Crossing the Line (26 page)

The color left Ethan’s face.

You have no right to be upset by that.
Katya clenched her fists. “You ask me about Aleksei, but I told you I don’t want him hurt. It’s Petrenko I want punished.”

“Help me get the evidence and I’ll make sure he spends the rest of his life in prison.”

Was he just saying what he thought she wanted to hear?

“People around Aleksei and Petrenko get eaten by sharks. I wonder what they’d do if they discovered I was talking to the FBI.” She shuddered. “Petrenko knows Galya was my sister. He accused me of coming to the States to look for him.” She looked across at Ethan. “If it weren’t for Aleksei, I’d be dead already.”

Ethan could stand it no longer. He slid across the floor, took her in his arms and found his face slapped as she squirmed away.

“Don’t touch me.”

He gasped. “I’m sorry.”

“You’re not the man you pretended to be.”

His heart thumped. “I wasn’t pretending.”

“You pretended to be a stranger.”

“I was a stranger. The moment you sat next to me on the plane, I stopped thinking about what I was supposed to be doing. The day in Paris was the best day of my life. I wasn’t thinking about my job, just about you and me.”

She stared at him.

“I’ll resign,” he whispered. “We’ll live in Santa Fe or Boulder, someplace quiet. There are plenty of jobs I can do. Others can bring down Petrenko. If you become an informant, you’ll end up in witness protection and I’ll never see you again. Even if you don’t want me, walk away from this. Leave it all behind.”

Oh God, did I just say that?

“It would be as though everything has been for nothing.” She gave him a sad smile. “You should be telling me men like Petrenko are too dangerous to leave in society, that you need the help of decent citizens to put them behind bars.”

“I want you safe.”

“If I get evidence against him, you’ll arrest him, right? I could wear a wire, get him to admit he’s broken the law.”

“Yes.” Despair and hope churned his gut.

“You don’t want me to?”

He took a deep breath. “No.”

“I have to. I owe it to my family.”

He sagged in disappointment. “Getting the evidence to bring him down will be difficult and dangerous.”

“If I get tape or disk, could you arrest Petrenko because of what happened with Max Hastings? Is my word for what happen on boat enough to arrest Petrenko for murder?”

Ethan chewed the inside of his cheeks.

“I’m not proof?”

Her Russian accent was stronger when she was upset. Her grammar deteriorated, articles disappeared.

“I tell you truth but my word is not enough. You waiting until someone catch a shark with bits of Anna in stomach? Go into Aleksei’s house and take computer. He works for Petrenko. Proof will be there but don’t touch Aleksei. He’s not a bad man.”

“Aleksei
is
a bad man, you just can’t see it. But we can’t just break into people’s homes. If we arrested Petrenko or Aleksei, lawyers would have them out on bail within hours.” And she’d be dead just as quickly. “A recording of what Max Hastings did to you isn’t evidence against Petrenko. We couldn’t prove the link. If we promised Kusmin a new identity, a new life, would he give up Petrenko and the others he works for?”

Katya was quick with her response. “No.”

“You’re sure?”

“Certain. He owes a lot to Petrenko.”

“You do understand that your life will be in danger.”

She shrugged. “No one left to care.”

“I care.”

She wouldn’t look at him.

“Katya. I’m not lying. I care. I don’t want you to do this. It can all end here. I’ll buy you a ticket home.”

“No.” Her voice dropped. “I’ll be
stukatch
.”

Ethan swallowed hard. How could he make sure she survived?

* * * * *

Frank leaned back in his chair and stared at Ethan. “Have you had sex with her?”

“No.” He didn’t let his gaze drift.

“You know I had to ask.”

Ethan had no idea whether Frank believed him. He wouldn’t have.

“Are you certain she’s not working for Petrenko?”

“She’s not working for anyone but herself. She wants her family’s killer brought to justice. Revenge is a strong motivation for her to help us.”

“Having her own agenda is dangerous for us and her. Sympathetic as I am over what happened to her family, and there’s a question over whether or not the car was forced into the river, our priority is what happens in Miami. If her boyfriend is laundering money, she could provide access to a whole network. She could be invaluable.”

But she was a person, not a commodity. Ethan didn’t want to hear the word “boyfriend” or the rest of what he guessed Frank had to say, and he knew Katya was only interested in getting even with Petrenko. There would be more lies to tell. Any chance of a relationship with her was trickling away.

Frank moved to sit on the edge of his desk so he looked down at him. “You’re aware it’s preferable for informants to be met by at least two agents.”

“With respect, Frank, at this moment Katya Mazarov is not officially an informant.” Only because he hadn’t written her up as such.

“Is she going to be?”

Ethan tightened his mouth.

“Don’t you think she can do it?” Frank asked.

“She’s naive.”

“Which could keep her safe.”

“Or kill her.”

“She sounds resourceful and confident. She’s already handled experiences that would have left most people afraid to come out of their house.”

“That doesn’t mean to say she’s okay with it,” Ethan snapped.

Frank looked him carefully. “Perhaps I asked the wrong question. Do you want to sleep with her?”

“I think most men would want to sleep with her.”

“Is she attracted to you?”

“No.”

“But you’re attracted to her.” Frank sighed. “I wish you were happily married. It was the one negative aspect of offering you this job.” He leaned back in his chair. “What’s happening between you and Luisa?”

The sudden change in direction threw Ethan. “Nothing.”

“I had the impression you two were seeing one another.”

“We’re not.”

“There are rumors you’ve been pestering her.”

What the hell?
“More like the other way around.”

“Whatever way round, it suggests you have a problem dealing with women.”

Ethan fought to keep the fury off his face.

“You know what you have to do with regard to Katya Mazarov. If she’s going to work for us, someone else handles her. This will be long and complicated. We need surveillance on Kusmin and Petrenko. We can’t keep Kusmin out of this just because she wants us to. I need you to be the coordinator in the office. I don’t have to remind you we have more than this case to handle. If you want help deciding who to use, I can give you some input.”

“Who would you suggest?” Ethan made sure his voice stayed level.

“Lindy and Tom. She’s experienced and he needs the experience. Katya will probably open up to a woman.”

“Right.” This time Ethan didn’t hide his dissatisfaction.

Frank sat at his desk and leaned forward. “You have no choice. How could you trust your judgment? How could you be certain you made any decision for the right reason? Don’t risk your career over this.”

“No.” Ethan tried to sound brighter and more positive than he felt.

“She’ll be well taken care of. WITSEC has vastly improved over recent years.”

“Sure. I’ll speak to Lindy.”

Ethan reran the conversation, wondering how he’d let himself get talked into doing something he didn’t want to do, though Frank was right. If he got too close, he couldn’t trust his judgment. Hell, he was already questioning his judgment.

After Katya completed her morning teaching assignment, she took a cab to Nik’s studio, determined to get a copy of what he’d filmed in Phoenix to give to Ethan, more evidence against Petrenko. She opened the outer door, pushed open the next and froze in her tracks.

The hanging fabric screen that divided the room had been shredded into ragged strips that dangled from the ceiling like the broken wings of giant moths. Jagged fragments of glass from broken lights covered everything. Planters were upended and soil strewn across the wooden floor.

She looked around in bewilderment until her gaze settled on the body huddled on the bed, hands tied at the back with electrical cable. She clapped her hand to her mouth to stop her cry escaping. Nik’s face was a red mask, dark holes where his eyes had been.

“Oh God, Nik.”

He moaned and she recoiled.
Who did this?
Another moan brought her to his side and she scratched up an edge of the tape over his mouth and peeled it away. He spat out a glutinous bloody lump and she gagged.

“I’ll get help.” She took out her phone, pressed 911, gave the address, asked for an ambulance and then switched the phone off again. Once she’d cut him free, he reached for his face, and she grabbed his wrists, trying not to look at him.

“No, Nik. Medics will be here soon. They’ll help you.”

“Has he gone?”

Her spine prickled.

“Why can’t I see?” he muttered.

Poor Nik
. He didn’t deserve this. “Who did it?”

“Russian guy, tall, dark, tattooed. Didn’t smile. Said he wanted a photo of his daughter. Fuck—it hurts. Tied me up, trashed my place and—oh fuck, my eyes. My face is on fire. My eyes. Oh God.”

He tried to get up and she pushed him back. “Lie still.”

Katya saw then what she’d missed earlier. On the wall hung a life-size photo of a naked blonde and one of Nik’s eyes had been pinned on the model’s mouth using a yellow-topped corn fork. Trails of blood trickled down the photo onto the floor. She looked again at what he’d spat out and gagged again.
Why hadn’t Kirill killed him?

She left when she heard the sirens. When she turned on her phone, she listened to an irate voicemail from Aleksei demanding to know where she was. His line was busy so she left a message and called Park. By the time he picked her up around the corner from Nik’s place, she’d watched the ambulance come and go, seen the police come and stay.

“Why aren’t you in Coral…?” Park did a double take at the blood on her clothes.

“I came to see Nik.” She climbed into the car. “He’s been attacked. Blinded.”

“Fuck. Does Aleksei know?”

“I don’t know.”

“Call him.”

“The line’s busy.”

“Keep trying.”

Ten minutes later she got through. Judging by Aleksei’s volcanic reaction, he hadn’t known.

As she walked up the steps to the house, Aleksei opened the door. He pulled her into his arms, pressing his face into her hair. “Tell me that’s not your blood.”

“Not mine.”

“Are you all right?”

“Kirill did it.”

He stiffened. “Did Nik say that?”

“No, but I know it was him.”

Aleksei groaned. “What were you doing there?”

“I wanted to ask Nik about the film of me and Hastings.”

“Why?” He held her out by her shoulders.

“I wanted to destroy it. I don’t want anyone to see it. Why did Petrenko tell Kirill to blind Nik?”

He groaned. “Don’t ask such questions.”

“It all comes back to me.”

“It has nothing to do with you.” He pulled in close and clutched her more tightly. “Christ, Katya. How much more trouble can you get into?”

She trembled against him, her eyes full of tears.

“You make it very difficult for me to look after you. Go and shower, get rid of those clothes while I make a few calls and then we’ll talk.”

She heard him shouting in his office until he closed the door. Nik had probably been punished for making a copy of what happened in the hotel. Maybe Petrenko thought Anna and Nik were working together.

There was significance in the way Kirill worked. Nik had been watching something he shouldn’t have so he lost his eyes. Anna was fed to the sharks because Petrenko thought she’d tried to blackmail Hastings before he could. The guys who’d raped her lost their genitals because they’d misused them. Galya had been made to look like a puppet because she worked for the FSB. Katya released a shaky breath. The tongue in the vagina was the ultimate insult. She’d fucked herself to death.

There were probably other murders in Moscow before Kirill left and more in America after he’d arrived. He’d get the death penalty or life in prison, but maybe with clever lawyers Petrenko would escape justice. How could she make sure that didn’t happen and keep Aleksei safe?

“Calm down, Aleksei,” Petrenko said. “You’re going to give yourself a heart attack.”

“Nik was useful to me.”

“He cheated you.”

“No, he fucking didn’t.”

“He made a copy of the tape of Hastings and Katya. How do you know he wasn’t working with Anna or Natasha or even Katya to blackmail the guy?”

“He wouldn’t. He hadn’t got the guts. I knew he’d make a copy, but he wouldn’t have done anything other than jerk off watching it. Why did you send Kirill?”

There was no answer.

“I thought most people didn’t say anything after he’d been to see them,” Aleksei snapped. “Though I don’t suppose Nik thinks he’s lucky.”

“Your latest fuck disturbed him before he’d finished.”

Aleksei slammed the phone down. He could feel everything unraveling, hopes of a future with Katya slipping through his fingers.

When she came into the kitchen, he hugged her. There was something strong about her, something that reminded him of himself. He unpinned her hair, and let it fall down her back. Everything he did now, he did for them both. He’d never felt this way about a woman before. He’d crossed a line he’d thought he’d never be lucky enough to reach and now he’d put his life on the line for her. No going back.

As she chopped carrots he ran his hand down her spine and then up under her shirt and onto her skin. She drove him crazy with fury and lust. She squirmed as his hand slid to her breast and lingered over her heart.

“Your heart’s beating fast,” he whispered. “Fear or desire?”

“I heard you yelling.”

“I’m not yelling now. Relax.”

“I can’t.”

“Why not?” Aleksei rubbed her nipple between his fingers.

“Because your world scares me.”

He pressed his face into her neck, his erect cock into her backside. “It scares me too. Be careful with Viktor. You don’t want him as your enemy.”

“Too late. He already hates me.”

“I know you blame him for your sister’s death.”

“She died because of her association with him. I thought it was because of where she worked, then I thought it was someone trying to get at Petrenko. Now I think Kirill killed her because Petrenko told him to.”

She was probably right.

“My father and I went to the mortuary. Galya’s nipples were sliced off, put in her mouth and pushed out so they stuck through holes in her cheeks. Her tongue was ripped out and stuffed inside her vagina. Sounds like the sort of thing Kirill would enjoy.”

Aleksei still had his hand on her heart, could feel it racing, much like his own.
Fucking Kirill. The bloodthirsty little freak.

“Viktor said he loved her,” Aleksei said. “Why would he want her killed? And why like that?”

“I don’t know. But now I see what sort of a person he is I don’t think he’d need a reason.”

“Maybe he had a good reason.”

She turned to face him. “He said something about the FSB but Galya was a secretary.”

“Viktor would think he had a good reason.”
Probably no fucking reason at all unless she
was
FSB. And what does that make you, my love? Innocent or not?

“The same good reason for Anna to die, and Nik lose his eyes? He ordered Kirill to kill the men who raped me, didn’t he? I thought it was you, even when you told me it wasn’t, but it was him. Petrenko made sure it was me Hastings got and not Sylvie. Is he your boss?”

Aleksei stared at her for a moment before answering. “He’s my father.”

Katya gaped at him. He tapped his thumb under her chin to close her jaw and waited to see what she’d say next.

“Oh shit,” she mumbled.

“Don’t tell me I finally managed to surprise you.”

“You…don’t look anything like him.”

He raised his eyebrows. “Thank you.”

“Is he your boss?”

“He thinks he is.”

“Is that who you were shouting at?”

He stroked her hair. “We had…still do have a difference of opinion.”

“Do you think he was wrong?”

“Generally he is but about what in particular?”

“Throwing Anna to the sharks?”

“Yes.”

“Blinding Nik?”

“Yes.”

“Killing the men who raped me?”

He sighed. “Trickier.”

“He’ll destroy you, Aleksei.”

“I’m touched you care.”

“I’m at the edge of the whirlpool, I might get dragged down too.”

“Perhaps. What are we going to do about the fact you think my father is responsible for the death of your sister?”

“Kill him?” Katya suggested. “Could you get hold of some cyanide?”

Aleksei grinned and brought his lips down hard on hers. She never ceased to surprise him. He wished he could completely trust her but he couldn’t.