The Spy With the Silver Lining (13 page)

In that moment Casmir had to make a decision. If she went through with this, it was only right that Pierce know the truth.

She said, “A girl in my line of work is expected to make sacrifices, remember? I can’t get pregnant. Not now. Not ever.”

He looked at her for a long minute, and when he finally kissed her Casmir felt tears sting her eyes.

Don’t ever let a man see you cry.

Mama’s words came to her, and she fought the tears. It had been her choice to make certain sacrifices, her choice to become the actress at Quest, and now her choice to make love with Pierce Fourtier.

Her orgasm stole her breath, and it sent Pierce deeper in long smooth strokes. She heard him groan, felt his warm seed spread throughout her inner core.

When it was over, he never left her. With him still inside her, she opened her eyes and found him staring at her.

She didn’t know what to say, and that seemed strange. She had always known what to say afterward.

Suddenly she said, “I desire you again. Will that be a problem?”

He slid partway out of her, then slowly back in. She could feel that he was still stone hard.

Smiling, he said, “I guess it won’t be a problem.”

“Does this mean you finally like me?”

“
Oui,
I like you.”

“Did you love him?”

An hour later she was curled up in his arms, and Pierce had just asked her the million-dollar question, but it didn’t look like she was going to answer it.

He tried again, “Cass, I asked, did you love him?”

“Who?”

“You know who. I’ve been trying to figure it out. Why you would leave something out of your report after Yurii was imprisoned. What would be so important or damning that you would keep it from Polax.”

“And you think you’ve figured it out?”

“Did you love him?”

“It’s bad manners to talk about past relationships in bed.”

Suddenly Pierce flattened her against the mattress and loomed over her. “Dammit, answer me. Is that your secret? The one you’ve been living with? Did you end up enjoying your work too well?”

She looked away.

“Did you love him?”

She locked eyes with him. “Remember when I told you that I can tell what a man is thinking by his kiss? The truth is, Yurii was thinking of nothing but love and the pleasure I gave him when we were together. He’s an evil-hearted, ruthless man when it comes to business, but when it came to me he was someone else. Do you know what that did to me?” She shook her head. “Do we have to talk about this?”

“
Oui,
we do.”

“Why, because now you’ve been inside me, and you’re feeling…what, threatened? Possessive?”

“Maybe a little of both. And I know that’s crazy. I have no right to either feeling.”

“Yurii was a man at peace while I was with him. I destroyed that peace. I saw the other side of him, the side no one knows exists. The vulnerable man inside the Russian mobster. I’ve seen him sentence men to death, and I’ve watched him cry in my arms. Did I love him? I loved the depth of his love for me and if that means I loved him, then yes. The answer is yes. A part of me fell in love with Yurii Petrov.”

“What does that mean for the mission? What will he do when he gets you back?”

“I stole from him what no one has ever been able to take. I stole his heart. That kind of deception is unforgivable. If it were me, I would want to see that deceptive creature punished. Wouldn’t you? Maybe even dead.”

Pierce rolled off her and pulled her into his arms, fitting her naked body close. After a moment, he said, “I don’t know what I’d do.”

“We should get up and—”

“Not yet. You said you can’t have children.”

“Pierce, please.”

“I want to know. Was it your choice, or something Polax crammed down your throat?”

“The women at Quest are given a choice, but they are also informed of the risks that come with the job. I couldn’t bring an innocent child into the world that way, Pierce. So I made the only choice I could live with.”

They shared a later breakfast after making love again. Pierce cooked while Casmir watched him, enjoying the sight of him in his underwear. He was rock solid—a very desirable man. She no longer felt like she had to ignore that fact.

She liked him, and he liked her. No more needed to be said. They had truly buried the hatchet.

“We should get back soon,” she said as she sipped her coffee and stared at him across the table.

“Lazie knows what to tell Ruza. We left early to view some real estate.”

“A man who thinks of everything. A woman’s dream.”

He raised his cup. “To dreams and honesty.”

“Honesty?”

“Thank you for trusting me with your secret.”

“And thank you.”

“For what?”

“I peeked under the bandage. No big X marks the spot. Just a neat little line with even stitches.”

He scowled at her. “Polax is going to have to give you a bonus for that. I’m going to insist on it.”

“A chivalrous man. It’s nice to see that some men who appear carved out of granite have a sensitive side.”

“An offhanded compliment?”

“If you like.”

“I like.”

She stood, walked her cup to the sink and rinsed it out. “I suppose I should take a shower.” She turned. “Want to join me? We could be equals again.”

“Equals. It’s an interesting word choice.”

“It means a level playing field.”

“I know what it means.”

“Want to?”

He stood and walked toward her. Sliding his arm around her waist, he asked, “What do you think?”

“Are you going to kiss me now?”

“Oui.”

And then it came. Another kiss. Another caress. Another chance to forget what lay ahead.

One more time, Casmir thought. One more time to feel alive before I die.

Y
urii’s men hit the cabin just after supper. Pierce had told Casmir that Lazie had taken Ruza sightseeing and that they must have lost track of time. She had been suspicious of his explanation, and when a scream outside alarmed her that it had begun—her kidnappers had come for her—she suddenly knew why.

She hadn’t given much thought to Lazie’s role in this until now. He was her mother’s bodyguard, the man hired to protect her.

It all made sense now. No, maybe not all of it, but the pieces were starting to fall into place.

A sudden wave of relief swept over her. Her mother was with Lazie. He would keep her safe; she knew that. Mama would be all right.

She worried about having to explain the situation later to her mother, then realized that it was likely that she would never see her again. That brought another wave of emotion to the surface, more guilt.

She wished she had told her mother how much she loved her, and how grateful she was for always being there for her.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Pierce leapt to his feet and shouted at her to move.

Another scream ripped through the still night as he hauled her out of the chair and pushed her through the kitchen door.

“What’s happening outside? Who’s screaming?”

“I’d say two of Yurii’s men just found Lazie’s snake pits.”

“Snake pits?”

“Lazie has a strange sense of humor. He also takes offense to trespassers arriving unannounced packing guns, with kidnapping in mind.”

“But they’re suppose to kidnap me.”

“But I need time to get out of here alive.”

She turned around. “You’re expecting them to kill you?”

“Of course.”

She hadn’t considered Pierce’s fate in all this. “Yurii would stand for no less,” she admitted, suddenly more afraid for Pierce than for herself.

“Get in the bedroom.”

“But—”

“Go.”

“Wait.”

“There’s no time.”

“This is it, then?”

“This is it,
amant.
”

Her feet felt welded to the floor as she stared at him. She knew she had to move, but she couldn’t. She wasn’t prepared to say goodbye. Not yet, not like this.

“Cass, you’ve got to move!”

“But—”

“Stay alive, do you hear! I’ll find you. I’ll find you,
amant.
” Suddenly he grabbed her and kissed her hard, and the memory of what they’d shared hours ago rushed forward. Then the kiss was over and he was stepping back, looking at her with those deep brown eyes as if he were willing her to survive.

“I have one up on you now. Our own little game, remember? We’re no longer equals. And you don’t like that much. I know you don’t. The ‘actress’ is always the winner. When I see you next, I’ll expect you to level the playing field with a big kiss. Now go. Don’t look back, and don’t make it too easy for them.”

Her lips were still throbbing when she turned and scrambled down the hall and into the bedroom. She had only minutes to prepare. She upended her bag on the bed, strapped her Makarov on her thigh beneath the black garter, then wiggled her feet into the black stilettos.

The window shattered, and she spun around to see a man with wild black hair attempting to get inside. She grabbed the lamp off the nightstand and threw it at the open window. It bounced off his broad shoulder and shattered on the floor. Then he was hoisting himself through the window like a ball of fire chasing the wind, rolling onto the floor as she scrambled around the bed to get away.

She pulled her gun just as the man sprang to his feet and dived onto the bed and flipped off it just as quickly to the other side. He kicked out one leg, knocking her backward. She flew halfway across the room and slammed into the wall. Dazed, she inhaled sharply, and in that few seconds the man was on her.

He stripped the gun from her hand and pointed it at her so fast she had no chance to move. “Too slow,” he said. “Women always are.”

It was Filip who stood before her. Yurii had sent his brother across the ocean for her. She raised her chin and said, “Hello, Filip. Nice of you to drop in. Still have that chip on your shoulder, or has someone knocked it off since we last met?”

“I never liked you. There was always something about you that warned me off, but I never thought to suspect you for a spy.”

“Maybe it was the fact that you were attracted to me and your brother had already staked his claim.”

“Or maybe it was my ability to see inside your head and know that you were a lying bitch.”

“I think I like my explanation better.” Boldly, Casmir reached up and touched his face. Stroking him like a bad-boy tomcat, she smiled, then slowly rolled her hand and raked the side of his cheek with Yurii’s ring. It cut deep into his flesh, and she smiled at the fact that she’d drawn blood.

“Something to remember me by, darling,” she whispered.

He raised his hand to his cheek. He was furious, but he didn’t hit her, though she knew if she were anyone else, he would.

“Go on,” she taunted. “Do it. Mark me.”

“Alive and unharmed. That’s what he wants. But when Yurii tires of this game he’s playing with you, I assure you that I will be waiting in the wings to leave my mark on you. Move to the window.”

“And if I don’t?”

He raised the gun and fired one shot. It splintered the wood a foot from her head. “Then I will have to explain how you killed yourself when you realized you were trapped.”

“But I thought you said Yurii wants me alive.”

He shrugged. “It would not be my fault if you took the coward’s way out.”

He had known what to say to make her give herself up. She was no coward. If she was, she would have taken her mother and abandoned this mission two days ago.

She walked to the window. There Filip tied her hands behind her back, then slipped out the window, all the while aiming her Makarov at her.

When he was through, he said, “Head first.”

She stuck her head out the window.

“Farther,” he ordered, and when she did, he stepped forward and lifted her out.

Seconds later he was moving through the woods, carrying her like a sailor shouldering a knapsack.

The sound of a gun going off in the bedroom took Pierce by surprise. It was a handgun, by the sound of the discharge. He remembered that Casmir favored a Makarov, and knowing his weapons as well as he did, he knew it was her gun.

“Shit.”

Was she all right?

He was about to head back down the hall when the outside door came off its hinges. He sprinted back through the living room and into the kitchen. He entered the utility closet and hit the electrical switch, dousing the lights. He slipped inside, quickly unhooked a latch in the ceiling and pulled himself up into the rafters, then dropped the secret-passage door back into place.

In a full crouch, he listened as the men inside the house moved from room to room, taking it apart. He heard furniture breaking. Shouting. Glass shattering.

“He’s here somewhere. Find him.”

Pierce heard the gruff voice giving orders. The voice was close. He had only minutes before they found the false ceiling in the kitchen closet. Crouched low, he moved through the darkness, balancing on the rafters as he headed for the hole in the roof Lazie had told him would be there.

He smelled the smoke just as he reached the hole. Since they couldn’t find him, they had decided to burn him out. That meant there were men outside watching and waiting. Waiting for him to escape before the flames engulfed the house.

He removed the boards Lazie had tacked up with short nails to cover the hole, then wrenched them up one by one.

The smoke was rising now, filling his lungs and the close quarters around him. He stuck his head out and breathed fresh air, then crawled out on the roof. Flattening himself out, he studied his surroundings. The flames lit up the yard between the house and the woods, and he saw a man to his right shouldering a rifle. To his left was another armed man.

It was clear Yurii Petrov was dead serious about leaving no one alive to follow.

Pierce belly-crawled toward the massive oak at the corner of the house. There he found the rope that Lazie had rigged up to a sturdy branch, and hanging close by was an AK-47. He strapped the gun on his shoulder, then took hold of the rope and swung off the roof and into the tree. From there, he disappeared into the woods and headed for the flat-bottom boat Lazie had left for him hidden in the bayou.

He turned back once as a bright flash lit up the sky. The cabin was an inferno now, a blaze of orange flames reaching for the stars.

Casmir tried to keep track of time as she was carried through the woods. Finally Filip stopped and slid her off his shoulder.

She heard a noise, spun around and saw Nasty Nicky coming toward them from an old sagging dock.

Filip said, “I want Fourtier dead. Make sure of it.”

Nicky nodded. “Right away.”

“I want confirmation. His ears, a fucking hand. Something.” Filip grabbed Nicky by the front of his shirt. “No mistakes this time.”

When he released Nicky, he gave him a hard shove, then wrenched Casmir by the arm and marched her toward the dock.

Behind her she heard Nicky say, “I’ll find him. I’ll call you as soon as he’s dead.”

“Sach and Moor are coming with me in case I run into trouble on the river. You can keep Gavril to help you tie up the loose ends. And pull out Boris and Maks from the snake pits. Toss them in the water for fish food. Sink them. No evidence, remember?”

They had lost two men to Lazie’s snake pits. Casmir shivered, unable to imagine such a terrible death.

Filip, on the other hand, made no comment on the fate of his men, only that their identities vanish at the bottom of the swamp.

No, Filip’s eyes were fully on her now, and getting her out of the U.S. as quickly as possible. As he pushed her into the boat she looked back at Nicky. He was still standing on shore. He raised his hand and waved.

Pierce arrived in New Orleans within the hour. He took the stairs three at a time and knocked at Lazie’s door in the French Quarter—where he had taken Ruza to keep her out of harm’s way.

When Lazie opened the door, he asked, “Is it done?”

“It’s done.”

“And were we convincing?”

“The snake pit was a highlight for them. The cabin being burned to the ground was mine.”

“Shit. They burned you out?”

“
Oui.
Where’s Ruza?”

“On the balcony in the bedroom.”

“I need to get out of here before she sees me.”

Lazie opened a closet door and pulled out a backpack. “It’s all in there. Everything you asked for. You’re going to keep in touch, right?”

Pierce slung the pack over his shoulder. “I’ll call you when I can, but when that will be, I’m not sure.”

“Did you call Merrick?”

“Not yet, but I will once I’m en route.”

“And what will you tell him, Mr. Fourtier? Where’s my daughter?”

Pierce looked over Lazie’s shoulder to see Ruza stepping out of the shadows.

“I asked you a question. Where’s my daughter? And don’t fabricate a story. I can smell a liar as easily as a rogue.” She glanced at Lazie, then back at Pierce.

“I don’t have time to explain.”

“You work for Onyxx. Don’t deny it. I overheard you say you were going to call Adolf Merrick. You wouldn’t be doing that otherwise. I’m a quick study, Mr. Fourtier. I’d say this entire trip Lev sent my daughter on has nothing to do with a vacation and everything to do with some kind of assignment.”

Pierce said nothing.

“I know who she is, Mr. Fourtier. Or, I should say, what she is and who she works for. That’s right. I know the truth about my daughter’s status at Quest.”

Pierce didn’t blink. Ruza Balasi was no fool. He said, “I know all about the game you and Cass have been playing over the years. Merrick filled me in.”

“And now you will fill me in.”

“If you want to know what’s going on, ask your brother. At the moment I have a job to do, and timing is everything right now.”

“You are not going to leave without detailing my daughter’s situation. What has Lev cooked up with Merrick, and how does it involve Cassie?”

Pierce looked at Lazie, who was clearly confused. He said, “Keep her here.” Then to Ruza, he said, “My job is to track Cass, and at the moment she’s in a very tight spot. This is wasting valuable time.”

Pierce again made eye contact with Lazie. “Don’t let her out of your sight. Your
mon coeur
is a seasoned spy, and knows every trick in the book.”

“If you read my file, then you know I’m retired. That I haven’t been active for years.”

“And in the intelligence business we all know that holds about as much water as a cup with a hole in the bottom.”

Lazie glanced at Ruza. “A spy. No, Ruza-a… Not you. I
don
believe it.”

“Why, because I don’t look the type? Close your mouth, Lazie. I can see your tonsils.”

Casmir sat beside Filip while one of his henchmen drove the boat and the other stood like a sentry with his gun at the ready should trouble appear around the next corner.

The river was narrow and the foliage thick. Casmir kept alert. She wondered if Pierce was out there somewhere watching, or if he’d been trapped in the cabin.

No, he was too smart for that.

The night breeze whipped her face as the driver pushed the boat for more speed. The river was black and there was no moon out. A good night to strike, she thought. Filip had planned well.

The boat slowed and suddenly it was headed for shore. They had charted a route to avoid capture. They would take to the water again, she believed, but it was always a good idea to play rabbit just in case someone had taken chase. She knew all the games, knew the criminal mind.

Filip was no fool. By far, he was Yurii’s equal. Though he was at least ten years younger, he’d been raised in the same world. Loyal to the same family.

Still, he was his own man with his own strong convictions. As he had said, if she had betrayed him, she would be dead by now.

In contrast to Yurii’s clean-cut appearance, Filip wore his black hair long and spoke broken English laced with an Italian accent. He was built like a machine, and he handled himself like a pro. He knew his job and did it without the slightest hesitation. He wasn’t interested in making friends or excuses. He’d come to Louisiana for only one thing—to take her back to Yurii.