Left For Dead (The Guarded Secrets Series Book 3) (2 page)

Chapter 1

Night Stripe

I sat in the back of some Russian nightclub I couldn’t pronounce the name of, looking for my target. Luckily for me, Rum had taught me enough Russian to get by and they seemed to understand enough English. I guess it paid to have them working with Americans in this case, otherwise I’d still be in lockdown at the CIRA building. A year under their idea of house arrest and Sharp Shooter still thought I hadn’t been punished enough. It’d been a year since I had been recruited, since I’d gone rogue, and killed Ash Crest. It was time he got over it, but clearly that wasn’t going to happen any time soon.

Before every mission he’d look at me and say, “Night Stripe, you mess around again and you’ll never leave this building.”

If he hadn’t forgiven me by now, I wasn’t sure what I would have to do to gain his forgiveness. Probably die in a mission and earn it postmortem.

I glanced around, noticing the differences between this club and what I knew of nightclubs in the States. I pictured all of them with a mosh pit, similar to raves back home. While the music still flowed through me, and the minimal liquor I drank loosened me up a little to the task at hand, I couldn’t help but compare. This one, while it had some dancing, mostly for the men at the bar, seemed less crowded and involved more heavy drinking by all ages. It shouldn’t have shocked me that Russia had little to no drinking age. Although no one could purchase alcohol under the age of eighteen, that didn’t keep young teens from the club.

There were a few men who had already bought me drinks which I graciously accepted. It would have been rude to turn them down. I was even asked for dances and more personal alone time. I did my best not to cringe and break their hands while they touched me and asked for my company. One man actually had the audacity to attempt to lift my skirt and I almost stabbed him when he thought slapping his hand away from me was encouragement for more. Being drunk didn’t account for their actions no matter how inebriated they were. If they couldn’t handle drinking, then they shouldn’t do it at all—though I’d never say that to a Russian. It would be worse than insulting their mother. Instead I pulled a knife and plunged it into the bar as a warning. That was a language he understood. He raised his hands and backed away before I removed the knife and offered a short apology to the bartender, who seemed to appreciate my spunk.

“Maybe it’s the outfit,” Demon offered as a suggestion from the bar stool beside me. 

I let out a breath of a laugh, but didn’t respond. We weren’t supposed to communicate, but he was right. It had to be the outfit.

I wore a tight black skirt that hugged my legs, which had become shapely and toned from the training I completed over the past year. Demon even complimented them when I stepped out in my heels. He said I’d gather all the attention in the room, especially when the fur coat covered everything except my legs. I shivered in the cold on our way over here. While there was no snow on the ground, which wasn’t how I pictured Russia, the temperatures dropped drastically throughout the day. I don’t think it hit above thirty-four degrees, which sounded even worse at about one degree Celsius, and it decreased as the night went on. No wonder people in Russia drank all the time. It had to be the only way to keep warm.

I pushed aside the thought as I noticed my mark step up to the bar. I sidled up next to him, just as planned. The fur coat I had worn into the club brushed against my hand and I gestured to my things. “Would you like me to move them?” I asked, flashing a soft smile. I repeated the question in broken Russian when he didn’t seem to understand. I’m sure I caused a few to cringe at how badly I ruined their mother tongue.

He offered a smile and thanked me for the gesture as I moved my things and made sure to show my scandalous outfit. It was time to see if it would work on the man I had targeted.

I leaned forward, letting the low cut top show off more skin than usual. Normally, I would pull away, unwilling to show off this much skin, but for some reason once the mission aspect came into play I became more confident than normal. I tried to ignore his intense stare, and instead followed Demon and Renegade’s advice on getting a man’s attention. Growing up, I needed the help. Boys never looked twice at me when I was younger, but now, I had to say I looked deceptively innocent and gorgeous to the men I targeted. Now I needed this guy to play along. I hated when men played hard to get, in a mission and in life.

“Would Renegade be proud of what you’re doing?” Demon whispered as the mark turned to converse with another bodyguard.

I smiled at the mark before glancing down at my drink so I could answer Demon. “He’s the one who picked the outfit,” I reminded him. I turned slightly to see Demon’s smirk and slightly lifted eyebrows as he found a new amusement in my words. “And don’t say he suggested this so I go back to the agency like this.”

“You said it. I didn’t,” Demon muttered, glancing at a blonde in the corner of the club who stood with a friend.

I scoffed.
Typical Demon
, I thought before I turned my attention to the mark. He had finally noticed me once his friend left with a beautiful woman on his arm. Nikolai Pyotr worked as the bodyguard of the dictator of Gorod, Russia. We needed information on what the mafia planned, and hopefully we’d take down the dictator with that intel. Then maybe we could finally be done with this. I was sick of working cartel and mafia cases. I wanted to expand and experience other types of missions. Though I did enjoy the danger and risks of working against cartels and mafias, and it allowed me to travel to almost anywhere in the world, I grew tired of it. I had seen mafias in Italy, organized crime in Spain, and now the Russian mafia.
Let me go back to Spain. At least then I wouldn’t turn into a popsicle when I walked outside.

I’d worry about getting a new line of jobs once this run with the Russian mafia ended, and the Cardoza Cartel was eliminated for sure. Sources said the Russians were pushing their boundaries, starting to leak into other countries. We came to put an end to it, and we wouldn’t stop until they were all taken out. Until then, I had been given the job of flirting with the burly man beside me to discreetly gather information.

Luckily, with my new confidence and looks, flirting had become an enjoyable game for me with a mark, even if Nikolai wasn’t my type. It was like subtle manipulation, and I enjoyed the power I held over them. I didn’t enjoy the upper hand being taken from me, however, and that’s why Demon had to be there. I needed him in case I slipped up, as I had a habit of doing. I was still classified a rookie by CIRA standards. You needed a few missions under your belt before being stripped of the rookie status, or a big move to give yourself a new label. So far, while some still called me a rookie, most called me a rogue and refused to work with me. I needed a shirt that said
‘
I don’t play well with others
.’
Either that, or others didn’t play well with me.

Nikolai bought me another drink. If anything, I wouldn’t need the fur coat by the time I left this club. I’d have what my sister used to call an alcohol blanket because I couldn’t fake drinking as I did on missions in the United States. Russians took notice when you weren’t drinking, which is another reason Demon stayed close—to keep me in line.

“Watch it,
NS
,” Demon growled as Nikolai offered to pay for another drink, careful not to use my code name or an actual name. I had told him we needed a cover story to come here, but he thought he knew better. It would have been easier to communicate with one, but he didn’t think we would be here this long. Plans changed as new information came in. Unfortunately, that meant almost a month in this frozen town.

I tipped over my glass, and let the alcohol fall onto Demon’s lap. I uttered an apology in Russian, knowing Demon understood as much of it as I did. Then I leaned over and whispered, “I told you we needed new names. Now make sure he’s ready to go because he’s seeing this going a different direction than I am.” I pulled away, and Demon nodded slightly before he started cursing in Russian and rushed off.

Most would’ve assumed he was going to clean the spill off his clothes, but I knew he was finding a new position in case Nikolai decided to take it a step further. I had been here long enough to pick up on the signs, and knew well enough when men were trying to escalate casual conversation.
Now there’s something Renegade wouldn’t like
. I smiled at the thought and laughed slightly at the joke Nikolai had told, even though I didn’t understand a thing he said.

“Who are you looking for?” Nikolai asked me in almost perfect English. “You aren’t from around here. Is there someone you’re looking for?”

I knew it was obvious I was American. It took a lot of effort to blend in with locals, and even more time. Time I hadn’t had to prepare for this mission thanks to Renegade’s cover being blown. Everyone in Russia knew he had impersonated and killed Marco, and now he was their main target, so I had to be sent out instead on whatever mission Camo had been assigned to in my place. I had been so close to getting out of working against the mafia. Maybe next time.

“I’m looking for a Volodya Petrov,” I stated, attempting to make it seem as if I couldn’t be certain. If I came out and made it clear I had come to visit the dictator as an outsider, I’d be taken and never seen again. They took protecting their leaders to an all new level, the ruling swift and permanent. It would be even worse because of Renegade’s recent blown cover. If I died because he couldn’t keep his cover, I’d haunt him for the rest of his life.

“Why are you looking for Volodya Petrov?”

It was a good question, but I didn’t have an answer. I barely knew why. CIRA believed the less they told me, the better. I thought they would have put an end to that rule after it almost got Renegade and me killed in our last mission together, but then again a dead agent is better than one who can tell every secret we knew.

“I’ve been sent to speak to him. Offer some entertainment.” Nikolai appeared more cautious. I was losing the mark.

I flashed Demon the signal, a short stroke of my hair with my right hand and palm toward my face, to let him know the plan had started to fall apart and we had to speed up the process. We weren’t supposed to drug him until after I had gotten him out of the club, it would be less suspicious, but I had blown my chance and I knew it. Demon quickly approached the bar and ordered a drink. While the bartender made Demon his drink, and Nikolai had turned his focus from gawking at me to questioning me, Demon slipped a mixture into Nikolai’s drink. I toasted to the health of the dictator, who had to be praised whenever possible, and watched as he drank the concoction. Now I had to wait.

It didn’t take long. He was already inebriated and the drug kicked in quickly with an empty stomach. “What are you doing here?” Nikolai questioned as he started to sway in his seat.

From watching the drug take effect I could tell that getting him back to our place would be difficult. I sighed sharply, bored with the conversation, as he waited for an answer, and I gave him the truth for the first time tonight. “I’m here to murder everyone you care about with my bare hands if I don’t get the information I need to save lives, and prevent your ilk from spreading.” 

There was a momentary pause as Nikolai took in what I said. Once it connected in his drunken mind, he started laughing. His laughter reverberated through my chest in sync with the bass of the music surrounding us, but I wasn’t amused. Luckily, the drug kicked in and knocked him out soon after.

I turned to Demon, who had been prepared to help Nikolai up and out the back door so we could leave as unnoticed as possible. “Why does everyone think I’m joking when I threaten them?”

Demon flashed me a warning glare before ordering me to take my new friend from the club and back to our hideout. He’d make sure we weren’t followed, and by the time the mark woke up, he wouldn’t have a clue how he ended up with us. We’d get the information we needed.

Chapter 2

I managed to take him from the bar with almost no one noticing. I attempted to make it seem as if Nikolai was leading me from the bar. To those around us, it looked as if Nikolai had gotten lucky or would be soon. Demon would be close, but not too close to draw attention, to make sure we weren’t followed. Apparently the other men at the bar enjoyed a laugh about Nikolai getting another girl, and then carried on as if nothing happened. It surprised me, because Russian men didn’t typically underestimate women; here they are just as brutal and fierce as the men. No one in their right mind would mess with them, but I guess being American made it seem as if I wasn’t as tough as the women here. As I said, I looked deceptively innocent. Men never suspected a woman was plotting until it was too late.

Carrying him through the town to our hideout took time. He weighed twice as much as I did. The town wasn’t empty, but pretty much void of people. A few people said a quick hello to us as we passed. His lazy steps were getting weaker by the minute and soon I would have needed to carry him on my back. If Demon hadn’t shown up, I never would have gotten him inside before someone noticed Nikolai wasn’t acting right.

“Put him in the chair and tie him down,” Demon ordered as he shut the door behind him. “Then check him for weapons. If he gets out somehow, I want to make sure he can’t kill us.”

“What if he refuses to speak English? I can’t speak Russian, and neither can you.”

“He did most of the deals with the Cardozas,” Demon stated, throwing a lightweight black coat in my direction so I could cover up. “He knows enough English, and he’ll make sure we understand.”

“And what about his memory?” I questioned, slipping into the coat. “I don’t want to end up on a wanted poster with a bounty on my head.”

“He won’t remember a thing if we do it within the time limit,” he promised as I fastened Nikolai into the chair.

Once the ties were secure, double checked by Demon, and his weapons on a table on the far side of the room, we woke him up. It only took a splash of cold water to the face, and while he remained in a haze from whatever Demon had given him, he became alert soon after waking up. His movements would be slowed, his brain function a little sluggish, but the ability to manipulate him and get the information we needed would be that much easier.

“Let’s start off small,” Demon said as he approached Nikolai. “What are you doing in the area? I hear there are movements for a war. Who are you going up against?”

Nikolai let out a laugh, but it was clear he was struggling to fight the drug. He answered quickly, but in Russian.

“Answer in English,” Demon demanded. “If you don’t I’ll be hunting down your family with my friend here.” He pointed in my direction, letting Nikolai have full view of the knife in my hand and the weapons on the table next to me.

Nikolai took the threat to heart and answered the remaining questions in English. “We are getting ready to spread, leak over our borders into neighboring areas, and take over the land from our temporary allies. We plan to get rid of the cartels in those areas, either killing them or forcing them to move.”

A silence fell over us as Demon took in the information and decided the next move.

“But before we go, we have to get rid of the girls.” A cruel smile crept onto his lips as his eyes flashed to me. While I had stayed in the outfit from the bar, minus the fur coat, his attention wasn’t on the outfit, but fully on my face. He could be thinking of how to get rid of me, or perhaps I looked similar to one of the people he’d mentioned. Either way I didn’t like it.

“What girls?” Demon asked.

“The daughter and her mother,” he stated slowly, as if he had tried to find the correct words in English, or maybe he did it for emphasis, because it got Demon’s attention.

“Daughter? I didn’t know they had time for family. It tends to get in the way of business.”

“Da,” Nikolai replied curtly.

“There’s a word I understand,” I said, but my attempt to take away some of the tension in the room wasn’t welcomed by Demon.

He glared me down until I raised my hands in submission. “Tell us about the daughter and mother,” Demon ordered.

Nikolai started to break free of whatever drug Demon had given him. He fought against telling us what we wanted to know, and that would leave us in a tight spot. We’d never be able to get him to drink another round with us and we’d be out of luck before moving forward.

“Tell us, Nikolai.”

Nikolai cleared his throat before speaking. “Both are charged with treason,” he stated. “They attempted to leave, and failed. There is no more forgiveness in his heart for traitors who try to leave our home and exploit our weaknesses. The mother couldn’t handle living with the things he did anymore, and now she’s set to be killed with her daughter, Katya. I always knew it would happen.”

I paused. That name sounded familiar. I wondered if I knew her or if I’d seen her before. I thought it over while Demon continued to interrogate Nikolai. I must have seen her name somewhere before. Maybe her name was on one of the files in Ash’s office before I destroyed it. Her father had put out a hit on her, and possibly her mother as well, and Ash was killed before he could do it. I guess Volodya got tired of waiting for a job that was never going to be completed. Now he was going to kill her himself. I held my hand up to motion for Demon to stop before pushing him away from Nikolai. As I approached I could feel the tension in my body turning my posture rigid. I had somehow stumbled into just the right town, and I wasn’t going to stand by and let her die by her father’s hand after I saved her from Ash.

“Tell me about Katya Petrov,” I demanded. “What do you know about her?”

Nikolai smiled.

I noticed his strength returning. He could move his hands and feet without difficulties, trying to get a feel for the bonds I had tightened around him. He was strong, and I knew he could break out if he wanted, but I needed to get the information I wanted before that happened.

“Tell me what I want to know about the girl.” My tone lowered and became threatening as I uttered the next phrase. “Or I will force you to watch as I shoot you where men tend to take high pride in.” I let my gaze drift down and then flashed him a smile, but he took my words too playfully and laughed in my face. I let out a low growl of frustration before I turned to the table where Demon had left Nikolai’s weapons. I plucked the revolver from the table, and emptied the brass from their slots in the gun. Honestly, it surprised me when Demon didn’t try to stop me as I picked up a single bullet and made a big show of putting it into the gun. I turned to show it to Nikolai so he knew I was serious, then turned back to the table to swipe the remaining brass back into the pile of weapons and sealed the cylinder of the revolver back into place.

That shut Nikolai up.

I turned back to him with a wicked smile on my face. If he wasn’t taking me seriously now, he would soon. “We’re going to play Russian Roulette, but with a twist. Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ve played enough to know how to win.” My humor was dry, and my words unfeeling as I lifted the gun to his crotch. “But I’m not going to be taking a turn. Tell me what I want to know about the girl. Why is leaving considered treason? What are you going to do to her? Where are you taking her to dispose of her? Where can I find her?”

Nikolai said nothing. Other than his gaze on the gun, he seemed unaffected by the situation. That changed when I pulled the trigger. A loud click rang out. Lucky for him the bullet wasn’t in that particular chamber, but there were more to come and the gun remained level, aimed directly at his crotch. I saw his façade falter, and asked again. I received no answer so I shot again.
Another empty slot
.

“We are getting close, Nikolai.” I looked at the gun, a Magnum .357 revolver. Renegade told us they used them most often outside of jobs. It only held six shots, and somewhere in the next four chambers was the bullet. “Where can I find the girl?”

Nikolai once again refused to answer. My response was another shot. Another blank.

Beads of sweat dripped down his forehead. I would be nervous too, in his position. If the bullet came out, he’d be in a lot of pain, and I’m not sure how the hospitals were around here. I made it to the last two slots quickly, but that’s how Nikolai knew I wasn’t playing around. He decided to spill everything before I could get through the last two. I guess he figured his odds weren’t as good with only two shots remaining. I knew where it was, but he didn’t.

“Stop,” he pleaded. A moment of hesitation seemed to echo around the room as I put the gun down. He took a deep breath and told me what I wanted to know. “Katya and her mother were caught trying to escape. That’s treason to Volodya because they wouldn’t have come back, and would have become a weakness. They could tell our secrets, and then we would be left defenseless. It’s strategy.”

“It’s murder,” I stated.

He didn’t cringe as most did. “We are taking her to the river tomorrow, and then the job will be done.”

I leaned in, edging my voice with malice as a final warning before I turned the gun back on him. “Tell me where.” I fired another shot, the last remaining empty slot. “Last one, Nikolai. What’s it going to be?”

“You can’t actually shoot him,” Demon stated, stepping toward me, judging from the sound of his footsteps.

“Watch me,” I replied without taking my eyes off Nikolai.

Nikolai took in a shaky breath, his voice quivering as he spoke. “There’s a river just outside of town. It’s deep enough. There shouldn’t be much ice there to cause a problem unless it snows.”

“Great,” I said, letting a small smile cross my face for a moment. Then I let it fall and pointed the gun at him. “Thanks for the information.” I pulled the trigger to empty the gun, but once again another click rang out. There were never any bullets in the gun, but Nikolai didn’t know that. I noticed the sigh of relief that escaped Nikolai’s lips, but I didn’t miss the confusion on his features. He wanted to know what happened to the bullet I had put into the gun, why he wasn’t dead on the floor. I’d never tell him, but on the second turn, I had lifted the single bullet I had showed him out of the gun quickly and swiftly shuffled it into the pile I had pushed back into the center of the table. I had learned that sometimes you just had to fake it well enough, and because Demon hadn’t seen the sleight of hand he made it all the more believable.

Demon did quick work with Nikolai and knocked him out with the same substance he used on me for car rides with a little something extra added just for him. It worked wonders and Nikolai was knocked out in a matter of minutes. He’d be groggy when he woke up, and due to something in the chemical mixture, Nikolai wouldn’t remember much after meeting me in the bar if Demon calculated it correctly. But there’s always a risk, and I tried not to focus on it. Demon and I untied him and took him back to the bar so someone could find him, and he wouldn’t try to fill in the blanks in his memory.

“How did you know there wasn’t a bullet in there?” I asked as Demon untied him.

“I know you,” he said simply before elaborating. “You’ve grown. You wouldn’t risk a mission to finish the Ash Crest job anymore. I just had to trust you, and I did. Now let’s go before the town is filled with drunks. I know you’re going to go to that river with or without me, so let’s get some sleep and I’ll head out with you.”

I nodded, pleased Demon would come with me. I didn’t want to have to face the Russian mafia leaders alone, and it comforted me that he trusted me enough not to kill one of them, no matter how angry they made me. This could be the start to a good partnership, which would make the overall mission a lot easier if we didn’t argue most of the time.