“Get in,” Oksana said, opening the passenger-side door.
When she did, Vadim slid into the backseat behind her. “You know to be a good girl, right?”
Pam nodded, not trusting her voice. She rested her head against the window, trying to think of a way to escape without getting herself killed. Oksana got into the driver’s side and drove the big Mercedes through the parking lot. No one seemed to notice that anything was out of the ordinary. The drive to Nikolai’s house was a subdued one. Vadim didn’t talk, and Oksana only muttered curses at other drivers. At one point, when they slowed down at a stop sign, Pam thought to jump, but Oksana locked the doors before she could reach for the door handle.
Vadim exited the car first when they parked on the street in front of Nikolai’s driveway. It was broad daylight, but Pam figured most of the neighbors would be at work. Oksana ripped down the police KEEP OUT sign and unlocked the door from a key chain that Pam recognized had belonged to Nikolai. Vadim shoved Pam between the shoulder blades to get her up the stairs to the porch.
“It’s about time you got here,” a man said from inside.
“Stefan,” Pam said.
He frowned at her. “What is she doing here? Dmitry said she was clean.”
Oksana reached in her purse and pulled out the medallions. Stefan’s eyes widened as he looked at them.
“I can’t believe you kept these to yourself,” he said.
“She didn’t know they were there,” Vadim said sourly.
“You believe her?” Oksana laughed. “She’s just like her old man was. Shiny and clean on the outside, but rotten to the core inside.”
Pam bit the inside of her cheek to keep from responding.
“I can’t find anything,” Stefan complained.
“Look for nesting dolls. Anywhere he could have hidden a medallion,” Oksana said impatiently. “We have to hurry.”
“I keep getting Dmitry’s voice mail,” Vadim said. “You know a different number?”
Pam nodded, holding out her hand for the phone. She didn’t. But she knew Drake’s phone number. She called it. He answered on the first ring.
“Dmitry, it’s Pam. Vadim wants—”
Vadim snatched the phone out of her hand and spoke in Russian. “Dmitry, you’ve been a very bad, bad boy. We have your sister and the medallions. If you want to see her safe, you will tell us where Nikolai hid the rest of it.”
Pam’s heart was thudding, and she thought she was going to pass out. Vadim listened for a long time. There was no way Drake could mimic Darren’s voice—if he could even speak Russian that fluently. She was going to die, but at least Drake would know who did it. Maybe this would be enough to scare Darren straight. She looked over at Stefan, but he and his mother were in the process of ripping up the rugs and emptying out the kitchen cabinets.
Vadim was staring at her with empty eyes. He reminded her of a cobra.
“Good,” he said in English, making her jump at the sudden noise. “I’m so glad you are being reasonable. It will go well for you. We’re at Nikolai’s house. I’ll tell the idiot twins to stop what they are doing.” He put his phone away, and before Pam could take another breath, Vadim pulled the pistol back out and shot Oksana.
Someone was screaming, a keening wail that was bordering on hysterics. When Stefan came out to see what was the matter, Vadim shot him too. Rounding on her, Vadim raised the pistol to Pam.
“Zhatknis,” he said.
Pam realized that she was the one screaming and shut her mouth with a snap. She backed away from Vadim. Looking around desperately, she prepared to run. Let him shoot her in the back if that was the plan.
He killed them. He killed them. Pam was hyperventilating. She scrabbled for her purse.
“Don’t even think about it,” Vadim said.
“Inhaler,” she wheezed. “Asthma. Can’t breathe.”
“Weak,” he sneered. “Slowly, shluha. If I see a Taser or a gun in your hand, I’ll kill you.”
Pam slowly brought out her inhaler, holding it with two fingers and trying not to gulp her breath.
“Drop the purse,” he said.
She did and sucked on the inhaler gratefully. Unfortunately, her system was still rioting.
“Calm down. Like that old bitch said, you are worth more to me alive and working in a hospital than with your brains splattered against the wall.”
“Wh-wh-why did you kill them?”
“They had no more use to me. Oksana has been a thorn in the vor’s side for many years. Her time was up. Stefan made a terrible mistake when he killed Nikolai.”
“Stefan?” Pam said. “Why would he do that? Nikolai wasn’t a threat.”
Vadim shot his body again. “Exactly so. See, Stefan, even the shluha sees the obvious.”
Pam pressed herself against the wall. “Don’t kill me.”
“Your brother won’t give me the information if I harm you. So as long as he gets here in time, I’ve no reason to kill you—unless you make me. Don’t tempt me.”
“Dar—Dmitry,” she corrected herself, “is coming here?” Pam tried to control the panic. She couldn’t look at the two bodies.
“Yes, and then we are going to the storage area where Nikolai hid the paintings.” He snorted. “Heh. You really were telling the truth. You don’t know anything about this?”
Pam shook her head. “Why kill Nikolai? He was the source of the artifacts.”
“Exactly,” Vadim said. “But tell that to these two osels.” Vadim waved the gun at the bodies.
Pam turned her head before she could follow the motion of the gun. Even though she knew they had beaten Nikolai to death, Pam didn’t want to look at their corpses.
“Stefan lost his temper and killed him.” At her gasp of disbelief, he continued. “I don’t think he meant to. Just hit the old man too hard. Maybe Nikolai’s heart gave out. They used the bats to make it look like kids did it. Duratskis.” He shook his head.
Pam wished she were wearing a wire, like Drake did when he was undercover. Then if something happened to her, Drake would know that Darren wasn’t involved in his godfather’s death.
“So, one thing confuses me,” Vadim said.
“Just one?” Pam asked, trying to be brave.
His eyes narrowed. “I said I wouldn’t kill you. But talk smart to me one more time, and I’ll make you regret it.”
“Sorry,” Pam said, wishing she could do something more than cower against the wall. But she’d just watched him kill two people she had known for most of her life, as if he were swatting flies.
“Why did he hide the medallions with you? He mailed them to you the day he died.”
“I don’t know.”
“Stefan must have tipped him off that we were on to him.” Vadim spat at Stefan’s mangled body. “And Nikolai must have known we’d search his places. We came up with nothing. He was working with your brother. Your brother is a very good vor. I’d hate to kill him.”
Pam turned and retched up her breakfast until she was dry heaving. By the time it felt like she had broken every blood vessel in her face, she didn’t think there was anything else left in her stomach. When she raised her head, Vadim looked like he was trying to hold down a gag.
“Go. Get into the bathroom and clean yourself up. You’re disgusting.” He grabbed a throw blanket from the couch and threw it over where she’d been sick.
Pam staggered down the hall until she saw the bathroom and gratefully closed the door behind her. Locking it as quietly as she could, she ran the cold water and washed her face, rinsing out her mouth. When she looked at her reflection in the mirror, she instinctively reached to smooth away hair that the breeze was pushing across her forehead.
Breeze?
Pam looked up at the open window and then at the closed, locked door. She could do this, but she had to hurry. Kicking off her shoes, she tossed them outside. Standing on the toilet lid, she balanced on the tank while she decided if it would be easier to go out on her front or back
. Front first, she rolled over on her back to scoot out. The cover of the toilet tank slipped as she pushed herself out the window. It crashed to the floor, and she heard Vadim thunder down the hall, cursing in Russian.
Wiggling the rest of her body out, Pam fell hard on her shoulder. Shots exploded against the door, and she stumbled to her feet, taking off running. She hadn’t time to pick up her shoes, but she didn’t care. The pain in her shoulder ripped through her, but she refused to feel it. More shots zinged by her as she ran down the street. Weaving into the yard across from Nikolai’s, she passed a barking dog and rolled over a hedge.
She glanced up and saw that Vadim was coming after her. She got up and screamed. It wasn’t as if he didn’t know where she was. Heading into traffic, she waved her hands and looked wildly over her shoulder. A pickup truck stopped for her, and she climbed in.
“Get out of here,” she told the woman driving it. “There’s a man with a gun after me.”
“Hell with that, honey,” she said and pulled down a shotgun from a rack.
“No!” Pam said, trying to stop her from getting out of the truck, but the woman kept mostly hidden behind the door and fired. The noise was deafening.
“I thought so,” the woman said after a moment and got back into the car.
“What?” Pam asked, still cowering on the seat, well below the window.
“He changed his damn mind. Now we can get out of here.” The woman put the big truck into gear and took off at a good clip while sirens blared in the distance. “My name is Josie, by the way.”
“Pam,” she said, holding her hand out before realizing she looked ridiculous cowering under the dashboard. Not ridiculous enough to sit on the seat, however.
“Where can I take you?”
“I don’t even know,” she said. “I can’t go home. I can’t go to work. I can’t go to the police.”
“Why not?”
“I think one of them is working for the man who was shooting at me. Home and work are the two places Vadim will look for me.”
“Vadim being the cue ball chasing you?”
“He killed two people,” Pam said and started to cry.
“We have to call the police. I can tell them that you’re going to be safe with me. You’re welcome to come back to my farm and keep your head down.”
Pam shook her head. “I can’t get you involved in this any more than you already are. Can you take me to the airport?”
The woman paused. “Sure, if you think that’s the best place for you.”
“I can get lost in the crowd. Have my parents wire me money or something.” She rubbed her temples. She just needed to get out of here. “Maybe the bus station.”
“Who’s after you, Pam?”
“The Russian mob.”
Josie winced. “Can you disappear?”
“No, but I can run for a bit. Just until I figure things out.”
“They can trace any credit card transaction, you know.”
“I’m going to do a cash advance.”
“Interest charge is going to be hell.”
“That’s the least of my worries,” Pam said.
“You might want to stop at Walmart and get some new clothes.”
Pam looked down at her vomit-speckled shirt and torn pants. Blood from her palms stained what wasn’t covered in grass stains and dirt. “Good point. You don’t mind, do you?”
“Nah, we’ll go to the next town over, just to be safe.”
When they pulled into the parking lot, Josie said, gripping the wheel in agitation. “I’ll wait right here.”
“Thanks,” Pam said, and when she got out of the car, she realized she didn’t have her purse on her. She should ask Josie to drive her back to her office, where she had a spare inhaler and some cash. She was helpless without it. But first she had to clear her head. What if Vadim had someone watching her office?
“The cops aren’t going to think you killed your friends, are they?” Josie said.
Pam looked up. “No, of course not.” Drake talked a lot of garbage out there, but he had to know she couldn’t kill Oksana and Stefan in cold blood. “I’ll be right back,” she said, still not sure what she was going to do. Limping into Walmart, she realized she didn’t have any shoes either. The greeter at the door just stared at her.
Making her way to the bathroom, Pam breathed a sigh of relief when it was empty. She cleaned herself up the best she could. Unfortunately, she still looked like an escaped mental patient. Was it only this morning that she and Drake were promising each other a night of passion? Only this morning that he’d thrown Darren against her wall and arrested him? It must have been Mark on the phone this morning, filling Drake’s head with Oksana’s poison.
Oksana, who would never do that again.
Pam locked herself in the stall and did deep-breathing exercises until she felt more centered. What she wouldn’t give to be back in her treatment room. That was it. She would ask Josie to drop her off at the hospital, and she’d tell security to keep an eye out. She could take it from there. Her overnight bag was still there. She had a credit card in her desk drawer. It was simple. She’d let security escort her into her office to make sure Vadim wasn’t waiting for her. Then she’d take off, maybe go see her parents down in Florida. They’d collapse in shock. But it would buy her some time. Her parents hadn’t left a forwarding address when they finally slunk out of Harding and they had different last names. Pam and Darren had stopped using their father’s name when he made them homeless.
Pam exited the bathroom with more confidence, until she ran into Drake and Mark coming in the front door.
“Mark is sleeping with Oksana!” She pointed her finger. “Don’t listen to a word he says.”
Mark turned a deep shade of red. “Oksana is dead.”
“I know,” Pam said. “I saw Vadim shoot her and Stefan.”
“Jesus,” Drake said and reached for her, but she flinched back.
“Are you taking me in for accessory to murder, Detectives?”
“We want you to come with us. It’s safer,” Mark said.
“I want my damn lawyer,” she shouted. “I’m not going anywhere with you. You’re a dirty cop.” Pam continued to gesture at Mark.
He reared back as if she’d slapped him. Drake reached out for her again.
“Don’t touch me,” she yelled. “You don’t get to touch me, ever again.”
They were starting to draw a crowd, and Pam was grateful. “Am I under arrest or not, Detectives?”
“No, of course not,” Drake said.
“Then get out of my way.”
“Honey, you have no shoes.”
“I have a ride.”
“No, you don’t. The woman who dropped you off called us. She left.”
Pam sagged in defeat. She had no one. No money, and yes, no shoes. Then a thought hit her. “Where’s my brother?”
“He’s in custody,” Drake said.
“No, he’s not. He spoke to Vadim when I called you.”
This time, Pam didn’t have a chance to move when Drake grabbed her and started hauling her out of the store.
“Don’t say another word until we’re in the car. You’re putting lives at risk,” he said.
“I am not getting in the car with him,” she said, struggling against his iron grip.
“Yes, you damn well are. Otherwise, I’m going to handcuff you and book you.”
“For what?”
“Disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace, and resisting arrest.”
Any answers Pam could come up with would make her sound like Oksana. And look what had happened to her. She let Drake put her in the backseat of a beat-up sedan.
Mark claimed the passenger seat as Drake slid into the driver’s seat.
“I’m not a dirty cop,” Mark said, turning to look at her.
“You were passing false information from a murderess to your partner.”
“Oksana never killed anyone.”
“Stefan kil
led your godfather, Drake,” Pam said and felt a stab of remorse when he went white-knuckled on the steering wheel. “Vadim told me, after he killed them. He said Stefan lost his temper and hit him too hard. Stefan and Oksana had to use the bats to cover it up.”
“Vadim was chatty,” Mark said. “How did you get away?”
“I threw up,” Pam said. “All the blood and gore. I just lost it. Vadim couldn’t take me being sick. He could kill two people in cold blood, but a little puke crippled him. He ordered me into the bathroom, and I climbed out the window and ran.”
“Smart girl,” Drake said.
She met his eyes in the rearview mirror and saw a sheen of tears in them. Not knowing how to handle that, she looked away.
“Please take me to the hospital. I have things to get.”
“Like the shattered nesting dolls? What was in them, anyway?” Mark asked.
“Oksana told me Nikolai was fencing stolen museum pieces. She smashed the dolls, looking for proof. She found five medallions, little metal squares with pictures of dead Russians on them. If Vadim didn’t take them from her, they’d still be on her body.” Pam swallowed hard. “Or maybe Stefan has them.” Pam rubbed her head. “I can’t remember who was holding them when they were shot.”
“Why did you run?” Mark said.
“Vadim was going to kill Darren and me.”
“You don’t know that,” Mark said.
“He’s a psychopath. He thinks Darren and I crossed him. We’re dead if he catches up to us.”
“Not going to happen,” Drake said.
Pam leaned back in her seat. “I hope you’re right.”
The detectives shared a look, but Pam was too weary to try to figure it out. It wasn’t until a few minutes later that she realized they weren’t going anywhere near the hospital.
“Where are you taking me?”
“A safe house until Vadim is caught.”
“Absolutely not.”
“What’s the alternative, Pam? He knows where you work. Where you live,” Drake said.
“I was going to hop a plane.”
“To where? He will find you. Him or another one of his degenerate friends.”
Naked Truth Page 13
