Moving Target (30 page)

Singleton looked up at the FBI case agent. "We'll swear out a complaint and get an arrest warrant for Yegor Borenko.

Before he catches wind of what we have, we'll be prepared for him."

He turned his attention to Ani. "I'm going to need you to testify once more, but it will be brief in comparison to your other testimony. Of course you will be cross-examined by Plutov.

"I'll have a sidebar in the judge's chambers," Singleton continued. "I'll meet with the judge and defense counsel to let them know I've just received this information and haven't been withholding it from defense during discovery. Arrangements will be made for the defense to review the material, which may delay the trial."

Ani couldn't help but look at him with obvious dismay on her face.

"To avoid having to bring you out of safety again, I'm going to push to have this evidence presented today so that you can finish testifying as soon as possible," Singleton said, not relieving her concerns in the least. "It may not happen, but it's early enough in the day and I'll do my best.

"In the meantime . . ." Singleton smiled as he held up the memory stick and looked at the FBI case agent. "The federal grand jury that's been sitting on the Yegor Borenko case you've been investigating—they'll fucking eat this up."

Ani perched on the witness stand again, her skin vibrating with satisfaction. Singleton had pulled it off and she was going to finish her testimony today. And the documents were going to be entered into evidence and shown to the jury.

Singleton had had his meeting with the defense counsel and the judge in chambers and the judge gave Plutov another hour to read the documents before Singleton entered them into evidence. During that hour, Litigation Support had set up computers and screens for the evidence to be viewed by the jury, prosecution, defense, judge, and witnesses.

Not only would Ani's testimony and the information on that memory stick help convict Dmitry Borenko, but the documents implicated Yegor Borenko. The head of the Russian Mafia family who was ultimately responsible for everything that had happened.

In front of her on the witness stand, to her left side, a computer monitor had been set up to be viewed by the next witness.

There were also monitors in front of the judge, prosecutor, defense attorney, and even the defendant. A huge screen was across the room from the jury so that they would be able to view the evidence when it was shown.

Dmitry's glare at Ani had intensified tenfold. She could feel the fury rolling from him in waves, all the way to the witness stand. It made her heart beat faster, but she met his glare with as placid an expression as she could muster. Inside she wanted to smile her satisfaction. The sonofabitch was going down, and he knew it.

Singleton approached the witness stand. To establish where the safe deposit key had come from, Singleton asked Ani how she and her sister had found the key. She explained that it had been hidden in the photo album recovered from the fireproof safe. She told him how she and her sister had determined the bank was the same one their father had banked at as long as they could remember.

When it came time for him to cross-examine her, Plutov approached Ani with narrowed eyes. He spouted questions about the key that made little sense to Ani. They'd found the key. End of story, right? Not according to Plutov. He wanted to know how the key had "magically" appeared and so forth.

"Those documents will prove there's not an ounce of human blood pumping through Dmitry Borenko's veins." She turned her glare on Dmitry. "He's an animal. A disgusting, filthy animal who murdered for greed."

Plutov shouted, "Objection. The witness is expressing emotion here, and not any proven fact."

Judge Steele glanced at the jury. "Sustained. The jury will disregard the witness's last statements."

At the same time Plutov and the judge spoke, a look of total and complete rage overcame Dmitry's features. His face went dark red, his eyes blazing. He stood, and prickling heat flowed over her as she saw his whole body tense and his fists clench.

"Be seated, Mr. Borenko," Judge Steele said in a commanding tone, a firm expression on her features.

Plutov tugged at Dmitry's jacket sleeve. "Sit," the defense attorney hissed loudly enough for Ani to hear.

Ani's body went ice-cold as Dmitry Borenko's eyes filled with hate—and death. The same death she had seen when he'd shot her two years ago.

Dmitry vaulted over the defense table.

He rushed the witness stand.

"Bitch!" he shouted as he reached her.

He wrapped his hands around her throat.

Ani gasped and barely heard the roar in the room as he dug his fingers and nails into her throat. He squeezed so hard she thought her neck would snap. Vaguely she was aware of someone trying to pry his fingers from her throat.

Despite the bout of dizziness that overcame her, anger and hatred gave her strength.

Using everything she had, Ani took her hand and rammed the hard, fleshy part of her palm into Dmitry's nose. She heard a sickening crack and heard his shout as her hand met his nose, but he didn't let go.

Spots flickered in and out behind her eyes as she heard him grunt and felt his fingers slide from her neck.

She barely had the presence of mind to see Daniel slam his fist into Dmitry's jaw. The man's head snapped to the side and his knees gave out. Only the two Deputy Marshals holding each of his arms kept him from falling.

Blood poured from Dmitry Borenko's nose, down to the white of his shirt. His jaw sported a bright red mark where Daniel's fist had met it.

As Dmitry was dragged away and out through a side door by a pair of Deputies, he struggled and shouted words in Russian that Ani was positive were obscenities.

Her vision started to clear. From behind her, someone was trying to draw her from the witness stand. She had a death hold on the wooden edge of the stand. Her hands and arms ached.

Another person eased her fingers from where she had them clenched so tightly.

"Honey," a voice whispered in her ear, "you're all right. I've got you."

Daniel
.

Tears started pouring down her face and she turned and buried her face in his shirt. He didn't try to pull away for the sake of protocol, he just let her sob against him as she gripped his shirt in her fists. Her neck and throat hurt so badly but the emotions of being attacked and finally being finished with testifying were too much.

Daniel held her by the shoulders and whispered so only she could hear. "It's okay now. Everything's okay. You did it, Ani.

You did it."

Yegor growled beneath his breath as his son was taken away. The worthless
govno
. As far as Yegor was concerned, Dmitry was no longer his son, and would be dealt with appropriately while he was in prison.

Yegor heaved himself up from his seat on one of the audience benches. After straightening, and with his backbone rigid, he started to leave the courtroom.

The door was blocked by three men in suits.

He came to an abrupt halt as Singleton's voice rang out through the courtroom. "I have an arrest warrant for Yegor Borenko," the prosecuting attorney said as Yegor was approached by four other men. "For the crimes of murder, bribery, racketeering, money laundering, wire fraud, retaliation against a witness, extortion . . ."

Singleton's voice faded in Yegor's ears as the men he was facing quickly surrounded him, their FBI badges in clear view on their belts. One of the men jerked Yegor's arms behind his back, causing pain to shoot through his shoulders like fire.

Cold steel bit into his wrists as he was handcuffed. The officers were forced to use three pairs of cuffs due to his bulk—one on each wrist and one connecting the other pairs.

His fury was so great he shook with it.

Then all he could think about was his beautiful granddaughters and how they would grow up with the shame of their father and grandfather being imprisoned.

For the first time in his life, a tear formed in each of Yegor's eyes.

Ani's neck and throat ached from Dmitry's attack. She leaned her head against the back of the couch in the hotel room she'd been sharing with her sister. Jenn sat in a chair opposite Ani, but looked buried in her own thoughts.

Two days ago, it had taken the jury all of thirty minutes to reach a verdict and pronounce Dmitry Borenko guilty on two counts of murder in the first degree, two counts of attempted murder, racketeering, money laundering, wire fraud, bribery .

. . So many charges that Ani's head spun with it all. In addition, enough information had been in those documents to indict other members of the same Russian mob family.

And Yegor Borenko, the head of the family ultimately responsible for all that had happened, had been indicted for even more charges than Dmitry had been pronounced guilty of.

Yegor was not allowed to make bail under the circumstances, due to the crimes he was being charged with. He was considered a flight risk as he could easily flee to Mother Russia, and he was a risk to society with his murdering ways.

Ani adjusted her position on the couch. She tried to ignore the constant pain around her neck and throat. Dmitry had dug his fingers into her throat hard enough to leave bruises where every one of his fingers had gripped her.

She brought her knees up to her chin and wrapped her arms around her legs. The attack had shaken her, but ultimately that wasn't what took hold of her thoughts.

No, it was the verdict itself that ran through her mind. She hadn't been sure what to expect when the trial was over.

What she experienced was a sense of closure.

Now that her parents' killers had been put behind bars, she felt she could move on. It would never be the same without her mother and father, but she no longer felt trapped in the time that had held her captive the past two years.

As far as her father being involved with the Mob—she wasn't sure if she could ever reconcile herself to that fact. But she'd had to face it, acknowledge it, and go forward with her life.

Her jeans felt rough beneath her chin, but the couch was soft against her bare feet as she held herself tucked together.

Even with Dmitry probably headed to prison for life and Yegor indicted, the FBI and Marshals still believed that Ani and her sister had to be concerned about Yegor's Mob family. That faction might seek retribution to make her and her sister examples of what would happen to anyone who went up against the Russian Mafia.

The future—she wasn't sure what it held other than a new name and a new location. Again.

Her love for Daniel was deep and had grown stronger every day they had shared. She couldn't imagine life without him, but since she had to stay in the program . . . how could they make things work?

And yesterday he'd left.

Ani sighed. As soon as Dmitry was remanded and Yegor indicted, Daniel made arrangements to fly to Los Angeles. He hadn't explained why, just that he would be back. They'd only had a stolen moment to share a kiss that still made butterflies flutter in her belly every time she thought about it.

But the feeling quickly faded. In order for her and Daniel to remain together, he'd have to enter WITSEC with her and give up his career. She could never ask that of him, and likely it wouldn't be something he'd be willing to do. He'd already told her he'd be taken off WITSEC because of the line he'd crossed. But she knew there were other areas in the U.S.

Marshals Service that he could be moved to.

So as far as the two of them—what now?

Daniel sat back in his chair, waiting to see Gorman, his regional superior. Daniel raked his hand through his hair as his gut clenched. He knew what he had to do, but it didn't make it any easier.

As he waited, his mind turned over all that had happened in such a short period of time. Ani was alive. He hadn't failed her.

Not like Judge Moore.

But maybe it was time to make peace with the past.

He still had a burning desire to help others that would never leave him. Not that he wanted it to. It was a part of him and always would be.

When the assistant informed Daniel that Gorman would see him now, Daniel got to his feet and headed to his superior's office. He'd been there before, but not for something like this.

"Parker." The Supervisory Deputy Marshal shook Daniel's hand and gave him a smile as Daniel entered his office.

Gorman was fit with an athletic build, sharp blue eyes, and a little gray at his temples. "Good to see you," he said as he walked around to his side of the desk. "Now tell me what's going on."

Daniel seated himself and faced Gorman, a man who wasted no time getting to the point. It was something Daniel had always admired in him.

With no intention of drawing this out any longer than he had to, Daniel said, "I've crossed a line, John." Daniel rubbed his hand over his face as Gorman narrowed his gaze. "I'm out of the Service."

Gorman's eyebrows formed a V as he narrowed his eyes. He leaned forward. "What's going on, Daniel?"

He took a deep breath and eyed Gorman straight-on.

"I've had relations with Anistana King, a witness I've been protecting."

For a moment Gorman just looked at him, before thumping his palm on his desk. His features went hard and unyielding.

"You're damn right you're out of WITSEC. Effective immediately. I'll have to transfer you, probably to Criminal Investigations."

Daniel's gaze didn't waver as he sucked in his breath. "I mean I'm leaving the service altogether. I'm marrying the witness."

Gorman rocked back in his chair, shaking his head. "If you intend to go through with this, you know the drill."

Daniel nodded. "Let's get started."

As Ani sat in the hotel room, she used the coffee table to finish filling out the paperwork that would reintroduce her to WITSEC under a new identity.

For probably the last time she signed her real name to the documents.
Anistana King
. She'd been through this before, but it didn't make it any easier. She had to change her last name of course, but as before she could still keep Ani as her first name since it was common enough, unlike Anistana.