“You need to put the dogs in the kennel,” she said, her voice flat, emotionless. “I’ll sit here and wait. I won’t try to run.” Her steady voice suddenly broke, as she said, “I’m so fucking tired of running.”
Nathan almost pulled her into his arms, promising to hold her forever, but the words choked in his throat. Turning, he whistled and led the dogs back to the kennel. A man at war with himself, he stood, for what seemed eternity, in his yard, his fists at his hips, before sighing and walking back into his house. She still sat, as she said she would, on the sofa waiting.
As soon as Nathan returned, Agatha stood and walked to the door, silently passing him, not stopping until she had climbed into the cab of his truck. It hit her then, that everything was different now. He had once told her that his dad told him a man always opens the door for a lady. This time, she had opened the truck door herself, proof that he no longer considered her worthy of that respect. He sees me as Agnes…no longer Agatha.
Hopping in, Nathan sat in the driver’s seat for a moment in silence, before saying, “I didn’t mean for you to get into the truck by yourself. I’m sorry.”
She nodded her acknowledgement but did not reply. He started the truck and pulled out down the long driveway, the forest on either side of the gravel path passing by in the darkness.
Neither spoke…neither knew what to say.
It wasn’t long before they pulled up in front of a massive, luxury log home, the security lights on the outside illuminating the entire area. Though stunned at the size and not knowing where they were going, Agatha refused to ask any questions. Harlan had taken her places she didn’t know for reasons of his own, and she had learned to trust where they were going. Things might be messed up with Nathan now, but she still trusted that he would protect her. As soon as he had parked among the other trucks and SUVs, she placed her hand on the door, but he reached across the console and halted her movement.
“Please, allow me.”
His voice sounded pained. She did not turn to look at him, but she stilled her hand. He sighed and climbed down from his truck, rounding the front and opening her door. Escorting her up the wide steps to the oversized porch, the front door opened before he had a chance to ring the bell.
Jack stood in the doorway, his sharp gaze shifting between the two of them, but he only said, “Come in. We’re all here.”
Nathan propelled her forward with his hand now resting on her back, his fingers burning through her shirt, but as soon as she stepped into the house, she forgot all about his claiming hand on her. Coming to a sharp halt, she took in the massive living room. It was overwhelming, with a two-story stone fireplace that continued up to the vaulted ceiling. Floor to ceiling windows flanked the wall facing the mountains, and oversized furniture that would appear crowded in any other house felt welcoming in the cavernous space.
There were three, long sofas, forming a U, each able to seat four large men, with two overstuffed chairs flanking the fireplace. The space would seem masculine but for the colorful throw pillows and afghans tossed on the furniture. A large toy chest in the corner gave proof that a family lived here.
She could almost fool herself that she was wanted here, invited, but instead of feeling calmed by a welcoming committee, she stumbled at the sight of the eleven men and one woman in the room. Sucking in a quick breath, she dropped her eyes, not wanting to see the censure on their faces. Nathan took her elbow, offering a steady hand as he pulled her closer, and looked at the others.
Jack crossed the floor and said, “Most of you have met Ms. Agatha Christel, one of the employees from the Safe Harbor Center. We recently set up the security and helped them move.” He looked at her and introduced everyone, even though she’d met most of them before, save Charlie, the only woman in the room, standing close to Luke, and it dawned on her that they didn’t know who she was yet.
Turning, Jack’s sharp gaze passed through her to Nathan, and he said, “So, what’s going on?”
Nathan looked down at Agatha’s pale, rigid body. As much as she had to hate him right now, he knew he needed to do this to make her safe. Looking at the other Saints, he said, “I’d like to introduce Agnes Gruzinsky.”
19
Perched on the edge of one of the large sofas in the room, her hands primly clasped in her lap, Agatha kept her eyes down, refusing to look at the expressions coming from the Saints in the room.
As soon as Nathan had introduced her by her birth name, they had all visibly startled and ‘what the fucks’ resounded. She imagined that Jack was not a man easily caught off guard, but by the look on his face after Nathan’s pronouncement, the Saint’s iconic leader had been stunned.
Jack had stood, silent as stone for a moment, as the others looked to him for direction. He finally spoke, saying, “I suggest we sit down and you tell us what you know, Ms. Gruzinsky.”
“Ms. Christel, if you don’t mind,” she said, her words stilted with no intonation.
“All right…Ms. Christel…if you please,” Jack agreed, his hand waving toward the seating.
She hesitated, but it appeared everyone was waiting for her, so she moved toward one of the chairs. Nathan’s hand rested on her back again, propelling her toward a sofa instead. Desiring to sit alone in a chair, she was uncertain if there were special seating arrangements, so she allowed him to guide her to the sofa, but chose the end and perched on the edge, her back ramrod straight, refusing to sink into the cushions. Nathan had sat next to her, leaning against the back of the sofa.
Jack spoke now and she lifted her head. “Bayley gave us her rendition of the conversation the two of you had in the woods that night, but we’d like to hear your version.”
Swallowing against the lump that had taken permanent residence in her throat, she asked, “Why? What could it matter now?”
Jack’s gaze shifted to Nathan, who offered a shake of his head. Sitting slightly behind her, she was unable to see the movement, but she felt it all the same. Jack explained, “We’re working a case and it would assist us to hear what happened that night…and since then.”
She sucked in her lips, wondering what case they could be working on that involved her. Why hasn’t Harlan told me about this? Granted, she and Harlan rarely spoke now since she was entrenched in her new identity but, if he knew, and whatever it was put her in danger in some way, she felt certain he would have contacted her. Time stood still and she heard every breath taken in the room as they waited for her to speak. Swallowing deeply again, she clenched her fingers tighter together as she steeled her spine.
Lifting her eyes, she focused her gaze on the stone fireplace, gathering strength from its solid surface, ignoring the expressions she knew she would see if she dared to look at the others in the room.
“I was the little sister in my family, treated like a princess. But as I grew older, I noticed that my brothers had respect, simply because they were men. My mother appeared to have…clout in the family, but I was supposed to be quiet, demure, and never cause waves. My brothers were learning the family business, but I was expected to stay pure, marry into another Russian family, and make more Russian babies…preferably male.” Shaking her head, she added, “So draconian…but it was my life.”
Licking her lips, she continued, “Our family business was running the hotel and when I was old enough, my mother decided that I could help…in the way that a woman could help. I learned a bit about the hotel, but it was the rooms in the back that fascinated me, because they were off limits which, of course, made me curious. The other rooms held guests, but there were back rooms that only some men were led to. Always escorted. When I was fifteen, my mother allowed me to visit with her to check on the occupants. I had no idea anyone lived back there. She said that the men couldn’t be trusted to take care of the occupants, so it was our duty to see that all was well, for the business. I couldn’t wait to see what was inside.”
She felt Nathan’s fingers warm on her back, but ignored the burn of his touch, knowing it was
the last touch from him she would experience. Sucking in a deep breath through her nose, she let it out slowly.
“The first room we entered was just a plain bedroom with a small bathroom. And the only occupant was a woman. Pale. Thin. Her face looked…empty. She barely looked at my mother, keeping her eyes down the whole time we were there, but when my mother placed the food on the table and turned away, I caught her looking at me. Her eyes were…haunted.” Chest heaving, she added, “We left the room, my mother locked the door, and we walked away.”
Closing her eyes, she hated the images passing behind her eyelids. Giving her head a shake, she cleared the cobwebs from the memories she had tried to shut away in her mind. “I was young, naïve, I had no idea why the girl was there, but I knew, instinctively, it was not good. I tried to ask my mother, but she only said the girl was an employee. And Mama’s voice and mannerisms let me know that if I continued to question, I would be punished.” A rueful snort sounded, as she added, “My mother loved her children but her punishments were swift and harsh.”
Nathan’s fingers twitched on Agatha’s back and, as he listened, his jaw tightened until he thought his teeth would crack from the pressure. He knew what the Gruzinsky’s business had involved, but he had never thought of what it would have been like to grow up in that family. What she had suffered. Fuckin’ hell, how did she handle that? Keeping his eyes on her, he realized she handled it by doing exactly what she was doing now…keeping her emotions in check.
After a moment of silence, Charlie rose from her seat and moved into the kitchen, returning with a glass of water and handing it to Agatha. Grateful, she took a long sip, the cold liquid refreshing her parched throat.
“I couldn’t get that girl’s eyes out of my mind. I was sheltered, so I admit it took a while to learn that the girls were there to serve the men who came specifically for them.” Sighing, she squeezed her eyes shut, the grimace she could not hide indicating her pain. “When I was older, I once saw Lazlo coming out of the same room, zipping his pants and laughing. He was followed by one of his friends and they were laughing about her. By then, I was old enough to know what was going on.”
Nathan opened his mouth to speak but, trying to understand the world she had lived in, he doubted any words could suffice. He offered his comfort by sliding his hand to hers, finding them cold to the touch. She did not open her hands for him, keeping them clenched together, her knuckles white, so he enveloped her hands in his larger one.
“I kept quiet…but I watched…learned. I was smart and soon realized that I was smarter than either of my brothers. I watched my father, mother, and brothers run a family business that included the buying and selling of women. And if you wonder how I lived with that knowledge, I’ll just say that I learned early the price of going against the family.” Shuddering, she explained, “While I was treated as a princess as a young girl, as I got older, I realized that it was not just my mother that doled out punishments for wrongdoings. My father had several men that were always around…I suppose you could call them enforcers. While I was sheltered from that aspect for the most part, I knew what happened at their hands from listening to my brothers talking about the broken bones and bodies of their enemies or those who had displeased my father. I’d never been the recipient of my father’s anger, not like that, but just the thought that he could order something like that to happen...”
Agatha heard the intakes of breaths around the room, but continued to stare at the large grey stones of the impressive fireplace.
“For a long time, I had no idea what to do with the horrible knowledge. It haunted my dreams…like living in a nightmare, only one in which I could not awaken from. In my family, women were second class. Oh, believe me, my mother was revered for her honored place as wife and mother, and I was certainly treated as a favored child.” Shaking her head, she added, “I was not allowed to go to public school, instead was homeschooled. They would have never allowed me to attend college.” Shaking her head again, she whispered, “Most people would never believe that the old ways still exist.”
Sucking in a fortifying breath, she continued, “I lived at home…trapped in a gilded cage. Please don’t mistake me…I’m not asking for pity…that should go to the women they abused.” She continued to stare ahead at the stones, “But, I had to get out, and I had to get them out, so I plotted and planned. I discovered that there were basement rooms where they brought in new girls, keeping them there until they could be checked out by the doctor, made a little hungry, a lot scared, and then moved them upstairs. When they were ready to replace the upstairs girls, I heard they were shipped off to our relatives in Norfolk, who used them however they wanted.
“I had no problem getting the doctor to help me when I finally realized he hated what he was doing. I came up with a plan to sneak the women out in the laundry truck, but had to figure out how. I was struck with the idea that if they were all sick, they couldn’t be around any clients. So, he started giving them some drugs that induced nausea and then we claimed that we had no idea what was happening but that they needed to be quarantined. My family was scared they might get sick so they stayed away. That was the easy part. Then I had to play the part of the ultimate bitch…the planner of a scheme that my family would go along with. Claiming to be uninterested in the women, I suggested we kill them and then ship them off. Our cousin in Norfolk was pissed to not get live women, but he was willing to take them out to sea to dump them.”
She heard the audible gasps from the others in the room and felt Nathan’s hand grip hers tighter. It was almost painful, but she did not flinch.
“Over time, as I became a young woman, I perfected the cold bitch persona and made it no secret that I wanted more of the family business responsibility. So…they believed it. Plus, Lazlo was screwing up and my parents were willing to take a chance on my idea. Of course, as I now know, they sent someone to follow me.” Shrugging, she added, “The doctor drugged the girls to slow down their respiration, we got some of the family’s hired men to take them to the truck, and the doctor and I drove away.”
“And Harlan?”
For the first time in her recitation, her lips curved. “Harlan, my savior,” she whispered, her face softening at the thought of him. “I made contact with an FBI agent.” Giving a rueful chuckle, she said, “I was so naïve, I can’t believe I wasn’t caught. I actually called from a payphone, managing to get hold of someone who believed me. He was in on the plan. We were to meet at a warehouse and he would have medical personnel waiting to assist with the women. But an accident, shutting down the highway, made them late. And, of course, we didn’t expect anyone, certainly not Bayley, to be following. Or the man my family sent.”
Sighing once more, she whispered, “We knew it had risks, but it devolved quickly into a huge mess. After Harlan took possession of the women and got them to safety, he was going to take care of me. I was going to go into witness protection and testify against my family. I had to. I couldn’t live with myself knowing that the very clothes on my back…the very food on my plate, came from the buying and selling of women against their will.” For the first time, her voice cracked and she blinked furiously to keep the tears at bay. “I loved my family…and I hated them.”
Nathan felt the strength begin to fade in her as her shoulders sagged. His mind raced with all she was saying. Her childhood compared to the loving family he grew up in. Her choices that bordered on life or death. He tried not to think about the confusing emotions he had been experiencing, caring for two women and now knowing they were the same person. When he first found out a few hours ago, he had been angry at her deception, but now he felt irritated with himself that he had reacted that way. She was right in a lot of the things she said to him back at the cabin, but she wrong about one thing…Agnes Gruzinsky did not die that night. Her strength of character still lived on in Agatha.
“I had to get to Harlan and that was when Nathan found me. He was kind enough to respect my wishes to get hold of him. Agents
were sent to take me to him.”
“And Harlan?” Jack asked carefully.
Her lips curving once more, she said softly, “He became everything to me. My surrogate father, mentor, friend. He had been shot, but it was not a serious wound, and he hid me until he was released. Then, he found out that with all the evidence against my family, I did not have to testify. In fact, they thought the FBI just raided them and I had been caught up in the escape. So, no witness protection program for me. Harlan knew I needed to escape and took care of everything. New contacts, surgery for my nose, new hair color, and dentistry. He had…uh…friends give me a whole new identity. Name, background, birth certificate, everything.” She smiled slightly and her gaze left the fireplace for the first time, moving to Nick’s face. “That night, in the woods, Bayley quoted Agatha Christy to me. The quote fit my life and I remembered it, so when they asked if I had a preference in a new name, I chose Agatha and told them why. They suggested Christel to go with it.”
Shifting her gaze to Jack, she said, “I owe Harlan my life. He knew of the women’s center and spoke to Ann about hiring me. She and I hit it off and I’ve been with them for a year. He said that I had no penance to pay but since I felt like I did, it was a good place for me to land.”
“When was the last time you spoke to him?”
Her face soft with the memory, she said, “It’s been over a month. He told me that I needed to learn to live without him, but I told him he would always be my best friend. I never wanted him to get in trouble for what he did for me, so I only called him occasionally. In fact, his birthday was early last month…that was when I last talked to him.”
Charlie asked, “Who did he use to give you a new identity?”
Looking at the pretty dark-haired woman, sitting with Luke’s arm around her, she replied, “I have no idea. I just know they did a good job because I’ve never had a problem with the new information they gave me. Harlan assured me that they were the best and would take care of me. He said if I ever had problems to let him know and he would have them get in touch with me.”
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