Russian's Intense Love (Drobilka Family Series #2) (4 page)

Looking down at her with a surprised expression, he swallowed hard. “Nyet.”

Chapter 6

Bethany arrived at her handler’s office early Tuesday morning and was surprised to see her pacing the floor. Stopping in the doorway, she waited for Marci to look up.

“Is everything okay?”

Marci shook her head. “Not by a long shot. Someone has been in my office after hours.”

Startled, Bethany said, “Again? Is there anything…was there anything found?”

“Of course not, I’m too careful for that, but the fact that someone was here is troubling. But come in. I have the files you asked for, but they’re encrypted and on a timed server so you will only be able to review them once.” Nodding her head, Bethany sat down as Marci typed in the current password.

While she went through the files regarding the recent Chinese translation, she couldn’t help but smile. Her spy work at the Rubicon was clearly paying off during the private parties, as the guests were far more likely to talk freely when they thought that no one understood Chinese. When she finished, she brought Marci up to date on the club and her interactions with Vadim, leaving out the juicy bits.

“So, he’s in New York this week?”

“That’s what he told me. Something about a meeting that required face time.”

“Well that could mean one of two things. Either he’s meeting with someone higher up than he is in the organization or he’s looking to bring in new business.”

“I thought that he was the man in charge?” Bethany questioned.

“Of the cartel, yes. But he still reports to someone in Moscow.” As they wrapped up, Bethany agreed to see if she could insinuate herself further into the Rubicon while Vadim was gone.

With the realization that she was going to be late for class, Bethany rushed off making it with three minutes to spare. Finding a seat on the far side of the room, she was surprised to see Peter walk in. He appeared to be looking around for someone and once he spied her, he quickly ducked his head and chose a seat close to the exit.

Certain now that he was the one watching her, she knew that she couldn’t take a picture without him knowing, but wondered if she could get one from a campus security camera.

After class, she made her way down the steps and joined the throng of students exiting the classroom. When she spied Peter over her left shoulder, she waited until he had left the class before ducking back inside. Waiting until the students were mostly gone, she approached the instructor.

“Pardon me, Professor, but I was hoping you could answer a question for me.”

“Yes, Miss Michaels? What can I do for you?”

“When I was at the cocktail party the other night, I accidentally left one of my books with a student, and I was hoping to find out his last name so that I can track him down to get it back.”

Reaching for the class roster, “What’s his name?”

“Peter.”

“Well, I’m afraid that you’re out of luck because there’s no one in this class by the name of Peter. Here, see for yourself.”

Bethany took the roster from his hand and quickly scanned the class list. She hoped that he didn’t see the slight tremor in her hand as she set the roster back down on the table. “Thank you, sir; I must have gotten the name wrong.”

As she walked out of class, she spotted her handler walking across campus and sprinted to catch up with her. Looking at her in surprise, she waited for Bethany to speak.

“I think I know who broke into your office.”

When they parted, Marci promised to track down any security footage of males answering Peter’s description and would run them through the FBI’s facial recognition software. Bethany agreed to meet back at her office early Thursday morning to review what she found.

The next two nights were difficult for Bethany, as she felt as though she were being followed everywhere she went. She found herself taking circuitous routes places without trying to give the appearance that she was trying to lose a tail. Vadim had not returned from New York yet, and she wished that he would hurry as she felt safer knowing that he was around, even if she didn’t know the status of their relationship.

Was this nothing more than a tryst for him? As Bethany contemplated her feelings for him, she had to acknowledge it was far more complicated than she would like. It wasn’t merely the fact that it was her job to gather as much intel about the Drobilka cartel as she could. She had grown attached to him and feared that her feelings might soon cloud her judgment when it came down to him or her career.

Both her handler and Sanderson had warned her about getting too close, but it had happened so quickly, she wasn’t sure that she would have done anything differently.
Not even if I had known who he really was?
she asked herself as she contemplated her answer.

Was my past clouding my judgment?
Bethany wondered. Spending her formative years in a house with an abusive stepfather who was now doing time for the death of her twin made growing up both quick and difficult. Her torso was covered in scars from when he would go on his drunken rampages, although as drunk as he was, he was always careful not to leave marks where others could see.

Shaking her head, she tried to pull her head out of the past. What was done was done and she needed to move on, but how could she be expected to do so when every time she looked in the mirror, she was reminded of what she went through.

Vadim was the first man ever to see her as desirable, and Bethany had to admit that the allure was intoxicating. To see that look in his eyes and know that it was because of her made her squirm thinking about it.

Would she be able to give it up? Would any other man ever look at her that way?

Her alarm went off as she tiredly sat up. She tried to wash her fears away in the shower, but found that the more she scrubbed, the stronger they felt. Dressing quickly, she grabbed her backpack and headed to campus, eager to fill up on caffeine before meeting with her handler.

As she walked toward the languages building, she thought that she spied Peter and hastened her step. She arrived at Marci’s office to check in with her handler before she had to leave for class. With the door locked behind her, she sat down and flipped through the photos. Finding Peter, she checked the background file, but could not find his name. He appeared to be a ghost. Now more concerned than ever, she suddenly became aware of the lock quietly turning. Bethany knew it couldn’t possibly be Marci, she quickly spilled the contents of her backpack onto the desk and took the lid off her coffee. Laying her head down, she waited to see who would come in.

When she felt someone standing in front of the desk, she startled up, sending the contents of her coffee onto her backpack and the person standing in front of the desk.

“Ouch. That’s hot,” Peter said as he jumped back.

Bethany jumped up and looked around for napkins or tissue, and finding a box, grabbed a handful as she began dabbing at the library books she had soaked. Peter reached for the box to clean himself off as her handler walked in with Sanderson. Maintaining a look of chagrin on her face, Bethany looked apologetically toward Marci.

“Professor Chase, I am so sorry. I guess I fell asleep, and well, Peter startled me and I got coffee everywhere and here you have a guest and…I am just so very sorry.” Bethany’s voice trailed off as she looked at her handler.

“Well, from the looks of it, you got the majority of the coffee on your backpack, and hopefully none of those books were from the library’s special collections.”

“Yes, ma’am. I mean, no ma’am,” Bethany answered as she attempted to sound flustered.

Turning to Sanderson, Marci introduced him. “This is Jake Sanderson with the FBI. He uses some of my students when he has a need for a translator. I was just telling him about your mastery of the Russian language.” She looked toward Peter, “And you would be?”

“Just leaving,” came Peter’s quick reply as he backed out of the room.

After he left, Marci looked at her. “What was that all about?”

Scooping her backpack off the desk and onto the floor, Bethany tossed her coffee cup before handing her the files back. “It appears that Peter is a ghost,” she stated as Marci looked at the file. “And I’m sure that I locked that door.” Marci raised an eyebrow at her across the top of the file before turning to Sanderson.

“Is he one of yours?”

Shaking his head, Sanderson moved to the window to see if he could see the man leaving. “Nope. Not one of ours. I’ll run it up to the next level to see what we can find out. But in the meantime, do be careful.”

“Why, Jake, is that you showing concern?” Marci asked.

“Can it, Marci. I know everyone thinks I’m an asshole. We are so close on this; we can’t have your charge here screwing things up because she isn’t paying attention to her surroundings. This is too important.”

“And he’s back,” Marci replied drolly. “But, he’s not wrong,” she continued with a sigh. “Until we find out how he fits in, be very careful.” Nodding in agreement, Bethany gathered up her things and prepared to leave.

“I want to see you in my office on Monday,” Sanderson told her as she shouldered her backpack.

Looking questioningly at her handler, Bethany questioned, “But I thought that I wasn’t supposed to go anywhere near the office?”

“Our office does use student translators, so we should have no problems maintaining that story, and since it looks like your handler might be compromised, I want you to start viewing any files in my office. Is that understood?”

Nodding her head, Bethany reluctantly agreed. She did not relish the idea of meeting with Sanderson; she much preferred Marci’s calm demeanor and lack of antagonizing attitude.

As she was walking to her car after class, her phone beeped with a text message. It was from Vadim’s second in command, telling her to come in at three for a private party. Letting him know that she would be there, she quickened her step, anxious to see who would be there.

Chapter 7

When Bethany arrived at the Rubicon Gentleman’s Club, she didn’t see Vadim’s car. Wondering if he was back yet, she walked inside. She hastened to the locker room to change into her uniform, expecting someone to bring her a pendant to wear. When no one came to give her one, she exited out into the main room.

Several tables had been pushed together, and there were at least twenty men sitting around chatting. A large buffet had been set up to the side. Walking to the bar, she checked in with Sasha, who looked as tired as she felt. “Long night?” she asked the bartender as she retrieved her tablet from the docking station.

“Long several nights,” Sasha answered with a sigh. “When Vadim isn’t here, they work us harder.”

Nodding her head in agreement, Bethany turned and approached the table. The conversation paused as she hesitantly began taking drink orders in English. When she got to Vadim’s second, he began speaking to her in Russian, and soon the atmosphere at the table lightened up as she quickly filled the orders and brought plates with appetizers to pass around.

The party continued for the next four hours as Bethany did her best to keep tabs on the different discussions. As things wound down, she helped bus the tables, and she and Sasha put the section back together before heading to the locker room to change into their street clothes.

As she was about to push the door open, Vadim’s second stopped her. “Don’t bother changing into your street clothes,” he called out from the office.

Turning to look at him, “But Vadim never expects us to work a second shift.”

“Vadim is not here, and you will either work or you are fired. Your choice,” he barked out before returning to the office.

Sighing heavily, she walked into the locker room and sat down on the bench. Sasha was sprawled out on another bench with her feet propped against the lockers.

“Is it always like this when Vadim isn’t here?” Bethany asked her.

“Oh yeah,” Sasha replied.

“Does Vadim know?”

“What can he do?”

“Doesn’t he own this club?”

“Part owner. Yes. But when he isn’t here, Boris likes to pull power trips that he would never do in front of him.”

Shaking her head, Bethany stretched out on the bench and put her feet up, hoping to get some rest before her next shift. She had almost fallen asleep when the activity in the locker room increased as the other girls came in to change into their uniforms. Bethany sat up slowly before walking into the bathroom to find Sasha snorting something into her nose.

Sasha looked at her as she wiped her nose. “Don’t look so shocked. How do you think I manage to put in so many hours? If you need something to get you through the night, let me know,” she told her as she left.

Shaking her head, Bethany splashed cold water on her face before reapplying her makeup and brushing out her hair. Satisfied that she looked as good as possible, she went back out onto the floor. Heading to her station, she could see she had two large parties already in full swing. This was going to be a long night.

The next two nights were equally as busy and completely unhelpful to her case, as she hustled around to her different tables. She could have sworn that Boris was giving her a heavier workload, as it didn’t seem as if some of the other servers were working as hard. And what was worse was that she was earning twice what she was bringing in as a newbie agent.

Ever since she was a child and her mother had married her stepfather, she had learned to conserve and save wherever possible. Whether it was hiding extra food in the event she or her brother were sent to bed without supper or saving any money she earned, living a minimalist lifestyle that bordered on the pathological kept things simple and her expenses low. While she could have afforded rent in a better neighborhood, the majority of her neighbors turned a blind eye to anything that was going on and it allowed her the luxury to squirrel away almost two-thirds of her income in the event that she had to disappear for a while.

Dressing in her street clothes, she didn’t bother putting on her shoes as she padded out of the locker room. To her surprise, Vadim was in his usual spot handing out envelopes with the night’s pay. Shifting to the end of the line, she waited until everyone had left before stepping up to receive her pay. She looked up at him and tried to determine how he was, but all she could see was a matched set of dark shadows under his eyes, from lack of sleep.