“Don’t split hairs. This is a good way to get charged with aiding and abetting.”
Pam held out her wrists. “Book me, Danno.”
“I don’t want to arrest you.”
“Then knock it off.” She crossed her arms. Talk about killing a good post-orgasm buzz.
“I want to talk to your brother about where he was the night Nikolai died.”
“Is it because he’s an ex-con?”
“That’s part of it.”
Pam let out a sigh and didn’t talk to him for the rest of the way to the hospital. She couldn’t bear the thought that Darren had hurt Nikolai. She couldn’t even think that he might have killed him. Shaking her head, she looked out the window. This couldn’t be happening. Just when she thought she might have a shot at a good relationship, her family was there to mess it up again.
“Thanks for the ride,” she said when Drake pulled up to the hospital’s main doors to drop her off.
“Hey.” Drake popped his head out the window. “Are we still on for tonight?”
She turned around and regarded him in exasperation. Hadn’t they just had a fight? Then she looked into his sizzling green eyes, and that charmer’s smile got to her. “Yeah.” She smiled. “I still think you’re wrong about Darren, but I’m looking forward to changing your mind.”
DRAKE WAVED AND WATCHED her go into the hospital. He could have reminded her that they had her brother on tape walking out of the hospital with stolen drugs. But he didn’t. In the end, they shouldn’t be letting that affect their relationship.
He couldn’t let her cloud his mind, but damn, did he want to. She had burrowed under his skin. Now that he was between cases, he really should book a vacation. Maybe steal away with her to the Caribbean, or somewhere she could wear really skimpy bikinis and drink rum with him. A horn blasted behind him, and he resisted giving them the finger, since he was technically not supposed to be parked there. As he was pulling away, though, a flash of black caught his eye, and he saw a man with a black trench coat dart into the hospital.
Drake double-parked and showed his shield to the car behind him and to the security guard who yelled at him to move his car. He crossed the lobby in time to see the man get into the elevator and face out. No question. It was Darren—Dmitry—whatever he wanted to call himself—and he was headed up toward his sister’s office.
Taking the stairs two at a time, Drake called his partner. “Yeah, I’m about to take Dmitry Krupin in for questioning. Can you clear a room for me?”
“Will do. Are you taking in the sister too?”
“No,” Drake snapped. “Why would I do that?”
“Seems convenient. Nikolai’s her patient. Her brother shows up in town, and suddenly Nikolai’s dead,” Mark said.
“Just get the interrogation room ready,” Drake snarled and pocketed the phone.
What a stupid thing for Mark to say. Just because it scanned, didn’t make it true. Just because she’d slept with him and they’d had mind-blowing sex didn’t mean she was playing him, did it? He hoped not, because he was pretty sure he was half in love with her, and that would break his heart.
“She’s just a chick,” he told himself.
Drake walked into Pam’s office.
“Can I help you?” her secretary said.
He flashed his badge and opened the closed door to the office.
Pam was making coffee and turned at the door. Dmitry sprang to his feet even as Drake lunged for him.
“What are you doing?” Pam screeched as the two men went down on the floor, wrestling.
“Your brother is under arrest for stealing drugs, and he’s a person of interest in regards to my godfather’s murder. I’m bringing him in for questioning,” Drake said.
Dmitry rolled on top and blocked Drake from hitting him. “I’m innocent, you stupid cop.”
“Drake, stop this. We can settle this rationally.”
“Get off me.” Drake bucked, and Dmitry was thrown. He made to run for the door, but Drake tackled him against the wall and landed a vicious punch on Dmitry’s jaw.
“That’s enough.” Pam grabbed his arm.
For a moment, Drake saw her as the enemy. She let him go and backed away from him. He cuffed Dmitry, who had been massaging his jaw. He pulled him to his feet.
“I’d better not find that you are involved in Nikolai’s death,” Drake said to her before he could stop the words from coming out of his mouth.
“How dare you,” she said, looking mad enough to chuck the coffee cup at him.
Dmitry laughed. “He’s a stupid pig. He’s got nothing, and now he’s trying to frame me.”
“Shut up,” Drake said and hauled him out of the office.
Pam followed. “Don’t you hurt him. Darren, do you want me to call a lawyer?”
“Nyet,” he said. “Don’t do me any more favors.”
“Drake,” she said, but he couldn’t look at her. Not now. Not when the words were still between them. He couldn’t begin to take them back. What if they were true? What if he’d just given his heart away to a beautiful woman who was playing him like a fiddle?
“You’re an idiot,” Dmitry said.
“Shut up.”
He walked Dmitry out past a few gawkers and patted him down for weapons against the car. He came away with a nine millimeter and a nine-inch knife.
“Well, what do we have here?” Drake said. “I’m pretty sure that violates your parole.”
“Blow me,” he said.
“Nice mouth.” Drake secured him in the backseat and drove him to the station. He walked him past the bull pen and had a uniform book him while he logged in the pistol and knife.
“Do I get a phone call?” Dmitry asked.
“You going to lawyer up?”
“You haven’t read me my rights yet.”
“I haven’t charged you with anything,” Drake said.
“Could have fooled me.”
“Why don’t we have a nice conversation first?” Drake led him into the conference room that Mark was standing in front of.
“If you insist,” Dmitry said. “Are you going to uncuff me?”
“If you’re cooperative.”
“We’re in a cop shop. What are you expecting me to do?”
“Sit down and tell me what you know about Nikolai Egorov,” Johansson said, sitting at the conference table next to his partner.
“Let me guess,” Dmitry said as Drake and Mark also sat at the table. “You’re the good cops to their bad cops.”
“There won’t be any good cops if you don’t answer the question,” McNally said.
Dmitry put his hands on the table and tried to talk with them, even though they were cuffed. “Nikolai was a frequent visitor to Russia. He imported a great many things. Not all of them were vodka.”
“Are you vor?” Johansson asked.
“Yes,” Dmitry said. “But you knew that already. Why don’t you ask the question you really want to know?” He looked at Drake. “Did I kill Nikolai Egorov?”
“Did you?” Drake asked, looking into Dmitry’s flinty blue eyes.
“No.”
“Do you know who did?” Mark asked
“No.”
“Would you tell us if you did?” McNally asked
“No. It’s your turn now,” Dmitry said to Johansson.
“This isn’t funny,” Drake said.
The door opened up, and the FBI agent who had been called in from the bombing on Nikolai’s Tasting Room came in.
“With all due respect, sir,” Johansson started to say.
“Get out,” the FBI man said, unlocking the cuffs on Dmitry’s hands.
“No,” Dmitry said. “Let them stay. It’s all gone to hell because of super cop over here and his jerk-off partner.”
“You watch your mouth, punk,” McNally said.
“Ten years of my life, gone because you two”—Dmitry motioned to Drake and Mark—“can’t keep your dicks in your pants.”
“
What’s going on?” Johansson asked.
“Agent Krupin has been working on our vor task force undercover for—”
“Most of my damn life,” Dmitry interrupted.
Drake closed his eyes and considered banging his head on the desk, while the conference room erupted with questions and shouts.
“You could have recovered from this,” the FBI agent said.
“No, I couldn’t. If I was released, the vor would think I ratted them out. If I was put back in jail, then I would leave Pam open to Vadim. Keeping her safe, if you recall, Agent Cole, is how you got me aboard this crazy train to begin with.”
“What do you mean, safe from Vadim? What does he want from her?” Drake asked.
“Your godfather was a thief,” Dmitry said.
Drake flinched.
“He mailed her a package the day he died. Vadim found the receipt in his pocket. Now he’s got Oksana looking for it. You knew that, Detective O’Reilly. You crawled out of her bed this morning.”
“Really?” Drake asked, making a face.
Mark turned several shades of red. “What I do on my off time—”
“Shouldn’t be sleeping with witnesses or suspects of a crime.” Dmitry forked his fingers at Drake and Mark.
“Who’s Drake sleeping with?” Johansson asked.
“None of your damn business,” Drake told him, getting up. “I’m going to call Pam. She had a Reiki appointment with Oksana this morning.”
“Oh,” Johansson said.
Chapter Fourteen
Pam sat at her desk, staring into space. What had just happened? She understood Drake arresting Darren. There were the drugs, for one, and he did have a criminal background, so maybe it made sense that he was a person of interest. But why on earth did Drake think she’d had a hand in Nikolai’s death? She’d really liked the old man. Was Drake judging her by her family like everyone else had her whole life?
Her father was a gambling addict, and yeah, he had been into the bookies pretty heavy. But as far as she knew, he was out of that life. Not that she’d called him since his birthday. They weren’t close, but that was her baggage to carry. Darren newly released from prison, and he was covered in gang tattoos, but he’d also helped her when her car was going to be vandalized. Why had Drake looked so betrayed? Even if Darren did kill Nikolai—and she couldn’t believe he had—why did that paint her as an accomplice in Drake’s eyes? Not in the eyes of the law, but in his eyes. Maybe this was what happened in relationships that burned bright. They died out quick. It had been simply a one-night stand that leaked over into the morning.
There was a cold, hollow place in her chest at the thought. She had fallen in love with the jerk. She wouldn’t have slept with him otherwise. Blinking back tears, Pam did some centering exercises to prepare for her first client. As luck would have it, it was Oksana. She lit more cedar to keep the negativity at bay.
“Hello, moy golubushka.”
Feeling a twinge of annoyance that Oksana had sailed past her receptionist, she forced a smile on her face and accepted two air kisses, one on each cheek.
“How are you today?” Pam asked.
“I have the migraines,” she said. “Nikolai had been so effusive in his praise of this Reiki, I figured I’d give it a try. This is a nice, peaceful room.” Oksana moved into the room and looked around. “I don’t like this music. Too many flutes.”
Pam shut off the CD.
“The fragrance is nice. It smells like my closet.”
“I was thinking of trying a peppermint oil to diffuse during our session. Maybe some eucalyptus. I didn’t see that you were allergic to either one from your chart, but I wanted to check.”
“Do the eucalyptus. If I wanted to smell peppermint, I’d snort a Life Saver.”
Pam tightened her lips before saying anything back. Any other day, and this would roll off her back. As she turned to light the candles, Oksana moved closer to her.
“Look at the matryoshka dolls,” she said, taking one down. “I had a set just like this when I was a little girl. You can tell the Russian-made ones.”
“Nikolai gave them to me,” she said, and then her eyes opened wide when Oksana slammed it to the floor and stomped on it, crushing it under her heels.
“What are you doing?” Pam pushed her away from the shards of wood and knelt down. “That was awful. Get out of here immediately.”
“I don’t think so, shluha.” Vadim appeared in the doorway of the treatment room, pointing a large pistol at her. “Don’t move. I don’t want to shoot you.”
Oksana was on the floor, ripping the large doll into chunks. “I told you her brother was covering for her. They’re in this together. Nikolai sent her the medals, and she’s going to have her brother fence it.”
That sounded remarkably like the nonsense Drake was buying in to, but at least Oksana wasn’t blaming her for Nikolai’s murder. “This is ridiculous.”
“Then why were you talking with him?”
“Who told you that?” she asked.
“You think you’re the only one who can sleep with a cop to get information?”
“Who are you sleeping with?” Pam asked, unsuccessfully keeping the horror out of her voice. If Drake was banging Oksana, she would throw up.
“Drago’s partner. The big, dumb Irish one.”
“You’re old enough to be his—”
“Careful,” Vadim warned. “I’m not going to step in if you two get into a catfight.”
Oksana glared up at Pam. “Mark O’Reilly appreciates a seasoned woman. He also thinks he’s the next Columbo. He believes he’s pumping me for information while he’s pumping me.” She moved her hips suggestively. “So I give him what I want him to know.”
“Except that I’m not involved with the vor, and Nikolai left me nothing but little trinkets.”
“Is that so?” she asked, digging her fingernail inside the top of the wooden doll’s head. It was disturbing. But she brought out a piece of metal the size of a postage stamp.
Vadim clucked his tongue. “And I almost believed you.”
“What is that? I didn’t know it was there,” Pam exclaimed.
“Well, your brother did. He’s the one making inquiries for a buyer of Russian artifacts,” Oksana said. “I’m betting this was part of the haul stolen from the St. Petersburg museum.”
“The State Hermitage Museum?” Pam felt a little dizzy from the shock. It was the most famous museum in Russia. She’d practically lived there when she studied abroad.
Oksana and Vadim traded significant looks. Oksana found four more medallions in the heads of the other dolls.
“You’ve got what you came for. Get out. I don’t want to see either one of you again,” Pam said with more bravado than she actually felt.
“It doesn’t work that way,” Vadim said as Oksana put the medallions in her purse.
“You’re going to kill me?” she said. “I had nothing to do with this.”
“Perhaps, perhaps not. If it were up to me, I’d shoot you in the head here and now and be done with it.”
“But the gunshot...” Pam said, trying not to let her voice shake.
“I have a silencer. Your secretary would come in and investigate the thump your body would make when it hits the floor, and I would shoot her too.”
“She has nothing to do with this.”
“But she’s seen us. She’s a witness.”
“You said it’s not up to you,” Pam said quickly.
“Which is why we’re going to Nikolai’s house, and you’re coming with us. You’re going to act friendly and cheerful so your secretary doesn’t expect anything. If you are not convincing, I’ll kill you both and take my reprimand.”
“No,” Oksana said. “We can’t have her death scare off the brother. At least, not yet.”
They don’t know Drake took him into custody this morning. She felt a glimmer of hope that she might get out of this.
“Why Nikolai’s house?”
“Be
cause I said so, bitch,” Vadim said, spitting on her floor.
“Now that we know there actually were artifacts in his possession, we need to search it more thoroughly. His nosy neighbors called the cops before we could search the stubborn old fool’s house,” Oksana elaborated.
“I still say it was sloppy to beat him to death. If I had been there, he would have simply disappeared,” Vadim said.
“Well, you weren’t,” Oksana snapped. “You were in jail.”
“I was not in jail long.” He smiled coldly at her. “Now, let’s go.”
“You killed Nikolai?” Pam said to Oksana in a small, scared voice.
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Oksana looped her arm through Pam’s. “But Vadim will kill you if you don’t cooperate. I don’t want you to die, Pam. You just need to know who you’re dealing with. You have a nice practice here at the hospital. You could be of value to us by getting us drugs, and we could help you with all those student loans. You don’t have to die, unless you’re very stupid.”
“We probably won’t even kill your brother,” Vadim said. “It depends on his answers. It is very bad when vor kills vor.”
Oksana gave an unladylike snort. “I wouldn’t say it is bad.”
“No one asked you, woman.” Vadim said woman like it was an insult.
Hope, Pam thought. They were trying to give her hope so she would play along. Maybe she could even work on the unsteady partnership that Oksana and Vadim had going on.
They walked out of the treatment room, through her office, and out the door to her receptionist’s desk. Pam smiled at Joan so wide that her face hurt.
“Joan, I need you to reschedule my appointments today. My uncle from Russia surprised me with a visit.” She indicated Vadim with her head. “We’re going out for a long lunch.”
“Oh, how nice,” Joan said without a blink or indication that she thought anything was wrong. “That shouldn’t be a problem. Your schedule was pretty clear today.”
“Thank you,” she called, and the three of them sailed out of the office.
“You did well,” Oksana said.
“Women are excellent liars,” Vadim retorted.
They walked through the parking lot. Pam was hoping the security cameras would pick up on them leaving together. It could be the only thing she could count on to keep her alive or face being hauled in like Darren had been for suspicion of murder.
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