by Alex Archer
“Yes! You should have called me.”
“Take a minute. Think about how that would have gone over with Klykov. Asking him about Benyovszky was one thing, but he’d have drawn the line at inviting the police along.”
“If we’d had the name, Klykov wouldn’t have gone.”
Annja looked at Bart, wondering if he was even listening to himself. “That wouldn’t have worked.”
“Ruffling Klykov’s feathers isn’t my problem. If you’d called me, Joe and I could have picked up Onoprienko for questioning.”
“On what grounds?”
“Onoprienko is a convicted felon. Once a guy’s in the system like that, I have a lot of latitude in how I deal with them. I don’t need a reason to check up on Onoprienko. I could have pulled him in anytime I wanted to. That’s the law. He gave up a lot of rights when he killed those two guys. And Joe and I think Onoprienko is responsible for some other open unsolved cases we have. Getting a search warrant for that apartment, getting to look at evidence before it was compromised, might have helped with some of the other cases Onoprienko is connected to. If I’d known Onoprienko knew Benyovszky, I would have already had him in here for questioning. So, I repeat, why didn’t you call me?”
“I thought about it,” Annja admitted. “I chose not to.”
“Why?”
“Because you’d have cut me out of this.”
“You bet I would have.” Bart was more angry than Annja had ever seen him. “I started out with one body last night. We picked up another one that may be related to the first murder. And somebody killed the two guys we thought had killed Benyovszky and that guy across the street. We were looking at four homicides. That shoot-out the Trigger Twins pulled has put nine more bodies in the morgue we have to work. And it’s not the work I’m concerned with. It’s the fact that you were hanging out with those two killers.”
“Leonid and Pitor were only defending themselves. And me.”
“Now you’re on a first-name basis with these guys?”
“Bart, I could tell you I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Onoprienko when I learned about him, and I am, but that’s not going to undo this.”
“No, it’s not.” Bart ran a hand through his hair.
“Then this is where we start.”
Bart rolled his neck on his shoulders.
“Have you found Onoprienko?” Annja asked, hoping to change the direction of the conversation.
Bart’s eyes narrowed. She felt like most of his anger wasn’t directed at her. She just happened to be the one he could get to at the moment. Klykov and Serov had already lawyered up.
“Annja, this is not your case.”
Stung, Annja clamped down on her frustration. In all the years she had known Bart, they’d never gone head-to-head over something. They’d had disagreements and tension occasionally, but that was more from external situations rather than something directly between them.
This was different, and she wondered if their friendship would weather the storm. She didn’t want to lose it, and she didn’t want it permanently damaged. Bart was an important person in her life.
“You invited me into this,” Annja said in a neutral tone.
“Not to team up with guys like Klykov and Serov. Do you realize how lucky you are that you’re not one of those bodies cooling in the morgue?”
“That’s the thing, though. I’m not. I’m fine.”
“I’m aware that I got you involved in this, but this investigation wasn’t supposed to get all crazy like it has. You were supposed to come in, look at a few things, give us some insight and go home.”
“I couldn’t just stop with so many questions unanswered. You know me. And you know that about me.”
Bart shifted, loosening up a little. “I know. I see how you get when you’re chasing one of those artifacts that take you away so often. I should have known that you’d do the same thing with this.”
“If Nguyen Rao hadn’t shown up at the diner, I might have walked away. But when Nguyen did, and he was asking about the elephant, I knew that something weird was going on. I don’t walk away from stuff like that.”
“I get it. I do.” Bart paused. “I just saw you almost get killed this morning at the diner, then I hear about this shoot-out in Onoprienko’s apartment, and I go over there to have a look, and I honestly don’t know how you got out of there alive. That apartment and hallway looked like a war zone.”
“I did get out of there, Bart. That’s the important part. I did get out of there alive. Leonid and Pitor helped. I could have taken care of myself. And to be honest, I’ve been in tighter scrapes than that while I’ve been out of the country.”
For a moment the silence stretched between them. On the other side of the closed door, detectives talked to each other and made phone calls, a drunken woman had a screaming fit and had to be taken away and footsteps passed by.
Annja spoke first, hoping to dodge the personal issue between them. Bart felt responsible for her safety, and he felt like she’d betrayed him by joining forces with Klykov and Serov. She knew she probably would have felt the same if she’d been in his shoes. But he wasn’t responsible for her and she wasn’t going to let him be. She also wasn’t going to be ordered around.
“Did Onoprienko murder Benyovszky?” she asked.
Stubbornly, Bart didn’t answer.
After waiting for a full minute, Annja picked up her backpack and started for the door.
“You can’t just walk out of here,” Bart protested.
“Yes, I can.” Annja turned to look at Bart. “Unless you plan on arresting me.”
“I could.” The challenge hung heavy in his words.
“Okay, that’s what you’ll have to do.” Annja knew she couldn’t back down. If she did, she might evade the argument now, but their relationship would never be the same. They had to each stand on their own and go the distance.
“No.” Bart straightened. “That’s not what I want to do.”
Annja waited.
“Onoprienko is still in the wind.” Bart’s tone turned softer and he sounded more tired. “We don’t know where he’s gone. We found a hammer at his house that the ME’s office says might be a fit for the weapon that killed Benyovszky. We’ll know more when we get the report back from forensics. One of the assistants in the ME’s office has already confirmed that Benyovszky’s blood was on the weapon. Onoprienko tried to wash it off, but you can never completely get rid of blood.”
“Then he’s your killer. You can close the case on Benyovszky’s murder.” Annja knew she couldn’t rest until she’d tracked down the elephant or believed the piece was unrecoverable.
Calapez and Nguyen Rao were chasing after the elephant; it had to mean something, and if they knew what it was, Annja felt confident that she could learn what was going on, as well.
“Maybe we can close that investigation. We still have to be able to prove that hammer is the weapon that was used to kill Benyovszky and then put that hammer in Onoprienko’s hand doing that. The same way you verify that an artifact is what you say it is, that it was made in a certain place at a certain time by a certain person.”
“Certificate of authenticity.”
“Right. That. We still have that to do. But Joe and I are pretty confident Onoprienko’s the murderer. We just have to find him. You don’t suppose Klykov has any more ideas about where Onoprienko is, do you?”
“You’d have to ask him. He didn’t mention anywhere else to me on the ride over, and we haven’t exactly had time to talk since everything occurred.”
Bart grinned crookedly. “Asking him questions isn’t going to be possible. I am not one of Klykov’s favorite people right now.”
“Is he still here?”
“Yeah. I haven’t cut him loose yet, but I’m going to have t
o. His lawyer got here thirty minutes after we brought you guys in. They’re playing the quiet game, waiting to see what we have and what we’re going to do. Even charging him with shooting those men in the apartment is off the table for the moment until we get all the evidence sorted.
“Or if we didn’t have your statement saying he and Serov shot back in self-defense.”
“They did act in self-defense. Their own and mine.”
“They didn’t have to be so good at shooting back.”
“He was just defending himself. And if we hadn’t gotten there, Guro’s men might have killed Onoprienko.”
“You know Guro’s people?”
Annja shrugged. “I don’t really know them. I only met them tonight, and that was only for about a minute before they started trying to kill us.”
“You got really lucky there. Although nobody’s talking, and most of those guys aren’t even alive to talk now, the way Joe and I read it is Guro’s head enforcer—”
“Kaneev.”
Bart frowned. “Yeah. Kaneev. We think he was there to kill Onoprienko, but he was also doing a bit of gun smuggling on the side. I guess he figured Onoprienko’s apartment was safe to do it in. So while Kaneev was getting ready to blow Onoprienko’s brains out, he was making a little extra side money selling weapons. One of the buyers gave us that.”
Picturing the scene in her mind again, Annja shook her head. “If Kaneev was there to kill Onoprienko, Onoprienko would have been dead. They wanted something out of him.”
“Had to be money. Guro is a loan shark.”
“Onoprienko had something they were trying to get. Otherwise they wouldn’t have tortured him. The only thing I can think of is the elephant that Benyovszky had.”
“Onoprienko was tortured?”
“He’d been hit a lot. His face was busted up pretty good.”
“Doesn’t that bother you?”
“What?”
“That a guy was tortured? That people got dead real fast tonight?”
Annja considered that. She was bothered, but there was nothing she could do about it. There were things a person could fix, and things that could not be fixed. To get through life sane, a person had to figure out what went on each list. A kind sister had taught Annja that back in the New Orleans orphanage she’d grown up in. The same sister had also helped Annja start martial arts because knowing herself better would help her separate those lists.
“Yes, it bothers me. Probably on the same level that it bothers you.”
“I see a lot of this in my job.”
“I’m sure you do, but have you ever seen children dying of malnutrition and disease while lying in their mother’s arms only a short distance from a medical facility they’re not allowed to go to? Those trips I go on, Bart, it’s not all about digging a hole in the ground and trying to find a treasure. I see people at their lowest. And to be honest, there are a lot worse things happening in a number of countries than happen here. Tonight was bad, but no innocents were killed. You need to be thankful for that.”
Bart just stared at her for a moment. “You know, I’ve never stopped and thought about that. What you see, I mean.”
A knock sounded on the door.
“Come in,” Bart said.
The door opened and an older plainclothes detective stuck his head in. “Sorry to interrupt, Bart, but Creed’s attorney is here.”
Bart glanced at Annja and she saw the flush of anger in his face. “You called a lawyer?”
“No.”
“Excuse me, detective,” a new voice interrupted. “Perhaps it would be better if I explained.”
Chapter 19
The plainclothes detective backed out of the doorway, and a heavy-set man entered and glanced around the room. His dark blue suit was fashionable and tailored. The round face was pale and undefined, and his dark brown hair was going thin on top but still showed rebellious curls. He carried a slimline briefcase in one hand and a stylish fedora in the other.
“Actually, the detective got it wrong.” The man gave a small smile that was more serviceable than filled with kindness. “I’m not Miss Creed’s attorney yet, Detective McGillis.” He fixed his gaze on Annja. “But I will be, Miss Creed, if you so choose to invoke your rights to an attorney in this matter. My name is Oleg Deyneka.”
Bart’s expression soured and Annja guessed his and the attorney’s paths had crossed before.
“We’re finished here,” Bart said.
Deyneka beamed. “Splendid. Mr. Klykov was becoming concerned on how long you were keeping the professor. He thought I should inquire after her situation.”
“Professor Creed did her civic duty, so we can’t impose on her any longer.”
“I’d hoped that would be the case,” Deyneka said. “Especially in light of the fact that you originally called her in to assist with this investigation. I understand then, that she’s free to leave now?”
“Yes. I will want her available for further questioning if that becomes necessary.”
Before Annja could agree to that, the attorney said, “Miss Creed, Mr. Klykov would like to make certain you are well represented in this matter—since it involves him.”
“All right.” Annja felt she owed Klykov that. The old gangster was in more danger of being prosecuted than she was.
“Splendid.” Deyneka smiled again. “What about Mr. Klykov and Mr. Serov? Are they free to go, as well? They’ve been here several hours answering all the questions you and your department have had for them.”
“They didn’t answer all of them,” Bart said.
Deyneka never batted an eye. “They answered as many as they felt they needed to. Now…are they free to go? Charge them or release them.”
“Sure.” Bart folded his arms. “They’re free to go.”
Deyneka turned to Annja. “Mr. Klykov has extended a dinner invitation to you. Given the shocking events this afternoon that you’ve been witness to, he feels it is the least he can do.”
“He doesn’t have to do that,” Annja said.
“Perhaps you’d like to tell Mr. Klykov that yourself, Professor.”
“I will.” Annja turned back to Bart. “I’ll let you know anything I find out.”
Bart nodded. “Just be careful, Annja.”
She left him standing there, feeling as if things were still unresolved between them, and headed off.
Klykov and Serov stood near the exit to the bull pen and looked completely out of place in their Chasing History’s Monsters T-shirts under their jackets. Most of the detectives were watching them.
“Annja.” Klykov smiled and nodded as Annja joined him. “I hope Oleg didn’t interrupt anything important.”
“No. Detective McGilley and I are old friends. He was just voicing his…concerns.”
Bart stood nearby and looked like the protective and disapproving older brother Annja had never had. The threat he offered was etched in the straight lines of his body and the curved frown.
Klykov nodded. “I didn’t know you were on such good terms with the police.”
“Not with the police. With Bart. When I first met him, I didn’t know he was a detective. He didn’t tell me that until later.”
“Well, some of the best people are police. Oleg told you about dinner?”
“He did, but it’s been a long day—”
“I totally understand. I wasn’t sure you’d want to continue chasing Onoprienko after everything that happened today.”
That caught Annja’s attention immediately. “You know where he is?”
“I know where he’s going to be.”
Annja struggled with her desire to find the elephant piece and not wanting to disappoint Bart again. “Does he have the elephant?”
“He does indeed. Does dinner soun
d more interesting now?”
“Yes, but I don’t want to cut Bart out of the investigation again. He needs to find Onoprienko.”
“Unless your friend has jurisdiction in Ukraine, that’s going to be a problem.”
* * *
“ONOPRIENKO KILLED BENYOVSZKY for the elephant to pay off his debt to Guro.” Seated at one of the back tables in a well-known Russian restaurant on 2nd Street, Klykov talked as he ate.
“Leonid.” Serov glanced at the other man reproachfully. “I must protest.”
“What?” Klykov’s knife and fork hovered over an order of meat dumplings called pelmeni. The folded shells contained beef and pork seasoned to what Annja felt was perfection. She’d eaten at this restaurant a lot when she was in town.
“This hardly seems to be an appropriate topic of conversation to have with a young lady over a meal.”
“Faugh.” Klykov continued chewing. “The only reason Annja is here with two old men is because she wishes to know what I have learned about this matter.”
“Not completely true.” Annja sipped her wine. “It’s mostly true for tonight, but the company is good. On another night I would have come without being bribed.”
“You see?” Klykov made shooing motions with his hand. “She is fine with this topic.”
Serov glanced at Annja in mock despair. “I have tried hard to elevate his social graces, but I fear it is hopeless.”
Annja laughed. Watching the two old gangsters play off of each other was fun. The average person probably wouldn’t have thought so if dealing with them, but Annja was enjoying herself. She also realized Bart wouldn’t have thought so either, and that took a little of the fun out of it.
“At any rate, as I was saying, Onoprienko learned from Benyovszky that he was about to get a windfall and he decided to take advantage of it to save himself. Benyovszky was only celebrating his good fortune, had too much to drink and told Onoprienko of the auction that was doing so well.”
Annja took another bite of her own dumplings served with sour cream and delighted in the flavors. She hadn’t realized how hungry she’d been, and eating at the restaurant had sounded a whole lot better than going home to fix a meal.