the year. He snapped up the handset when it rang and before he had a chance to bark into the receiver, the voice on the other end spoke.
He listened as Special Agent in Charge James Fitzgibbon explained the situation. His instinct was to deny any security breach but something about what Special Agent Fitzgibbon said rang true. His blood running cold as he took in the implications of what was being said, the UN Summit. God what a nightmare, both Sergei Smirnov and the American President were due to make speeches later in the day.
He cursed. He hated knowing that it was a foreign agent, an American no less that had cracked the investigation. If it hadn’t been for him and Elena Ivanova he would not be in a position of knowledge. Would be unable to do anything and be forced to sit back and watch as some would be anarchist killed his President. Vladimir listened as James Fitzgibbon told him his liaison officer Elena Ivanova and Special Agent Gates were now on their way to St Petersburg to warn the agents there. He didn’t like owing anyone favors, particularly the United States but he knew he owed Lucas Gates one hell of a favor and would certainly thank the man given a chance.
Russian Law (Law Series ) (Volume 1) Page 13
