Russian Connection

by Lakes, Lynde

  Backstage teemed with Russian dancers limbering up and chattering in their native tongue. Bahlyet meant ballet, of course, but nothing else they said sounded remotely familiar. Nikki scanned the faces of the male dancers, wondering which one would approach her.

  She whispered into the microphone hidden in her collar. “Jimmy, I’m backstage. I hope you read me. So far, so good.”

  A costumed male dancer headed toward her with powerful strides and blocked her path. He wore a fur Cossack hat, fur jacket, and gray tights. “Are you lost, little American beauty?” His charming, thickly Russian accent and teasing bass voice failed to put her at ease. He’d come up on her so fast it took a moment for Nikki to gather her wits.

  “I…I’m looking for Belinda Petrovna,” she finally sputtered, watching his face for a reaction.

  His smile revealed even white teeth. “Ah, Belinda. You will find her dressing room just around that corner.”

  Nikki passed a tutu-clad dancer at the exercise bar, another adjusting the ties on her pink silk slippers.

  She turned into the hallway and looked for Belinda’s name. The rooms had only numbers. A dancer approached. The young woman’s severely knotted hairdo accentuated her Slavic cheekbones. “Do you know Ms. Petrovna?” Nikki asked as they squeezed past each other. The dancer pointed to the rear fire exit. Had the woman misunderstood? “Outside?” Nikki asked.

  The dancer paused and nodded. “English, no much.”

  Nikki pointed toward the exit and said very slowly and loudly, “Petrovna?”

  The dancer shrugged, hesitated a moment, then hurried down the hallway and disappeared around the corner.

  Nikki stared at the exit. If the Russian wanted to deal with her, let him show himself here in public, like he’d agreed.

  She felt a tap on her shoulder. Her neck prickled as she turned.

  “Jimmy! What are you doing in here?” Nikki took a deep breath to give her racing heart a chance to settle down.

  “A girl told me to get this note to you right away. She said it was a matter of life and death.” He held out a folded piece of plain white paper.

  Nikki read the scribbled note, and then read it again to make sure she’d read it right. Her heart sank. She’d blown it.

  The man she was to meet claimed that she’d brought the police, that the place crawled with them.

  “Did you read this?” she asked Jimmy.

  The tips of his ears reddened. “Yeah, but I don’t get it. You didn’t bring any cops.”

  “We know that, but the kidnapper doesn’t.”

  “Could be for the best. Our idea wasn’t all that cool. I was afraid he’d grab you.”

  She rubbed her arms, fighting an icy shiver. “I thought I’d be safe enough in a public place.”

  “Maybe the note will help the cops—fingerprints or something.”

  “Perhaps. I’ll show it to Detective Sinclair.” What she really wanted was to punch him in his gut for bringing in the team of cops and frightening the kidnapper away before she could meet and exchange the disks for Glenda’s life. Damn, Damn, if she’d waited for Dayd, maybe this fiasco could’ve been avoided. She didn’t know how to deal with these people. If she’d placed Glenda in more danger, she would never forgive herself. “No reason to hang around here now,” she said, fighting almost unbearable disappointment.

  Jimmy gestured toward the stage door exit. “This is the quickest way out.”

  Feeling totally inept, she followed him, not knowing what else to do.

  The minute they stepped out into the cool night air, the floodlight over the door illuminated them. Nikki saw someone step back into the shadows. Bushes rustled in the landscaped strip bordering the pavement. She caught a glimpse of a man’s boots. Her throat went dry. “We’re being watched.”

  “I know.” Jimmy nodded toward a nearby building. “And someone’s on that roof. Let’s get out of here.”

  They took off running between the buildings toward the parking lot. Evenly spaced pole lamps lighted their way. Footsteps pounded behind them. The boots she’d seen in the bushes must not have belonged to the police, because the police had no reason to chase them.

  “Hurry, they’re gaining on us.” She ignored her burning leg muscles.

  “Over here.” Jimmy pointed to a jagged, kid-sized opening in the chain-link fence. “Duck through. We’ll lose them here.”

  Jimmy wasn’t the kind of kid to cuts holes in fences. “Did you hear about this from the juvenile-delinquent underground?” she asked.

  He gave a small grin. “All of us kids know about it, and most of us have used it for emergencies at one time or another. There’re actually four holes, one on each side of the grounds.” He peeled back the loose wire and Nikki bent and crawled through. She heard a rip, but didn’t stop to check the damage. Jimmy followed, then paused to bend the wire back in place, concealing the opening.

  He grabbed her hand. “This way.”

  Nikki managed to keep up as they ran down the paved road. Her breath came in painful gasps. She glanced back often to be sure they’d lost their pursuers.

  Suddenly they were caught in a set of headlights. The car bore down, devouring the space between them. Nikki’s heart pounded. They couldn’t outrun a car.

  They cut through the rows of parked vehicles. By the time they reached Nikki’s car, she already had her key out and tried to shove it into the lock and failed, then realized that the key was upside down.

  The driver skidded to a stop in the roadway behind them. Her heart thundered against her chest. As he bounded from the car, dim light from a nearby pole lamp illuminated his face.

  Dayd! “You scared us half to death. We thought…”

  He gathered her into his arms. “Thank God you’re safe,” he murmured. The huskiness in his voice and his tight embrace took her off guard and she looked up at him.

  His mouth came down hard on hers. She tried to push him away, connecting with the hardest chest she’d ever encountered. Strong arms held her trapped. She fought the heat that surged through her body and shoved harder against him.

  He wrenched his lips from hers, and held her away. “What the hell were you thinking, coming here?”

  Nikki stared at him, stunned by the kiss, her head still spinning, her lips still warm and tingling.

  Jimmy stepped forward and put his arm around Nikki, edging her away from Dayd’s grasp. “I think it was cool that she tried to save her friend.”

  Dayd shook his head. “Admirable maybe, but definitely not cool. Not smart. You should’ve known better than to encourage her.”

  “If the cops hadn’t interfered, I might’ve learned Glenda’s whereabouts,” Nikki said, thrusting the note at Dayd.

  He read it. “Remind me to thank Sinclair. He probably saved your life.” He slipped the note into a plastic bag.

  She reached for it. “Give that back!”

  “Whatever you say. But keep the note in the bag. Sinclair will want to try to lift prints off of it. That is if you haven’t already contaminated it.”

  She looked at his gloved hand. His fingerprints wouldn’t be on it, but hers and Jimmy’s would. Her face flushed. She should have thought of that.

  “We’re on our way home,” Jimmy said in a tone that bordered on rude.

  “And that’s where you should’ve stayed.”

  The rough way Dayd responded to Jimmy was inexcusable. She squeezed Jimmy’s hand that now rested protectively on her shoulder, and glared at Dayd. “Snap at me, if you must, but leave Jimmy alone.”

  “You’ve made that impossible. He’s involved now. And these sadistic bastards won’t care that he’s a kid.”

  Nikki shivered. “Are you trying to scare him?”

  “Yes. And you, too. You’re both in danger, and Jimmy needs to know that now he’s probably on their hit list.”

  She bit her lower lip and turned toward him. “Jimmy, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to put you in danger.”

  “It was my idea. I wanted
to do it.” He stood very tall and faced Dayd. “I’d do it again.”

  Jimmy’s naive bravery brought tears to Nikki’s eyes. Dayd pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to her. “Thanks,” she mumbled. This was all her fault. She drew her jacket closer.

  “Let’s go somewhere warm where we can talk,” Dayd said, gently. “I’ll follow you to Coco’s.”

  She was relieved that no one else followed them—at least, she couldn’t detect a tail—except Dayd, who drove directly behind and parked in the space next to hers. Where the devil had he been all day? Jimmy had suggested ditching Dayd, but that would be futile. Besides, she wanted to hear if he went to the hotel, and if so, what he found out.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  The din of clattering plates and the whirl of the activity of busboys hustling to clear tables for the stream of new arrivals hit the trio full force as they entered Coco’s restaurant. Dayd blocked Nikki’s and Jimmy’s path and slid his gaze over the crowd, face by face, searching for Godunov’s men or anyone who didn’t quite fit.

  Satisfied they hadn’t walked into trouble, he gestured to Nikki to slide into a far corner booth. Jimmy slipped in after her, edging Dayd out. The teen genius had a crush on Nikki. Dayd laughed to himself and eased into the booth across from her.

  The kid was probably stewing about that kiss. He was stewing about it himself. Kissing Nikki had been a reflex action and a mistake he couldn’t repeat. He wouldn’t be around once he cleaned up this mess. After Luke, she deserved a man free to commit to the long haul.

  Dayd gave their orders to the waitress—bacon burgers for himself and the teen genius, and a vegetable plate with melted cheddar for Nikki—then he sat back. Damn. He needed to switch places with Jimmy. It was critical to keep an eye on the door and he wanted to get the kid out of earshot for a few minutes while he talked to Nikki. The line of customers waiting at the cash register to pay their bills could accomplish both. “Do me a favor, kid. Get me some ones and some change,” he said, handing Jimmy a ten.

  The boy gave him a surly look, but took the cash.

  When Jimmy moved out of hearing distance, Dayd slid in beside Nikki and squeezed her hand. “Security caught me searching the hotel, and hauled my ass off to jail.”

  “So that’s why I didn’t hear from you.”

  He winced at the censor in her voice. “Yeah. Bad luck happens. I roll with it.”

  She met his gaze. “I suppose you’d have to as often as it happens to you.”

  “If you’re referring to the cops catching us at the murder site, I fixed it, didn’t I?”

  She arched a disapproving brow. “Yes. In your own sweet time. But back to the subject of the hotel. I took a run up there this morning myself.”

  “What?” He shot out of his seat, then eased back down, struggling for control. “I ought to get Sinclair to lock you up.”

  She lifted her chin. “Do you want to hear what I found out, or not?”

  “I can’t wait.”

  “The head-housekeeper confided that some of the rooms are off-limits to staff. And…” Suddenly, Nikki clamped her spunky little mouth shut.

  He grabbed her wrist. “Spill it. What else?”

  She shook off his hand. “Just rooms off-limits. Nothing else. It’s not much, but I came away with more than you did, right?”

  “Wrong. Boris and I sighted Peter Ziyakbusky, one of Godunov’s men, at the hotel. When he left, Boris followed him.”

  All signs of annoyance drained from her face. “Where did he go?” She leaned forward. Her light floral perfume swirled around Dayd.

  “Don’t know, yet,” he said, forcing himself to keep his mind on business. “Haven’t heard from Boris.”

  “Can you trust this Boris character?”

  “Completely. I saved his life once. In Boris’s book that means we’re bonded forever.”

  “So we know that one of Godunov’s men hung out at the hotel,” Nikki said. “But what about Glenda?”

  “Recognize this?”

  Nikki took the gold stud earring Dayd had carefully placed in a two-inch square plastic bag, and without removing it, turned the packet over in her hand. All the color drained from her face. “Glenda’s dad gave her an identical pair of real gold studs on her last birthday!” Nikki’s speech quickened. “She hasn’t removed them since he gave them to her, even wore them to bed. Where did you get this?”

  “Hotel. Sixth level.” Dayd paused, watching her face, hoping this information would prove his progress and show her it was safe to step aside and let him handle things. “There’s more. I found a coarse, dark burgundy hair twisted around it.”

  “Then she is there!” Her quivering voice rose and her fingernails dug into his flesh.

  “I didn’t find her. I suspect they moved her.” He couldn’t let Nikki get her hopes too high.

  “But there’s a chance she’s still there. The stud and the hair should be enough proof for a search warrant.” Excitement vibrated in her voice.

  Dayd struggled to keep his tone calm. “We can gather hair from Glenda’s brush and let Sinclair do a DNA match. But that takes time.”

  “Right. We can’t wait. No telling what those monsters are doing to her.”

  He touched her hand. “Easy. Don’t work yourself up.”

  She snatched her hand from his grasp. “I can’t be like you. Your dispassionate attitude stinks.”

  “Someone has to keep a level head. I’ve checked out the bar where Godunov’s men hang out, showed Glenda’s picture around. Went back to Luke’s mistress’s place and thoroughly checked it out. I searched the Arrowhead Springs hotel, and I assigned Boris to follow Godunov’s man. Can’t you see that I’m doing all I can to get Glenda back safely?”

  “For Glenda, or to find your precious disks?”

  Dayd winced inwardly. “Both. But I can’t do my job and worry about what you’re up to. We have to work as a team.”

  “With you taking action and me merely a bystander. Some team.”

  “You’ll get an active part. But I have to be the team leader. I’ll contact Boris. Peter Ziyakbusky might’ve led him to Godunov—maybe even to where they’re holding Glenda.”

  Nikki gripped Dayd’s arm, again. “Call him now.”

  “I just tried his line. He’s not answering. I’ll check again in twenty minutes.”

  “But they may be torturing Glenda this very minute.”

  “Pray that’s not true. We can’t spook Godunov. Surprise is our best weapon.”

  Nikki frowned. “Just remember the clock is ticking, Radlavich. And patience isn’t one of my virtues, especially with my friend in danger.”

  Dayd felt the throbbing at his temple quicken. Patience was crucial in his work, and no matter how much Nikki pushed, he couldn’t lose his.

  Jimmy returned to the table and dumped the change in front of Dayd. “I saw you two fighting. Why don’t you get off her back, Radlavich?”

  “You got it all wrong, kid. We just agreed to work as a team.” He glanced at Nikki for confirmation, but she only sent him silent daggers.

  The teenager slumped down opposite them. “I’m not part of that team, so you sent me off to get change you didn’t need, right?”

  “Wrong again,” Dayd said. He needed Jimmy’s cooperation and it worked in his favor when the waitress took that moment to bring the two coffees and a cola. It gave him a second or two to figure out how to get back in the kid’s good graces. “You’ve been pulled into this,” he said, after the waitress got out of earshot, “and I think you should be part of our team.” Albeit, in a very distant way, he thought.

  “Jeez, really?” Jimmy’s eyes brightened, but his tone remained wary.

  “You saw the person who gave you the note,” Dayd said. “I’ll get some pictures of Godunov’s men. Maybe you can identify one of them.”

  Jimmy frowned. “It wasn’t a man. It was a girl. A very pretty girl. Probably not much older than me.”

  Dayd felt a tingl
ing at the base of his neck. “Blonde, angel-faced? A ten with a tattoo of a sickle and bleeding heart on her ankle?”

  “That’s her,” Jimmy said.

  “Who is she?” Nikki asked.

  “Margo Bettmore. Godunov’s longtime American mistress.”

  Damn, Dayd thought, Godunov had let Jimmy see the girl. And that meant a hit would go out on him. He cursed under his breath. Now he had to get the kid out of town. He looked at his watch. It was too late to spring an unexpected trip on the kid’s mom tonight. Besides, it required some planning to do it right. What about Nikki? He figured her Russian contact had planned to snatch her at the ballet, but with all the cops around had decided against it. If the guy believed she’d be alone in her apartment tonight, he’d try it then. Dayd frowned. How could he persuade her to let him spend the night? Then it hit him. Since Jimmy lived close by in the upstairs apartment, he could claim it was a practical way to keep tabs on the kid until morning. His best bet would be to take Jimmy home, and then spring the sleepover idea on her. In case she didn’t buy his first justification, he’d better think up a second rock-solid reason why she should agree to it. She already didn’t trust him, and after that kiss, she would have a more compelling reason to question his motives.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Nikki hadn’t invited Dayd to follow her into her living room, but she let out a silent sigh of relief when he did. He didn’t need to know how much safer she felt with him there. If she showed any vulnerability, it might give him another excuse to keep her on the sidelines. “Okay, check the place for bad guys if you must. But make it fast.”

  He stood there, not moving, looking at her with an unreadable expression on his face. Her heart pounded. The man had a way of filling every inch of a room with his tall, lean presence. She touched her lips, remembering his kiss. Forget it happened, she warned herself. Not an easy thing to do when she was still off balance from it.

  “Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked, trembling inside.