Moving Target (12 page)

The pulse at Yegor's temple throbbed as he shouted into the phone, "You believe? You believe? I want proof!"

"Nothing remained of the vehicles or those inside them." Piterskij's voice sounded tense. "As I said, none could have survived."

"How do you know this?" Yegor shouted.

He had to force himself to calm down as Natasha looked from where she was now sliding on the mushroom on the Alice in Wonderland statue. He offered her a smile and circled his fingers in the air, in a gesture that told her to continue.

Yegor ground his teeth and lowered his tone. "How can you be so certain that no one escaped the vehicles?"

Piterskij cleared his throat. "Richardson was to serve as witness, but he did not remain inside the building as he should have. According to the police, he was killed from shrapnel from the explosions and his was the only body recovered."

Yegor's hands trembled and Alyona looked up at him and smiled. It was harder to return her smile but he did then turned his back to the girls.

"If there were no witnesses to ensure they did notescape the car, then how can you be so certain?" he growled.

"The blasts—"

"Until the trial we will continue to treat this as if the woman is still alive!" Even though it was early morning, Yegor pulled his handkerchief from his suit pocket and mopped his brow. The vein at his forehead pulsed. "You will ensure that every measure is taken to locate her."

"I will start on the task immediately," Piterskij said. "Do you have any further instructions?"

"Continue to monitor phone records of her friends and acquaintances," Yegor said as he glanced at his granddaughters again to keep an eye on them. "Have our operatives call every hospital in Manhattan with her description. Post constant surveillance around Federal Plaza where she is likely to be taken for witness preparation."

It was getting harder and harder for Yegor to keep his voice down. "Do not be negligent in your attempts at obtaining the names of persons on that jury."

"Security on this matter has been tighter than we've ever encountered," Piterskij said, but rushed to add, "However, we will take care of it."

"See that you do." Yegor looked at his granddaughters to make sure they were far enough away that they would not overhear him. "Until we see her dead body or a piece of her, until we have absolute proof, do not stop looking for the bitch."

The cigarette tumbled through the air, landing on the gas-soaked drapes covering her mother.

Flames encased her body in a whoosh of yellow and red.

Ani screamed then coughed from smoke and the acrid smell of gasoline filling her lungs as the man walked away and closed the door behind him.

Fire spread like a living entity coming to consume her and her whole family. More flames erupted and fire licked the walls, spreading to the ceiling, engulfing the family room. It moved so fast!

Pain racked Ani's body as she pushed herself to her feet. She pressed her hand over the bullet wound on her left shoulder.

Blood coated her fingers and heat caused sweat to roll down her face. Despite the heat, she felt a flash of cold inside her that made her body shake. For a moment her vision wavered and she had to steady herself. She listed to the side and stumbled, almost tripping in her high heels.

She heard a moan and turned to find her sister squirming on the floor. Jenn was alive! But so much blood was on one side of her face. Heart pounding, Ani took her bloody palm from her shoulder and caught one of Jenn's hands in hers.

Ani shot her gaze to the front door. It was on fire now, as was everything in their path.

Fire was all around them.

When she looked at the doorway to her father's den, she saw that the fire hadn't reached it yet. She choked and coughed from smoke, and her muscles strained as she dragged her sister into her father's den.

She tugged Jenn toward the window at the far side of the room, trying not to look at her father but failing. The bullet hole in his forehead . . . his sightless eyes . . . the expression of shock frozen on his features.

Ani forced back the desire to throw up, scream, and cry as she reached the window and released her grip on her sister.

Jenn slumped to the floor and groaned. So much blood covered her face. And was that a bullet hole? Had she been shot in the head?

Ani forced panicked thoughts from her mind, ignored the screaming pain in her shoulder, and focused on the window.

When she tried to grab the metal window grip, she jerked her hand back from the heat. Her palm burned from where she had touched it to the metal.

Her mind raced and panic speared through her. What could she use to protect her palm when she opened the window?

She and her sister would be cut by the glass if she broke the window and dragged them both through it, but she'd have to do whatever it took.

She had to get them out of here.

Continual coughing from the smoke racked her body as her gaze traveled her father's den with a quick sweep of her eyes.

The heat. The smoke.
The heat
. Flames were closing in on her, closing in on the window. She couldn't stop coughing and her eyes watered continuously. She could barely breathe. Her sight kept blurring and her knees threatened to buckle. Was the roaring from the fire or inside her head?

Her mind snapped into action again and a fresh rush of adrenaline pumped through her. She had to ignore everything and get them out of the house.

Ani started to grab a heavy glass paperweight from her father's desk when she remembered her father always had a handkerchief in his suit pocket.

She turned, avoiding looking at his face, and snatched the handkerchief from his pocket as fast as she could. Holding the cloth, she flipped the hot metal of the window lock and in seconds she had the window open.

Ani grabbed Jenn under her arms and strained to lift her sister's dead weight. She started to raise Jenn to the window—

A flaming beam swung down from the ceiling.

It slammed them both to the floor. The power of the impact knocked the breath from Ani's lungs.

The beam landed on her lower back and on her sister's legs. Burning wood melted Ani's suit into her flesh.

She screamed.

The pain
. The agony was almost unbearable, matching the gunshot wound at her shoulder.

But what was worse was seeing her sister's pants catch fire. Ani's fear for Jenn, and panic to get them both out of the house, gave Ani the strength she needed. She choked on fumes and smoke, her body racking even harder with the power of her coughs.

Giving it everything she had, she climbed out from beneath the beam and with her shoe shoved the beam off her sister.

Tears rolled down Ani's face as flames licked the lower half of Jenn's body and burned Ani's own back.

Adrenaline continued to pump through her body, helping to make her strong enough to raise Jenn and shove her flaming body out the window. Ani's heart stuttered when Jenn made no sound as she landed on the hedge and flipped onto the grass. Ani used the handkerchief to grasp the lower part of the window frame. She toppled through the window, over the hedge, nearly landing on her sister.

Someone grabbed Jenn and started putting out the flames on her legs.

Screaming and holding her hand to her bleeding shoulder, Ani rolled onto her back on the grass, trying to smother the flames burning her back through her suit.

Vaguely, she heard the sounds of sirens and felt someone grasp her under her arms and drag her farther from the burning house.

"Jenn!" she cried out and fought to get away.

The voice of the person helping her barely registered. A neighbor. Which one? "Someone else has her," the voice said.

"I don't think Jennifer is going to make it," came a frantic voice that Ani recognized as another of her family's neighbors.

The sound of sirens cut through the night and the screech of tires sounded in front of their home as the person shouted,

"Jennifer's shot in the head and over half of her body is burned."

Ani screamed, "Jenn!" again as tears poured down her cheeks. Another person applied pressure to her gunshot wound, but she hardly felt it. No matter how hard she tried to fight the person holding her to get to her sister, she couldn't move.

In her mind, all she could see was her sister's bloody face and flaming clothing, her mother's body encased in a cocoon of fire, and the bullet hole in her father's forehead.

Ani woke, sobbing, her head aching and her eyes burning from crying, her whole body shaking. Gradually she became aware of a soothing voice speaking low, caring words. Someone stroking her hair from her face.

"Just a dream, honey." Daniel's voice came from behind her. "You were having a nightmare."

Images wouldn't stop racing through her mind. She hiccupped and sniffled as she gradually became aware of what was around her, but trembled for a long time. Daniel continued to sit beside her murmuring that she was okay.

When she stopped shaking so hard, she rolled onto her back to look up at Daniel and blinked from the light pouring through the sheer curtains into the hotel room.

It hadn't mattered that she'd gotten her sister through that window. The shot to Jenn's head had skimmed the side of her skull, not entering her brain. But still her brain had swollen and her body had been too badly burned. She'd died on the operating room table.

That had been the last thing Ani had been told about her sister before she signed the contract to go into WITSEC.

Ani couldn't hold back another sob.

"Are you with me, Ani?" Daniel was sitting on the side of her bed and he gently caressed her damp cheek. "Are you all right?"

Ani took a deep, shuddering breath. "I dreamt of the fire. My family." Her throat closed off and she couldn't talk anymore.

She squeezed her eyes shut.

"The bastards who did it are going to pay." The inflection in his voice went from gentle to angry. "We'll make sure of it."

She opened her eyes and brought her hand to his, where he was caressing her face. She linked their fingers. "Thank you,"

she whispered, clinging to the warmth of his hand.

His eyes were dark and filled with confidence in what he'd said. He meant every word. As she gradually became more aware of him, she saw that his hair was damp, his face clean of dirt and smoke, but exhaustion was evident in his slightly reddened eyes. The bump on his head was deep red, turning purple.

As things came more clearly into focus, she noticed he was wearing only a towel around his waist and smelled of soap and man. She wished he'd take her in his arms and just hold her. All she wanted right now was to be held.

Now that she was becoming more alert, her aches and pains started yelling at her to pay attention. The cuts on the backs of her legs stung. The side of her face hurt, along with her shoulder and hip from where she'd slammed into that door.

"Your injury." She looked to where he was sitting as the memory of his wounds came back to her. "You shouldn't be putting pressure on it."

"I'm sitting on the half that doesn't burn like a sonofabitch." Daniel smiled and squeezed her fingers with his. He brought their hands to his mouth and kissed her knuckles.

She glanced down. "Looks like you're not going to be doing a whole lot of sitting for a while."

The corner of his mouth turned up in a grin. "Don't underestimate me." His smile faded a little. "I can handle anything that comes my way."

"Anything?" Her words came out soft, husky.

Daniel lowered his head until his face was close to hers. "Anything."

Butterflies filled Ani's belly and her heart started to race again. He was going to kiss her. His breath was warm against her face as his mouth came close to hers.

"So many times I could have lost you, Ani." His eyes were dark as he gazed at her. "I don't ever want to lose you."

His lips hovered over hers for a long moment. She waited, barely able to breathe. The brown of his eyes was so dark, drawing her closer to him. She moved her lips closer to his.

Daniel paused a heartbeat then moved his mouth to her forehead. He kissed her there before drawing away.

Disappointment rushed through her. A little whimper slipped from her that immediately caused her cheeks to warm from embarrassment.

His chest rose with his harsh intake of breath. He tipped his head back and closed his eyes, his hands balled into fists on his legs. For a long moment he stayed that way and she just watched him, unable to move.

There he was, perfect, every cut, every bruise, making him seem more real. She wanted to reach out and touch him, feel his strength.

When he looked at her again, his features were composed, showing no true expression, and her heart sank.

"Daniel—"

He put his thumb over her lips, stopping her. "What do you want for breakfast?" He glanced at the clock. "Lunch, I mean."

His thumb slid across her cheek as she turned her head to see the illuminated green numbers on the clock perched on the nightstand. "Wow." She looked back up at him. "It's already noon?"

"We both more than needed the rest." He stroked her hair from her face one more time before he eased to his feet. "I'll order room service."

The sheet fell to her waist when she pushed herself to a sitting position. She snatched it back up to cover her chest when she realized all she was wearing was her bra and panties. Warmth heated her cheeks again, overcoming the aches and pains she felt at that moment.

He visibly swallowed. "How does a club sandwich sound?"

"Fine."

"Fries or chips?"

"Barbecue chips and a Pepsi."

"You've got it."

Their exchange was stilted, like two strangers instead of two friends—who meant even more to one another.

She'd have to be made of stone to not realize that Daniel wanted her, too, and that he cared about her. How much, she didn't know, but they had some kind of connection. Even more so after the past few days.

"I'm dying for a shower," she said. All the dirt, smoke, blood, and grime made her feel sticky and gross. She'd been so captivated by Daniel she hadn't even noticed until this moment.