by Dani Pettrey
Slidell cleared his throat. “While we’re on the subject of evidence . . . We know who the female ear belonged to. Police pulled the body of Nikolai Sokolov’s sister out of the Santa Ynez River, minus an ear.”
“Santa Ynez? That’s in Southern California,” Bailey said.
Slidell nodded. “Santa Barbara area.”
“Where Liz Johnson is from.”
“Exactly.”
“So, if the sister was killed there, how did her ear end up on the beach with Nikolai’s remains?”
Landon inhaled. “I imagine Grigor used it as a bargaining chip to get Nikolai to hand over the location of the items.”
Cole shook his head sadly. “But Nikolai held out?”
Landon nodded. “He must have known Grigor would have already killed his sister. So he went to his death protecting the location.”
Cole handed Bailey a cup of tea, thankful she’d agreed to spend the night at his sisters’ place. The thought of her alone at the Post with Grigor on the loose nearly suffocated him. Particularly after the call he’d just received. “That was Jesse.”
She looked up at him—fear and optimism dueling for purchase. “And?”
“He’s retrieved a dozen e-mails between Agnes and Greg Stevens of Pentrinium Oil.”
“Grigor.”
Every trail led back to him. “There’s more. . . .”
“I’m afraid to ask.”
“Agnes’s e-mails are being forwarded to an account registered to Pentrinium Oil.”
“What does he want with them?”
“I guess he’s hoping something will come through, some information he can use to find the items of proof.”
“But she’s gone.”
Cole sighed. “He’s probably banking on the fact that not everybody she was in contact with knows that.”
41
Tension and excitement pulsed through Cole—the rush of riding the big one combined with the threat of imminent danger pushed it to the extreme.
Focus was key. They had an objective—retrieve the icon and the orb, if it was in the church, and get everyone safely back on board the North Star.
He caught sight of the cavern entrance and motioned to his party. “I go in first, then Bailey, and then Piper. Landon, you close up the rear. Ninety seconds between each for the sediment to settle. We don’t want anyone going in blind. There are some pretty tight spots, so go slow.”
He entered the passageway and worked his way through as he had three days ago. Climbing free into the first cavern, he sighed with relief at the sight of the first marker.
Nothing appeared disturbed.
He waited for the rest of his team before traversing the lake; then he led them the remainder of the way to the ruins.
As they made the final bend, he heard Bailey’s sharp intake of breath.
“I don’t believe it,” she murmured.
Landon helped him set up a perimeter of lights while Piper tested the air.
“All clean,” she reported.
Cole removed his mask and inhaled the musty air. “Let’s get to work.”
Bailey reverently touched the edge of the portrait. “Over here.”
Everyone came rushing over.
“That’s not a religious icon,” Landon said with pensive brow.
Piper rolled her eyes. “Thank you, Captain Obvious.”
“What I meant was we were all under the impression it was an icon, a religious painting, but this looks more like a portrait.”
“It is a portrait,” Bailey said in awe. “A royal portrait.”
Piper sighed. “I’m confused.”
“You see, in the cell image it looked remarkably like an icon. Nikolai only captured the face. The hair, here”—Bailey pointed—“reflected like a golden halo, which is typical of Russian iconic paintings of that particular time period.”
“Does the fact that it’s a royal portrait rather than a religious icon change our situation? Is it still an item of proof?” Cole asked.
“Absolutely and it makes even more sense now.”
“How so?” Landon asked.
“This royal portrait of young Ivan sitting on his mother’s lap, holding the dynastic orb, with a regal red robe proves he was the tsar. If Grigor were to present this painting along with the actual orb, they could not contest that it belonged to Ivan VI.”
“It’s dated . . .” Piper squinted to read it better. “Seventeen forty-one.”
“It must have been painted just prior to his imprisonment. Hand me a pair of gloves.” She slid them on and carefully removed the portrait from the frame, as Cole and Landon readied the water-safe transport bag.
“Wait.” Piper’s eyes widened. “There’s another painting on the back.”
“What?” Bailey shifted it to find another portrait—this time of a man, somewhere in his mid-to-late thirties, handsome and regal, and holding the same orb.
Piper pointed. “It’s dated too.”
Bailey’s gaze shifted down. “ ‘Ivan VI Antonovich, July 1778. Russian Alaska.’ It’s Ivan as an adult. Here in Alaska.” Unbelievable.
“It’s proof he escaped and made it safely to Alaska,” Cole said with admiration.
“And the orb?” Landon asked.
Bailey shook her head as her history lessons came back in full swing. “When Catherine the Great ascended the throne she had new coronation regalia made. I never understood why, but if one piece was missing, it would draw suspicion. . . .”
“So she had it remade,” Cole said, totally in tune with what she was thinking.
“Right. Ivan had the orb, and Catherine, to not draw attention to that fact, commissioned a new crown as well.”
“So where’s the orb now?” Landon asked.
“It’s got to be here somewhere.” Bailey slid the portrait into the container and rested her hands on her hips. It just had to be.
“It isn’t here,” Cole said, laying a hand on Bailey’s shoulder.
She shifted to rest her weary weight against him, teetering on the brink of discouragement as cold exhaustion spread through her limbs. “I had hoped . . . ”
“Maybe someone removed it from the church before the earthquake. I mean there’s no way anyone took it and left all this.”
“What about Nikolai and Liz?” Landon said.
“They only took photos of the portrait. If they’d found the orb, why not photograph it as well? Unless . . .” Bailey said.
Cole’s brow furrowed. “Unless?”
“Unless they retrieved the orb. Sort of as a show of faith that they had in fact found the ruins.”
“Then why bother photographing the portrait?” Cole asked. “Why not just show them the orb?”
“Maybe Grigor required more than a photo,” Landon said.
Bailey exhaled. “If that’s true, then Grigor may already have the orb.”
Cole tapped the case. “Which makes protecting this all the more critical.”
Piper’s flippers disappeared over the boat’s edge. Bailey swam the remaining feet between her and the dive platform and grabbed the hand extended to her. The fingers tightened around her wrist and a warning shot pinged through her. The touch was unfamiliar and . . . wrong.
Gripping her tighter, the man yanked her upward, propelling her at a dizzying rate onto the metal platform. She lifted her head, her heart racing as she came face-to-face with Grigor. He was younger than the last time they’d met, but those eyes—gray and unyielding—she’d never forget.
“She doesn’t have the bag either,” he nearly growled. “Kiril, put her over with the others.”
Her gaze flashed in the direction he pointed and her heart stopped. Gage unconscious. Kayden, bound and gagged. Piper in the process of being so.
“I said move!” He shoved her, and she lost her balance, flailing forward and falling face-first into Kiril’s boot. Her jaw slammed against the heel, and blood swelled in her mouth.
“Let’s go.” Kiril hauled her to her feet. He r
ipped the mask from her face and bound her hands with startling efficiency.
Landon surfaced and climbed onto the platform, his eyes widening in horror. He lunged at Grigor, knocking him from his feet, only to be clobbered over the head by a third man.
Piper screamed, the thick gag muffling the sound. Tears welled in her eyes.
Grigor got to his feet. “Thanks, Anton.”
Anton nodded, taking position over Landon, his gun cocked.
Bailey struggled against the blood-saturated rag shoved in her mouth, the overwhelming metallic taste churning her already queasy stomach. If only there was some way to warn Cole.
Cole climbed onto the dive platform to a gun barrel leveled between his eyes. Blinking, he looked past the weapon at Gage unconscious, then to Bailey and his sisters bound and gagged, and finally to Landon sprawled on the floor. He lifted his hands in surrender.
“Finally, a wise one. The bag, please?” Grigor held out his hand.
Cole heaved it over.
Grigor peered inside. “Kiril, cover him and call the boat over.”
Kiril moved into position and relayed the radio call.
Grigor reached inside, drawing the portrait out. “Beautiful.” He handed it to Anton as an inflatable boat approached.
Grigor reached back in the bag, his smile fading. He reached deeper still, then pulled the bag inside out and flung it at Cole’s feet. “Where is it? Where is the orb?”
Cole swallowed. Apparently Grigor didn’t have the orb. . . . Which made matters all the more precarious. “It wasn’t down there.”
Grigor studied him a moment, then turned and strode to Bailey. He squatted in front of her, his pistol dangling in his left hand. He pulled her gag down.
Blood stained the white rag. Cole clenched his fists. What had he done to her?
“Where is the orb?”
“It wasn’t down there.” Her panic-stricken gaze flashed from Grigor to him.
If Grigor didn’t have the orb, who did? And how did they convince him of the truth?
Grigor straightened, glancing from one of them to the next.
Cole’s fear swelled. What was going through his mind?
Landon came to, and Kiril pressed a firm boot into the small of his back, cocking his gun. “Uh-uh.”
Landon held his hands out, fingers spread, palms down.
“Not so cocky now, are we?” Kiril chuckled.
Grigor smirked and strode to Piper.
Cole’s heart lodged in his throat.
Standing behind her, Grigor yanked Piper to her feet. Wrapping one arm around her waist, he pulled her tight against him, smirking at Landon’s discomfort. “There’s one way to discover the truth. A round of Russian roulette ought to take care of it.” He slid a bullet out of the chamber and let it clang to the floor. Closing the chamber, he spun the cylinder, then pressed the butt of the muzzle against Piper’s left temple.
“I’ll ask one more time,” he said, his voice calm, even, cold.
“It wasn’t down there,” Cole and Bailey hollered in unison.
Landon strained under Kiril’s weight, his face bulging purple.
“Take me.” Cole stepped forward. “Kill me.”
“No!” Bailey yelled, tears streaming down her cheeks.
“That’s far enough,” Grigor said, the hunger in his eyes deepening.
Anton pulled Cole into a choke hold.
Dear Lord, please. Please don’t let him do this. Not Piper.
For the first time in his life he felt utterly helpless.
Please, Lord. I’m on my knees, begging.
Piper whimpered.
Kayden lunged forward, but Grigor quickly knocked her back, his boot colliding with her already bruised and bloodied face.
“There will be no substitutes,” he roared. “You want to save her, then simply tell the truth.”
“We are. I swear.” Cole held up his hands. “Search us. We aren’t hiding anything. The orb wasn’t there.”
“I don’t believe you.” Grigor pulled the trigger.
Cole reared against Anton’s choke hold, his body shaking with agony.
Grigor laughed as Piper nearly fainted. “I guess fate was kind to you today.”
Cole squeezed his eyes shut. Thank you, Lord.
“Now I believe you.” Grigor released Piper.
She puddled to the deck in a heap, crying.
Cole burned to run to her, to sweep her up in his arms, but Anton’s gun remained fixed on him. He couldn’t afford to do anything stupid—not when lives were at stake.
Grigor moved back to Bailey. “So where is it?”
“I don’t know.”
“Don’t try my patience. It’s clear you’re the brains of this operation.” He clasped her jaw. “Tell me where the orb is.”
She shook her head, tears streaking down her cheeks.
Grigor pressed the gun to her head. “I assure you the rest of the chambers are full. Now, I will ask you one more time. Think very carefully how you answer. It may be your last. Where is the orb?”
Cole lurched forward. “We don’t know.”
Anton cocked his gun. “Don’t bother. You’ll be dead before you reach her. I guarantee it.”
Then he’d go right along with her.
Fear squeezed Bailey’s voice. “We really don’t know. It wasn’t down there.”
Grigor’s gaze hardened as his finger itched the trigger. “Then you’re of no further use to me.”
“Wait!” Cole shouted.
Grigor turned, a sadistic smile creeping on his lips. “I’m listening.”
“Maybe . . .” Fear glazing her eyes, Bailey took a deep breath. “Maybe I missed something in the diary.”
“The diary?” He angled his head back toward her. “The one I took from the historical society?”
“Yes.”
His eyes narrowed. “How do you know what’s in it?”
“Agnes made a copy.”
He scowled. “Of course she did.”
Tears streamed down Bailey’s face. “Maybe I missed a clue that tells where the orb is. If I read it again with what I now know in mind . . .”
“All right.” Grigor seized her arm. “We’ll try it that way.” He hauled her to the port side.
Cole shot his elbow straight back, and it cracked as it collided with Anton’s jaw. He sprang forward, reeling toward Bailey.
He only made it a few feet before Kiril clotheslined him, knocking the air from his lungs. He toppled to the deck.
Grigor lifted his chin to Kiril. “Kill them.”
Kiril readied his gun. “With pleasure.”
“No!” Bailey screamed, struggling in his hold. “I won’t help you if you do.”
“You are in no position to be giving me orders,” he barked.
“You need me to find what you seek. You kill them and you might as well kill me, because I won’t help you.”
His jaw tightened, and after a minute he exhaled. “Very well.” He turned to Kiril. “Leave them. Just make sure they can’t follow.”
“You don’t have to do this,” Cole said, struggling to his feet, struggling to reach her.
“Shut him up,” Grigor hollered.
Kiril smiled.
A crack sounded.
Everything went black.
42
Cole woke, his head spinning. “Bailey.” He staggered to his feet.
Landon steadied him. “She’s gone, man.”
He seized Landon by the arms. “How could you just let him take her?”
“He would have killed us all.”
“So we just sacrifice Bailey? Let him kill her?”
“It’s not like that, man. She said to tell you it’d all be okay. To trust her.”
Cole wiped the blood seeping down his brow. “What does that mean?”
“It means she’s buying us all some time,” Gage said, rubbing the welt on his head.
“Time for what?” Grigor had Bailey. How could he have let hi
m take her?
“To figure out where the orb is.”
“What? I don’t care about the stupid orb. All I care about is getting Bailey back safe.”
“Don’t you see?” Piper rested her hand on his. “We figure out where the orb is by the time Bailey figures it out, we’ll know where Grigor is going to be. We beat him there and rescue Bailey.”
Cole exhaled, squeezing his eyes shut.
Please tell me that’s not what she had in mind, that she didn’t risk her life to spare ours.
“There is one obstacle we have to overcome first.”
“What’s that?”
“Before leaving,” Kayden began with irritation, “Grigor had his thugs disable our rudder, shoot up our radio, and slice our intake hose. Cabin’s already a foot deep with water. He said since we all loved the ocean so much, he’d give it the privilege of slowly killing us.”
“How long do we got?”
“Couple hours tops.”
“All right, Landon, come with me. Let’s see what we can do to stop the flooding. Gage, see if there’s any way to repair the radio. Piper, you start sending up flares. Kayden, you’re on alternative means out of here.”
“Great.” She sighed. “Give me the easy one.”
The water cresting his knees, Cole finally managed to seal off the intake hose. He swallowed the blood still seeping from his cracked lip and fought the dizziness swimming in his head from the blow Kiril had given him. He couldn’t stop, couldn’t rest—not until he had Bailey safely back in his arms.
“No flares,” Piper said, panic lacing her voice. “Grigor’s men must have taken them.”
Gage entered the cabin. “Control system is shot.” He chucked the wrench he’d been using, and it glanced off the metal toolbox with a clang. “I’m sorry, man. There’s no way to repair the radio or the rudder controls. Not with what we have at our disposal.”
“I’ll grab a tank and go down,” Landon offered. “Maybe there’s something I can do to manually repair the rudder.”
“I’ll go with you.” Piper moved to his side.
“No. You’ve been through enough. I can take care of it.”
“But I want to help.”
“I know, but I’ll work faster if I’m not worried about you.”