by Wendy Rosnau
“You said Lev recruited Casmir without your knowledge.”
“She had just quit modeling for the second time. She was restless and I think he took advantage of that.”
“Does Casmir know about her father?”
“She knows the lie I told her. I said he was an actor I met on tour who had met with a tragic accident before she was born. After Jacko died, the intelligence world branded him a Judas. I never believed it, but I have no proof otherwise.” Ruza took a sip of her martini. “How do I tell her that after all these years I’ve lied to her about everything, and that her father was a traitor to his country and his work?”
“Or that her commander, Lev Polax, is her uncle?”
“The lies just keep going.” Ruza took a puff off the cigarette. “I can only imagine what she would say if she found out that her grandmother is the head of Quest. Cassie knows IsaDora only as Babushka.”
“Grandmother.”
“Yes. For years I’ve wanted to tell her the truth, but I’m afraid, Lazie. Too much time has passed. She’ll be furious with me.”
“I see the dilemma.”
“That’s the history of the Balasi/Polax family. None of it, however, is important now. What’s important is that I find Cassie. And to do that I must call IsaDora.”
“I thought you wanted to call Lev.”
“I’ve rethought that. I think he’s up to his old tricks again. I can’t trust him now.”
Ruza set down the empty martini glass and stubbed out her cigarette. “Enough talk. I’m through with Lev. He’s misused his power at Quest for the last time. I’ve told you where I stand, Lazie. Now all that I ask of you is that you turn your back while I make a phone call.”
She didn’t know what she expected. But it wasn’t Lazie’s next move. He stood, sat next to her and slowly enveloped her in his arms. Pulling her close, he said, “You and I are more perfectly matched than you know, Ruza-a…. We take chances, gamble for high stakes, and live life on da ledge.”
“I believe the word is edge.”
“The edge of what? No, I have always liked da word ledge better. It paints a clearer picture, no?”
“Are you going to help me?”
“What do you think?”
“What is the price, Lazie?”
“Friendship, mon coeur.”
“Only friendship?”
“It is too high a price?”
“No.”
“Then we are friends.”
“Just like that?”
“Oui.”
“You’re serious.”
“Oui. As serious and determined as you are to save your daughter from Yurii Petrov.”
Ruza wrenched back. “Did you say Petrov?”
“Oui.”
“It was Ramon Petrov who killed Jacko.” Ruza quickly stood. “Lev is going to burn in hell for this. The man who has my daughter is a Petrov? Tell me it isn’t true.”
“I cannot lie to you, mon coeur.”
Lazie mapped out what he knew via Pierce’s information. It wasn’t complete, but it was a good start.
“So Yurii knows that Cassie is a spy and that she’s responsible for sending him to prison.”
“And breaking his heart.”
“Then she’s been sentenced to death.” The idea sent Ruza pacing. “If I’m going to be any use to my daughter, I’ve got to contact IsaDora and then catch up to Pierce Fourtier.” She stopped pacing. “I have to hurry.”
“Hurry where?”
“Trust me, Lazie.”
“Bon Dieu, mon coeur. It has been years.”
“We’re friends, remember?”
“Call me Saber.”
“Saber…please give me the phone.”
“Again.”
“Saber, give me the damn phone or I’ll put my foot in your belly again and knock you off your feet.”
“Oui, a spirited ange. I knew it the day I laid eyes on you.”
Casmir woke up naked in the stateroom. She had paced the room wrapped in the bedsheet for over an hour, then collapsed on the bed in exhaustion. They were still at sea, and she knew now that she wouldn’t see land until she was delivered to Yurii at Nescosto Priyatna.
She climbed off the bed and secured the bedsheet around her. There was no sense pacing. She looked out the window over the bed. It was daylight now. She had no idea how long she had slept.
The door suddenly opened and in walked Filip with a tray. He set it on the table.
“You should be hungry. I am.”
She studied the assortment of fruits and breads on the tray. The two plates. Obviously he planned to eat with her.
“Sit, signorina.”
“Where are my clothes?”
“They checked out and you will have them back after prima colazione. Sit.”
She pulled out a chair and, keeping the sheet around her, sat. He followed suit.
This morning he wore jeans and a black T-shirt that strained his muscular arms. His hair was tied back. He had nice cheekbones, Casmir thought, but not as nice as Pierce.
Pierce. Where was he? Was he following?
The mission’s success rested in his hands now. She knew he was determined. Knew where he ranked at Onyxx.
But she also knew Yurii and how determined he was.
She looked at Yurii’s brother, and found him studying her as he munched on a piece of bread spread heavily with jam.
“Eat. I wouldn’t want you to lose your curves before I deliver you. Yurii wants you looking well when you arrive.”
“Are you two close?”
“My relationship with my brother is of no importance to you. He has asked that I bring you to him, and it will be done.”
“Do you follow all of Yurii’s orders?”
“Orders?” He snorted. “Yurii does not order me to do anything. All he has to do is ask, and if it is in my power, I make it happen. It’s called respect. Something a woman like you would know nothing about.”
“Where are you taking me?”
“I told you. Home.”
“But where is home?”
He grinned. “Anxious?”
Casmir relaxed back in the chair and began to pick at the fruit. “Not exactly anxious, but I’m not afraid, either.”
His grin widened. “You should be. When I left, Yurii was in the middle of arranging an interesting homecoming party for you.”
“And will you be at the party?”
“No. It will be a private party for two. But the stone walls at Nescosto echo nicely. I will be able to hear you scream.”
Chapter 16
Pierce called Merrick and got him out of bed. He was on his way to the airport in New Orleans, about to board a private plane waiting for him on the runway.
“Petrov bit,” he said. “Call Polax and tell him the final phase of the mission starts now. Who’s my contact? When and where?”
“Ash Kelly.”
“Ash?”
“I’ve decided to let him in on this. He’s eager to get back, and I thought working with one of his old teammates would be a good idea.”
“He’s been out a year. This is no time for a trial run. We’ve just sent a woman into hell and promised her she’ll survive.”
“I thought you’d welcome Ash back. You were the one who suggested he take the job in the beginning.”
That was before, Pierce thought. Before things had changed. A lot of things.
“Are you refusing him? If you are, it’s going to complicate matters. He’s already in place waiting for you.”
There was a moment of dead air.
“You better be right about him.”
“Yes or no, Pierce?”
Normally Merrick didn’t give his agents a choice. That put Pierce on edge. Merrick wasn’t sure Ash was back a hundred percent. He wanted him to make the call.
“If I don’t like what I see, I’m going to kick his ass off the mission, and go solo.”
“You’re running the show.”
&nb
sp; That was another strange comment Pierce didn’t like. Merrick never gave up his authority. He swore. “He better be fuckin’ ready to go when I see him. If his brains are scrambled in the bottom of a bottle, I’ll kill him.”
There was more silence.
“Is everything all right on your end? You seem agitated. That’s not like you.”
“You owe me a house. Mine was burned to the ground an hour ago. And there’s a problem Polax is going to need to deal with.”
“A problem?”
“Ruza Balasi isn’t happy with the situation. She knows Polax played her. She’s not the kind of woman who is going to sit by the phone to hear if her daughter is dead or alive.”
“I thought Saber Lazie was handling her.”
“Outside of tying her to the bed that’s not going to happen.”
“So tie her to the bed.”
“I’ll give him the message. Where is Ash?”
“He’s in Barcelona ready to sail the moment you arrive. Pier Six.”
As soon as the line went dead, Merrick contacted Polax. He gave him the good news—Petrov had taken the bait. Then he verified that Polax’s mole was still in the game. That confirmed, he hit Lev with the bad news—Ruza was on to him.
“Dammit, if Ruza goes to IsaDora, we’re both fucked. Quest’s future is riding on this mission, but my sister and mother won’t see it that way. They think alike when it comes to Casmir. Shit!”
“Maybe we should have gone to IsaDora with this plan in the beginning.”
“If I believed she would have backed us, I would have.”
“You’re sure she wouldn’t have?”
“She took Ruza’s side when I recruited Casmir five years ago. Neither one agreed with it. It wasn’t until after Casmir came back from a number of successful missions that they began to be less vocal.”
“In this business, risk is part of the game.”
“I hate that word. Especially when it involves someone I love. Contrary to what my sister thinks, I love my niece.”
“You’ve told me over and over again that she’s good enough to pull this off.”
“She’s one of the best in the business. She’s got Ruza’s and Jacko Ludomir’s blood running through her veins. I’m proud to be her uncle, and even prouder to be her commander.”
“Then trust your instincts.”
“I do, and I trust Casmir. But IsaDora and Ruza are another matter.”
“The bottom line is there’s no turning back now, Lev. So what do you intend to do?”
“Avoid any incoming calls from Ruza, stay out of IsaDora’s office and buy a brass-plated cup for my balls.”
Pierce flew through the night and reached Barcelona before dawn. He located Pier Six and found Ashland Kelly sitting in the sun on a motor yacht, waiting for him.
After the Greece mission to uncover one of the Chameleon’s hideouts—a mission that had ended in disaster—Ash had walked away from Onyxx, while Pierce had stayed.
They had lost one of their teammates during the mission and Ash had blamed himself for Sully Paxton’s death. For a year he’d allowed that guilt to eat him alive.
Pierce studied his comrade. Ash’s blond hair was past his shoulders and he’d grown a beard and moustache. He’d lost weight, and his skin was sunbaked. He looked as if he’d been living in the desert, dining on cactus juice and sand.
“It’s been a while, mon ami.”
Ash nodded. “It’s good to be back.”
“Are you back?”
“I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t.”
“You better be. This isn’t going to be a picnic in the sun.”
“You don’t want me here.”
“I want the man I used to work with and trust. If he’s here, then I’m happy. If he’s not, then I want you gone.”
“He’s here, and I’ll prove it if you give me a chance.”
Pierce nodded. “All right. Have you been briefed?”
“I read the file on Petrov, and Merrick filled me in on the mission.”
“Good.”
“What will he do to her?”
The question caught Pierce off guard. He hesitated, not wanting to think about Cass back under Yurii Petrov’s roof.
“That bad, ah?”
“What’s the worst thing you can imagine?”
“I’ve got a good imagination, if you remember.”
“Multiply it by ten.”
Pierce felt Ash’s pale-blue eyes studying him. He wasn’t going to say more. He didn’t trust himself, or his voice at the moment. He wanted to rewind the mission. He wanted to start over and come up with another way to breach Petrov’s command center and secure the data. But it was too late for that now.
“Let’s move out.”
Ash nodded, then went inside the wheelhouse of the yacht. Within minutes they were moving out to sea. Pierce checked the tracking device. It was signaling strong, and he discussed the coordinates with Ash. His teammate’s specialty was explosives. It was said that Ashland Kelly could detonate a charge in the dark with his hands tied behind his back.
That should give him some peace of mind, but since Cass had been captured he’d been thinking about all the things that could go wrong. That usually wasn’t his style. He never borrowed trouble. At least he never used to.
To say Cass had simply gotten under his skin was selling her short. He hadn’t slept with the actress; he’d slept with the woman who, for five years, had walked in the actress’s shadow. He respected the actress; he felt honored to know the woman underneath….
It was the first time he’d let his emotions into a mission. The first time he felt as if he could lose something far more precious to him than his own life.
It was now the beginning of day two. He hadn’t slept but a few hours on the plane. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Cass touching him—touching him like she was touching a man for the first time. And when he’d touched her… He’d never forget the look on her face. Never forget her virgin eyes. They had revealed more than words could ever say.
He understood now what empowered a man to fall in love. Oui, he was in love with her. Cass had the power to change a man. The power to make him a better man. That was why Yurii Petrov couldn’t let her go. He knew her value.
The forecast predicted clear sailing, and the seas held calm throughout the night. They would be able to make good time if the weather held.
Two hours later the weather was still holding, and the sun was on the horizon when disaster struck. The tracking device suddenly went dead.
Casmir woke up groggy, with a stiff neck. She didn’t realize what that meant until she rose from the bed and entered the bathroom. Staring in the mirror, she saw that the bandage on her neck had been changed, and that was when she knew she’d been drugged the night before.
Whether it had been the food or the drink didn’t matter. The end result was the same—Filip had found the tracker and removed it from her neck.
She showered and dressed in her same clothes. Slipped on her shoes. Although she looked a bit wilted, she was glad she had something to wear other than the sheet.
Filip came for her an hour later and escorted her on deck. The sun was bright, the ocean air warm. She glanced around and recognized the Amalfi Coast. She had sailed the Mediterranean with Yurii for a long month on the Bella Vella. They had leapfrogged from coast to coast, dividing their time between Spain, France and Italy.
She studied the coast, recalled the day Yurii had pointed out a beautiful villa set into the side of a mountain—the villa that was now looming in the distance.
That day he had ordered his captain to enter the bay where a fleet of boats rested in an azure lagoon. He had told her the man who owned the villa was once a sad, misguided soul, but that after he’d found love his entire world had changed. He’d said that the man now lived in a dreamland with his princess.
The memory sent a chill up Casmir’s spine. Yurii had been talking about himself. This was it—the isolated
villa built of stone tucked into the mountain like a bird in a nest was Nescosto Priyatna.
The yacht’s engines shut down, and that was when she knew she had guessed right—Yurii’s headquarters were on the coast of Italy.
“It is beautiful, no, signorina?”
She glanced at Filip. He was grinning. She smiled back, unwilling to surrender to any emotion or fear. “Very beautiful.”
“I’m glad you like it. It would be a sad thing to hate your prison.”
“A prisoner of beauty. An interesting concept.”
He frowned. “I admit you are an unusual woman.”
“Why? Because I’m not in tears and begging for my freedom?”
“It would be natural. And I would not think less of you.”
“I’m sorry to disappoint you.”
His frown turned into a grin. “Either way, this is your home now. You will die here. Perhaps an old woman, or perhaps Yurii will tire of you when your beauty begins to fade and the fire in your eyes is swallowed up like a ghost’s whisper on the wind.”
Casmir raised her chin. “You should try your hand at poetry, Filip. Your prose is eloquent, but your prediction is a bit premature. I’ve learned never to calculate the certainty of the future through someone else’s eyes.”
“I am very certain of your future, Signorina Balasi.”
She looked away from Filip, fixed her eyes on Yurii’s secret sanctuary. Nothing would alarm a passerby to the fact that this place housed a mastermind criminal.
The yacht began to move again, the engine this time humming softly as it slipped into the lagoon and dropped anchor in the crystal blue water.
Casmir stood at the railing unflinching as Filip pulled his phone from his pocket and relayed instructions to someone inside the villa. When he pocketed his phone, he reached out and clamped his hand around her arm and led her to a telescope that was mounted several feet away from where she stood.
He sighted something in the telescope, then nodded for her to take a look. She stepped forward, put her eye next to the powerful lens, and there, above the high walls, on a grand balcony that jutted out from the rocks over the lagoon, stood Yurii, eating an apricot.