Undercover Lover (11 page)

“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 Darren’s flinty blue eyes.

“No.”

“Do you know who did?” Mark said.

“No.”

“Would you tell us if you did?” McNally said.

“No. It’s your turn now,” Dmitry said to Johansson.

“This isn’t funny,” Drake said.

The door opened up, and the FBI agent that 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

P
am sat at her desk, just 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 had just gotten out of 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 just couldn’t believe he had—why did that taint 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 just as quick.

There was a cold, hollow place in her chest at the thought. She loved 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 just 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, 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 what Drake had implied. “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.

“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 cat fight.”

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 one year.

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.”

“Why do you need me to go to Nikolai’s?”

“For one reason,” Oksana said. “So you don’t warn your brother.”

They didn’t know Drake had taken him into custody this morning.
She felt a glimmer of hope that she might get out of this.

“Why Nikolai’s house?”

“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 said.

“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,
she 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 Jane so wide that her face hurt.

“Jane, 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,” Jane 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 trying to see if the security cameras would pick up on them leaving together. If they did, they would have to keep her alive or face being hauled in like Darren had been for suspicion of murder.

“Get in,” Oksana said, opening the passenger’s side door.

When she did, Vadim slid into the back seat behind her. “You know to be a good girl, right?”

Pam nodded, not trusting her voice. She rested her head against the window, trying to think of a way out of this. Oksana got into the driver’s side and drove the big Mercedes out of the parking lot. No one seemed to notice that anything was out of the ordinary. The drive out to Nikolai’s house was a subdued one. Vadim didn’t talk, and Oksana only muttered curses at other drivers. At one point, when they slowed down at a stop sign, Pam thought to jump out, but Oksana locked the doors before she could reach for the door handle.

Vadim got out of the car first when they parked on the street in front of Nikolai’s driveway. It was broad daylight, but Pam figured most of the neighbors would be at work. Oksana ripped down the police “keep out” sign and unlocked the door from a set of keys. Vadim shoved Pam between the shoulder blades to get her up the stairs to the porch.

“It’s about time you got here,” a man said from inside.

“Stefan,” Pam said.

He frowned at her. “What is she doing here? Dmitry said she was clean.”

Oksana reached in her purse and pulled out the medallions. Stefan’s eyes widened as he looked at them.

“I can’t believe you kept these to yourself,” he said.

“She didn’t know they were there,” Vadim said sourly.

“You believe her?” Oksana laughed. “She’s just like her old man was. Shiny and clean on the outside, but rotten to the core inside.”

Pam bit the inside of her cheek to keep from responding.

“I can’t find anything,” Stefan complained.

“Look for more of the nesting dolls. Anywhere he could have hidden a medallion,” Oksana said impatiently. “We have to hurry.”

“I keep getting Dmitry’s voice mail,” Vadim said. “You know a different number?”

Pam nodded holding out her hand for the phone. She didn’t. But she knew Drake’s phone number. She called it. He answered on the first ring.

“Dmitry, it’s Pam. Vadim wants—”

Vadim snatched the phone out of her hand and spoke in Russian. “Dmitry, you’ve been a very bad, bad boy. We have your sister and the medallions. If you want to see her safe, you will tell us where Nikolai hid the rest of it.”

Pam’s heart was thudding, and she thought she was going to pass out. Vadim listened for a long time. There was no way Drake could mimic Darren’s voice—if he could even speak Russian that fluently. She was going to die, but at least Drake would know who did it. Maybe this would even be enough to scare Darren straight. She looked over at Stefan, but he and his mother were in the process of ripping up the rugs and emptying out the kitchen cabinets.

Vadim was staring at her with empty eyes. He reminded her of a cobra.

“Good,” he said in English, making her jump at the sudden noise. “I’m so glad you are being reasonable. It will go well for you. We’re at Nikolai’s house. I’ll tell the idiot twins to stop what they are doing.” He put his phone away, and before Pam could take another breath, Vadim pulled the pistol back out and shot Oksana.

Someone was screaming, a keening wail that was bordering on hysterics. When Stefan came out to see what was the matter, Vadim shot him, too. Rounding on her, Vadim raised the pistol to Pam.

“
Zhatknis
,” he said.

Pam realized that she was screaming and shut her mouth with a snap. She backed away from Vadim. Looking around desperately, she prepared to run. Let him shoot her in the back if that was the plan.

He killed them. He killed them
. Pam was hyperventilating. She scrabbled for her purse.

“Don’t even think about it,” Vadim said.

“Inhaler,” she wheezed. “Asthma. Can’t breathe.”

“Weak,” he sneered. “Slowly,
shluha.
If I see a taser or a gun in your hand, I’ll kill you.”

Pam slowly brought out her inhaler, holding it with two fingers and trying not to gulp her breath.

“Drop the purse,” he said.

She did and sucked on the inhaler gratefully. Unfortunately, her system was still rioting.

“Calm down. Like that old bitch said, you are worth more to me alive and working in a hospital than with your brains splattered against the wall.”

“Wh-Wh-Why did you kill them?”

“They had no more use to me. Oksana has been a thorn in the
vor’s
side for many years. Her time was up. Stefan made a terrible mistake when he killed Nikolai.”

“Stefan?” Pam said. “Why would he do that? Nikolai wasn’t a threat.”

Vadim shot his body again. “Exactly so. See, Stefan, even the
shluha
sees the obvious.”

Pam screamed and pressed herself against the wall. “Don’t kill me.”

“Your brother won’t give me the information if I harm you. So as long as he gets here in time, I’ve no reason to kill you—unless you make me. Don’t tempt me.”

“Dar–Dmitry,” she corrected herself, “is coming here?” Pam hugged herself and tried to control the panic. She couldn’t look at the two bodies.

“Yes, and then we are going to the storage area where Nikolai hid the paintings.” He snorted. “Heh. You really were telling the truth. You don’t know anything about this?”

Pam shook her head. “Why kill Nikolai? He was the source of the artifacts.”

“Exactly,” Vadim said. “But tell that to these two
osels
.” Vadim waved the gun at the bodies.

Pam slammed her eyes closed before she could follow the motion of the gun. Even though she knew they had beaten Nikolai to death, Pam didn’t want to see what the high-caliber bullet did to them at close range.

“Stefan lost his temper and killed him.” At her stunned expression, he continued. “I don’t think he meant to. Just hit the old man too hard. Maybe Nikolai’s heart gave out. They used the bats to make it look like kids did it.
Duratskis.
” He shook his head.

Pam wished she was wearing a wire, like Drake did when he was undercover. Then if something happened to her, Drake would know that Darren wasn’t involved in his godfather’s death.

“So, one thing confuses me,” Vadim said.

“Just one?” Pam asked, trying to be brave.

His eyes narrowed. “I said I wouldn’t kill you. But talk smart to me one more time, and I’ll make you regret it.”

“Sorry,” Pam said, wishing she could do something more than cower against the wall. But she’d just watched him kill two people she had known for most of her life, as if he were swatting flies.

“Why did he hide the medallions with you? He mailed them to you the day he died.”

“I don’t know.”

“Stefan must have tipped him off that we were on to him.” Vadim spat at Stefan’s headless body. “And Nikolai must have known we’d search his places. We came up with nothing. He was working with your brother. Your brother is a very good
vor.
I’d hate to kill him.”

Pam turned and wretched up her breakfast until she was dry heaving. By time she broke every blood vessel her in face, she didn’t think there was anything else left. When she raised her head, Vadim looked like he was trying to hold down a gag.

“Go. Get into the bathroom and clean yourself up. You’re disgusting.” He grabbed a throw blanket from the couch and threw it over where she’d been sick.