The Spy Wore Red (19 page)

She must have sensed him looking at her, because she turned around and smiled. He smiled back as if nothing was wrong. As if their sudden flight with Nadja’s brat was nothing to be alarmed about.

Nothing would stop him now, he decided. Revenge was in sight. Revenge as well as the pleasure of seeing Mady and Nadja racing up the mountain to save their children.

Of course it would do neither of them any good to plead with him. He already knew who would live and who would die. Still, it was always entertaining to see a beautiful woman on her knees pleading for mercy.

“Jakob, I have a question to ask you. Did you say Otto was near by?”

“Graz. Why?”

“Contact him. I need a favor. It involves Pris.”

Jakob grinned where he sat opposite Holic. “You know anything that involves your daughter would be Otto’s pleasure. He’s always had an eye for Prisca, and he’d hoped one day the feeling would be mutual.”

Not in my lifetime, Holic thought. Otto Breit was resourceful and smart, good bodyguard material, but nothing more. He didn’t voice his thoughts, however.

He said, “We’ll discuss Otto’s future once we get to the cabin.”

Chapter 19

H
e would have strangled her if he hadn’t walked out. And two hours later he still wanted to.

He had a child. A little girl. And Nadja had kept it from him.

Bjorn stood facing Glass Mountain, the cold wind whipping at his hair and clothes, but for the first time in his life he didn’t feel it. He didn’t feel anything. He was numb.

He had a child. A little girl with blue eyes like his—if what Mady said was true. And it was. He’d seen it in Nadja’s face.

He had been with the girl last night, and because there had been no books to read he had told her a story about a boy in Copenhagen who had lived on the docks. He’d made his life into a fairy tale, when it had been far from one. The irony was that he’d been telling
his
story to
his
kid.

It had been dark, and the low-watt night-light on the table next to the bed had given everything in the room a muted amber glow. He hadn’t paid much attention to his daughter’s face.

His
daughter.

Bjorn drew hard on his cigarette, ignoring the phone in his pocket going off again. It was her. Nadja had been ringing him for the past hour.

When he’d walked out, she had called him back, but he couldn’t do it, he couldn’t look at her.

Her face when Mady had said Alzbet was his… He would never forget it.

Damn her to hell, he thought. She’d had plenty of opportunities to tell him about his daughter. She could have said something in Prague. And if not Prague, why not Nordzum? They’d been snowed in for three days together. She’d admitted she was a double agent, and that she had a bionic nerve chip in her leg. Hell…why had she stopped there?

Last night she’d looked him straight in the eyes and lied again. Then she’d made love with him—made love like she had truly wanted him. Cared for him. But that was her specialty, making men believe in the magic.

After all, she was the best in the business. The stats at Quest proved it.

If Holic hadn’t made his move and killed Kovar, then what? If he hadn’t kidnapped their little girl, would she ever have told him?

No, he didn’t believe she would have, and that was why he could never forgive her. Not ever.

It was just a good thing he hadn’t told her how he felt last night. How he’d been feeling since he’d laid eyes on her in Prague.

Bjorn remembered the tattoo. A heart with angel wings. At least she had cared about their child. He knew she had, because when she’d learned that Alzbet was missing she had been in a panic. He had keyed in on that, and that’s when he’d begun to rethink her actions since they’d arrived at Groffen. Why would she be so upset about Ruger’s child? A little worry was normal, but she’d been shaky and close to irrational. An agent of her caliber irrational?

No, it didn’t fit.

He swore again, then checked his watch. He’d better get back. Nadja was right—Holic had their daughter and he was going to use her as bait. Soon they would get a message detailing the conditions of their daughter’s release. Only Holic would never let the child live. Not
his
child.

The last time they had faced off and a child had been involved it hadn’t gone well, and he knew that men like Holic wouldn’t stop where revenge was concerned. After Cupata the assassin would want blood.

The game this time was death, and at the moment Holic held all the cards.

When Bjorn returned to Kovar’s suite, what he found was Mady seated on the bed, her eyes red and face puffy from crying. Kovar was still slumped in the chair.

“Where is she?” Bjorn asked.

“I’ve called the police,” she said. “They’ll be here soon. You better go or they’ll want to speak to you.”

“I asked you—where’s Nadja?”

“I begged her not to go up there but she wouldn’t listen. She went in there, and when she came back out, she was carrying a backpack.” Mady pointed to the mirror. “I told her to wait for you but she wouldn’t listen.”

Bjorn walked to the mirror and found that it camouflaged a hidden room. He slipped inside and looked around. The entire room was wall-to-wall pictures of Nadja in all stages of her life—Nadja and hundreds of trophies. A lone chair sat in the middle of the room, and he could only guess what it was used for.

He moved through the next open door, and when he saw the guns and the Russian flag on the wall he knew Jacy was right—Kovar Stefn had been working with the KGB.

Back in the bedroom, he asked Mady, “Tell me what happened after I left.”

“Holic called. The girls are with him, just like Nadja said.”

“With him where?”

“At the cabin. Why didn’t you answer your phone? Nadja called you, but…”

Bjorn felt like someone had just stuck him in the gut with a knife. She’d been trying to call him and tell him about Holic’s message, but he’d been so angry, and struggling with the news that he was a father that he’d ignored his own rule—never let your emotions overtake sound judgment.

“Don’t tell me she went to the cabin alone.”

“I couldn’t stop her. I tried.”

“How long ago?”

“About an hour.”

“What did Holic say?”

“Nadja was right, he used the helicopter. He’s sending it back at six tomorrow morning. He’s instructed both of you to be on the roof. Me, too. The pilot will fly us to the cabin. You’re to come unarmed. He warned Nadja that if anything goes wrong he’ll kill Alzbet. I can’t believe he would do that, but…”

“But you believe he killed Kovar, don’t you?”

“Yes.” She started crying again. “I told Nadja to ask about Prisca. When she did, Holic said that my daughter was going to be leaving the country tonight. That means she’ll be gone before I get there.”

“Do you know which cabin?”

“Yes. I had supplies dropped there two days before I went to pick Holic up in St. Anton ten days ago.”

“How was Nadja traveling when she left?”

“There are no roads leading to the cabin. It sits in the valley beyond Glass Mountain. A helicopter can land and take off from there, but there’s only one way to get there if you’re not flying. Nadja’s on skis.”

Polax’s mission was to break Merrick out of the hospital. Dr. Paul had been too stubborn to listen to reason when Merrick told him that something urgent had come up. It had forced him to take matters into his own hands. Not trusting Sarah to be his accomplice, he’d turned to Lev Polax.

He now sat in the wheelchair as Polax, dressed in a white orderly’s uniform, pushed him down the hall toward the elevator.

“If we get caught, you better hope we don’t find ourselves on the front page of the morning newspaper, Merrick, or I’ll have some explaining to do to my superiors.”

“Just tell them you stepped back in the field to reconnect and appreciate what your agents go through every day. That should gain you a few points upstairs, and maybe a bigger budget.”

“A bigger budget I could always use, but points…I’m going to need more than points if this idea of yours blows up in our faces.”

“Trust me.”

“I’m working on it.”

“Work harder—there’s Paul. Get us the hell out of here.”

Polax spun the wheelchair around and nearly pitched Merrick out on his ass. They ducked into an alcove, and once Dr. Paul had walked past, Polax swung Merrick around and sprinted the wheelchair to the elevator as if they were in a race.

“You know this wheelchair could use a few electronic improvements to make it more efficient,” Polax said once they were inside the elevator. “I should send this place a blueprint of my office chair.”

Bjorn hung up from talking with Jacy. He’d just asked his friend to create a miracle, and to do it in less than fourteen hours.

He wouldn’t think on it any further; he would just trust that it could and would be done—he had ground to cover and the clock was ticking.

His focus now shifted to Nadja. She was at least two hours ahead of him.

He’d gotten what he needed from Kovar’s back room, enlisted Mady’s help in obtaining directions to the cabin, warm clothes and supplies. A pair of skis.

He’d left Groffen by three o’clock, knowing it would be after dark by the time he reached the cabin. He could only hope that Nadja’s leg held up and that, if she made it, she wouldn’t do something stupid—like sacrifice herself to save Alzbet. He knew from experience that Holic had no conscience when it came to killing children or women. He didn’t discriminate. Bjorn traversed the trail with the proficiency and agility of a man half his age. Merrick’s men had been trained to do it all. Not even the fresh arm wound from Kimball’s gun the night before altered the breakneck pace he’d set for himself.

As he maneuvered the trails and dealt with the weather, his thoughts returned to Nadja. After seeing the room full of trophies and pictures, he realized that her actions had to do with Kovar and his obvious obsession.

Five years ago she’d done the only thing she could do to protect what must have suddenly become the most important thing in her life. The only thing that was truly hers. The child growing inside her.

He only hoped that his lapse in judgment earlier hadn’t cost him more than time. He shouldn’t have walked out on her. He needed to tell her that, and that he understood why she’d guarded the secret. Even why she’d played the game the way she’d done once they were reunited in Prague.

Once he’d told her that he understood, together they would face Holic. And then they would salvage the mission, after they rescued their daughter.

Chapter 20

N
adja sat in the snow, the backpack and gear she’d assembled from Kovar’s back room beside her. She took out a heat pack and wrapped it around her bionic leg. Already she could feel it beginning to give her problems.

Damn the cold.

She’d skied six miles, and there was at least another sixteen to go. It would take her longer to reach the cabin stopping like this, but it was crucial that she keep the blood circulating in her leg.

She wouldn’t rely on luck, or the weather turning warmer. It was late afternoon now and that meant the temperature would be dropping soon—dropping and causing more problems for her leg.

No, she couldn’t rely on luck, the weather, or Bjorn—too much of a coward to answer his phone. And he wondered why she hadn’t told him he had a daughter?

He hadn’t been able to handle the truth. The look he’d given her had proven it. That betrayed glare had burned clean to her soul. And then he’d just turned and walked away.

She’d called him back, but he’d kept going. He hadn’t even slowed his pace. Well, he could just keep on going as far as she was concerned.

Yes, she’d lied, and had kept the lie going. But it was to protect her baby. He should have understood that, and when she came face-to-face with him again, she would remind him how things were in the intelligence business. A spy’s feeling and needs came last, if at all.

Truthfully her child had been in danger of never being born five years ago. If she had told Polax she was pregnant, she’d have been forced to terminate it. So she’d made the only choice she could make at the time. She’d wanted her baby to have a life, even if she couldn’t share it with her. And, yes, her decision had been magnified by the fact that the baby was Bjorn’s.

She’d tried so hard to protect her, and now Alzbet was in the hands of a monster. If there was a God in heaven—and Ruger promised that there was—he would not let her beautiful baby suffer for the evil that some men do for power and greed.

Nadja stopped three more times to attend to her leg before the trail divided and she saw the cabin nestled in the valley, a swirl of smoke coming out of its chimney. In the distance sat Groffen’s rescue helicopter. She dropped her gear behind a stand of snow-covered pine trees and removed her skies. She was no speed skier these days, but Kovar was right—the lessons learned in the past had served her well this day.

The sun was gone now, and the plan was to wait until dark to make her move. The wind had picked up and the temperatures were bitter. She’d used up her last heat pack. How long could she withstand the severe cold and remain on her feet?

While she was contemplating that very bone chilling reality, the cabin door opened and out walked Prisca and Holic. Nadja immediately reached for her backpack and took out the compact case that held Kovar’s 223 semiautomatic AR M-4 Sniper. She pulled back the collapsible stock, attached the ten-round magazine and clipped the scope into place. It was at her shoulder within thirty seconds.

Holic walked Pris to the helicopter, his arm around her. Nadja watched through the scope. She could have picked off Holic so easily. But where was Alzbet? The question came to her as she was curling her finger around the trigger—and she immediately backed off.

Holic wouldn’t leave her daughter alone, and with that thought she lowered the rifle. Someone else was inside the cabin with Alzbet.

She watched as Holic kissed Pris, then helped her into the helicopter. It took off minutes later.

Holic’s henchman was outside taking a piss underneath the stars when Bjorn dropped down beside Nadja and put his hand over her mouth to keep her from screaming out her surprise.

He had been watching her from a distance for the past twenty minutes and he could see that the cold weather was giving her some problems. She wasn’t hypothermic yet, but her reactions were sluggish—that’s what had allowed him to sneak up on her.

She hadn’t built a fire, and that was good. His strategy was contingent on Holic’s orders that they arrive in the morning.

He whispered next to her ear, “I’ve got something that will warm you up. I’ll be right back.”

He left her there and went to retrieve his gear where he’d stashed it a few yards away. When he returned, she was sitting with her knees drawn up to her chest and her stocking cap low over her ears.

He opened his bag and pulled out a flask. “Here, take a sip of this.”

“What is it?”

“Brandy. It’ll help warm you up.”

She unscrewed the cap and took a swallow.

“Another one.”

She did, then handed the flask back. He took a few swallows himself, then capped it.

“So, Odell, what brings you up here? A conscience, or don’t you like a woman getting one up on you?”

He supposed he deserved that for not answering his phone. “I’ve never disputed your talents in or out of bed, Nadja. You’re a damn good agent, just too involved in this assignment for your own good.”

“But you’re not, are you. You’re just a detached father.”

“Because you wanted it that way.”

“No, because it had to be that way. You still don’t understand that I had no choice.”

“I’ll buy that until a week ago. You’ve had seven days to get it out of that pretty mouth of yours. You could have chosen any one of those damn days, honey.”

“I chose today, and you couldn’t handle it.”

“Mady chose today, not you. And I handled it. Just not the way you had expected.”

“No, I never expected you would be a coward and walk—but it’s good to know for the future.”

“Look, you said—”

“Save it. I don’t have the energy to listen to your excuses.”

“My excuses? You’re the one who lied.”

“And I’d do it again, do you hear? I wanted my baby to have a life, and I won’t apologize to you or anyone for what I’ve done to give that to her.”

“And you think that’s what I want, an apology?”

“I have no idea what you want, and frankly I don’t care. All I care about at the moment is getting my daughter out of that cabin in one piece.”

“
Our
daughter,” Bjorn stressed.

“So how are we going to get
our
daughter out of there? Do you want to cover my ass when I go through that door, or would you prefer that I cover yours?”

“Neither. We’re not moving in until morning.”

“I can’t wait all night to get Alzbet back. Prisca left on the helicopter a few hours ago. Alzbet will be feeling abandoned. Besides, I don’t think I can last that long out here.”

“Is the leg giving you problems?”

“Don’t start, Bjorn. I don’t need to hear how I’m the wrong agent for this job one more time.”

“You are.”

“Go to hell.”

“Not before I send Holic there.”

He saw her shiver and he shoved to his feet. “I’ve got a way to warm you up.”

“I’ll just bet you do. No, thanks.”

“We both need to stay warm. We won’t be making our move until five-thirty tomorrow morning.”

When he reached for her, she scooted away. “Don’t touch me.”

“Suit yourself,” he said, then stood and rolled out his winter sleeping bag. He stripped off his clothes, stuffed them inside the sleeping bag, then flashed her his bare ass and climbed inside the winterized bag.

Snuggling inside, his stocking cap still on his head, he said, “Who would expect that it could be this toasty warm at five degrees below zero.”

She ignored him, and held out for an hour before she stood and shed her clothes. He heard her, but he didn’t say anything. He just made room for her when she slid naked into his sleeping bag and turned her back to him.

The helicopter came back in the middle of the night, and then left again at five-thirty. But by then Bjorn had filled Nadja in on the plan he’d put together with Jacy yesterday. She didn’t like it, but he didn’t give a damn.

He was convinced it would work, and if it did it was going to give Holic the surprise of his life.

Holic was surprised to see Mady exit the helicopter first. His loving wife had lied to him, and that would not serve her well in the hours to come. No one betrayed him and lived. But how could he kill Mady?

Loyal,
trusting Mady?

He stood in the open doorway of the cabin and swallowed another handful of pills as he contemplated what to do with her. Jakob was helping her keep her balance through the deep snow, and when she was on solid packed snow, he let go of her and she started toward the cabin.

Bjorn and Nadja remained seated in the helicopter, and he admitted he was anxious to see Mady’s sister again. Sweet Nadja, the spy with a whore’s body and the face of an angel.

When she exited the helicopter, he smiled to himself, silently vowing he would taste her before he killed her. She was all in black and she was stunning, although he couldn’t see her face for the hat. But that would come off, as would everything else eventually.

When Bjorn Odell appeared, Holic’s entire body stiffened. If it hadn’t been for Odell pursuing him in Greece he would still have his hand and his career. But the Onyxx agent had made chase and they had ended up on a balcony that had collapsed. He was damn lucky that he’d survived at all.

Like the others, Bjorn had dressed for the weather—his hat was pulled low over his eyes, and his scarf was high, choking his neck.

To get things off to a winning start, and to set the tone for the morning games, Holic nodded to Jakob—when his mind was made up he never wasted time. His henchman didn’t question the signal. He pulled his SIG out of his pocket and shot Bjorn in the leg, then tagged his gun arm high on the shoulder. His target dropped to the snow-covered ground.

Holic never tired of seeing a bullet drilling a body. And in this case it was sheer pleasure seeing Bjorn Odell go down. He wasn’t about to take any chances where this particular Onyxx agent was concerned. Odell had been a thorn in his side for years.

He said to his wife, “Get in the cabin, Mady,” then to Jakob, “Tie up Odell and leave him there.” He smiled at Nadja as she drew closer. “You must be anxious to be reunited with your daughter, sweet Nadja.”

They went inside the cabin, and Jakob followed. Holic said to him, “Take Nadja to the bedroom to see her brat while I speak to my wife. Make sure she’s unarmed.”

Once Jakob ushered Nadja into the bedroom, Holic turned to Mady. He waited until she’d taken off her coat and hat before he hit her. The blow knocked her to the floor and split her lip. With his good hand, he hauled her back to her feet and then slammed her into a chair.

“Now, Mady, my sweet deceptive wife, I have a question for you. Think before you answer. And no tears. You know how I hate that. Why didn’t you tell me that your sister was at Groffen, and that she was an agent for Quest?”

“I thought she worked for an insurance company. I don’t even know what Quest is. And when she arrived I thought she came to visit Kovar because of his heart attack. You were suffering with your hand and I didn’t think it was important. Please, Holic, tell me where Prisca is.”

“My daughter has been sent away, Mady, far away. And I have no plans for her to return to you or Groffen.”

“No, Holic, please…”

“The trust, my love, has been broken. And the price of your stupidity or betrayal, it does not matter which, is just beginning.”

Mady started to cry again. Sick of the noise, Holic took a step forward and hit her again. The blow broke her nose and she screamed as blood began to flow.

He would have hit her again if not for the explosion outside that rocked the cabin. Holic hurried to the window and saw that the helicopter had been blown to bits and was on fire. He searched the surrounding area, noted that Bjorn was no longer lying in the snow where he’d fallen after Jakob had shot him. Where had he gone?

“What the hell! Jakob, get in here!”

Holic heard a noise in the back bedroom, then footsteps. Jakob walked into the living room with an odd gait. He was as white as a ghost and his eyes were dilated. More important, his sweater was the wrong color. Instead of white it was red.

Blood red.

Nadja stood outside the cabin window chewing on her lower lip. When she saw Casmir come to the window, her heart started to race. The window opened, and then Quest’s glamour girl handed Alzbet out the window to Nadja.

Nadja hugged her daughter. “Are you all right, love?”

Alzbet snuggled close. “I didn’t like those men, Auntie Nad. Pris left me.”

“I know. They didn’t hurt you, did they?”

“No. But I was scared.”

“But you’re safe now.” Nadja hugged her child again and said a silent prayer of thanks.

“Everything is on schedule,” Cass said, as she slipped out the window. “Holic took the bait, like Bjorn said he would. He didn’t even know I wasn’t you. How’s Pierce Fourtier? I was shocked when he was shot.”

“I think it was in the plan,” Nadja said. “I believe Bjorn knew that Holic would retaliate against him immediately because they have a history. Pierce’s leg wound is minor. He was wearing some kind of special bodysuit, but the shot higher up dislocated his shoulder and he’s in a lot of pain.”

“The redneck and I didn’t hit it off flying up here. He was an arrogant ass.”

“When I left them in the woods, Bjorn was trying to put Pierce’s shoulder back into its socket. Pierce was yelling, and Bjorn was yelling back. Two bulls who won’t give an inch, is what they are.”

“Men,” Cass sniffed. “Can’t live with them, and don’t want to.”

Bjorn’s ill mood was an extension of what had transpired earlier that morning when Nadja had awakened to find his naked body curled around hers in the sleeping bag. She had welcomed his warmth and his strength—dammit!—and it had irked her at a time when she didn’t need to be reminded of how much she had grown to love him.

Yes, it was love.

That’s why she would have hated his plan no matter how ridiculous it was, and this one had been pretty wild. Surely Holic was too smart to fall for a pair of impersonators climbing out of that helicopter. But it had worked, and now she had Alzbet in her arms, thanks to Bjorn.

But it wasn’t over yet. They still needed to retrieve the kill-file and capture Holic…alive.