He paced restlessly until he backed up so far that his back hit the wall. Calista eased next to him and threw an arm around his waist, drawing his weight to her. He didn’t understand why, but he could explore that later. Right now, he leaned on her strength.
No one moved. Thomas broke the silence. “Finish it, Adam.”
“It took Emil almost eighteen years to discover me. I imagine it was a total betrayal in his eyes. He must have sent Ludis after me. My uncle found my adopted parents alone in our home. I was at school.” He stared at his birth father, trying to find the next words. “Annija intercepted me on my way home and sent me into hiding. Ludis killed her for it.”
“His own sister?” Thomas closed his eyes.
“How do you know Vasnev killed your birth mother?” Noah asked.
“I watched him ram her car off the road into a canyon. It exploded on impact.”
Noah raked a hand over his face and said, “There is nothing about Ludis Vasnev wanted for murder in the United States. You never reported this, called the police, or…”
“I was a kid, Noah, a stupid, scared kid. And I had no idea who the bastard was. Annija told me to run… and I saw what he did to my parents. By the time I figured out the right thing to do, Ludis was gone and my parents, Annija ― everyone I loved was gone.”
Calista moved her hand up Adam’s arm and hugged him. Adam sure the hell hadn’t earned this support, but he wasn’t going to turn it down either. He reached for her hand and held it in his.
“I used the new identity Annija created for me and joined the Marines. I wanted the training to go up against the bastard who killed my family.” Adam glared at Noah. “I don’t know why Ludis went to such brutal extremes to kill his sister. What he got in return was a fucking thorn in the Vasnev organization.”
“When did you discover who Ludis Vasnev was?” Thomas’s eyes glistened with unshed tears.
His father had his answer and expected Adam to man up, come completely clean so there was nothing unsaid that would come back and hurt his family.
“After several tours in the Middle East, the CIA recruited me and partnered me with Rina Russo.”
The memory of the first day he and Rina walked into that multi-agency task force flashed before him. “The Vasnev had connections to known terrorist groups in the Middle East, and I knew the area well. We were assigned to work with Mac’s task force. Ludis Vasnev’s ugly mug shot and photos of his vicious handywork for the last five years were spread out on the conference table during our first briefing.” Adam took a moment and filled his lungs. “I had been searching for him for years, and Mac handed him to me on a silver platter.”
“Shit, Adam. I was in that briefing,” Jared said. “We met that day after I briefed the group on Mendoza. You said nothing…”
“What the hell did you expect me to say, Jared? I spent the next few days connecting the dots. If I revealed my connection to you, I would have been removed from the task force. That wasn’t happening. And, not because I was protecting them, but because I wanted to be the one who took them down.” He released Calista’s hand and raked his fingers through his hair. “At least that was the plan until…”
“Until Anna,” Thomas murmured.
“Yes, everything went to hell when Rina got pregnant with Anna. Rina was the only person I trusted. I told her about my Vasnev family connection, and we both dived into a relentless campaign to destroy the bastard’s empire. Our lives didn’t leave much room for any type of relationship from the outside, so Rina and I became more than just partners. When she gave birth to Anna, we went undercover, so to speak, to keep our daughter’s life a secret.”
Calista eased a little closer and pressed her other hand over his. The simple gesture had such strength behind it.
“And now Vasnev has discovered Anna?” Jared asked.
“Yes.”
“And he’s also discovered who fathered you.”
Adam met his father’s uncompromising stare. “You’re my father, sir. He’s coming after you because you’re the only one left to leverage against me.”
“Why is Vasnev coming after you so strongly now? What does he want from you?” Jared asked.
“I have no idea.”
Father Anthony opened the kitchen door and stood in the doorway. “See, that wasn’t so hard.”
If his friend wasn’t wearing a collar, Adam would be tempted to give him a nosebleed. The priest chuckled, took a bite of his sweet roll, and went back into the kitchen.
Noah took an angry step toward Adam, his stance rigid. “You have known you were a McNeil, my damn brother, from the moment we laid eyes on each other, and you said nothing all these years.”
Thomas glanced at his sons and motioned for them to sit. “So, you are here because he has also discovered me, my family… your family.”
“Yes sir.”
“And you think he will come after us like he went after Anna’s mother?”
“Yes, but that’s not going to happen. The bastard showed his hand. He should have killed me first. He’ll never touch you. I protect mine.”
Mary walked through the kitchen door and approached her husband. “Thomas, sit. Your heart.”
“Is Anna okay?” Adam asked.
“Yes, Father Anthony is entertaining her.”
Adam took a tentative step toward his father. “What’s wrong with his heart, Dr. McNeil?”
“Adam, I think under the circumstances, you should at the very least call me Mary.” She pushed on her husband’s shoulders and he sat. “I’m sure you have your reasons for this game you have been playing with all of us.”
“It wasn’t a game.”
“Sorry. Bad choice of words.” Mary approached him and placed her hand on his lower back and led him and Calista to the empty loveseat. “Sit.” She glanced at her sons, then settled down next to her husband. “We all need to deal with this. What I meant to say is that I’m sure you kept your identity from us for good reasons. We can hash that out later, but for now, what is the immediate threat?”
“Ludis Vasnev is extremely dangerous and his resources extend beyond anything you can imagine. By now, he knows everything about you, your likes, dislikes, routine… everything.”
Jared shifted, his fist clenching and unclenching on his knee. “So how do we protect ourselves?”
“You can’t. You will never see him coming.” Adam pressed Calista’s hand gently and released it. “But you don’t have to worry about Ludis. I will stop him. I’m here because I have no one to leave Anna with.”
The next instant, a sharp, piercing pain shot from behind his eyes to the back of his head. He dropped to his knees and covered his head with his hands, an agonizing moan escaping deep within him. Anna’s voice tore through his head, leaving behind a pounding headache.
“You can’t leave me here.” Anna raced through the kitchen door to her father.
“Anna, stop!” Adam pleaded through the pain. He wrapped his arms around her.
“You will die, too, like Mommy.”
He lifted her chin. “Anna, calm down. You’re hurting me.”
Mary moved toward them and placed her hand on his child’s shaking shoulders to lead her away. “Anna, come sit with your grandpa.” Thomas immediately cradled Anna when Mary set her on his lap.
The pain lessened and Adam dabbed at the blood seeping from the corner of his eyes. Mary helped him stand and eased him to the loveseat. “Jennie, get my bag.”
Jennie darted to the front door and retrieved a large multi-colored canvas bag. Mary unzipped the top and removed what look like a midsize travel make-up pouch. She untied the ribbon and opened it on the coffee table. She removed a small flashlight and shined the light into the back of Adam’s eye.
“Dr. McNeil, I’m fine. Don’t fuss. The pain is easing.”
“No, Adam, you’re not fine. Now be still.” She held his chin and flashed the light back and forth across his eyes. Her touch was gentle, her expression was anything but. �
��How many of these episodes have you had?”
“Four… no five.” He lowered his voice so Anna wouldn’t hear, which was crazy since his daughter probably was reading his mind.
“They started when Anna began speaking to me by…”
“Telepathy?”
“Yes. God, that sounds crazy.”
This time Mary’s face brightened with the first real smile since she’d walked into the room. “Not in this group, it doesn’t. We’ve had some unusual hands-on experience with telepathy.”
“Then I’m not going crazy?”
“No, just carrying on a new family tradition.”
After taking his pulse and listening to his heart, she removed a portable blood pressure machine and wrapped the large cuff around his upper arm. “Your pulse is a little fast, but the rest of your vitals are fine. But you need to see a friend of mine at Hopkins.”
“It’s going to have to wait.”
“This is serious, Adam.”
“I’m working within a very small window. I have to stop Ludis before he makes his move on you. I don’t have time …”
“You’re not going after him without backup.” Thomas said, cradling Anna. He didn’t shout, or even raise his voice, but his message had Adam straightening his spine. “Yes sir, I am. This is my fight. I’ll end it.”
“Like hell you will.” Thomas darted from his seat, seeming to forget he held his granddaughter in his arms.
“Thomas, the child,” Mary sat at his side.
Anna was already flying to Adam, then frantically patting his face.
“Sing the words, Anna,” Calista suggested softly.
She nodded but didn’t attempt to speak. No one said a word while Anna’s voice sang inside his head.
“I have to go with you. I have to.”
“Anna, this is your family,” he explained, his hand extending to everyone in the room. He prayed they would accept his daughter even if they never trusted him again. “You have grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins your age. You won’t be alone.”
The little girl shook her head back and forth. “The white hair monster will hurt you. Listen!”
Adam’s heart dropped to his stomach. God, she’s seen Ludis.
Calista’s hand gripped his elbow. “Someone’s here.”
Adam turned toward her. Her widened eyes were on the living room window.
“What?”
“Someone just drove up in a black Lincoln limo.” The tremble was back in her voice. “Do you know this man?”
Adam placed Anna back in his father’s lap and moved toward the window. He eased the sheers away and studied the well-dressed gentleman who stepped from the vehicle.
“What the hell?”
Emil Vasnev’s associate strolled up the sidewalk like he owned the place. Charles Reese had managed Emil’s legal operations for the last twenty years, and just because Adam could never find anything on the sidekick to connect him to his grandfather’s other enterprises didn’t mean he wasn’t as guilty as everyone else in the operation.
Adam yanked his revolver from the holster inside his coat. Charging to the front door, he pulled it open, steadied his stance, and aimed the gun at the man’s heart.
“One more step and I’ll drop you where you stand, Mr. Reese.”
From the corner of his eye, Adam could see that Jared and Noah stepped out onto the porch, their weapons at their sides. His brothers may have wanted nothing more than to use Adam’s face as a punching bag, but now he had their support.
Reese paused with his foot on the bottom step of the porch, his posture stiffened. He studied Adam with a pinched, almost bored expression. “Adam Blake, you have nothing to fear from me. Stop pointing that damn weapon in my face.” He reached into his jacket.
“Don’t.”
“I’m here to deliver a message from your grandfather.”
Ten
Adam hesitated for a moment and then held his weapon by his side. He took the letter and turned to Jared. He said in a low voice, “Get Anna into the kitchen with Robert.”
“Done.”
Adam approached Reese. “You’re not carrying a weapon into this home. Hand it over.”
“I’m not carrying a weapon. Pat me down if you don’t believe me.”
Adam gave him a quick pat down and then stepped to the side. “Inside.”
Reese nodded. He scanned the yard before taking another step.
“What’s wrong?” Adam asked.
The older gentleman shook his head dismissively and entered the home. The living room was silent. No one spoke, each member of the McNeil family assessing the stranger.
Thomas stood and broke the silence. “Mr. Reese, what business do you have with Adam?”
“I’m here to fulfill a dying man’s last wish.”
The man was looking about the room like he was searching for something.
“What are you looking for?” Adam hissed.
Reese smiled and took a step further into the room. “I was hoping to meet Anna. She looks so much like Annija and I wished to tell Emil…”
“Emil Vasnev can rot until hell comes and drags his body away. He’s never coming anywhere near my daughter.” Before he could register his actions, he leveled his gun at Reese’s head.
Reese didn’t react, nor did his eyes waver from the barrel. Suddenly, the man gripped Adam’s wrist with his left hand. For a man twenty years his senior, Reese’s hold was strong, and the pressure of his fingers would leave bruises on Adam’s wrist.
“Lower your weapon,” he said calmly. “You may not want your grandfather’s help, but he is the only one who can protect you from Ludis.”
Keeping his weapon steadily pointed at the man’s head, Adam said, “I’ll take my chances.”
As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Anna’s voice yelled inside his head.
“He’s not the bad man. The letter!”
A sharp pain spread through his frontal lobe. He swayed, then found his balance. A moan escaped before Adam could stop it and he rubbed his temples.
How was she doing this? Robert wouldn’t allow Anna anywhere near the door. How did she see the damn letter? See Reese?
Adam rolled his neck and took in a breath to ease the stabbing pain. Reese hadn’t moved an inch; he studied him with concern in his eyes.
“Are you willing to jeopardize your daughter’s life or,” his eyes scanned the room, “your family’s life because of a horrible misunderstanding?”
“What fucking misunderstanding? That Emil ordered his own son to murder my mother or that he ordered Rina’s execution?”
“Emil Vasnev may have his sins, but killing a family member isn’t one of them, especially Annija. Your mother was the only good thing that Emil feels he has ever done. I was with him when he got the news about her death. It destroyed him. He was rotting away until he discovered you. A part of his Annija lives in you. He’s been trying to protect you for years, even though you haven’t made it easy. All he wants is to keep you safe, keep your daughter safe.”
“That’s bullshit.”
Thomas put his hand on Adam’s left shoulder and leaned close to his ear. “Maybe you should read the letter. See what the man has to say.”
His expression was one Adam never expected from the man he had lied to for years. Thomas trusted him to do the right thing.
Adam lowered his weapon and tore open the envelope, unfolding a sheet of white stationery. Several photos were tucked inside the fold. He flipped through one, then another, and his heart slammed against his rib cage.
The photos spanned several years. The first photo was of him and Rina having drinks in a Turkish bar in Istanbul. He remembered that mission, or at least the days after it, with such clarity. Those drinks led to the most amazing three days with Rina. They made Anna that weekend.
Before he could drift further into memories that he didn’t have the strength to revisit, he placed the photo in the back of the pile. The next two photos were taken
after he faked his own death. He ground his molars at images of Anna hours after her birth and a year later playing in a small swimming pool in her back yard. The last photo was taken only a couple weeks ago. He was seated in his normal booth at Pete’s diner, laughing at something Calista had said while she poured him a refill of coffee.
Adam handed his father the photos to read the short note written in a bold, but shaky script:
All I have ever wanted was your safety. Couldn’t save Annija. Allow me to help. Ludis must be stopped and I’m the only one he fears.
—Emil Vasnev
Reese took a step into his personal space. “If Emil Vasnev wanted you brought to him, he could have done so at any time. He knows you want nothing to do with him. Annija went to great extremes to keep you away from him. He has tried to respect her wishes, but all that has changed. Ludis will stop at nothing to see you and Anna dead.”
“Why should I trust you… trust this man?” he said, crumpling the sheet of paper in his fist.
“Your uncle wants Emil’s empire. If Emil dies without a direct heir, everything will go to Ludis because there is no proof you exist.”
“Ludis is Emil’s son.” Adam raked an angry hand over his face. “He can have it all. I don’t want anything from—”
“Adam, you can’t be this shortsighted.” Reese’s eyes narrowed and he grimaced. He studied Adam for several moments, then glanced down at the watch on his wrist before he spoke. “You are aware that Emil isn’t Ludis’s father, right?”
“No. What are you talking about?”
“Emil never remarried after Annija’s mother died in childbirth. Instead, he went through a string of mistresses, one of them sharing a nasty little disease that turned him sterile.” Reese shoved a hand in his pocket. “Emil never was good at sharing. If he had known that Ludis’s mother took in another man while still with him, he would have put a bullet in her head. When she showed up pregnant and claimed the kid was Emil’s, he moved her into the estate. She disappeared after the birth. A paternity test proved what Emil already suspected. He set up a private adoption of Ludis, claiming him as his own. But he isn’t a true Vasnev.”
In the Shadow of Malice Book 3 Page 9