Crossing the Line (32 page)

Aleksei picked up Park’s message on Friday afternoon in London. Katya wasn’t answering her phone. She’d not returned to the apartment on Thursday night, nor had she turned up for work on Friday, nor had she responded to Park’s voice mails or text messages. Aleksei had had no calls from her, but there were four from a number he didn’t recognize that he’d ignored. Now the number didn’t connect. He called Park back and told him to check it and to speak to Alice McColl. He was both pissed off and worried. A lot more worried than pissed off.

Throughout his meeting he was distracted. He’d thought about bringing Katya with him across the Atlantic, but she was so keen to work, he’d known they’d fight if he’d suggested it. Now he wished he’d insisted.

When Park called again, Aleksei didn’t know whether to be relieved or alarmed at the news. Katya had left for lunch on Thursday with a Russian matching Viktor’s description. Alarmed seemed more appropriate. He had no success with the number. It didn’t work for him either. Tracing it would take time. Aleksei called Viktor.

The moment he came on the line, Aleksei’s fragile hold on his temper snapped. “What the fuck have you done with her?”

“Good day to you too, Aleksei.”

“Well?”

“What makes you think I’ve done something to Katya?”

“She went to lunch with you and hasn’t been seen since. If you’ve harmed her in any way I’ll—”

“You’ll what? Lighten up, Aleksei. Yes, I picked her up for lunch but she decided she wasn’t hungry, got out of the car and that was the last I saw of her. I have a witness who can testify she was fine.”

“I don’t believe you.”

Viktor laughed. “Forget her. There’s plenty more where she came from. A group of tourists fly in next week. Sure to be a pretty blonde one. How about I let you have your pick?”

Aleksei stabbed the button to end the call. The man was a fucking liability. He wished Viktor had never set foot in the States. If he’d hurt Katya, he’d kill him.

First thing on Monday morning, Aleksei stood waiting outside the music department’s office at the university, barely containing his anxiety.

Alice McColl frowned when she saw him. “Good morning.”

“Has Katya been in touch?” he asked.

“No. She didn’t come in on Friday. She’s not called. I’ve been worried about her.”

Aleksei’s mouth went dry. “When did you last see her?”

“When she went out for lunch on Thursday. I thought she was meeting you. That’s what the man said, Mr. Petovsky or something like that. He said he’d have her back in plenty of time for her session at two but she never returned. To be honest, now you’re here, I’m really worried. Her violin’s still in the cupboard.”

“She left her violin?”

His heart pounded as he followed her into her room.

“Could I look at it?”

Alice unlocked the cupboard and handed it to him.

Katya watched from the door, her pulse racing, as Aleksei took the photograph from her violin case. How was he going to react?

“That’s all I have of my family,” she said.

“Katya!” Alice exclaimed. “Are you all right?”

Katya nodded. For a moment she saw something like relief in Aleksei’s face before a cold mask took over.

“She’s not working today,” he said. “Probably not tomorrow.” He put the photograph back, clicked the snaps on the case and gestured for Katya to leave.

“I can’t just walk out,” she said.

“We have to talk.” He nodded to Alice. “I apologize for the inconvenience.” Aleksei ushered her out. “Where have you been since Thursday?”

“It’s a long story.”

Katya could smell alcohol on his breath and he hadn’t shaved. She winced as he took hold of her arm and pulled her down the corridor.

There was a parking ticket on his car. Aleksei ripped it off and threw it on the ground. He looked awful. His eyes were bloodshot, his knuckles scratched and grazed. She’d never seen him look so…wrong.

He was yelling before they’d driven off the campus. “You think you can disappear and reappear when you feel like it? Why the fuck do you think I gave you a cell phone? What was the point of not keeping it with you?”

“I—”

“Where the hell did you go? Where did you stay? With that other violin teacher? Having a good time while I’ve been tearing my hair out wondering if you were lying in some mortuary?”

“I—”

“Park’s tried to get hold of you since Thursday night. Viktor said you got out of his car without a word and walked off. What were you thinking? Not about me, clearly. Didn’t you know I’d be worried?”

Katya gave up trying to talk. He continued shouting and drove too fast. She clung to the sides of the seat. When finally they were in the house and he’d slammed the door, she moved her violin out of harm’s way.

He pushed her back against the wall. “Where have you been?”

“Have you finished shouting?”

“No. I can’t—oh God, Katya.” He pulled her into his arms and held her so tight he crushed he lungs. “I thought I’d lost you. I’m trying to make things right for us. I can’t lose you.”

She stroked his back, stunned by the emotional outburst. It wasn’t like him.

“Aleksei, you haven’t listened to me. You’ve got one version of what happened on Thursday lunchtime from a man who wants me dead.”

He took a deep breath. “Tell me.”

“Let’s sit down.”

When he let her go, she walked into the lounge and stopped short. The television screen had been shattered. Debris littered the floor.

“Who did that?”

“Me.”

She tensed. “If you’d picked someone who could fight back, maybe you’d have had some sense knocked into you.”

He snorted but didn’t go near her.

She sat on the couch and Aleksei slumped in the chair.

“Come here,” she said.

He didn’t move, just stared at her.

“On Thursday, Petrenko turned up at the university. He said you were with him. You weren’t. Kirill was.”

His clenched jaw told her Viktor had omitted that detail.

“He wants me to get you to handle this uranium deal and said he had information I wouldn’t want you to hear. He accused
me
of phoning Max Hastings. Natasha told Viktor I’d stolen some of Anna’s stuff; her passport, driving license and some DVDs—home movies of men in compromising situations, filmed in your downtown apartment. None of it is true, but Viktor chose to believe Natasha. To be honest, I don’t think he cares who it was, but it was a chance to press me into getting you to be part of the deal. He said if I didn’t cooperate, I’d die. When the car slowed down, I threw myself out.”

Aleksei’s jaw twitched. Katya had no idea if he believed her.

“Want to see the bruises?” She felt lucky she had proof. “I ran and they chased me. I scrambled over a wall and a guy in a carwash let me hide. I told him two guys were after me and he took me to a cheap motel. The Luxor. Before you jump to the wrong conclusion, nothing happened. He was just a regular kind hearted man, the sort I was beginning to think didn’t exist. I called you from the motel over and over, but you never picked up.”

He groaned.

“I worried if I went back to UM, Viktor might be waiting. If I’d returned to the apartment, Natasha would tell him. No point going to your house because I couldn’t get in. I had just enough money to stay in the motel until today. I decided I’d go to work this morning, when all the students were around, and call you from my phone. That way you might answer.”

Aleksei was silent for a moment and then asked, “Why would Natasha want Anna’s identity papers?”

“Maybe she thought she could sell them.”

“Why would she tell lies about you?”

“You’d have to ask her.”

“I’m asking you.”

Katya sighed. “Because I found disks in the other apartment. Someone had put them inside normal DVD boxes, behind the authentic disks.”

Aleksei’s mouth tightened. “What was on them?”

“A guy in a diaper getting a blow job. A fat bald guy watching Anna and another woman suck each other’s breasts.”

“If you’re telling the truth then maybe Natasha still has these disks. If her version is the truth then you have them.”

She sagged. “
If
I’m telling the truth?” He shouldn’t believe her but she was still disappointed. “I don’t have them.” She walked over to the television. “Why did you do this? You thought I’d run away?”

Aleksei came up behind her. “I was angry because I thought you were dead.” He pulled her into his arms and she yelped.

She lifted her shirt and showed him the large multi-colored bruises on her side. “I told you, I had to jump out of the car.”

His eyes darkened. “You could have been killed.”

“If I’d stayed in the car, I would have been. I know what Kirill can do.”

He rested his forehead on hers and groaned. “Viktor’s an idiot.”

“He’s desperate for you to help him with this deal.”

“And he thinks killing you will make that happen?” Aleksei ran his fingers over her lips. “Why didn’t you say you’d get me to do it and then tell me?”

“Because your father would have then said I was working for him against you. I hate him but he’s your father. He thinks I’ve come between you. I’ll never be safe.”

“He wouldn’t dare touch you.”

Katya gave a small laugh. “He already has. You went away for a few days and I spent all of them hiding in a grubby motel room expecting Kirill’s knock on the door.”

“I won’t let him hurt you.”

“He nearly did. I can’t live my life knowing the moment I see Kirill’s face that he’s come for me. You’ve no idea how scared I am.” She put trembling arms around him and pressed her face into his shoulder. “You think if you help with this deal, your father will leave me alone?”

“I thought you advised against it.”

“I did. I still do, but I’m frightened.”
Frightened of the double-triple game I’m playing.

It was as far as she dared go. Aleksei slid his hands onto her butt. Katya pressed her lips against his. She needed to distract him before he wondered why she no longer cared how fucked up the world would be while his father climbed higher on his stack of money.

Aleksei swept her into his arms, carried her to his bedroom and laid her gently on the bed. He held himself over her, his face inches above hers. Her hand rose to his shoulder and she pulled him down into a kiss. As their tongues touched it was as though a pulse of electricity passed between them and his heart jumped.

Katya slipped her hands under his shirt onto his back and he trembled.
I could have lost her.
He imagined her throwing herself from a moving car and his stomach churned. The idea of Kirill getting his fucking hands on her chilled him to the bone.

“It’s okay,” she whispered. “Everything’s all right now.”

It wasn’t but it would be. He kissed her, their tongues tangled and fire raced down his spine. He pushed himself up to undo the buttons of her shirt. When he touched her breasts, she closed her eyes and moaned.

“Katya, Katya, Katya.” He whispered her name over and over as he licked and mouthed her breasts, thrilling at the way she arched into him and clutched his back. He wrapped his lips around her nipple, drawing on it with his teeth and Katya’s breathy cries made his cock even harder. While his mouth was busy, he slid his hand up her leg and stroked between her thighs, spreading the slick cream over her folds. He shuddered with longing.

In moments they were naked, hands all over each other, limbs entwined, mouths fused, bodies rocking together. He wanted to be gentle but she wouldn’t let him and he lost his head. She wanted him and he wanted her. That was all that mattered.

The moment he thrust inside her, she called out his name. The first time she’d done that in pleasure and Aleksei’s heart jolted. She wrapped her legs around him, her arms around him and he poured his love into her. Her back bowed and she gave a cry of pleasure as she came. He buried his face in her shoulder as he spurted into her and even in that moment of sheer joy, he wondered if he was really going to have to kill his father to keep her safe.

Aleksei left her sleeping while he showered, and then went downstairs to use his phone. When Katya came down, she looked dark-eyed and worried.

He pulled her into his arms and hugged her. “We’re going out.”

“Where?”

“To see Natasha.”

“What about my work?”

“Not today.”

Park drove them to the apartment. Aleksei held onto his temper by a thread. He believed Katya and was livid with Viktor but he needed to prove her innocence.

Park unlocked the lobby door.

“Did you get a key cut for Katya?” Aleksei asked.

“Yes, I’ve still got it though.”

When they walked into the apartment, Natasha emerged from her bedroom and stared at the three of them in surprise.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

Aleksei nodded to Park. “Go through Anna’s stuff and see if you can find her passport or driver’s license.”

“Katya took them,” Natasha snapped. “I already told Viktor.”

“What did it have to do with Viktor?” Aleksei asked. “Who do you fucking work for? Why didn’t you tell me?”

She opened her mouth and then shut it again.
Wise move
. Aleksei looked around. The kitchen was cluttered with take-out containers.

“I was just about to clean,” Natasha said.

The intercom crackled and Viktor announced he was downstairs.
Good.

“Nothing here.” Park got up from the pile of belongings.

Natasha crossed her arms. “I told you Katya took them.”

“Did Katya have anything with her on Thursday?” Aleksei asked Park.

“Her violin, no purse.”

“She put them in her violin case,” Natasha said.

“Did you see them in there?” Aleksei asked.

“Yes, they were in there when she left.”

Park opened the door, Viktor strode in and Aleksei felt Katya tense. He tightened his grip on her hand. Natasha sidled up to Viktor.

“This had better be good,” Viktor barked.

“Oh it is.” A muscle twitched in Aleksei’s cheek. “Natasha claims Katya took Anna’s passport and driver’s license out of the apartment in her violin case on Thursday, together with some interesting home movies. Katya denies it. The evidence has vanished so who are we to believe?”

“You sound like fucking Sherlock Holmes.” Viktor snorted. “We know who did it.”

“Katya hasn’t had her violin in her possession since you so kindly invited her for lunch. I took her cell from the violin case this morning before she got to work. Nothing else in there apart from the violin. Of course that doesn’t mean she couldn’t have stashed the documents somewhere, but her locker and mail box are empty.”

“She took them,” Natasha insisted.

“If that’s the case, they won’t be here will they,” Aleksei said. “Park, help me search.”

Katya’s bed was neatly made. Her birth control pills lay on the bedside cabinet, which meant she’d missed the last three days. He threw them to her. “Take one.”

“Careful you don’t end up a father, Aleksei.” Viktor smirked as he watched her extract a pill from the blister pack. “Children can be tiresome.”

Aleksei returned to the bedroom. A sheet of manuscript paper sat on the chair, half covered in scribbles. The only untidy item in there. The room didn’t take long to search. The closet and drawers were virtually empty. He was relieved she hadn’t lied to him, but then he hadn’t thought she would. He joined Park who was on his hands and knees fumbling in the bottom of Natasha’s closet.

“Why the hell do women need so many damn shoes?” Park asked.

Aleksei moved into Natasha’s bathroom. Katya’s held a toothbrush, toothpaste and a hairbrush while this looked as though a drug store had exploded inside it. Bottles, packets, and tubes lay on every surface, with multiple brands of shampoo, conditioner, body lotion and shower gel. Aleksei checked the cupboard and there was a single roll of toilet tissue. He laughed.

He turned and looked around. Towels were draped over the side of the tub at one end. At the other, the access point seemed slightly askew. He slid his fingers into the gap and pulled.

“Found something?” Park asked from the doorway.

“Yes.”
Thank fuck.

Aleksei entered the living room with a box of money. Park had Anna’s passport and driver’s license in one hand, disks in the other.

Natasha turned to Katya. “But you took them. I know you did.”

“I didn’t.” Katya jumped up.

Viktor pulled them down either side of him on the couch. Aleksei struggled to resist dragging Katya as far from Viktor as he could.

“Katya must have come back and hidden everything,” Natasha blurted. “She told me she called Max. She got the idea from Anna and those DVDs. She said we could work together, but I wasn’t interested. She must have blackmailed one of the guys on the disks to get that money. She’s trying to make it look like me.”

“Why would Katya take Anna’s ID?” Aleksei asked.

“She wanted to tell her family she was dead.”

Aleksei glanced at Katya who sat motionless and white-faced. “Katya doesn’t have a key to this apartment.”

“She…” Natasha floundered.

Viktor caught her arm as she tried to stand and yanked her down.

“Then she must have taken the disks and passport out of her violin case after I’d seen them and hidden them in the apartment. Yeah, that’s it. She knew I’d seen them so she planted them in my bathroom.”

“Why would she leave the money here if she had no way of getting back in the apartment?” Aleksei asked.

“She probably thought you’d give her a key.”

“Where did she get the money?”

“I told you. Threatening one of the guys on the disks.”

“How would Katya know who they were?”

Natasha’s eyes flickered. “Maybe Anna told her. Or maybe she got money off that guy in Phoenix.”

“You are such a bad liar,” Aleksei said. “Want to try again?”

“I didn’t put that stuff in my bathroom. She
must
have done it,” Natasha snapped.

“How?” Aleksei asked. “Explain to me how Katya got back into the apartment to put everything there.”

Finally Natasha was silent and Aleksei felt able to stop running escape scenarios in his mind. If he hadn’t persuaded Viktor of Katya’s innocence, he needed a way out of the apartment for both of them.

“Let me tell you what happened,” he said. “You and Anna had a deal going with Nik. The disks were your insurance policy. When Park came to get Anna’s belongings, you took Anna’s disks and put them with your own. Katya probably did help herself to Anna’s passport, driver’s license and a family photo and hid them in her violin case. You took them out again and accidentally took the photo of Katya and her family, leaving Anna’s. The identity papers were going to be another insurance policy, a new identity for you if we came looking. After all, why would we look for someone we knew was dead?”

“You’re wrong,” Natasha protested.

“Katya wouldn’t have made that mistake with the photograph. It’s the only one of her family she has.” He stared at Katya’s white face and turned to Natasha. “Pack a suitcase. You have five minutes.”

Natasha dashed into the bedroom.

“You’re not going to just let her go?” Viktor asked.

“What would you suggest I do? On second thought don’t answer. You owe Katya an apology.”

Viktor turned to her. “I misjudged you or rather I misjudged Natasha. I thought she was the quiet, simple one but I was wrong. I’m sorry, Katya. I’ll make it up to you. Let me take her out, Aleksei, buy her a gift.”

“Go to hell,” Katya said.

Aleksei laughed.

“You’ll be quite safe. Just me.” Viktor grinned.

“Katya’s not so easily bought.” Aleksei smiled at her.

Natasha came out of her room pulling a large blue suitcase.

“Go through it, Park. Make sure she’s not taking anything she shouldn’t.” Aleksei turned to Natasha. “Before I let you go, I want to know where the money came from.”

“It was Anna’s. I don’t know where she got it. I took it from her room before Park came to get her stuff.”

“If I had a fingerprint check on the bills, I’d only find her prints?”

Natasha flushed. “Well, I counted it.”

“It’s not the money that went missing seven months ago?”

“No.” Her face paled.

“What if I told you I have the serial numbers of the bills in my computer?” Although he didn’t.

She didn’t say anything for a moment and then muttered, “I’m sorry, Aleksei.”

* * * * *

Park drove them back to the house. Aleksei spent most of the journey on the phone cancelling meetings scheduled for that afternoon and all the time he kept Katya close to him. His possessiveness surprised him.

“Did you think I was going to jump out of the car?” she asked as Park activated the remote to open the gates.

“You might wish you had when you find out what I have in store for you.” He smiled.

The moment they were in the house he pushed her against the wall and lifted her dress over her hips. As he fumbled with the zipper on his pants he heard the phone in his pocket. Aleksei took it out, switched it off without looking who was calling and tossed it on the table.

* * * * *

Viktor was in the bathroom when Beth called through the door, “There’s a guy with a funny voice on the line for you.”

“Tell him I’ll call him back.”

“He says he’ll hang on,” she said.

He couldn’t even have a fucking shit in peace. The day had gone downhill from the moment he realized Natasha had fooled him. He’d had to apologize to Aleksei’s whore but that didn’t mean he trusted her. She was Galya’s sister. He didn’t believe in coincidence. He came out of the bathroom and grabbed the phone from Beth.

“What?” he snapped.

“Viktor Petrenko?”

“Who is this?” What the fuck was wrong with this guy’s voice? It sounded like a character on a kid’s cartoon.

“The FBI knows about your plans to obtain and sell enriched uranium.”

He slumped on the couch. “What are you talking about?”

“They know about the research facility in Abkhazia. The blonde-haired Russian told them. She’s been fucking an FBI agent since she arrived.”

The phone went dead. He cursed and dialed another number. “What the fuck am I paying you for, Constantin? How come I have to fucking hear it from some fucking spaceman?”

“What are you talking about?”

“You fucking trying to set me up?” he screamed, fury choking him.

“Calm down. Tell me what’s happened.”

“Aleksei’s whore is sleeping with the enemy. She’s told them I’m planning to sell uranium. The deal is fucked and I could be fucked too. Find out how much they really know and do it fast.”

He slammed the phone down. It rang again. He checked who was calling and pressed the button. “Wasn’t that clear enough?” he yelled.

“No,” Constantin said. “What exactly has happened?”

He repeated the conversation.

“The guy didn’t mention names?”

“No.”

“So it could be Natasha or Katya. They both have blonde hair.”

“It’s Katya. She knows about the deal and stopped Aleksei getting involved.”

“She might have told Natasha.”

“Are you fucking Katya too?” he asked.

“No, I’m just trying to ensure you don’t do anything hasty.”

“You’re the one who needs to be hasty. Find out what they know.”

* * * * *

Aleksei didn’t switch on his phone until he got up to make coffee the following morning. The last message was Viktor yelling. “Call me now no matter what time it is or what you’re doing with your dick.” Aleksei sighed and called him.

“The Feds know about the uranium,” Viktor snapped.

“Shit.” Aleksei spilled hot water on the counter and splashed his hand. “How?”

“They were informed,” Viktor growled.

“Who told you?”

“You ask that and not who told the FBI?”

Aleksei’s jaw twitched. “What are you implying?”

Viktor didn’t reply.

“Well?” Aleksei asked.

“Think about it. Who knew? Me, my friend in Abkhazia, you and your little friend. It wasn’t me, it wasn’t my friend, it wasn’t you. Who are we left with?”

“No.”

“How can you be so sure?” he asked. “You know how she feels about me.”

“For God’s sake, Viktor, you want to blame her for the upheaval in the Middle East and global warming as well? What about the buyers? Someone on their side?” Aleksei closed the kitchen door. “The FBI could be monitoring their phones. I know ours are safe but how can you be certain about theirs? Maybe the Feds are reading their computers. The morons probably don’t even have firewalls.”