Crossing the Line (36 page)

“If Park is watching he’ll have seen a rollerblader leave and not come back.”

“Maybe I was visiting. I can’t skate back in at this time in the morning. How about if I’m pregnant and return by taxi? It wouldn’t look suspicious then. But I need to take the skates back. They know Natasha had a pair.”

Ethan gave a short laugh. “You’re better at this than me. Spell it out.”

“I do want to finish what Galya started. Follow me, watch me. If I pull my hair up into a curl on my head, come get me. That’ll be our signal.”

“I don’t want you to do this. I—”

“This isn’t about what you want, Ethan.”

Tom picked up the phone and moved from the bedroom. His wife had just fallen back to sleep after feeding the baby. He listened carefully and when Ethan asked if he was prepared to help he said yes. It was a risk but he didn’t want to look back on his life and regret the chances he hadn’t taken.

He met Ethan, Revnik and Katya in the parking lot of a hospital four miles from the apartment block in South Beach. Tom had brought a bagful of his wife’s maternity dresses, a pair of sandals, a black wig left over from Halloween, a baseball cap and a pillow. At three in the morning, a heavily pregnant woman, arriving in a taxi and accompanied by her husband would be unlikely to alert anyone watching.

After discussion it was decided Revnik would take her back. Tom was surprised Ethan agreed even when Revnik said Park had never seen him up close. Though Park could potentially recognize any of them so they needed to keep their faces hidden. Revnik said he’d erase the CCTV tapes showing Katya leaving and returning. Tom would bring Revnik’s car to South Beach so he could get home and Ethan would drive Tom back to his own vehicle.

Tom helped Katya change in the back of his car. He wrapped the roller boots in her other clothes and wedged them between the pillow and her stomach, fastening it together with a belt.

“Try not to give birth,” he said.

Katya smiled.

Once Ethan and Tom had driven off, Katya allowed Revnik to take her arm as they walked up to the main entrance of the hospital. The taxi was on its way. She slid her other hand under the weight of the roller boots.

He led her over to a bench. “Tell me how you managed to find Aleksei?”

“When I wasn’t looking for him.”

Revnik smiled. “The more Aleksei likes you, the more Viktor doesn’t.”

“Maybe Aleksei likes me because Viktor doesn’t.” She didn’t think that was true.

He chuckled. “We have something in common, you and I.”

“What’s that?”

“Ruthlessness, a determination to see things through.”

“We’re Russian.” She swallowed hard. “Why did Viktor claim he wasn’t responsible for the death of my parents and my grandparents?”

Revnik shrugged. “He’s playing with you, Katya. He’d kill his own mother if he had to. Just be careful. All you have to do is listen, then get into bed with Ethan and whisper in his ear. Alternately, get in bed with me and whisper in my ear.”

She hoped that was a joke.

In the taxi he put his arm around her and pulled her close.

“You folks doing okay?” the driver asked. “No baby tonight?”

“False alarm,” Revnik said. “It’s our first.”

The Cuban driver had five kids, was therefore an expert and chatted all the way to the apartment about Braxton Hicks contractions. Katya closed her eyes. She could feel Revnik’s heart beating. It pounded hard like hers.

* * * * *

Katya fretted about the pillow as she and Revnik walked into the lobby, worried it would drop below the hem of the dress or worse that she’d suddenly give birth to a pair of roller blades. At least the awkward way she walked looked authentic and at this time in the morning the chances of meeting anyone were slight. She wondered if Park had watched them arrive and was close enough to see their faces.

When they were in the elevator, Revnik whispered, “Go to the apartment on your own in case Aleksei is there. I can’t see any point in blowing my cover too.”

“You’re not going to rescue me if he is?” Katya asked.

“You can talk or fuck your way out of trouble,” he said with a grin.

“What about these clothes? I don’t want them left in the apartment.”

“Okay, I’ll give you a few moments. If you open the door again, I’ll know to come.”

Katya didn’t think Aleksei would be there but she was still relieved to find the place empty. If there were cameras inside the apartment, Aleksei would already know everything. She went into the bedroom, stripped off, pulled on a t-shirt and put Tom’s wife’s clothes in a bag. When she opened the door of the apartment Revnik walked straight in. Katya offered him the bag and he planted a clumsy kiss on her lips. As she reached to slap him, he slammed her backward. She banged the side of her face on the wall.

“Get the fuck off me and get out of here,” she snapped.

“You’re already fucking two guys. Another one won’t make any difference.” He reached for the edge of her T-shirt, Katya lurched and the material ripped.

“Get out, Revnik.”

“You were all over me in the taxi.”

“You were pretending to be my husband. What should I have done? Sat the other end of the seat? Not let you put your arm around me?”

“That would probably have been more realistic. Come on. Aleksei won’t find out. Nor will Ethan. I’m going to fix the tapes. No-one will know I’ve been in here except us.” He caught her arm. “A blowjob will do. You impressed Platov.”

She slapped his face. “Bastard.”

He raised his fist, then stopped. “That was close. You might have difficulty explaining a black eye. Although I suppose you could always say you walked into a door. Okay, your loss. Get some sleep. You have a big day ahead.”

She stared at the closed door when he’d gone and shuddered. How could he think…? She clenched her teeth.

* * * * *

Ethan sat under the stairs in the lowest part of Katya’s building. The need to maintain a high level of security for residents had to be balanced with providing easy exit in case of fire, and Ethan had taken advantage of that weak point. He checked his cell phone was on silent and waited for Tom’s call.

Once Ethan knew Revnik was on his way home, he waited another ten minutes before he headed for the security office. Getting through a locked door hadn’t been a problem last time, but Ethan wore gloves and stayed alert. Revnik had been too keen to deal with the tapes. Ethan wanted to be certain he’d done his job.

There was no action around Katya’s door, no rollerblader, no pregnant woman and partner which was fine. Ethan assumed Revnik would have switched the tapes between floors but when he checked, that hadn’t happened.

Ethan rocked in the chair. If Aleksei checked the tapes he’d see nothing. Theoretically that was okay, but if he had a guy watching, he’d know a skater had gone out and a pregnant woman and her husband had come in, so where had they gone. Which floor? Which apartment? Ethan couldn’t find them on any tape. He ran his fingers through his hair. Had Revnik fucked up on purpose? If Ethan rang him to check, Revnik would know he wasn’t trusted. Ethan started again, trying to figure it out because he had to be sure.

* * * * *

Tom followed Revnik home and returned to his house in time for his wife to hand over their daughter before she collapsed back into bed. Tom rocked his tiny baby in his arms as he worked on the computer, printing out a copy of the photograph he’d emailed to Ethan. He felt sick when he looked at Natasha, tried to imagine how he’d feel if anyone did that to his wife or child.

Once the baby was back in her crib and sleeping, he showered and left the house.

He knocked on Luisa’s door at nine. This had not been something Ethan had asked for, but Tom wanted his boss reinstated for his sake as much as Ethan’s.

“Hi, Tom. What’s wrong?” Luisa asked.

“Can I come in?”

“Sure.” She moved back to let him into the house.

“I brought something to show you.”

“Okay.” She sat on the couch.

Tom unfolded the sheet of paper and handed it to her. Luisa’s look of puzzlement turned to horror. “Why are you showing me this?”

“Because you’re responsible.”

“How can you say that’s my fault?”

“We know what you did, Luisa. You took Viktor Petrenko’s number from the file and told him we knew about the uranium. You said a blonde had been sleeping with an FBI agent since she arrived. You used a device to change your voice.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“All calls to Petrenko’s landline are recorded. We’ve had the tape analyzed. The lab technicians removed the distortion. We know it’s you.” Tom lied.

She burst into tears.

“What the hell did you think you were doing? You made up shit about Ethan harassing you and gave confidential information to a man under investigation. Someone died because of you. And she didn’t die easily. Look what they did to her!”

Luisa cried harder. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I just wanted Ethan to like me. He liked her better. I was jealous. I didn’t mean for her to get killed.”

“What did you use to alter your voice?”

She got up and took a blue plastic toy from a cupboard.

“Put it in a bag.” Tom didn’t want his fingerprints on it. “We’re going to see Frank.”

* * * * *

Aleksei had slept badly. Each time he woke he went down to his computer to check the programs he had running. No calls into or from Katya’s cell phone, nor had the line into the apartment been used but he still felt uneasy. Probably because he wasn’t looking forward to the meeting with the buyers.

He drove to South Beach, pulled up behind Park’s car, walked up to the passenger door and got in.

“Did your eyes stay open?”

“For the amount you pay me I’d have physically pinned them open if I thought I was going to fall asleep.”

Aleksei laughed. “Quiet night?”

“Apart from the transvestite who propositioned me? Katya didn’t come out.”

“You sure?”

“I’ve sat here all night. Unless she was lying flat in the back of a car, she didn’t leave. I’d have been better sitting in the security office in the basement. Then I could have watched the door of the apartment.”

“I told you, I couldn’t get hold of the guy in charge. Any walk-ins or outs?”

“A lot, I wrote them down and times. Woman walking dog, dog walking woman, rollerblading tub of lard, pregnant woman and her husband.” He yawned. “You want me to check the garage tapes?”

“No, I’ll do it. Go home, get some sleep but keep your cell phone next to your ear.”

Thirty minutes later, the security guard had a pocket full of cash and was on his way to a nearby café while Aleksei sat in his office.

* * * * *

Katya didn’t stir until the bed dipped. Aleksei had settled at her side. She willed her heart to stay steady but her frazzled nerves made it pound.

“What happened?” His fingers touched the graze on her cheek.

“I slipped. Have I passed the test?”

“What test?”

“Not running away when you gave me the chance.”

He smiled.

“I would have gone but I can’t get far on three dollars.”

“You’re such a smartass.”

“If I don’t go to work today, I’m going to lose my job. If I lose my job, I lose my visa and have to go back to Russia.”

“You don’t need to go to work. I can sort out your visa.”

“Is there nothing you can’t sort out?”

“I don’t know.”

She pulled him down to lie beside her. “I was scared here on my own.”

“You want to go to work or spend the day with me?”

“I don’t like to let people down.”

“What about letting me down?” He stared at her intently.

“Or you me,” she retorted.

He brushed her hair from her eyes. “I promised you everything would be all right. I’m still working on it.”

“Don’t leave me on my own again.”

He kissed her nose. “Be my support today. I have something important to do this morning. I’ll call UM and tell them you’re still sick.”

Guilt and lust swirled in Katya’s head. She had this idealistic notion of somehow saving Aleksei but she knew things were running out of control. The sale of the radioactive material trumped any personal interest including the death of her family and her attraction to Aleksei.
I’m the spy I once dreamed of being when I was a naïve child.

Aleksei pushed back the covers and laid his hand on her belly. “Do you want children?”

Katya started. “Do you?”

He licked his finger and trailed it from her lips, down her neck and chest, over her belly and between her thighs.

“Yes,” he said. “I didn’t and now I do.” He stared at her. “Maybe I was waiting for the right person.”

The top of her thighs were wet with her cream. Aleksei slid his finger over her folds, lingering on her clit.

“I think we were meant to be together,” he said. “Two damaged people.”

Katya didn’t want to look him in the eyes because she thought she might cry. She closed her eyes, rolled to lie on top of him, looped her hands around his neck and kissed him. The muscles of her sex pulsed and her heart pounded. How could kissing him feel so electrifying? The feel of his tongue riding hers sent current sizzling along her veins. She arched into him, her head spinning, tears leaking down her face.

Aleksei spun her over, held himself above her and brushed his lips over her cheek. “Open your eyes.”

Katya swallowed and forced them open.