by Beth Abbott
When Micky just looked up into his face, Lebedev stared at her for a few seconds, waiting to see if she’d back down.
When she didn’t, he eventually broke into a grin.
“One day, Micky, you’re going to push me too far.” He sighed as he picked up his jacket and headed for the door. “Just make sure you don’t outlive your usefulness to me, hmm?”
As the door slammed shut, she exhaled nervously.
At some point she needed to work on her exit plan, but she was still praying that someone in the FSB would make contact with her first.
Micky had so much evidence on Lebedev, that she could bury him a hundred times over, but before that could happen, she desperately needed a helping hand to get out.
Until she knew for certain what had happened to Andre, and what the exit strategy was, she just had to keep on going.
Please God it wouldn’t be for too long.
Chapter 16 – Sacha
Ten minutes into the flight and the pilot turned off the seatbelt sign, meaning that she could release Rocco to go and sit with Dylan and play for a while.
As she let out a small sigh of relief, Zach grinned at her, releasing his own seatbelt as he did.
“I’ll take him to the back, so he can play on the games console.” He grinned, standing up. “It looks like Tuck’s had the same idea, so we’ll just leave you two ladies to chat for a little while.”
“Honey, if I know you two, the boys will be sitting watching you challenge your uncle to some fighting game or another, and they’ll come back down here in ten minutes complaining they’re bored.” Sacha sighed.
“I promise we’ll let them play.” Zach made the sign of the cross over his heart and Sacha frowned at him.
“You shouldn’t do that, y’know.” She warned. “One of these days God is gonna lose patience with you and strike you down for all your half-assed promises.”
Zach grinned at her warning, but as usual, he took no notice, releasing Rocco and leading him to the back of the plane.
Sacha leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes. The last couple of days had been stress-filled to say the least, starting with her meltdown and then finding out that Zach was being called in to the Guardians team to get himself beaten up.
She’d desperately wanted to refuse to let him go, but she’d known she couldn’t. This sort of job was something Zach could probably do in his sleep. If she tried to make him stay home, Sacha knew she’d hurt him badly, by suggesting that she didn’t trust in his ability. Men like Zach didn’t take that kind of thing lightly.
“Feeling Ok, sweetie?” Candy moved around and took the seat opposite Sacha.
“Yeah, just feeling a little stressed, I guess.” Sacha tried to smile. “I really don’t like the idea that Zach is gonna get hurt. And I like it even less that everyone around me is trying to pretend it’s not going to happen like that. It is, and I’d appreciate it if people would stop treating me like I’m a fool. I’m not.”
“Sacha, nobody thinks you’re a fool.” Candy leaned over and took one of Sacha’s hands in hers. “We just have confidence that Zach can handle whatever he comes up against. His size and his skill make him a sure favourite in any pairing.”
“If it was a fair fight, or one with rules and laws to keep it that way, I wouldn’t doubt it.” Sacha agreed. “But this is one of those anything goes type of fights. What happens if one of the fighters takes a weapon in the ring with them? It’ll be too late to complain that someone broke the rules after some asshole has stabbed Zach with a homemade shank, won’t it?”
“Sacha, these men may be criminals, but they mostly live by a twisted code of honour.” Candy explained. “If it’s agreed that no weapons will be allowed, then anyone who breaks the rules will be dealt with very harshly. Don’t forget, they’re all there trying to gain Lebedev’s favour. There’ll probably be some serious betting going on, and the ultimate prize is getting a deal with the Russian. Can you see anyone being stupid enough to risk that by allowing their fighters to bring a weapon with them?”
“Is the deal with the Russian dependent on our guys winning?” Sacha asked. “Because if it’s not, then I’d much rather they lost in the first round and let the others carry on without them.”
“I really don’t know.” Candy admitted. “But seeing as that’s only part of the mission, I’m guessing they need to stay in the competition to guarantee that they stay on the ship.” Candy shrugged. “As much as I know that’s not what you want to hear, I won’t lie to you. The guys are going to be pulling out all the stops to make sure they win each round.”
It most definitely wasn’t what Sacha wanted to hear.
She wanted to hear that the whole stupid plan had been called off, and that Zach could just turn right around and fly back to Philly with her in the morning.
She turned and stared out of the window, knowing that she was on the verge of tears.
Damn stupid hormones! She’d been like this since the…
Sacha stopped her thoughts dead in their tracks. That wasn’t a place she ought to be going if she was trying to stop the tide.
“Sacha, are you sure everything is Ok, sweetie?” Candy moved to the seat next to hers. “Is there anything else going on that I can help you with?”
“I’m fine.” Sacha turned to face Candy, trying to put on a smile. “Why shouldn’t I be?”
“Oh, maybe because you have bags under your eyes telling me that you haven’t been sleeping well.” Candy suggested quietly. “And you’ve been avoiding all the family events and the last few girls’ nights. And maybe because a while back, Tuck came home telling me how he’d seen you rushing for the bathroom in the middle of a meeting. He’d wondered if it might be morning sickness, but when you never confirmed anything, and time passed, well, we guessed you must have had a stomach bug or something.”
Sacha turned back to the window, unable to look Candy in the eye.
“It wasn’t a tummy bug, was it?” Candy sighed. “And all this time, you kept it to yourself. Oh, Sacha, didn’t you know you could talk to me about it? About anything.”
“It wasn’t that I couldn’t talk to you.” Sacha whispered. “It was that I couldn’t talk to anyone. Not even Zach, properly.”
She felt the first tear trickle down her cheek.
“You shouldn’t have had to go through it alone, Sacha.” Candy squeezed her hand. “I could have come with you to the doctor, or just been there to talk to about it. I would have helped you through the shock of it.”
Sacha shook her head.
“It wasn’t so much of a shock this time.” She whispered. “The first time was much worse. This was the second time.”
“Oh, Sacha!” This time she heard the pain in Candy’s voice and turned to see there were tears on Candy’s cheeks.
“I couldn’t tell anyone about the first time because it was when everything was happening with Gregor and Tulli, and when Sara had her baby. I didn’t want to take anything away from their joyful time.” Sacha sniffed. “And this time? Well, I guess I didn’t want to tell anyone because I’ve been blaming myself so much.”
“Sacha!” Candy gasped.
“Before you give me a lecture on the ridiculousness of self-blaming, I’ve already had one lecture this week from Zach.” Sacha stopped Candy in her tracks. “I really don’t need another one, so please don’t start on me.”
Candy made an obvious effort to keep her thoughts to herself.
“Have you had any tests to find a cause?” She eventually asked.
“We were going to do that this week, and maybe arrange to go and see a counsellor, too.” Sacha explained. “But then this job came up, and it kinda threw a spanner in the works. I guess we’ll do that when we get back.”
“Have you thought about talking to Drew about it?” Candy asked. “He’s an amazing counsellor and a really good listener. He and Zach have been really close friends for quite a few years, ever since Drew told Zach to pull his head out of his ass a
nd go after you, if I remember correctly.”
Sacha turned and smiled at Candy, knowing the woman was just trying to help any way she could. Drew was actually a good choice, not because he knew anything about miscarriages, but because he understood what it was like to carry pain and guilt around and knew what you needed to do to start learning to forgive yourself.
“I’ll mention it to Zach and see what he thinks.” She agreed. “I don’t know if it would be easier talking to a stranger or a friend.”
“If you think it would make it harder, then just ask Drew to recommend someone.” Candy suggested. “If you’re gonna be in London anyway, killing time, then what’s stopping you?”
“I’ll think about it.” Sacha nodded. “And for what it’s worth, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before. I just… couldn’t.”
“It’s Ok, Sacha. I understand.” Candy nodded. “But now I know, do you think you can talk to me about it in future? If it gets on top of you and you want to talk to someone other than Zach?”
“I will.” Sacha agreed. “And I’ll give Zach the green light to tell Tuck. I won’t ask you to keep it a secret from him. Just try not to let him start crying in front of me, Ok? I can handle women crying, but not men.”
Candy snorted a laugh.
“You know Ryan will get upset.” Candy warned. “It’s a foregone conclusion. He just wants you and Zach to be happy, so what hurts you, hurts him.”
“I’ll message Zach now, so they can get that conversation out of the way before we land.” Sacha sniffed. “It’ll give him a chance to compose himself.”
She tapped out a message to her husband and heard his ringtone at the back of the plane. A second later she received a reply of a heart emoji.
“I’m going to try and get some rest while Zach has Rocco at the back.” She smiled at Candy. “Do you mind if I just close my eyes for a while?”
Candy shook her head.
“Of course not. You get some sleep.” Candy smiled. “I’ll go back and keep the boys amused while Zach and Tuck have a little chat.”
“Thanks.” Sacha held her arms out and Candy immediately pulled her in for a hug. “I don’t know where we’d be if we didn’t have you and Ryan.”
“Ditto, sister.” Candy sniffed. “Now get some rest.”
Sacha grabbed a pillow and turned towards the window. She reclined the seat and tucked the pillow under her head.
Talking about everything with Candy had been harder than she’d imagined, but now it was done, she felt like a weight had been lifted.
Maybe talking to someone like Drew would be exactly what she needed.
Sacha closed her eyes, and for the first time in so long, relaxed instantly.
When she opened them again, Tuck was sitting opposite her.
“Did you sleep well?” He asked, handing her a glass of orange juice.
Sacha sat up straighter, taking the drink and sipping slowly.
“I had a long chat with Zach.” Tuck explained. “And I have to admit to being mad as hell at you.”
Sacha’s jaw dropped.
“You’re mad at me?” She repeated. “Why? For not telling you what was going on?”
“No, not that.” Tuck shook his head. “Even though I wish you’d told us, I understand why you’d want to keep it to yourself, at least initially.”
“Then why are you mad at me?”
“Because according to Zach, this happened to you twice in the last year.” Tuck explained. “And yet you haven’t taken a single sick day to recover. You could have had all the time off you needed to get well again, but you didn’t take it. That makes me mad as hell, Sacha. Your health should have come first.”
“Tuck, I wasn’t sick.” Sacha pointed out. “And the last thing I needed was time to sit and think and dwell on what might have been.”
“You needed time to heal, sweetheart.” Tuck leaned forward and took her hand. “You and Zach, you both needed time to heal. Acting like nothing happened isn’t good for your physical health or your mental wellbeing.”
“I had to deal with it my own way, Tuck.” Sacha shook her head. “What would be right for you or Candy wouldn’t necessarily be right for me. You have to see that.”
Tuck nodded his head, as though in understanding.
“So, how’s that been working out for you?” Tuck’s straightforward challenge took her by surprise.
Sacha felt the tears on her lashes before the shock wore off.
Damn the man for knowing her so well!
Tuck slid off the leather seat until he was kneeling in front of her.
“I might have promised Candy I wouldn’t cry, but I sure as hell didn’t say anything about not asking for a hug.” He said almost in a growl, and the emotion in his voice was enough to make her lose the last shred of control she possessed.
As she fell forward into his embrace, Sacha lost any hope of holding the tears in check, and the strong arms wrapped around her held on tightly, the way her father had always held her when she’d needed comforting as a child.
“I’m so sorry, sweetheart.” Tuck whispered into her hair. “I just couldn’t stand to watch you bottling it up any more. No matter how much you argue with me, it’s just not who you are. You’ve a heart as big as Dakota, and it kills me to know it’s been broken all these months and I didn’t even know it.”
Once Sacha let the tears fall, she couldn’t seem to stop them, and she clung to his damp shirt as the sobs ripped through her.
When she could eventually take a breath without hiccupping, she lifted her head from his shoulder to look into Tuck’s eyes.
“As big as Dakota?” She gave him a watery smile. “I’ve never been there. Is it big?”
“I think so. I don’t remember ever going there either.” He chuckled, pulling his handkerchief from his pocket. “But it sounded good in my head before it came out of my mouth.”
“It sounded good to me, too.” She sniffed, accepting the linen cloth and wiping her face. “Thank you for making me cry.”
“Under normal circumstances, I’d be hanging my head in shame for making you cry. It’s the last thing I’d ever want to do.” Tuck admitted, lifting her back onto the seat. “But I kinda think you needed to be jolted out of this crazy make-believe world you’ve created, where everything is magically going to be alright. It isn’t, not for a while. But that’s Ok, Sacha. Because time really does heal, if you take the right steps towards recovery.”
“I intend to.” She nodded. “Candy suggested speaking to Drew while we’re in town, and I think I’m going to try. It sure can’t hurt more than it does now.”
“Well, you know if there’s anything Candy or I can do, you only have to ask.” Tuck smiled.
“Could you do me a favour and keep an eye on Rocco for a few minutes, while I speak to Zach?” Sacha asked. “I need to tell him about my plan to talk to Drew.”
“Sure, honey.” Tuck leaned over and kissed the top of her head. “Take your time. We’ve got another few hours until we land.”
Sacha watched Tuck make his way to the back of the plane and sighed.
She was the luckiest woman she knew, having the most amazing husband and family.
It was time she got her act together and started planning what the rest of their future was going to look like. As her father was fond of saying… the future’s already started… catch up!
Chapter 17 – Hannah
Hannah put the phone down and picked up her pen. She skimmed to the next item on her to-do list and drew a line through it, placing a big tick next to the entry.
She gave a little fist-pump, satisfied that she’d achieved the best possible outcome.
“Wow, someone looks pretty happy with themselves.” Danny’s amused voice startled her. “What have you done this time that has you so pleased with yourself?”
“I just got off the phone with my friend Dag at the Kremlin.” She smiled. “He’s just helped out with a few problems.”
“We had problems, plu
ral?” Danny scowled.
“We had two, but now we don’t.” Hannah explained. “We needed to get a team into Kaliningrad to recover the weapons once we know their location. Dag has confirmed that the Russian military will put a team in place ready to move in on Sunday night.”
“Excellent.” Danny grinned. “And the other problem?”
“We were facing a headache getting the Guardians through the biometric identification system at the airport, because obviously we don’t want it registered that they’re in Russia at all.”
“Why ‘obviously’?” Danny stepped further into her office, taking a seat in the chair opposite Hannah.
“Two reasons. Firstly, because we can’t know whether Lebedev has moles inside the Russian Government, and if he has, whether he would be able to get intel on our guys.” Hannah explained. “And secondly, because we don’t really want our guys in the Russian system at all if we can help it. They may need to go back to Russia on another operation in a completely different capacity, and under different aliases. The last thing we need to do is trip them up over something so simple. I mean, I could’ve fixed it if I’d needed to, but this way is easier.”
Danny frowned.
“How do you go about fixing something like that? Once their biometrics are in the Russian system, that would be it. Done deal.” He shrugged as if it was that simple.
“For most people it would be a done deal.” Hannah stood up and walked around her desk, loving the way Danny immediately reached for her to pull her onto his lap. “But when did you start thinking your wife came under the heading of ‘most people’?”
Danny chuckled as he pulled her closer to plant a kiss on her bare shoulder.
“My wife could never be considered ‘most people’, so it’s fairly obvious that I wasn’t thinking at all.” He grinned up at her. “So, do I wanna know how you can fix Russian biometric data?”
“It’s easy, really.” Hannah smiled. “You either go in and delete it, or you go in and replace things like the iris scan with a false one.”