Firebird (34 page)

Juliet stormed past Alexandra, straight into Anthony Rhodes, and locked her arms around his neck.  Over the top of her bright hair, Rhodes’ eyes sought Alexandra’s with an ironic ‘that went well’ look before he whispered to his step-daughter and led her toward the dessert table.

Alexandra stared after her niece - neither child nor woman, so lonely and desperate for attention – and felt her heart shift in her chest.

At that moment the cell phone in her evening bag chirped.

* * * *

The man who called himself Ivan kept his eyes on Alexandra Marik.  As beautiful as her sister in the slender copper dress.  Red hair sparking, eyes as deep and silver as a Russian twilight.  Smart and intense, defying the guests to underestimate her.  A worthy adversary, he thought sadly.  She had that same fire, that same narrow dancer’s body, as his Tatyana.

The music and dancers in the glittering ballroom faded around him.  For just a moment, he was a youth again, strong and in love, and it was one of those perfect Russian White Nights in early June.  He’d been walking Tatyana home from the theatre and a late dinner when they’d come to a broad square on the edge of the Neva River. 

No one was about.  She’d been humming the Tchaikovsky all evening, ever since they’d left the ballet.  She’d kicked off her shoes, and he’d taken her in his arms.

For an hour they’d danced, alone in the violet St. Petersburg’s night.  When, finally, they were exhausted, he’d held her close and kissed her for the first time.  Her lips had tasted of Georgian peaches and summer wine.  It was the most romantic night of his life.

The music in Foxwood’s ballroom drew him back.

Ivan lifted his head.  Dangerous to have the old memories.  Tatyana was long gone, his beautiful Firebird consumed by the flames.  And so was the boy who danced with her in a moonlit Russian square and dreamed of dancing one day on a New York stage. 

The fire had changed everything.  

He gazed around the brilliant ballroom.  So many familiar faces.  Colleagues, acquaintances, friends.  And the other members of the ‘Club.’  The Lions, his closest friends of all.

What would you think of me if you knew the truth
? he wondered suddenly.  And then,
No worse than I think of myself. 

Fool, he told himself brutally.

Once more his eyes sought Alexandra.  She looked so much like Evangeline tonight.  Was it really possible that Eve had given her sister the Firebird brooch?

He had to know.  Surely it couldn’t be the brooch Panov had shown him, at the lodge in the mountains, on the night Operation Firebird had been activated.  That brooch was still at the lodge, where he’d hidden it.  Wasn’t it?

He’d always known there was an original brooch - and a copy.  Even the firebird copy was worth a small fortune.  He’d worn that copy on his hunter’s costume during his final ballet performance in London, fastened it to Tatyana’s breast for protection just moments before the fire.

And now Alexandra had announced that Eve had given her a brooch from St. Petersburg.  Who had the original?  The copy?   One more thread, binding them together.  He looked over his shoulder.  Panov was here, somewhere in the ballroom.  Had he, too, heard her challenge?

Ivan searched the ballroom, and finally saw Panov, so handsome and fair in his tuxedo, against the far wall.  Panov was punching keys on his cellphone.  Then he raised his head to watch Alexandra Marik. 

Oh yes, he’d heard
.

At that moment Alexandra reached for her phone, froze as she read the text.  Then she gathered her purse, flung Eve’s silken shawl over her shoulder with a defiant gesture and hurried through the French doors toward the high-walled Topiary Garden.  Ivan watched as Panov followed her out into the dark night.

CHAPTER 35

“Come, He has hid himself among these trees...”

Romeo & Juliet, Shakespeare

Alexandra pulled Eve’s shawl more tightly around her shoulders as she wandered down Foxwood’s curving paths, the lights and music fading as she moved deeper into the maze of topiary hedges.  Maybe a meeting in the Topiary Garden wasn’t the best idea…  But she had to draw Ivan out.  Alone.

At least Anthony knew where she was.

Alexandra walked deeper into the leafy maze.  A fountain, sculptures, classical urns.  Above the high bushes, the dark roof of a gazebo.  She stopped in the shadows, lifted her head, listened.  Distant sounds, violins and laughter, from the house…  There!  A scraping sound, somewhere behind her.   The wind?

The moon slipped behind a cloud, cloaking the high topiary figures in black.  Huge shapes seemed to crowd around her in the darkness, closer, closer, and she felt the fear welling in her chest.

The text message spun into her head. 
Meet me now in the Topiary Garden.

You wanted this meeting, kiddo, she reminded herself.  Taking a deep breath and squaring her shoulders, she moved on.

She could feel eyes watching her.

A sudden movement, deep in the topiary, sent black shadows dancing across the path.  She went totally still.  She could almost hear the sound of her heart hammering.  And then – soft breathing in the silence.

He was here
.

“Is someone there?”

Only the whisper of the wind through the pines, and the shrill distant whinny of a horse in the dark night.

Nothing moved.  Then footsteps on the path.  A shadow, darker than the trees.  Coming toward her.

* * * *

“Panov!”  A hoarse whisper in the darkness.

The Russian spun around as he felt the hand grip his shoulder.

“My Prince -”

Ivan drew his Control back into the shadows of the Topiary.  “Keep your voice down.  You are not to touch her, Panov.”

“You heard her, talking about a brooch!  I warned you, Prince Ivan.  Alexandra Marik is getting closer.  Interfering bitch - she is a threat to us.  We cannot allow her to destroy all our hopes and plans.  We cannot allow her to stop Firebird!”

“You
will not
hurt her.  Not now, not here -”

Panov stared at him.  “Then there must be an accident.  A car, perhaps, spinning out of control on a dark road later tonight.”

“
Think
, Panov!  Focus on our mission
.
  The
last thing
we want is to call attention to ourselves now!  Not when we are so close to achieving our goal.  Your game of cat and mouse is over, Panov.  Leave her to me.  She will not stop us, you have my word.  Go inside.  I will see to it myself.”

Panov was very still.  Something – distrust? – flashed deep in the blue eyes.  Finally, with a shrug of powerful shoulders, he turned away.  “As you wish.”

Ivan watched Panov disappear into the darkness.  Then, still hidden by the dense leaves, he turned to watch the woman who reminded him so much of his dear Tatyana.

I won’t let any more innocent women be hurt
, he told her. 
I’ve bought you a little time
,
you are safe for the moment.  But Panov will not wait for long
...

Ivan shook his head and quietly disappeared into the maze.

* * * *

There she was.

Garcia stopped, relieved.  She was standing very still, her chin lifted as if listening, in the shadow of a huge hedge pruned into the shape of a crouching tiger.  Lantern light fell on her face, brushing her skin with gold.

He stepped through the dark leaves.  “So this is where you’ve been hiding!”  He heard the ripple of relief in his voice as he walked toward her on the pebbled path.

Alexandra braced, then turned too quickly, catching her heel on the path.  She reached down in frustration and tore off the offending high-heeled sandal.  “Garcia!  Not now.  Go back inside!”       

“I’m fine, Red, thanks for asking.”  He looked down at the strappy sandal dangling from her fingers and held out his hand.  “La fiesta is not going well, it seems.  Need help?”

Balancing on one foot, she slipped the sandal back on.  “Is my name Cinderella, Garcia?”

He shot her an amused look.  “Life was so dull before you dropped out of the sky into my world, Chica.”   He looked around the shadowed garden.  “You are either crazy-brave or just plain crazy.  What were you thinking, coming out here alone?  A damned dangerous thing to do.  Come inside with me, now.”

“Have we met?  It’s not your call, Garcia.  Go back to the party.  I’m waiting for someone.”

“I was alone in a roomful of people in there.  I’m not going anywhere.”

She swore under her breath.  “I mean it, Garcia.  I need to wait here by myself.”

“This wasn’t the plan, Red.  You’ve gone too far off the reservation.”  He tried to contain the fury in his voice.  “I am
royally
pissed off!  Why didn’t you tell me you were going to dress like your sister?”

“Because you would never have agreed to my meeting Ivan alone.”

“Wouldn’t it have been easier to just stand up on a table and wave your shawl like a bullfighter?”

“Very amusing.  How did you know where to find me?”

“The last thing I told you was to stay with the guests in the ballroom.  So of course I’d look for you in a dark, deserted garden.”

She turned away to hide her smile.  Her eyes scanned the darkness, then her breath came out in a long sigh.  “It doesn’t matter, he won’t show now.  He’s seen you.  He’s long gone.”  Her eyes widened in accusation.  “You did this on purpose.”

“You’re lucky that’s all I did.”  Garcia gave her an unrepentant look, moved closer.  “Ballsy move, I’ll give you that.”

She swung away angrily.  Her dress spun, lifted, caught the swaying light of the lanterns. 
She has a way of moving
, he thought.  The sound of violins drifted from the tall windows.  The clouds shifted, and she was suddenly awash in moonlight.

“You look – different tonight,” he said quietly.

Her narrow fingers smoothed the sleek, unfamiliar style.  “Just like a boy, according to Juliet.”

“Not in that dress.”

It was the first time he’d seen her in a dress.  This one was backless.  He stared at the long slender curve of her back as she turned away from him, the shadowed hollow at the base of her spine, the glimpse of bare toes beneath a swinging copper hemline…

Her low voice broke into his thoughts.  “These are
Eve’s clothes
, Garcia.  It seemed like such a good idea this morning.  But now - I’m wearing Eve’s dress and scent, helping Anthony host her party.  I’m fighting with her daughter as if she were my own.  I’m searching for the same man Eve wanted to find.  Every day I’m taking on more and more of my sister’s life.” 

“This isn’t a movie, Alexandra!  You’re not Ingrid Bergman attempting to foil some Nazi plot.  This is tearing you up.  I should have stopped you.”

She looked up at him.  “I had to do this!  I wanted Ivan to know I’m here.  To believe that I’m on to him, too.  Just as Eve was.”

He scowled down at her.  “Did you really believe that taking Eve’s place would lure Ivan out of hiding? 
Hello, nice party, can you tell me why you killed my sister
?  Give me a break!  He’s too smart, Red.  And so are you.”

“What I’ve done is thrown down the gauntlet.  I’m counting on his ego.  I’ll force Ivan to act.”

“And become his next victim?  You’ve gone too far tonight.”

Unyielding, unwilling to admit he might be right, she pulled the thin flowered shawl more tightly around her and turned away from him to gaze out over the paddocks.

He slipped off his tuxedo jacket and dropped it over her shoulders.

“I didn’t think you were coming,” she said to him.

He gazed down at her.  “I’ve been trying to extricate myself from a woman whose hair never moved and whose only goal in life appears to be visiting every country in the world.  I was trying to get to you.  But one minute you were across the room, and the next moment you’d disappeared.”

Yes, he’d seen her.  Suddenly the sea of faces and tuxedos had parted, and she’d been there, a slender flame across the crowded room.  All sound had stopped and the rest of the room had simply faded away.  And then she was gone.

 “Damned woman had a visor grip on my arm,” he muttered.   “I’ve been searching for you for the better part of an hour.”

“I was in the library.  And meeting the Lions, as you instructed,” she said coldly.   “And then my niece made her appearance.  No thanks to you and your security!”

“I found out that she was coming just a few hours ago, Alexandra.  Rhodes called that shot as her step-father.  And he has security as good as mine.”  He cocked an eyebrow.  “No one could have missed
that
entrance.  Juliet’s a striking girl.”

“Like mother, like daughter.  Never miss an opportunity for theatrics.”  She shivered, shook her head back and forth.  “But all I saw was a desperate cry for attention.”  Her eyes found his.  “Oh, I know she’s acting out.  But I have enough to worry about with my own daughter.  Bloody hell, Garcia, I have no idea how to help my niece.  Or even if I want to…”

Oh, you want to.  “She seems like a good kid. Red.”

“A good kid blasting holes in every thing in her life, Garcia, to prove to the world that she doesn’t care if no one loves her.  She told me she feels as if she’s disappearing.”

“Hell of a thing for a kid to believe.”

“The only way I can help her is to find her mother’s killer.”

“It’s more than that.  She
does
care, Red, she just needs love.”

“Oh, God, I know that.  But don’t you see?  I have no caring left to give.  Juliet is
not my child
!  All my caring has to be for my
own
child, for Ruby.   I don’t want to feel this way about someone else, I
won’t
!” 

“Dios,” he murmured.  “You’re afraid of loving her.”

“I’m afraid that she and I are more alike than I want to admit.”