To Russia With Love (Countermeasure Series) (14 page)

“Hmm…why is that name familiar?” Trevor narrowed his eyes, searching his memory.

“His connections are shady, to say the least. Appears to be the right hand of a Russian business man named Vladimir Mikhailov.”

“Did you say Mikhailov?” Cassandra nodded and Trevor exploded. “Fuck! This is big! The NSA had him on the watch list. He’s a well-known Russian mafia boss. An old timer. A thief-in-law.”

Cassandra frowned at the term. “Enlighten me. Russia was not part of my directorate.”

“A thief-in-law has authority and a high-ranking status within the criminal underworld of the old Soviet Union. Somewhat like the Italian mafia Godfather, but way more ruthless.”

“Now that you mention it, I have heard of them. Through Bob. Aren’t they considered the elite of Russian organized crime?

“Yes!” Trevor’s voice filled with excitement. “Mikhailov is like a Godfather to his underlings; his organization is known for its focus on digital fraud.”

Trevor jumped from his chair and cupped Cassandra’s face with both hands, pressing a hard kiss on her lips. “The Mikhailov connection is huge! Great job! This guy was involved in several online frauds already investigated by the FBI, CIA, and NSA. He never puts his neck on the line—his group’s activities never point to him directly. I am surprised he let this connection slip.” Trevor shook his head and began to pace the room. “I think Deminov made a big mistake in hiring a rookie like Tomlin.”

A flicker of apprehension coursed through Cassandra. The stakes were getting much higher than she had anticipated. They were turning out to be tied to extremely heavy players. “Damn, Trevor. What are we getting into? What the hell was Tomlin thinking?” She bit her lip, worrying at it as she filtered through potential next steps in her head.

After a few minutes, she leaned forward in her chair. “Considering the Russian mafia controls most of the banking industry there, it’s probably safe to say if the decrypter was to be completed in their hands it would be a heyday.” She tucked her leg under her and settled back in her chair, moving it from side to side as she watched Trevor circle the room like a caged lion.

She voiced her thoughts as they occurred to her. “Based on the transcripts and the triangulation of the calls, Mikhailov and his people seem to be in the St. Petersburg area. We need to get eyes and ears on his headquarters as soon as possible. Need to be sure George has tapped every single name on those transcripts. Have to find out what else he’s got.”

Trevor stopped in front of her, quirked an eyebrow, and cracked a smile. “I’m sure he did. Now…breathe, Cassie girl.”

On a roll, the thoughts just kept tumbling off her tongue. “Once we confirm Mikhailov’s location, can you infiltrate and destroy their servers from here?”

“It will depend on what kind of network he has. If it’s something I can do from here then, yes. I don’t want to put our necks on the line if we can avoid it.”

“Why the hesitation? Cough it up. What’s bothering you?”

“Considering who we are dealing with, chances are he has his ass covered.”

“And that means?”

“We’ll have to be there. Physical infiltration.”

Cassandra grew quiet, processing how the infiltration would work. “Maybe we should head there now. Begin close-range surveillance on our own. Tap into George’s resources from there.” Hearing a low chuckle from Trevor’s direction, she tossed him a questioning look.

The grin on his face grew wider. “Damn, Cassie. I love how your mind works. Love you more, but definitely love your brain.”

Cassandra felt the heat of the blush creep up from her neck to her cheeks and laughed self-consciously. “Sorry. I got carried away and didn’t even let you get a word in edgewise.”

Trevor’s mouth twitched with amusement. “I agree. We should be there. We’d be close enough to act quickly once we have the location of the files and decide what’s needed for the retrieval.”

His thoughts filtered back to what he knew of Mikhailov’s organization’s infrastructure and hoped his network was outdated. If they were lucky, Mikhailov had hired teenagers, who usually weren’t as cautious about patching their systems, for the hack job. But he knew that was almost like praying for a miracle.

He slipped back in his chair and stared off into space, considering the risks surrounding the job—and then the reward that would come in the end. Eager to get back to it, he opened the chat application and sent George a quick note.

Send me any current information on Vladimir Mikhailov. This thing goes deep. Find any current tap on him and keep me posted.

Trevor left the application open. Knowing George, he would respond the moment he caught wind of the message.

“Hey, Cassie. We should get things started. We need to book our flight as soon as possible. Do you still have your CIA contacts? Think they might help expedite our visas?”

Cassandra nodded. “Let me see what I can do.”

“Okay. In the meantime, I’ll update Devlin and let him know we might be on the move shortly.”

They both turned to their computers and tackled their tasks in an almost synchronized operation, like a well-oiled machine. Trevor overheard Cassandra making several phone calls and murmuring in the background while Trevor composed the email update to appease Devlin.

A while later, Cassandra turned her chair and faced Trevor, tapping her notepad as she spoke. “Got our visas taken care of. I’ve scheduled a courier to pick up our passports for delivery to the US Embassy. They’re being pushed through the diplomatic queue to the Russians. We should have them within a couple of business days.”

“Nice!” Trevor praised her with a big smile on his face. “I am almost done with this report. My stomach is growling. Jessie should be back anytime. Do you want to take a break and start dinner? I will be there to help you in a few.”

“Yep. I should give her a call and find out when to expect her or if she’s found an Irishman to entertain her already.” Her stomach growled as she stood, giving her pause. She glanced over at Trevor and knew by his lifted brow that he’d heard it.

A smile pulled at his lips. “Guess you’re hungry, too.”

Laughing, Cassandra patted her stomach and walked to where Trevor was sitting. “I guess I am.”

“Perfect, I’ll be down shortly,” Trevor nodded, his attention already turning back to the screen the minute a beep sounded on his computer indicating George had responded to his message.

Childish

C
ASSANDRA HEARD THE DOOR UNLOCK as she stepped off the last stair onto the first level. Jessica appeared coming up from the foyer a minute later. A fun greeting died in Cassandra’s throat at the sight of her friend’s flushed cheeks and downright pissed-off expression as she walked toward her, clearly lost in thought.

“Jessica?”

Startled, Jessica’s eyes cleared and jumped to hers. “Damn it, Cassie! Don’t scare me like that.”

“Scare
you
? That scowl is enough to send me running back upstairs for my Glock. What the hell happened? Are you okay?”

“Jeez. Yes, I’m fine. No harm, no foul,” Jessica dismissed her concerns with a wave of hand.

“Then what? Someone grabbed the shoes you were lusting after out of your hands or something?”

“Something like that,” Jessica huffed, following her to the kitchen where she leaned on the counter. Cassandra knew her too well and could easily unmask her with piercing and observant eyes.

She felt the anger vibrating in Jessica’s voice. It was a perfect match to her earlier expression. Something was up and she was determined to find out what had upset her friend so.

Her gaze flicked to Jessica’s hands. “Where are your shopping bags? You’ve been gone
all
freaking day and not one bag?” Cassandra narrowed her eyes and stalked toward Jessica playfully. “Who are you? And what did you do with my best friend?”

Jessica burst out laughing, backing away with raised hands. “Whoa there, tiger.” She shrugged her shoulders. “What can I say? I didn’t find anything worth spending my precious Euros on. Can’t be overspending my savings until I know what my expenses with the new place will be.”

Skeptically, Cassandra eyed her up and down before turning her attention to the contents of the fridge. As she rummaged in it, she tossed back, “Uh huh.
And
again,
I ask you. Will the real Jessica please step forward?”

Jessica hopped up to sit on the counter and watched Cassandra pop the lids off the containers she’d pulled out from the shelves. As she took whiffs from them, Jessica snorted and Cassandra looked over at her with a raised eyebrow. “What?” she asked. “It’s leftover paella. I was just checking.”

“How old is it?”

Cassandra paused to think. “Two days…maybe three.” Concerned, she blurted out, “Will that kill us?”

Jessica stared at her for a moment and then burst out laughing. “Damn, Cassie. I’ve missed you.”

Working at the counter, Cassandra transferred the paella from the containers to a microwavable dish and, in a fluid motion, placed it in the stainless steel appliance. With a last press of a button, she turned to Jessica, rested her elbows on the counter, and studied her friend for a short time. “So. Spit it out, Jess. What happened to put such a sour look on your face?”

Jessica dropped her eyes and plucked at invisible lint on her skirt. She must have felt Cassandra’s undiminishing scrutiny because she sighed and looked up again. After a moment’s hesitation, she blurted, “I dropped in on Stephan.”

Cassandra’s eyebrows rose. “Stephan? Our Stephan? Why would you do that?” The microwave beeped; without missing a beat, she reset it. When Jessica didn’t answer, she looked up. The pain that shadowed her eyes gave her pause. A frown creased her brow at the telling expression on Jessica’s face. “O—kay. You paid Stephan a visit. Why?” As the paella went through a second round of heating, she pulled a bottle of red wine from the wine fridge encased in the counter.

“The arrogant man—” Jessica caught herself and took a deep breath. Emotion seemed to choke her. She swallowed deeply and started again, still ignoring Cassandra’s question. “The arrogant man had the nerve to call me childish.”

Cassandra continued to move around the kitchen, still trying to make sense of Jessica’s explanations. Her brows furrowed as she grabbed an oven mitt and transferred the dish from the microwave to the counter. “That doesn’t sound like Stephan, and it doesn’t answer my question, Jessie.” In a moment of clarity, Jessica’s words cut through her annoyance at her friend’s tiptoeing around her question. “Wait. Why would he call you childish for visiting him at the office?”

“Not because of that. We were at lunch. Things were coming along. We were making progress. A woman walked up to the table and started flirting with him. The look she gave me could have pinned a tarantula. When he didn’t bother to introduce us, she asked him if I was his niece.” Bitterness and disappointment colored Jessica’s words, capturing Cassandra’s attention.

She pulled off the mitt and set it on the counter. “Jessie, you’re bouncing all over the place. What the hell are you talking about? Progress? And the woman actually thought you were his niece? That’s funny.” Cassandra couldn’t help but grin. “What did Stephan say?”

“He introduced me as a friend of the family. That’s when I found out the woman was none other than Terese. The same Terese he mentioned at the pub the other night,” Jessica steamed as she accounted for the events of the day.

Cassandra’s eyes grew intent observing Jessica; her reactions told an interesting story. Knowing Jessica, she might as well listen now, take notes, and discuss later. She was on a roll and wouldn’t stop until she had let it all out.

Jessica continued spewing her disdain for the day’s events without noticing Cassandra’s stare. “Terese ignored me from the moment she approached the table and then looked down her aristocratic blue nose at me,” she sighed. “And you know what happens when that kind of thing goes down.”

“Oh, lord. You strike back. Snap! What did you say?”

“She asked how I knew Stephan. I mentioned we attended your wedding together and that we had a lovely evening later at my house.” Her eyes narrowed. “She had the nerve to ask if my parents were home at the time.”

Cassandra snorted and covered her face with her hand. “Damn, Jess. I’m sorry. Terese is actually not a bad person. She cares for Stephan.”

“Oh, that’s not all, Cassie. As she was leaving, I told her she looked golden for a grandmother.”

“Bloody hell, Jess. No wonder Stephan called you childish. Didn’t that cross the line a bit?” Jessica was flinging pieces of information at her in such a disparate way, it took Cassandra a while to process what exactly Jessica had said. She glanced at her sharply. “Hold the boat! He was at your house?! When the hell did that happen? And why are you so damn upset about all this? They date occasionally. What’s the big deal?”

“On the evening of your wedding. Anyway, she left in a huff and that’s when Stephan threw it at my face.” Jessica avoided the question a second time.