Russian's Determined Love (Drobilka Family Series #3) (4 page)

“There’s another private party tomorrow that I’ve been told to work. Maybe something will come out of it,” Bethany responded. “There’s never been one without one or both of them in attendance, so I’m assuming that they’ll be back tonight or tomorrow morning.”

Before she left, Marci outfitted her with a couple different recording devices and one small camera. It was time to step up the surveillance if there were new players on the docks looking to capitalize on Nardov’s open position.

Chapter 6

When Bethany reported to the Rubicon to work the private party, she was pleased to see Vadim’s car in the parking lot. She looked around for him inside, but only saw Boris, who nodded to her as she walked past. She poked her head in his office and caught his attention as he was in a heated phone conversation. He waved for her to come in, so she waited patiently while he wrapped up the phone call. Hanging up the phone, he walked around his desk to wrap his arms around her as she hugged him back.

“I can’t tell you how much I missed you, Malyutka,” he told her before kissing her. “When I feel your arms around me, I feel as though I am home.” Smiling up at him, Bethany kissed him back.

“I feel the same way.”

They chatted for a few minutes before Boris walked in. “Do you have anything new to bring us from your new FBI friends?”

She shook her head no. “Sorry, Boris, I was working on some station reports out of Central America. Nothing stood out that would be of interest to you.”

He gave her a disbelieving look. “Since you were able to take pictures last time, perhaps you should always take pictures as I am greatly interested in what type of work you do. Who knows,” he added, attempting to sound nonchalant, “perhaps, we will have further use of you as a translator once we see what you can do.” Not giving her a chance to respond, he turned to Vadim to tell him that he was needed on the floor before walking back out.

Bethany turned to Vadim. “Is it me, or does it seem as though he knows something?” she asked.

“I’ve had the same suspicion, but I don’t know where he would be getting his information.”

Before Bethany left the office, Vadim outfitted her with the pendant that she would wear during the party. Giving him a quick kiss, she went into the locker area to change.

As she slipped on her uniform, she pulled a small black transmitter out of her pocket and fastened it to the underside of her belt. Pulling her hair into a loose ponytail, she draped it down the side of her head and adjusted the clip, which closely resembled the one she normally wore, but this one had a small camera. She looked at herself in the mirror, hoping she didn’t look any different, before heading out onto the floor.

She stepped up to the bar and waved to Tiffany, who was already busy making drinks, before reaching for her tablet in the docking station. Turning around, she pasted a smile on her face and went to greet the guests, many of whom were pleased to see her.

Throughout the party, Bethany did her best to act the way she normally would, but her increasing discomfort at being under a microscope had her second guessing her own behavior. She busied herself clearing used dishes when she overheard Boris talking to another man in Russian. She hadn’t met him before and when she had attempted to be friendly with him earlier, he had ignored her.

Tipping one of the glasses over, she took her time cleaning up the mess, hoping that they wouldn’t notice her eavesdropping on their conversation. She reached to her belt to snap a couple pictures. When she felt she had pressed her luck as far as she could go, she finished with those tables and moved on.

After the party was over, Bethany was in the locker room changing back into her street clothes when Boris walked in to retrieve the pendant. Surprised that it wasn’t Vadim, she removed the pendant herself, not wanting him to touch her.

“Report to the office after you are dressed to help with the Chinese translations,” Boris told her before collecting the other pendants. Bethany nodded her head in reply, but he had already turned to leave.

As she put on her shoes, she reached for the clip in hair, not wanting to risk leaving any other equipment behind, and tossed it in her backpack. She placed the transmitter in the front of her backpack and kept the audio recorder with it to capture the translations. She was eager to hear what Boris was talking about and hoped that one of the two recorders caught more of the conversation than she did.

Walking into Vadim’s office, she found him frowning at the computer. “Something wrong?” she asked as she joined him.

He nodded. “It seems as though one of the pendants isn’t working.”

“Oh?”

He pointed to the one nearest her. “From the looks of it, it’s been damaged.”

Not wanting to say anything at the club, she squeezed his hand. “Well, let’s get started on the others and maybe we can piece it together.”

Nodding his head absently, he clicked play on the first audio feed and Bethany began translating. When they were done, she got up to stretch. Based on the recordings, it was clear it was her pendant that had sustained the mysterious damage, which meant Boris knew that she was listening.

Boris walked in as she was gathering her things. “Everything okay?” he asked calmly.

Switching to Russian, Vadim informed him one of the pendants had been damaged, but given the contents of the other recordings, he didn’t think that they had lost too much.

Boris crossed his arms and made a show of complaining about the quality of the technology and the need for better equipment as Vadim nodded in agreement. Shouldering her backpack, she readied to leave as Vadim rose to walk her to her car.

As they got outside, she took his hand and leaned against his arm as they walked.

“Do you have to work tonight?” she asked him quietly.

Wrapping his arm around her, he replied, “Of course, why do you ask?”

Concerned that they might be overheard, she shrugged her shoulders. “I just find it interesting that it was my pendant that was mysteriously broken.”

“Why is that?”

“Boris was having an intense conversation with one of the new guys, and I think he figured out that I was eavesdropping.”

“What did you hear?”

“Honestly, nothing. It was too low, but I was hoping the recording device would pick it up. Now, we will never know.”

He kissed the top of her head before she got into her car. “You did the best that you could, Malyutka. I’ll see you tonight after the club closes.”

“Should I make you some dinner?”

He smiled down at her. “Only if you present it wearing nothing but an apron,” he answered before shutting her car door. “Drive safe.”

Waving, Bethany drove off. More than anything, she wanted to rush over to Marci and have them check the audio recording, but she worried that she might be followed. Deciding to play it safe, she stopped at the grocery store on her way home. For once, she actually wished that Peter would suddenly appear out of nowhere so she could pass it on to him.

Chapter 7

The next morning, Bethany woke late. She had fallen asleep early and was disappointed that Vadim didn’t wake her. When she rolled over and looked at his side of the bed, it didn’t look slept in. Getting out of bed, she walked into the bathroom and was relieved to see a wet towel.
At least he’s been here,
she thought as she padded out into the kitchen.

Expecting to find him reading the morning news, she was disappointed he wasn’t there. A coffee cup drying in the dish rack and the empty takeaway containers from the grocery store told her that he had eaten, but there was no note. It was really unlike him not to say anything to her.

Concerned, she got dressed and drove to the FBI offices. She would have to bring something to Boris, but she would figure that out once she got there.

Walking inside, she checked in at security and was surprised to see Director Turner coming in the main entrance.

He smiled broadly at her. “Miss Michaels, I’m so glad that you stopped by, it will save me from having to call you. We have some reports that need your expert translation skills.”

Following his cue, Bethany replied, “I was actually here to pick up my paycheck, but I don’t have to be anywhere, shall I follow you up?”

“Please.” They made small talk as they rode up in the elevator. He asked about her classes and she commented on her present class project. When they got to his office, he motioned for her to sit down as he shut the door behind him. Joining her at the table, he took a deep breath. “We have a problem.”

“What is it?”

“Banovich knows that something is up. We aren’t sure who he has in his pocket, but we have a mole.”

“Peter?”

Looking at her questioningly, he asked “Why would you say him?”

She shrugged her shoulders. “I can’t say for certain, but I get this weird feeling when he’s around. The way he watches everything. And he shows up out of nowhere. I feel as if I’m constantly being watched by him, and it makes me uncomfortable.”

“Well, we had him checked out before he joined the taskforce and everything was clear, but I did hear a rumor that he was involved with Elizabeth Cunningham, maybe he suspects that you know more about her death than you are letting on?”

“I was surprised as everyone else when she turned up dead. Heck, I was surprised to find out that she was one of us. She was good, which is why Boris scares me so much. If he could figure her out, he has to know something is up.”

As they continued to talk, Bethany pulled out the camera and audio recorder to give to him. Reaching for the phone, Turner called down to IT to get someone up to his office. When the tech arrived, he pulled the memory cards and handed them over to Turner, who placed the first one in his computer. Excusing the tech, he turned up the volume and sat back as Bethany translated the different conversations.

When they got to Boris, she became excited when they could make out some of what he was saying, but then quickly became concerned when she realized that he was discussing taking over Vadim’s position. As he talked, her worry increased as they contemplated different ways to push Vadim out.

Turner paused the audio. “Did you happen to get any pictures?” he asked her.

She nodded her head and pointed to the other memory card, which he inserted. As they scrolled through the different pictures, Bethany was able to identify most everyone based on the names given to her, but stopped at the guy talking to Boris. Appearing to be in his late forties, he had all the appearances of a typical thug for hire from his over-sized brawn to his various tattoos signaling both the number of people he’s killed and time in prison.

Bethany realized that she had thought the same thing about Vadim before she got to know him. “Any idea who he is? I wasn’t able to get a name,” she told Turner as he studied the photo.

“No, but we’ll run him through the database and see what we can find out. At the very least, we should be able to pull his name off his passport from when he came into this country.”

“Assuming he came through proper channels,” Bethany voiced.

Switching back to the audio file, they listened to the rest of it as Bethany fought to keep from running out of the building to warn Vadim.

Chapter 8

As Bethany arrived home that afternoon, she was surprised to see Vadim there. Rushing into his arms, she hugged him tight.

“I missed you this morning, why didn’t you wake me?”

He returned her hug and he kissed her. “You seemed tired, and I had some things to do.”

“We need to talk,” they both said, as they looked at each other startled.

“You first,” they said again, as they laughed nervously.

Vadim led her to the couch by her hand and they both sat down. Taking a deep breath, he told her about his recent trip to the east coast, the people he met with on the freighter in New Jersey, and his concerns about how Boris had been behaving. Before he could continue, Bethany interrupted him.

“That’s what I wanted to warn you about. At the private party yesterday, I overheard Boris talking with someone I had never seen before. He figured out that I could hear them, which is why that one pendant was mysteriously broken. But what he didn’t know was that I had a second recorder. Vadim, he was plotting to take over your position.”

“Did he say how or why?”

Shaking her head, she replied, “Not while I was near. He only said that he could do better.”

“Well that explains why I’ve been called back to New York.”

“You can’t go, Vadim. Something bad is about to happen.”

He sighed and squeezed her hands before pulling her into his embrace. “I have to go, Malyutka. If I don’t, then they will know something is wrong.”

“But something is wrong. Something is very wrong,” Bethany shot back, vowing not to cry.

Rocking her against him, he tilted her head up to kiss her. “You are the best thing that has ever happened to me. I only wish that I had met you sooner.”

She pushed at his chest. “You’re talking like a man who is about to die.”

“You saw the pictures of Sasha. Boris is not a man who leaves…loose ends.”

“There has to be something that we can do. You can’t simply walk into a trap.”

“Oh, I have no intention of going willingly or passively. Believe me, Malyutka. I will fight every step of the way, but I will not put your life at risk. Not any more than it already has.”

Shaking her head, Bethany rose to her feet. “I refuse to accept that this may be it. What are we going to do?”

He stood up with a gentle smile and pulled her back into his arms. “Well, for now, let’s enjoy our evening.”

“How can you be so calm?”

He shrugged his shoulders. “I have been surrounded by death and destruction most of my life, and I have been responsible for much of it. I am surprised that I have survived this long.” He hugged her. “Come, I picked up some food. Let us enjoy our evening and talk about a future we may never have.”

“Vadim, that sounds completely morbid.”

Walking toward the kitchen, he turned to look at her, “Really? Have you ever tried it?” At her shake of the head, he continued, “You may feel differently after tonight. Come help me.”