by Kat Mizera
“I don’t understand.”
“When my men got to Las Vegas they were met by someone yet to be identified, who told them that another group had been sent and they were no longer needed. I hadn’t been able to reach them. It was only today that their bodies were identified.”
“What?”
Grisha took a deep breath and blew it out. “My understanding is that the men Marco Rousch hired for his attack on your wedding were Russian. Marco had already contacted the MGB—or they had contacted him—but for an entirely different purpose.”
Toli was too stunned to move or speak. He simply stared at the older man and then cut a glance at his father, who also looked confused.
“How the fuck did Marco get the MGB to do something for him?!” Toli could barely contain his fury now that the words had sunk in. “Are you fucking kidding me?! I’m a fucking Russian whose father has been a devoted, lifelong KGB operative—how does a Swiss guy have more pull with them than me?! This doesn’t make sense!”
“It’s complicated,” Grisha said gently. “The intentions of those within the organization are not always immediately clear.”
“It still doesn’t make sense!” Toli cried. “He could hire mercenaries of any kind—his money could buy all kinds of bad people! Why the MGB? And no one knew I would call and ask for help—I’d barely decided myself—so how did this happen?!”
“This was definitely a play for power,” Anatoly spoke up at last. “If any facet of the Russian government had wanted you dead, you’d be dead. The fact that you were only shot in the shoulder…”
“Only?!” Toli was breathing hard now, the anger surging through him almost more than he could stand.
“You have to understand that they’ve always watched you,” Grisha said. “They undoubtedly were aware when you went to Switzerland to help your friend rescue his girlfriend. My gut tells me they approached Marco, not the other way around.”
“For what? Like you said, if they wanted me dead, I’d be dead! So what does a non-fatal gunshot wound get them?”
No one spoke and the two older men looked away.
“Tell me!” Toli yelled, slamming his palm down on the table so hard Grisha’s coffee cup jumped.
“Hockey.”
“Hockey?!” Toli was staring at the two men as though they’d suddenly grown horns. “What the fuck does any of this have to do with—wait. You mean, getting me to come back to the KHL?”
Grisha shook his head. “Getting you to come back to Russia.”
“To retire to Russia,” Anatoly clarified.
“To retire…” Toli blinked. “Are you telling me the KGB/MGB/whoever-the-fuck-these-crazy-people-are have been waiting for me to retire so I could come back to Russia?! And do what?! Coach? Become the goddamn prime minister?!” His eyes were blazing as he stared at them.
“This has been the ongoing dialogue,” Grisha said, putting a calming hand on Toli’s arm. “This has been what your father has fought for all his life—to prevent you from coming back to Russia.”
Toli stared at his father. “You’ve known this and didn’t tell me?”
“I don’t know anything for sure!” he hissed, glaring at him. “We still know nothing, but we’re calling in favor after favor to find out what we can. Yes, I knew you were being watched from the time you were in the military, but I stayed loyal to the cause in order to keep you out of it. Someone who is as high profile as you are in the hockey world would make an excellent ambassador, of sorts, keeping more Russians in Russia instead of going to the NHL.”
“They think I’ll convince other Russian players to stay in Russia just because I say so? That there’s anything I can say that will make those men give up their dreams of playing in the NHL?” He rolled his eyes. “They’re out of their minds!”
“Of course they are.”
“How can you two be so calm?” Toli growled, getting to his feet and starting to pace. “This is my life!”
“Toli.” Anatoly stood up and faced him. “This is my life. This is why I protected you.”
“Well, obviously my number is up!” Toli shot back. “Because they’ve come after me and they’re not playing around anymore. What do they want, Papa? Who do I have to see? I have to get in front of this. I can’t spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder. If they’re going to kill me—”
“Toli, stop.” Grisha stood up also.
“I’ve already told you I will handle it,” Anatoly said firmly, looking down in annoyance as his phone rang. He silenced it and looked back at his son. “Now we have an idea of what their plan was, and I can get in front of it. We came here tonight to see if we could figure out what’s going on and that’s what we’ve done.”
“How does this help anything?!” Toli threw up his hands. “They got to one of my teammates and arranged for him to shoot me in the shoulder so I would be forced to retire and work for them? It’s so ludicrous I can’t even comprehend it! Do they really think it works like this? That I would just get up and leave my life, my son, my new wife and—” He froze. “My new wife. They had to escalate things because they knew damn well I wasn’t moving my new American wife to Russia. Forcing me to retire from hockey was the first step…and then they approached Tessa and told her something that made her leave me without a backwards glance.” He rubbed his hand across his head. “They’re eliminating everything that could make me stay in the States—Jesus Fuck! Anton is home alone with Mama!”
He and Anatoly both reached for their phones at the same time, as Toli dialed Anton’s number and Anatoly returned his wife’s call from a few minutes before.
“Pick up, dammit,” Toli muttered as Anton’s voice mail came on. “Shit!”
Anatoly was talking to his wife and Toli knew immediately something was wrong. “Papa!”
Anatoly disconnected and turned to his son reluctantly. “We have to go,” he said quietly. “They’ve taken Anton.”
A million things ran through Toli’s mind as they raced out of the house and down the street. He’d never seen a man as old as his father move that fast and he had to pick up his own speed to keep up. They rounded the corner and flew past the startled doorman, taking the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator. Anastasia was waiting at the door as they came down the hall, her face mottled from tears and smudged makeup.
“Tell us what happened!” Anatoly commanded in a gruff voice, though his hands were gentle as he led his wife to the couch and sat beside her.
“They had a key,” she whispered. “Anton was in the bedroom listening to music and I was in the kitchen. I heard something and called out to Anton but there was no response so I thought I’d imagined it. Then I heard a bang, as if something fell…” She pointed to an overturned chair. “He was fighting them. I screamed but one of the men put a gun to Anton’s head and said they would kill him if I told anyone what I saw.” She began crying again and Anatoly pulled her close.
“They took my son.” Toli stood up, his jaw clenched angrily. “This ends now.” He pulled out his phone and dialed. He tapped his foot impatiently as it rang twice, three times…
Tessa hadn’t been able to eat or sleep since getting back to Las Vegas. She’d been inconsolable since she’d left Russia, devastated that Toli was still carrying on with Tatiana, heartbroken that her marriage had ended almost before it started, and embarrassed that she’d been taken in by some sort of Russian…spy? Even thinking about it made her cringe on the inside. It was a nightmare that she desperately wanted to wake up from, so when Erin had called an hour ago to tell her she needed to talk to her immediately, it had taken energy she didn’t have to drag herself to the hospital. With Erin’s ties to the NSA, Tessa knew she was the one person who could possibly find some answers. Maybe not to his infidelity, but to how badly she’d been duped.
“I pulled some strings,” Erin said, sitting up in the hospital bed and looking at her friend intently. “I had Toli checked out about as thoroughly as we can check out anyone—there’s no s
ign that he’s ever been involved in anything. Not KGB, not SVR, and not MGB. Nothing, Tessa. His father is another story, but we already knew that. I don’t know what you were told, but I can’t find so much as a whisper of anything like that in his background.”
“So that man lied to me.”
“I believe so, yes.”
“Unfortunately, that doesn’t change the fact that I saw him with Tatiana.”
“Tessa, I had his phone records pulled, his email hacked, and all of his and her travel compared—they haven’t been in the same city except for the times you know about in several years. The last thing I’m waiting for is to see if there’s security video at the hotel and if there’s any footage of them going into or coming out of that bathroom.”
Tessa looked away. “It doesn’t matter what you find—I saw it. I may have been lied to and manipulated by the KGB/MGB/whatever the hell they are, but my vision is still 20/20.”
“Do you not remember what happened with Kate and Karl?” Erin demanded, scowling at her. “You know damn well things aren’t always what they seem. Because unless they were actually naked and having sex, I don’t believe it. I don’t believe he would fool around with her, no matter what. After all she put him through, the years she strung him along—Toli’s a much stronger and prouder man than that. And now she’s married to his brother! That’s not who Toli is.”
“Unfortunately, we may not have any idea who Toli is,” Tessa said sadly.
Erin shook her head. “I think you’re jumping to conclusions.”
“I should probably keep my mouth shut,” Drake said dryly. “But I don’t buy it either, Tessa. Toli is one of the most stand-up guys I know. He’s solid, loyal and he loves you. I don’t know what the hell went on over there, but none of this adds up. He’s had my back, Dom’s, Karl’s, Zakk’s…and if Erin’s friends in the NSA couldn’t find anything, there isn’t anything to find.” Drake’s phone rang then and he looked startled. “Speak of the devil.” He answered carefully. “Hello?”
“Drake, it’s Toli. I’m sorry to bother you, but it’s very important I speak to Erin.”
“Toli, I don’t think—”
“They took my son.” Toli’s voice reached a level of panic Drake had never heard before and he blinked.
“Oh, God, Toli, I’m sorry. Hold on.” He looked from Tessa to Erin and spoke under his breath. “They took Anton.”
Erin practically snatched the phone out of his hand. “Toli, what’s going on? What do you mean they took Anton?! Who?!”
Toli told her what he knew. “Erin, please…”
“Hang tight. I have to make some phone calls. Don’t do anything until you hear from me, do you understand?”
“I can’t just sit here!”
“You can and you will! Anton is an American citizen and we’re going to find him but don’t you dare do anything stupid!” She disconnected and immediately made another call.
“They took Anton?!” Tessa was horrified, her hand flying to her mouth.
“Call Zakk and Tiff,” Erin said as she waited for someone to answer on the other end. “Tell them what’s going on.”
Tessa nodded numbly, pulling out her phone.
Chapter 12
A group congregated in Erin’s hospital room within the hour. Dom, Drake and Zakk were pacing like wild animals on the prowl, desperate to help but unsure how.
“Can you get us visas into Russia?” Zakk asked Erin, his face tight with worry.
“I don’t know,” she shook her head. “I’m working on it. But I can get in without one because of—”
“No!” Drake scowled at her. “You’re not going to Russia!”
She smiled and shook her head. “You’re cute when you try to boss me around.”
He narrowed his eyes. “I swear to God, Erin…”
She just smiled as her friend Louis Faulk came in the room. He’d been working in Moscow when Tessa had called Erin and he’d been the one who picked her up and brought her back to Las Vegas. He was supposed to leave today to go back, but the call from Erin had delayed his plans.
Tessa smiled at the big black man she’d known for a while through Erin. He’d been in Afghanistan with her when she’d been in the IED explosion and though they hadn’t remained in constant contact since then, Tessa knew they’d become close again in the last couple of years.
“Thank you,” Erin said to him, reaching out her hand.
“Damn, girl, you’re needy!” he joked, leaning down to hug her.
“Have you found out anything?” Tessa asked nervously. She was upset with Toli but she loved Anton and knew Toli had to be out of his mind with worry.
Louie shook his head. “Not much. There’s chatter about a local celebrity’s son being taken, but no details on who, where or why. I’ve got the guys over there on it but so far nothing. If it’s the MGB, it’s going to be tough. The embassy is reaching out and I’m going to personally oversee the search as soon as I get back there, but this isn’t good. Toli has seriously pissed someone off.”
“His wife should be there at his side,” Zakk muttered, glancing at Tessa, who flushed.
“Come on, this isn’t her fault,” Tiff said quietly. “She saw him with Tatiana and was essentially threatened by the KGB—I would’ve left too.”
“Is it the MGB or the KGB?” Drake asked in confusion.
Louie chuckled as he explained the distinction. “Technically it’s the MGB, but who the hell knows anymore?”
“He needs you,” Dom spoke directly to Tessa. “I’m not taking sides about the Tatiana thing—I find it hard to believe but I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt on that—but this is different. This is his son. Imagine if it was Raina.”
“He has his parents, his brother—he obviously doesn’t need me or he would have come after me before this happened,” Tessa protested.
“You told me he’s called and left you messages,” Erin pointed out. “Did you call him back or even send him a text to let him know you’d arrived safely?”
Tessa sighed as she shook her head. “No.”
“If you want to go, I’m leaving in two hours,” Louie said. “I’m taking a big risk if I bring you back in, but I will if you want to be at his side for this.”
“I’ll go,” Zakk said, looking at Tiff, who nodded.
“And me,” Dom had his arm around Molly. “He walked into a house full of armed, dirty cops when Molly’s ex took her, and never gave a second thought to his safety. If you have room for me, I’m in.”
Drake glanced at Erin. “I’ll go.”
“No, you won’t,” Erin said softly. “I’m the one who has to go.”
“No!” Louie and Drake spoke at the same time.
“I have military clearance,” Erin said. “I can’t pound the pavement, but there’s a military base where I can get the care I need and—”
“No!” Louie shook his head. “I got this, Erin. You stay here and get better. You can do strategy and analysis from here.”
Erin grunted with displeasure. “I’m not the one who stays behind, dammit!”
“This time you are.” Drake kissed her. “Please, baby—you were the big hero at the wedding. Let us do something now.”
“Are you in, Tessa?” Erin looked at her. “‘Cause one of us has to go.”
Tessa looked down but nodded. “If you think I need to be there, I’ll go.”
“You still don’t know what happened,” Tiff said firmly. “If it turns out that he didn’t do what you think he did with Tatiana, how are you going to feel knowing you weren’t there for him during one of the most frightening things that’s ever happened to him?”
“You’re right, of course.” Tessa nodded numbly. “Tiff, I’d have to leave Raina with you?”
“Of course!” she nodded. “Not a problem.”
“Pack your bags,” Louie said curtly. “One bag, size of a backpack—that’s what we have room for.” He glanced at Tessa. “How high maintenance are you?”
&
nbsp; She laughed. “Depends—on a regular day? Pretty high. On a day where my 16-year-old stepson has been kidnapped? Not very. Change of clothes, travel-size toiletries, charger for my phone and maybe my iPad?”
“Good girl,” he grinned. “Okay, you three need to meet me at the airfield in an hour.”
“I’ll pick everyone up and drop you off,” Molly said.
“What about me?” Drake looked torn, glancing from his wife to Louie.
“You stay with Erin,” Louie said softly. “I’m already dead meat for bringing three civilians into Russia without papers or permission—let’s keep the numbers low. I don’t know what you guys can do other than comfort your friend, but I know how tight you are and if this gets ugly, well, you three might have to do things I can’t officially do.”
They dispersed quickly to get ready, and Tessa sat in the car with Zakk and Tiff, feeing nauseous. She couldn’t believe she was willingly going back to Russia. This time without Raina, of course, so that made a difference, but she was torn. She’d seen Toli without a shirt on in the bathroom with Tatiana—that was a fact. However, it was also a fact that though she’d had her hand on his shoulder and he had a hand at her waist, they weren’t kissing or doing anything but laughing. The intimacy of it drove her insane with jealousy, but she had to be fair in taking into account that while their actions were borderline inappropriate for a married man, they hadn’t actually been doing anything she could complain about.
“You’re doing the right thing,” Tiff said after a moment. “I know you’re freaked out and angry, but even if he is fooling around with Tatiana and you wind up ending it, this is still the right thing to do. This is about Anton and you not only have a relationship with his father, you care about Anton separate from Toli.”
“I do, and you’re right.” Tessa sighed, staring out the window. Her phone started to ring and she dug it out of her purse. “Oh hell.” She groaned. “It’s Debbie.”