Читать книгу Her Rocky Mountain Hero - Jen Bokal - Страница 13

Chapter 4

“Bravo. This is Alpha. Do you read?”

The disembodied, static-filled voice resonated inside the SUV’s quiet interior.

Cody looked at Viktoria. Her eyes were wide, her gaze trained on a walkie-talkie they hadn’t even noticed, nestled between the SUV’s front seats.

“That’s got to be the guys who took your son,” Cody said, while reaching for the walkie-talkie.

She folded her hands together and pressed the sides of her thumbs into her lips. “So, what do we do now?”

Just because they’d escaped together didn’t mean they were on the same side. No matter what, she was a Mateev. The name alone brought back painful memories that lodged in his chest—a leaden ball full of spikes. All the same, Cody was determined to get the kid back, which meant he had to work with the mother. Besides, he reasoned, once they’d rescued her son, Cody could still finish the job—turn the kid over to CPS and question Viktoria before she was taken away by the police.

“Bravo.” The single word rang out like a shot. Viktoria started.

“What do they want?” she asked.

It was a good question with a horrific answer. “My guess is that they’re checking to make sure that you’re dead.”

A gust of cold wind blew through the shattered window. Viktoria folded her arms across her chest and looked away. Cody turned the SUV’s thermostat to ninety degrees, its upper limit. The hot air hit him and he started to sweat. Small price to pay if it would make her more comfortable.

What was it with his reactions to this woman?

“We can’t ignore them,” she said and turned to him. “This could be our chance to try to negotiate my son’s release.”

Cody understood her desperation and admired her bravery. “It won’t work. First, there’s nothing we have that they want,” he said. Then he hesitated. “Unless there is. Do you have any idea why this happened?”

Her gaze never left his. “They want my son,” she said, “and for me to be...neutralized.”

Cody wasn’t sure if Viktoria was purposely not revealing the real story behind the kidnapping, but at this point he needed to view this situation tactically. What he needed was a plan and intel.

“Let’s start with what you know,” Cody said.

“I know my son is safe,” Viktoria said. “The man in the cabin, the one who held me at gunpoint...” Her voice trailed off and Cody gave her a moment to reconcile with the nightmare she’d survived. “He told me that Gregory belonged to his grandfather Nikolai.”

Like a piece from a puzzle, the latest bit of information clicked into place. Once again it came down to Nikolai Mateev—the head of the Moscow-based Mateev crime family.

Now Cody knew Viktoria’s relationship with the Mateevs. Yet in getting that one answer, it brought up hundreds of questions. He swallowed them all, practically choking on his desire to ask about the drug trafficking ring.

“These men are desperate and if we try to negotiate, they’ll know they failed.” He paused. His next words would be hard, no, devastating, for a mother to hear.

“And?” she insisted.

“Failure to have killed you might force these men to abandon their plans to take your son from the country.”

She leaned forward, her eyes bright. “That’s good. They’ll release Gregory.”

“Unless they don’t.” Cody couldn’t bring himself to verbalize Gregory’s possible fate.

Viktoria understood, though. Like she’d been sucker punched in the gut, Viktoria sucked in a deep breath and sat back hard in her seat. In a way, Cody supposed she had been hit, and he’d been the one to deliver the blow.

“Bravo?” A voice, barely audible, rose from the static. “Update?”

“What if you answered them,” she proposed, “and pretended to be one of them. They can’t see who’s speaking and the connection is full of static on our end. It has to be the same on theirs.”

Cody sat taller. It was a crazy idea. “That can go wrong in a million different ways. If they figure out that I’m lying, Gregory’s the one who could suffer the most.”

“Please!” she said. Her fingers rested on the back of Cody’s hand. Those old internal scars, the ones he’d developed and nurtured into his own personal armor long ago, began to ache. “This could be my only hope of finding my son. I’d do it myself, but obviously even with the bad connection I’m not a man.”

Viktoria was right about that—she was all woman.

“Bravo. Copy.”

Cody didn’t like playing games with people’s lives, and especially the lives of children. But Viktoria was the mother and it was her call. Without another moment’s thought, he depressed the talk button. “This is Bravo,” he said. “Copy.” He hoped they continued to use English. His ability to speak Russian was nonexistent.

“Where the hell have you been?” the voice barked.

This was something else Cody feared. Before he had to think of a reason for their delay, the voice rang out again.

“Status update.”

Cody’s gaze met Viktoria’s. He refused to think about what would have happened if he hadn’t shown up when he did. Yet, that’s exactly what the man on the walkie-talkie needed to believe. Cody flicked his eyes to the windshield. He watched the snow dance in the beams of the headlights.

He depressed the talk button. “Neutralized.”

“Come again?”

Like he’d just sprinted the last three hundred yards of a marathon, Cody’s pulse hammered and his chest constricted. If these guys knew each other well, they could very easily recognize voices, even with the bad connection.

Cody silently cursed. He was committed now. “Neutralized,” he said again. This time he was slower. Louder.

A second passed. Then another. It seemed like hours.

“Copy that,” the kidnapper said. “Extraction is delayed twenty-four to thirty-six hours. Plane can’t land due to the incoming blizzard. Return to your safe house and wait for my call. Belkin’s orders.”

Cody’s head dropped back against the headrest and he let out a long sigh. He had to keep the smile from his voice. “Copy,” he said.

He tossed the walkie-talkie onto the console between the seats and scrubbed his face with both hands. He turned to Viktoria. “We might not know everything, but at least we know that your son is in the area and likely to remain here for the next day to day and a half. That’s good. Most important,” he added, “is that we have a name.”

He turned to look at Viktoria. Even in the SUV’s darkened interior he could see that she’d gone pale. She licked her lips and exhaled. “I know who Belkin is.”

* * *

Gregory’s face flashed in Viktoria’s mind. She pictured what he must have gone through tonight. Gregory’s dark eyes, so much like her own, would have sought her out, wild with terror. Then, her throat closed at the memory of the very real hand that had squeezed her neck.

She had failed her son. Would she ever be able to forgive herself?

“Can you drive?” Cody asked Viktoria. “We need to get off the road.”

Viktoria’s head snapped over. She had almost forgotten about Cody, her handsome savior.

“Drive?” It took effort to say the word, as if her tongue were heavy. A sheer cliff rose upward on one side and the road fell sharply away on the other. Snowflakes, fat and thick, fell from the sky and dusted the roadway. They blew in through the shattered window. Balls of safety glass coated the car’s interior and twinkled with reflected light from the dashboard.

“Let’s get out of the middle of the road,” he said. “We aren’t safe here. If you can’t drive, I can.”

Drive? Yes, she could drive. Shifting the SUV into Reverse, Viktoria eased away from the guardrail. The simple task unleashed a burst of adrenaline within her. “We should go to the sheriff,” she said, thankful that she finally made a decision.

Although that plan wasn’t perfect, either. Was she still wanted by the authorities in New York State? If she was, then the local sheriff would be interested in her case. At the same time, legalities from home didn’t matter, not where Gregory was concerned. Without question, she had to stop Peter Belkin from delivering her son to her father-in-law. She could deal with the legal consequences later.

Up ahead was a turnaround. Viktoria drove the short distance and pulled in. With a little maneuvering, she turned the SUV so it faced the road. “Which way to the sheriff’s office?” she asked.

“Wait just a minute, will you?” Cody said. “I don’t want to go to the sheriff.”

“What? Why not?”

Cody hit the ignition button and the engine fell silent.

“Before we go anywhere,” he said, “tell me everything you know about Nikolai Mateev.”

She hadn’t expected Cody to ask about her father-in-law. “I’ve only met him once. He traveled to New York from Russia for Lucas’s—my husband’s—funeral. My husband and his father had a falling out years ago, before Lucas and I met.”

“Anything else?”

“Nikolai is wealthy, I know that.” She didn’t bother to add that she now knew her father-in-law to be corrupt as hell.

Cody regarded her with eyes narrowed. “So you claim to know nothing?”

His challenge hit her like a slap in the face. “The sheriff,” she said, “can help sort all of this out.”

“One more thing before we go. Tell me what you know about Peter Belkin.”

Viktoria opened her mouth, ready to insist that he stop grilling her and just point her toward Telluride, then her jaw clamped shut.

Peter Belkin.

The man on the walkie-talkie had said they were following Belkin’s orders. Viktoria had told Cody that she knew Belkin. But she’d never said Belkin’s first name. And yet, Cody had known. He had known her name, too.

This night had gone wrong at a terrifying rate. Viktoria hadn’t questioned Cody much—or really at all. He had saved her life twice and to her that proved some kind of trustworthiness. Or did it? Cody could be even more dangerous than Belkin, with his own deadly intentions for Gregory—and for her.

It was her turn to insist on answers.

“Who are you?” she asked.

“I told you. My name is...”

“I know your name,” she interrupted. She turned to watch him, gauge his reaction. “But there’s a lot about you I don’t know. For starters, how did you show up at exactly the right time to save my life?”

Cody drew the black cap from his head and raked his fingers through this thick, dark hair. “I investigated your family, the Mateevs, when I was with the Drug Enforcement Administration.”

“Was?”

“Look, I owe you an explanation. I know I do. For now, can you just trust me?”

“Actually, no. I’m done trusting you for no reason.”

“No reason? I saved your life,” he said. “Twice. Isn’t that reason enough?”

“If you really were with the DEA, why won’t you go to the sheriff? Aren’t you both on the same side?”

Cody let out a long exhale. He hit the ignition button and the car rumbled to life. “I have reason to believe that the sheriff was involved in the raid on your cabin tonight. That he passed on information to Belkin about your whereabouts.”

Viktoria went cold. Was there no one she could trust? No place to go for help?

“Let’s get out of this SUV. We can use my truck. I left it up the road from your cabin. Go to the right.” Cody pointed to the road. “I’ll explain while you drive.”

“Everything?” Viktoria asked.

“I’ll tell you what I can.”

* * *

Peter Belkin unlocked the rented ski house and held the door ajar for the head of his personal security detail, who carried a sleeping Gregory Mateev. Belkin watched as the kid was maneuvered through the doorway and then followed, locking up behind them.

He was very happy to be back in comfortable surroundings. If he had to bide his time during a job, this wasn’t a bad place to do it. The house belonged to an American footballer from San Francisco, a tax shelter no doubt, and one of the nicest homes available in Telluride. Situated halfway up the mountain, a mudroom, complete with heated floors and cubbyholes for skis and snowboards, served as the entryway. A set of stairs descended to a well-appointed basement that featured a sauna and a home theater with leather recliners for two dozen along with a popcorn machine. Floor-to-ceiling picture windows in the great room looked out to the nearby woods, with a private trail heading to the white stretch of ski slopes visible between the spindly tree branches. Beyond a fireplace large enough for a grown man to stand in was the kitchen, which held a five-hundred-bottle wine cooler and multiple pantries along with what seemed like acres of granite countertops and shiny appliances.

Even the most opulent homes in Russia were not as luxurious as this playhouse for wealthy Americans. Standing at the window, Peter Belkin stared at the snow accumulating on the adjoining deck. It had already piled up around the base of the hot tub. He had been right to postpone their escape and let Mother Nature have her fun.

Ah, knowing that he would be back in Russia for Christmas also warmed him. Upon his arrival in Moscow he would go to Ugolëk and order borscht, hot black tea and good vodka. While Russia was always Belkin’s home, he knew that he could return to the United States and a residence such as this whenever he chose—for he had also become a wealthy American.

“Belkin?”

Instead of turning to the man who now stood behind him, he used the glass as a mirror reflecting off the black night and made eye contact that way. “Da.”

“The kid’s in bed and sleeping off the sedative. What do you want me to do?”

“Leave now,” he said. His team didn’t know all the details of the Gregory Mateev abduction, nor did they need to. “We’ll meet at the airstrip—four o’clock tomorrow afternoon. Get in touch with the other two in the morning and let them know.”

“Anything you say.”

“One last thing.” He pinned the man with his reflected stare. “Leave the syringes.” Belkin didn’t want to deal with Gregory should he still be belligerent when he woke up.

Belkin waited while the other man moved through the house, quietly gathering his gear. The front door opened, sending a blast of frigid air swirling through the room, then the door closed with a soft thump.

Letting out a long breath, Belkin returned to the kitchen. He drew a chair from the large kitchen table and slid it inside one of the pantries. Perched atop the chair, Belkin stretched, reaching for the uppermost shelf. His fingertips connected with the slim, cold metallic edge of his personal laptop. He pulled it out then gingerly stepped down from the chair. Having dragged the chair back, he set the laptop carefully on the table.

Before sitting down, Belkin walked to the front door. A quick glance through the peephole showed that Alpha had taken the spare car, leaving Belkin with the SUV. He clicked the lock into place and returned to the table. True, he relied upon his security team. True, there were reasons to keep them all together. True, Belkin might still need them, even though the operation was nearly complete. Still, he didn’t trust them, or anyone else, completely.

The fee for retrieving the Mateev brat had been a healthy quarter of a billion US dollars. His men were being well compensated, but they didn’t know the exact take. Over the years, Belkin had learned that people were greedy. And greedy people couldn’t be trusted.

Certain he was right to remain alone, Belkin powered up the computer and opened the FaceTime app. A small screen with his visage in real time appeared. Seeing his face on the computer screen always surprised and faintly depressed him. He seemed tired, old. Fine lines surrounded his eyes and the hair at his temples had turned unmistakably gray. He smoothed down an unruly eyebrow before entering a number into the contact bar. With a few more clicks of the mouse Belkin’s screen dropped down to the corner and Nikolai Mateev’s face popped up.

Nikolai was a large man with sparse white hair. He had small, dark eyes and a bulbous nose, made all the more noticeable by the broken capillaries that surrounded its base like angry red worms. A testament to a lifetime of drinking vodka, no doubt.

“You have good news for me, yes?” Nikolai asked.

“Very good news. You will have your grandson with you by Rozhdestvo. The real Christmas,” he added quickly, meaning Russian Orthodox Christmas. “We had hoped to be in Moscow by the evening of December twenty-fourth, but a storm has delayed our plans to leave.”

“And the mother?” Nikolai turned, so that his eye was level with the camera.

“She will bother you no more.”

The nose filled the small inset screen again. Nikolai sniffed and a gigantic nostril appeared. “You have done well.” He paused and added, “This time. I will transfer payment now.”

“Thank you, Otets.” Nikolai was no sire of Belkin’s, but he did hold ultimate power over Belkin and his fate, and a little flattery by referring to the criminal overlord of Moscow as father always went a long way.

A meaty hand flashed across the screen, waving away Belkin’s sobriquet. “There is something else I want you to handle. Once you return from Russia, that is.”

“Of course,” said Belkin. His pulse did a triple step.

“There is a retired MI5 agent, Sir Ian Wallace, who now lives in Denver.” Nikolai leaned back, his face lost in the gloom of the ill-lit room behind him. “I need to know all about Sir Ian and then I need him to disappear.”

“Of course, Otets.”

Nikolai’s nose grew large again and then his screen went blank.

Belkin sat back and massaged his neck. It had been a long assignment that just got longer. It didn’t matter. To curry favor with someone as important as Nikolai Mateev, Belkin would do anything.

He opened his computer’s internet browser and spent a few minutes accessing the deep web. Give Belkin a name and there was nothing he couldn’t learn about a person: from shopping habits, to favorite cable news network, to secrets, to the loved ones they would do anything to protect and the secrets of those people, as well.

It took a quarter of an hour to circumvent MI5’s firewall. Once there, he had only moments to fill in a complete picture of Sir Ian’s life. He had been an agent with MI5, awarded his knighthood after thwarting a terrorist attack on London’s subway system. After that, Ian had been linked romantically with several famous women, and most recently with up-and-coming Denver sports agent, Petra Sloan. It explained how a Brit ended up in Colorado. He had opened a private security firm in Denver, Rocky Mountain Justice.

RMJ was a small operation; unless you knew where and how to find them, they were invisible. Yet, Belkin had pulled back the veil and now had access to all pertinent corporate information. The firm quietly found missing people and sometimes worked with a variety of agencies, such as the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and the federal big brother—the FBI—in matters such as public corruption.

Belkin stared at the computer. Certainly a firm unrestrained by laws could be bothersome to a large-scale drug dealer, but something didn’t add up. Why did Nikolai want Sir Ian dead? His firm had less than two dozen employees. In fact, why did he care at all?

On a whim, he entered Nikolai Mateev’s name into the RMJ search engine. An incomplete hit turned up one Mateev—Viktoria Mateev, no less. It appeared that RMJ had been hired to find her and it was their tip that had led Belkin right to her. He laughed to himself. Ironic, no?

A few more keystrokes and he found the automatically generated email and stopped. It was another name he recognized and never thought to see again: Cody Samuels.

While at the DEA, Agent Samuels came close to building a strong case against the Mateevs—one that could have crushed the family—and he had to be killed. As it turned out, Belkin’s would-be assassin had become the victim. In the end, the loss of life cost Samuels’ career. The case against the Mateevs was closed and Belkin considered the outcome a success.

He closed the RMJ site and placed all information gathered into an encrypted document that he then transferred to another part of his computer. From there he opened a file that he’d kept for more than a year as insurance only. As Belkin studied Cody’s picture his stomach churned, filled with sour repugnance for having to deal twice with the same problem.

He moved from the file to his bank’s secure website. The payment promised by Nikolai for the kidnapping had not yet been deposited. Though Belkin was weary and his jaw still ached where Gregory Mateev had struck him, he refused to go to bed before confirming payment. He was annoyed more than worried about not getting the money immediately. Even though Nikolai was a force unto himself, there were plenty of other powerful and dangerous men who would match payment for the Mateev brat—dead or alive—and the only thing keeping Gregory from that fate was Belkin’s purchased loyalty.

Returning to the RMJ site, Belkin took in a deep breath and began to hum the refrain of the American Christmas song “We Three Kings.” Since he had time and enough information to get started, he might as well learn what else he could about Sir Ian Wallace and the men of Rocky Mountain Justice.