It hadn’t been simply a nightmare. It had been real. This was her life.
She was a prisoner.
Two men had taken her off the street in broad daylight, leaving her young charges alone to fend for themselves on the sidewalk.
No. Her heart raced for the millionth time since that day.
No. No. No.
She grabbed her pounding head with both hands and cried.
How long had she been here in this strange prison? She’d lost track of the days. She should have marked them somehow. Months? Probably four by now. Or maybe more.
What did it matter? Her life was nothing. It consisted of eating and sleeping and staring at the four gray walls that were her prison.
Why? What did they want from her?
She’d thought of everything and come up with nothing. Rarely did anyone speak to her. And they never answered any of her questions. She’d tried every approach from nice and calm to screaming and yelling. The result was the same. Silence.
A stern woman sometimes entered her jail. She was huge and built like a man. If Alena sat nicely and said nothing, the woman would clean up the cell and leave without a word. If Alena spoke to the woman, she would leave and the place would stay dirty.
Sometimes Alena chose to be belligerent. Sometimes she rolled over to face the wall and let the woman clean up.
She had no energy anymore. From lack of exercise? Or were they drugging her?
Sometimes they took vials of blood. Two of them would hold her down and a third would push a needle into her arm to fill the vials. But she didn’t think they put anything into her. Unless it was in her food.
How would she know? She had no choice but to eat the food they left or die of starvation. Maybe the water was drugged. Anything was possible. Or perhaps when someone is bored out of their mind with no stimulus to sustain life, they simply grew tired.
She needed exercise. She needed sunlight.
Her room was on a timer. It was the only way she knew day from night. When the lights were on, she got up and ate and used the toilet in the corner. When the lights went off, she slept. Assuming they weren’t fucking with her, she could gather some sense of the passage of days.
On the days when the woman left her a towel, she showered. It unnerved her to get naked and bathe with no idea who was watching her, but she did it anyway.
Tears ran down her face as she fell deeper into despair. The dreams came less often now. But every time was the same. The men taking her… The children screaming… The darkness descending…
Would she die here?
Alone?
Desperation and anguish made her scream out and pound the bed at her sides…
∙•∙
“Alena…” The voice came from far away.
She could barely hear it over her sobs. And she wasn’t about to open her eyes and face her prison walls again. Not this time. Not tonight. She needed to calm down and get back to sleep without looking. It would ease her pain somehow. Maybe it wasn’t real… Maybe it was simply a nightmare she had over and over.
Someone touched her, though. A hand on her back. Firm. Fingers spread wide.
She bolted from the bed, scrambling to escape whoever was in her cell in the middle of the night. No one had ever entered her cell in the dark. Never.
“Alena.” She heard the voice clearer that time. Demanding. Sharp. Trying to reach her.
She backed away from the bed as she blinked her eyes open. She knew that voice.
“Baby, please. Wake up. You’re having a nightmare.”
She met his gaze, chest pounding, adrenaline rushing through her.
He swung his legs over the same side of the bed she’d just bolted from. How had he gotten there so fast?
And then he was standing in front of her, reaching toward the bedside table.
When the small light went on, she inhaled sharply, forcing herself to recognize her surroundings. “Ivan…”
His shoulders fell several inches. “Yeah. Geez.” He reached for her slowly, but the second his fingers wrapped around her shoulders, he hauled her against his chest. “Shh,” he soothed. “It’s okay.” He rubbed her back, stroking up and down her spine with his palm. “Shh.” His lips landed on her temple as she closed her eyes and tried to relax.
It was a dream. A dream she hadn’t had for months. Not since Ivan moved into the apartment. Why was that?
She thought the nightmares had been over. She’d been so relieved. Why would she have the worst one after so long the first time Ivan slept with her?
And then she knew. Like lightning striking her, she knew.
She jumped out of his embrace, backing up as she wrapped her mind around what she knew. She ran a hand through her hair and set the other on her throat. “Oh my God,” she muttered. “Oh my God,” she screamed the second time.
Halting her retreat, she met his gaze. “I know who those two men are.”
“What two men?” he asked, his eyes narrowing in confusion.
“The new ones. The guys in that dark sedan. The men who suddenly joined the rest of the world watching us. Me. Spying. Not us. Me.” Her thoughts jumped all over the place. She poked herself in the chest. “Me. They’re after me. Jesus, Ivan. They’re after me.” Her voice rose even higher.
He inched forward slowly. “How do you know?”
“I remember them. They’re the guys who kidnapped me in Russia that day eighteen months ago.”
“Shit. How do you know? Did you see them up close?”
She shook her head. “No. And they don’t look the same. They looked like thugs that day. Unshaved. Longer hair. I haven’t been close enough to them to identify them that way, anyway. It was the taller one. He has a certain gait. Like his steps are too wide for his frame. And then he tapped the top of the car before he got inside. Three taps. He did the same thing the day he kidnapped me.”
Ivan grabbed her again, tipping her head back with a hand threaded in the hair at her neck. “Okay. Okay. Let’s call Taylor.”
She nodded.
Her heart still pounded.
“Yeah. Taylor. We should call her.” Taylor Brown. Their liaison with the FBI. She would handle this.
Chapter Thirteen
“Come back to bed, Alena.” Ivan lured her to the edge of the mattress and sat, pulling her between his legs. He wanted to even their faces so he could force her to look at him. “It’s four in the morning. It’s not going to change anything. Let’s give Taylor a few more hours to sleep. We’ll call her at six. Okay?”
She nodded, her gaze darting around his face as if she wasn’t sure he was real and needed to remind herself and memorize his features.
He reached to the side and turned the light back off. And then he pulled her onto his lap and held her against him. When her heart rate slowed, he swung his legs onto the bed and scooted over, taking her with him and maneuvering her until he had her on her side. He drew the covers over them both and spooned her body into the front of his. He held her with his hand wrapped around her middle, his fingers around one of her wrists.
He kissed her temple. “You’re okay now.”
She inhaled sharply.
“You’re okay. I promise. Nothing’s going to happen to you.”
“You can’t know that.”
He sighed. She was right. He couldn’t. He could promise her nothing. They were living hour by hour at the mercy of a relentless asshole who happened to be the leader of the Russian Mafia.
Until Anton Yenin was found and incarcerated, their lives were not their own. And even then it would take a long time to fully relax. The man had been known to exact revenge from behind bars. Dmitry and Lauren were living proof. Living proof in some foreign soil. Ivan and the rest of the guys didn’t even know where they were.
Yeah, Yenin could make things happen from death row if he ever got there. And that knowledge scared Ivan every single day of his life. Especially now that he had Alena. He didn’t want her to live in fear. And he didn’t
want to share his thoughts, either.
When this was over, he would take her away from here. Hide.
He didn’t know where, but anywhere that would make her carefree again. He wanted to see her walk down a beach, her hair blowing in the breeze, a smile of contentment on her face. He wanted her to feel safe. Secure. Loved.
He would make all that happen. Soon. As soon as Yenin was caught.
She cried softly in his arms. And he let her. He didn’t say a word.
She was hurting. Reliving whatever nightmare she’d endured would be torture. He’d never specifically asked her about those six months, but one day he would. He needed to know everything and help her get past it. But not now.
She’d been free a year. And still the memories tortured her. It hurt deep in his chest. He couldn’t fix this. At least not in the short run.
But he would try. He would do everything in his power to chase the bad away and replace it with the good.
When her breathing evened out and her soft sobs subsided, he closed his eyes. He didn’t sleep. There was no chance of that. But he inhaled her scent and continued to stroke the soft skin of her forearm. Her head was on his other arm, cutting off the circulation to his fingers. He didn’t care. He wouldn’t move a muscle if it meant she got a few more minutes of sleep in his arms.
Two hours later, he hadn’t moved an inch as the sun peeked up and left thin lines of light as it squeezed through the blinds. The sunrays stretched slowly across the room, telling him the time without looking.
He hated to wake her, but he needed to call Taylor. Releasing her arm, he smoothed his hand up to her face and brushed her blonde hair from her temple. “Alena, I need to call Taylor,” he whispered into her ear.
She stirred, turning into him, blinking. The fear was gone from her eyes. The joy had not returned. She met his gaze. “Yeah. Okay. I’ll jump in the shower.”
As she turned away from him, he hugged her tighter, not releasing her just yet. “We’ll get through this. I promise.”
“Stop making promises you can’t keep,” she muttered as she wiggled free of him and left the bed.
His chest tightened. Why did she always have to call him out on that?
She was right. That’s why.
»»•««
Taylor knocked on the door at seven. Ivan glanced at Alena where she sat in one corner of the huge sectional, taking up so little space she looked like a child. Her legs were curled under her, and she held a cup of coffee at her knees. She was beautiful every day. But he didn’t like to see her in a panic.
Ivan turned off the alarm and opened the door.
Taylor smiled as she stepped inside.
Ivan forced himself to chuckle to lighten the mood. “Today’s apparel is from the usual jogging selection, I see.”
She grinned. “Yep. I’m sure I’m not fooling anyone anymore about being associated with you guys, but at least whoever is watching from the Yenin camp must think I’m a friend.”
“I certainly wouldn’t peg you as FBI,” Ivan quipped.
“That’s my goal.” Taylor turned to face Alena and headed straight toward her.
“Coffee?” Ivan asked.
“Please. Black.” She didn’t glance back. Her gaze was fixed on Alena. And he appreciated her concern.
“How are you?” she asked as she sat next to Alena and twisted sideways on the couch to face her directly. She bent one knee and set her forearm on the back of the sectional.
Ivan handed her a mug and sat on the coffee table so his knees were inches from both ladies. He’d told her as much as he knew on the phone.
Alena shrugged. “Been better.”
“Well, let’s not panic. I’m looking into who those men are as we speak. Hopefully we’ll have this figured out within hours. If nothing else, I’ll have someone pick them up and bring them in. If they’re in Yenin’s camp, we’ll figure that out. If not, we’ll figure that out too.”
“How could they be working for Yenin? Do you think that’s possible?” It made Ivan shudder to consider. “They snatched Alena off the street in Russia eighteen months ago. Is it possible they’re connected to Yenin?”
“It’s unlikely. I agree. But that’s what makes me even more suspicious. They aren’t FBI. They don’t even have the look of CIA. But it would be a huge stretch for them to be in Yenin’s camp that far back in time.”
“Which leaves?” Alena asked.
No one spoke.
Alena answered her own question. “KGB.”
“More likely FSB,” Taylor stated. “The newer version of the KGB.”
“The Federal Security Service? You think the Russian Federation has people following us?”
Taylor took a deep breath and shrugged. “Just a theory.”
Ivan stood and paced the room. “Jesus.”
“Yeah. It’s not a pleasant thought. But it’s the best assumption I have.”
“The KGB does have sleeper cells. I wouldn’t rule it out entirely. But their replacement is more likely by this date. It’s not a stretch to assume the KGB was originally involved in this insanity. After all, it began in 1984. But at this juncture, the Russian government is probably chasing the same thing we are. Answers.”
“Or silence.” Ivan’s blood ran cold. If the Russian government wanted to silence anyone who knew anything about drug testing that went as far back as 1984, they could easily send members of the FSB to snuff out every single person who knew something.
The only question was what were they waiting for?
»»•««
“What did they say?” Alena asked Taylor later that morning. It had taken her half an hour to convince Ivan she needed to go into work as she normally did. The mysterious newcomers to the surveillance team had been there for days without making any moves. There was no reason to believe they intended to do anything besides watch like everyone else.
Besides, it would look suspicious if Alena suddenly stopped coming to work. When she’d laid that one on the table, Ivan had begrudgingly agreed.
Now Alena was in Katie’s office speaking to Taylor on the phone. She was freaked out. Completely paralyzed inside. She had gone through the motions all morning, but her heart was racing with the urgency. Every second she grew more certain the two men outside had been the same men who kidnapped her in Russia. And that didn’t sit well. They took her before. They could do it again.
How brazen were they? Would they come into the clinic with guns drawn and force her to go with them? Taylor didn’t think so.
“I alerted our team to their presence. No one is supposed to approach or make any changes to the routine for now. And my boss has a call in to his contact with the FSB. Hopefully they’ll be forthcoming if they have people in the area that shouldn’t be.”
“Can they be there? Can you make them leave?” Alena was anxious. No matter what she told Ivan, those guys made her want to vomit. They had abducted her inside her own country. There was no guarantee they wouldn’t try to do the same thing again in Chicago.
Taylor groaned into the phone. “I wish it were that simple. But it takes time. And there’s a lot of red tape. I can’t be sure the FSB will even admit it if they do have people in the area. They know they don’t have jurisdiction in this case. If they’re snooping around in something the FBI is currently investigating, things could get ugly.”
“What do you mean ‘if’?” Alena’s spine got rigid. “You believe me, don’t you?”
“Of course I do. But it could take time to get to the right person in Russia, or even on US soil, and convince them we’re onto them. They’re going to try everything to insist we don’t know what we’re talking about. We must be mistaken. They aren’t going to easily admit they’re working this case too. Assuming they’re chasing the same case.”
Alena set her forehead in her hand and fought the urge to throw something. “Okay.” She trusted Taylor. She had no choice.
“Just hang tight, okay? Don’t go anywhere alone. Don’t even take t
he trash out at the clinic. Got it? If anyone’s waiting for an opportunity to corner you, let’s not give it to them.”
“Yeah. Okay.” She took a long breath. “What about your mole? You still think there is a mole inside the FBI? Any chance there’s a connection between those men and whoever’s leaking information to Yenin?”
Taylor chuckled. “Since when did you become such an expert? Maybe the FBI needs to hire you,” she joked. “But to answer your question, I don’t know. Not ruling it out.”
“Have you made any progress figuring out who it might be?”
“No. But it’s only a matter of time before whoever it is steps in their own shit and drags it to the office.”
Alena sighed. They had realized a week ago there was a good chance someone inside the bureau was working for Yenin also. After Belinda, Haley, and Mikhail got food poisoning inside Haley’s apartment, everyone became suspicious. Who else had access to Haley’s food supply besides various FBI agents?
»»•««
Alena lifted her head from the filing cabinet she held open when she sensed someone at the entrance to Katie’s office.
Mikhail.
She hadn’t spoken to him in several days. Intentionally?
There was no doubt she was embarrassed about Ivan’s confrontation with Mikhail at the gym Sunday morning. And a little worried about how Mikhail felt about the two of them as a couple.
“Hey,” she muttered.
He eyed her blankly for several seconds, not giving away his mood before finally rolling his eyes and pushing off the frame of the door to step farther into the office. He lowered his gaze as he approached the back side of Katie’s desk across from Alena and then tapped the top a few times. “So…you and Ivan, huh?”
“Yeah…”
He hesitated again and then lifted his face to meet her gaze. “You sure?”
“Yes.”
“Do you… I mean, you’re so…”
“I’m a grown woman, Mikhail. Quite old enough to know what I want. And you’re a fantastic brother. You’ve done so much for me, including arranging for me to be brought to the US. But you can’t keep me in a bubble. And I’m not two years old anymore.”
“I know.”
Thrust Page 13