In Sheep's Clothing (7 page)

If it hadn’t been for Captain Shubnikov’s presence, she would have been afraid. The captain’s voice bolstered her courage. She had the oddest feeling she was safe with him in the room.

Behind her the two cops argued in Russian, probably about her. Then, strangely, they left her alone in the kitchen with only a cloud of smoke as a reminder of her showdown with the KGB. That and the quiver she’d somehow managed to hide. But she hadn’t collapsed. That counted.

Where were Andrei and Larissa? Four hours had passed since her phone call. A horrifying thought struck her—what if the murderer had already pounced? How much danger were they in? She shuddered, remembering the eerie phone call unanswered in her flat. Five days left on her visa suddenly seemed like an eternity.

Gracie rubbed her eyes with her thumb and forefinger and scanned her memory for anything that might help Captain Shubnikov find the Youngs’ killer. It was doubtful that anything she learned in Russia would be valuable to anyone with an ap
petite for murder. Her memories were of sweet children singing praise songs, the weird advice of well-meaning babushkas and friends laughing over tea. Nothing in that batch seemed suspect.

She heard a knock at the door. More cops, then a Russian voice calling her name. She turned, and in strode Andrei. Worry knotted his face.

“Gracie?”

He hesitated before her, as if suddenly unsure what to do. Tears rimmed his eyes.

Then, wordlessly, he held out his arms.

“Oh, Andrei, it was just so awful,” she whispered, and walked into his embrace. She rested her head on his shoulder, wrapped her arms around his waist and let herself cry.

His arms tightened around her. She’d never been so grateful for his friendship.

After a few moments, he put her away from him, scanned her from head to toe. “Are you okay?”

Gracie managed a shaky smile, not sure how to answer.

“Kto eta?”

Blue-eyed Captain Shubnikov stood in the doorway.

Andrei answered in English. “Andrei Feodorvich Tallin.” He hesitated, then stepped forward and extended his hand, eyes wary. “I’m a friend of Gracie’s.”

Shubnikov fired off a question in rapid Russian.

“Speak English, please,” Gracie muttered.

The investigator ignored her.

Andrei looked at Gracie as if confused. Then he replied in an even quicker staccato.

What was Shubnikov’s problem? The shift in his demeanor astounded her. Only moments before, he’d seemed a friend. Now she’d been sucked back to the Cold War.

“What does he want?” Gracie asked, and frowned at him. He met her gaze with cold eyes that felt like a slap.

She’d been duped by the KGB. She should have kicked him harder.

From this angle, he looked every inch KGB menace. His neatly clipped army-style haircut did nothing to soften high cheekbones that slanted to his square, pure tough-guy jaw. A hint of dark stubble punctuated otherwise smooth skin and he had folded his arms across a sturdy-looking chest, rumpling his sports coat. Arrogance in his dark blue eyes gave him a dangerous look. He started to drum his fingers on his arm, as if waiting for an answer.

Andrei leaned over and translated. “He says he has to ask you more questions.”

“What? We’ve already talked. You tell him whatever he has to ask, he’ll ask it now.” Wait, who was she kidding? Mr. Games knew how to speak English. She glowered at him.

Andrei closed his eyes and grimaced. She waited for him to translate, but instead he breathed wisdom into her ear.

“Gracie, he’s with the FSB. They don’t understand the word
no.
They’re like your FBI—above the law.”

“The FBI is
not
above the law.”

Andrei shrugged. “Believe what you like, but here the FSB doesn’t answer to anyone.”

Gracie dug her fingers into Andrei’s arm. “Don’t you dare tell him where I live.”

“He probably already knows.”

Gracie felt like a child with a giant name tag around her neck, the type they gave her in kindergarten to help her find her school bus. She had absolutely no control over her own life.

Acting like she didn’t exist, Andrei and Investigator Shubnikov talked a moment longer. Gracie turned away and sulked.

Andrei finally settled a hand on her shoulder. “He’ll call you if he needs anything. You’re supposed to stay in town. I think we can leave now.”

She shrugged off his touch. Oh, sure, she’d stay. Long enough to pack a carry-on for her trip south. “I need to get Dr. Willie’s computer.” She whirled and leveled a piercing glare at the two-faced captain. He blinked as if shocked, but she jut
ted her chin and brushed past him, hoping her cold shoulder sent him frostbite.

Gracie bumped past the cops dusting the room, kept her gaze off the sheet-draped body and walked over to the coffee table where the black laptop hummed. With a jerk, Gracie unplugged the computer from the wall. It died with a gasp. She was putting her hand on the cover to push down the screen when a hand clamped her wrist.

“Let me go!”

“That’s evidence, we need it.” Shubnikov’s English seemed fine now.

Games, games, Mr. KGB.
So very typical of all men.

“I need it. I have to write to America, tell them what’s happened.”

“Call them.”

Gracie snatched her arm out of his grasp. She tugged her coat around her and knotted the sash. “When can I have it?”

His gaze roamed over her face. She felt it burn, but kept her expression neutral. He turned and barked at one of the techs, who mumbled something in return.

“Tomorrow.”

The air puffed out of her. “What?” She licked her lips and scrambled for an answer. “Well. Fine. Tomorrow, then.”

For the briefest moment she thought she saw him smile. Arrogant jerk. Brushing past him, she joined Andrei standing by the door. Her satchel dangled from his hand.

“Take me home, please.”

Andrei hung the satchel over her shoulder, then crooked his elbow. She slid her arm through his and left the Youngs’ apartment for the last time.

A
muscle knotted in Vicktor’s neck as he watched Miss Benson leave with her chauffeur. But he didn’t realize his teeth were clenched until Arkady sidled up behind him.

“She’s a looker, eh?”

Yeah, looks like trouble.
What was with her sudden about-face in demeanor, as if he was the one who’d dragged in reinforcements? He didn’t lead her on with a smile. He’d been warm, kind, supportive.

She had all but kicked him in the teeth. So much for his feelings of pity. Vicktor turned, and nearly plowed into Arkady behind him.

Arkady smiled. “She got to you.”

“Not a chance.” Vicktor stalked past him to the bedroom.

“You know what this means,” Arkady called after him. “You’ve just inherited problems. You know Americans can’t keep their noses out of anything.”

Vicktor stopped. “She’s got other things to worry about. Her boyfriend, for one.”

Arkady drew in on his cigarette. “Chauffeur.”

“Yeah, right. I saw the grip he had on her, and from the expression on her face, I don’t think she minded.”

Arkady’s cheek twitched in another smile.

“I gotta work,” Vicktor mumbled. He strode into the bedroom, Arkady’s chuckle ringing in his ears.

The faster he solved this crime and washed his hands of the blond American, the better. Arkady had her pegged. If Grace Benson were anything like Mae or David, he’d have to beat her away from the investigation with a stick. Americans never let anything lie.

The woman’s body had been outlined and bagged. Two techs were taking blood samples from around the room, from the comforter, the carpet, a nearby bookshelf and even the hallway. A scant trail of brownish red led from the bedroom to the front door. Vicktor stared at it, rubbing an irritating whisker on his cheek.

“Why did he kill the two separately?” Arkady’s question voiced his thoughts.

Vicktor glanced at him and watched Arkady blow smoke from his nose like a medieval dragon.

“Why didn’t he just tie them both up and torture them until they got what they wanted?”

“Maybe he came in, killed the husband and then surprised the wife. Or vice versa,” Vicktor suggested.

“What about motive? If it were a burglary, the computer would be gone.”

“Seems that way.” Vicktor cupped the back of his neck with one hand and leaned his head back, stretching his taut muscles. Two Americans, from all outward appearances living like their Russian neighbors, here on goodwill visas, victims of a Wolf attack. Why would the Wolf murder missionaries?

The Wolf always attacked key players—FSB agents, informants, even mafia brass. But missionaries?
Tyomnaya Delo.
They had to be up to their elbows in something nasty. Vicktor strolled around the bedroom. He stopped at the tall
bookshelf next to the door, squinted at dusty books, Bibles and commentaries, and nearly pulled out an English version of
The Last of the Breed,
by Louis L’Amour. On the night table sat a photograph of a small boy wearing a cowboy hat. Cute. Chubby cheeks and blue eyes, with a patch of tawny brown hair.

He lifted the edge of the bedspread and found dust balls, sunken suitcases, a broken pencil and a pair of crumpled black dress socks.

Rubbing a thumb and forefinger over his eyes, he tried to recall what Grace had said.
They were missionaries. Dr. Willie worked with a few doctors in town, but I don’t know who.
Oh, that was helpful. Then again, that was during the cooperative stage of the interrogation. Perhaps she hadn’t been worth the effort of yanking off the train. His shin began to throb. Next time he had to apprehend her, he would wear his hockey gear.

Next time? No, thanks.

Stepping over the woman’s corpse, he crossed the room and noted a pair of glasses, a thin book and a medicine bottle on the floor next to the bed. Sighing, he pulled back the lace curtains and stared out the window. Outside, children ran in a wild game of tag, their school backpacks propped against rotting wooden benches. Laughter and games. Life skipping by while inside the building that shadowed their play, two human beings lay slain, their lives spilled out like spoiled milk.

Senseless. He wondered whom the victims had left behind.

An angry and frightened blond
Americanka
for one.

He was about to let the lace fall when he noticed a curling photograph, covered with a translucent film of dust, wedged between two ceramic pots of blooming African violets. He pulled it out. A tanned and smiling version of the victim in the family room stood in the middle, his arms draped around the shoulders of two men. On the left stood a Russian with a wide face, a bushy salt-and-pepper goatee and a mustache. Set against steely gray eyes, his smile could have been a wince.

The other man was not Russian. He was small with straight dark hair, brown eyes and a bright smile. Vicktor guessed Korean.

Vicktor turned over the picture, hoping for identification. Nothing. Disappointed, he slid the photograph into his pocket.

“Vicktor!” Arkady hollered from the family room.

Vicktor found Arkady standing beside an opened sofa.

“A storage drawer,” Vicktor said starkly. “With contraband?”

Arkady snapped on surgical gloves and lifted a piece of manila paper. “Empty visa forms from the Russian embassy.” He handed Vicktor a black metal box. “Look in here.” His expression betrayed his knowledge of the contents.

Vicktor found a black inkpad and two rubber stamps, one with the Russian seal and the other from the DPRK—Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
North Korea.

He felt as if he’d been kicked in the gut.

“It seems our American missionaries were into something a little more ‘humanitarian’ than just preaching the Bible,” Arkady muttered.

“Tyomnaya Delo.”
Vicktor slammed the cover down. He just hoped he wouldn’t have to be the one to tell Gracie Benson.

Gracie sat with her back propped against her living room sofa, the phone between her feet. She wound the cord around her finger as she listened to the line ring.

“No one?” Larissa asked.

Gracie shook her head.

Taking off her glasses, Larissa rubbed a red spot on the bridge of her nose. “You would think they would give you the director’s home number.”

Grace set the receiver back in the cradle. “Dr. Willie probably has…had it. I’m just a missionary peon. Dr. Willie and Evelyn were the team leaders.” The caretakers. The winners-of-souls. The missionaries who mattered.

And God had let them be slaughtered, like sheep.

The low sun striped her brown rug with the hues of twilight, and the chill of a spring evening crept into her noiseless flat. Sitting on the sofa, Andrei looked dazed, and his occasional deep, agonized sighs did nothing to assuage her grief.

God had so vividly abandoned all of them, and she had not one word of hope to offer her friends.

“We should call your Pastor Yuri,” Larissa mumbled. Andrei gave her a sharp look.

Gracie cringed at her oversight. Of course Pastor Yuri should know. He was Dr. Willie’s coworker and friend, and the closest thing she had to a supervisor. “I’ll call him.”

Andrei put his hand over hers as she grabbed the receiver. “Wait, Gracie. Is there anyone else in the States you could call? Your brother? Anyone else from the mission? How about your mother?”

Gracie eyes burned. “No, I can’t call her.” A lump balled in her throat. “She doesn’t need to worry.” Her mother would only panic and send her brother, or worse, her cousin and all his FBI buddies, after her. No, she had to keep this horror close to her chest until she disembarked from the plane. Then, she’d hide in the safety of her own bedroom overlooking the harbor on Skyline Drive in Duluth. They’d have to pry her out with a two-by-four. “No,” she repeated.

“I think someone in America should know what happened.” He glowered at Larissa, and Gracie scowled at the obvious tension between the two. “For her own good.”

“I have you two, and Pastor Yuri,” Gracie said. “Later tonight, when it is morning in America, I’ll call Headquarters and talk to our missionary director. He’ll know what to do.”

Larissa flattened her lips and nodded.

Andrei slid off the sofa. His arms wrapped around her shoulders and she sank against his wide chest, welcoming his familiar leather and cologne smell. Andrei was safe. Honest. As opposed to the game-playing Mr. FSB she’d met today. And to think she’d actually thought she’d seen kindness in his eyes.
He was probably laughing at her naiveté over a shot of vodka at that very moment.

“Gracie.” Andrei’s voice was low. “I have to ask you. Do you know why the Youngs were murdered?”

Gracie mouth opened. She felt as if she’d been slugged, and jerked away from him. “No, I don’t.”

“They didn’t give you anything or mention anything that seemed out of place lately?”

“No, Andrei. I have no idea who would kill the Youngs, or why.” Her voice shook.

“Okay,” Andrei said, and reached for her.

She backed away from him. “Not okay.” She glanced from Andrei to Larissa. “Do you think I’d keep that from you? Or worse, maybe you suspect
me?
”

Larissa’s mouth dropped open.

“
Davai,
Gracie. Of course we don’t suspect you.” Andrei actually looked angry, his brown eyes glittering. “I just wanted to know what you thought. If you knew
anything.
” He looked away, and his expression made her wince.

She stared in shame at the betrayal written on her friends’ faces.

“We’ll talk about it tomorrow, when things have had a chance to…calm down,” Larissa said. “Right now I think you need some sleep.”

Oh, sure, so she could dream about Evelyn’s chalky death expression? She’d probably never sleep again. She whisked tears from her cheeks. “No. I’m okay. I’m sorry. I’m just a little…yeah, maybe tired.” She suddenly wanted to curl into a ball and just stay there, perhaps under the covers, forever. Never. Wake. Up.

Larissa returned the smile. “Let me tuck you into bed, Gracie. I’ll sleep on the sofa and Andrei will guard the front door.”

Larissa silenced Gracie’s protests with a look. “In Russia, friends watch out for each other.”

Oh, now she felt like a real give-me-a-prize-for-my-insensitivity type. She so obviously didn’t deserve these friends. She nodded, unable to speak.

Andrei helped her to her feet. Tucking an errant strand of hair behind her ear, he stared over her head, toward Larissa. “I’ll call Pastor Yuri.”

Larissa didn’t answer as she guided Gracie from the room.

Vicktor braced his elbows on his knees. The arena seat felt like it had been constructed with razor blades. He’d forgotten how long these matches were. Next to him, Roman waggled his fist.

“Oh-Rah!” he shouted.

From the court, Yanna looked in their direction and returned the fist-up victory gesture. Her spike had just landed her team another point, and they were well on their way to cleaning up the two-out-of-three game match. Vicktor watched them set up for another serve and tried to focus on the game.

“Want a soda?” Roman asked.

Vicktor shook his head.

“I heard about the missionaries. Ouch.” Roman made a face. “Don’t jump to conclusions too quickly, my friend. You know the Wolf. If it is him, he kills good guys just as often as bad.”

“These missionaries had fake passports and visas. I wouldn’t call that your usual missionary paraphernalia.”

Roman stared straight ahead, but Vicktor saw a muscle pull in his jaw. It had to stab his friend’s Christian pride to discover that one of his own had been found treading on the dark side. It didn’t make Vicktor happy to see his friend suffer. He respected Roman’s, David’s and Mae’s religion, even if he didn’t agree with it. It had certainly changed Roman from a womanizing hooligan to a straight-shooting hero of the state. If anything, Roman’s Christian beliefs made him a better friend and soldier. Probably a better man.

“Don’t worry,” he said quietly. “If your missionaries are clean, I’ll clear their name.”

Roman’s gaze didn’t waver from the game, but Vicktor saw his slight nod.

“Hey, check out the redhead in the corner by the south entrance.” Roman didn’t point, but angled his head slightly.

“I knew you wouldn’t stay single long,” Vicktor said as he squinted in the direction of his friend’s gaze.

“Look closely, Vicktor. I wouldn’t dream of chasing this one.”

The small arena was packed, a sea of people jammed hip to hip up to the nosebleed bleacher section and elbowing one another in the doorways. He scanned the entrance, and when he spied a familiar curly mass of red hair he couldn’t keep from grinning.

“You saw her,” Roman confirmed.

“What is she doing here? I thought she was sequestered at the base?”

“Want a Coke?”

Vicktor followed Roman down the row, pausing only a moment to
oh-rah
when Yanna went airborne and blocked a spike from the opposing team. Vicktor winced at the sound of the ricochet off her arms.

They hit the arena floor at a jog, scuttled into the corridor and ran around the stadium to the opposite side. It felt like their college days, when a short skirt and a saucy smile had them fighting for position. Roman shot him a cocky grin.

They dodged a woman selling programs and skidded to a halt near the entrance to the arena where Mae had been standing.

“Do you see her?” Vicktor asked, hands on his knees.

“You’re breathing like you’ve run a marathon.” On tiptoe, Roman peeked over the shoulder of a man in a Bulls sweatshirt. “Don’t see her.”

Vicktor stood up, disappointment slowing his pulse. “Are you sure it was her?”

“Are you?”

“Point taken,” Vicktor acknowledged. “Okay. Where would she go?” He searched the crowed. Traffic thinned now and again as people streamed in and out of the arena, on their way to refreshments or facilities. Vicktor stepped aside to let pass a babushka toting a toddler by his collar. From inside the arena, ecstatic fans erupted, fanning the flames of victory for the Khabarovsk team.

Roman raised his hands and shrugged.