Russian Killer's Baby (7 page)

“Oh, Annika!” Yuri’s singsong voice drifted after her.

Tears stung her eyes as she struggled to keep her footing on the rocks. Finally the edge of the platform became visible. She nearly wept with relief. Then she saw there was a twenty foot drop down a steep, grassy hill on both sides of the tracks. After that a bridge had been set to carry the train above Boston’s tightly packed streets.

“That’s right, you stupid bitch,” Yuri taunted from on top of the platform. “Better get ready for the train because it’s coming fast.”

Don’t answer. Don’t answer.
It was all she could do to stay silent. The guy was such a dick! Her irritation strengthened her resolve. And as the train whistle shrieked so close that her teeth rattled in their sockets, she sat on the grassy hill and pushed off.

“What are you doing?” He suddenly sounded uncertain of his desired outcome. “You can’t do that!”

She fell fast, almost as if she were on a huge slide that had a crazy dangerous angle. Frantic to slow her descent into the darkness, Annika dug her fingers into the turf at her sides and lay back until she felt her hair catching on the grass.

The ride might have been an adrenaline rush in any other circumstances. At the moment, she felt like crying. The only thing worse than the insane drop was the landing. Her bottom struck the ground so hard she bit her tongue. She was cold, tired, hungry, and she needed to pee so badly she was about to go crazy. Tears were a very logical next step, and Annika struggled not to cry.

For the span of several minutes, she didn’t move. Yuri was probably still up there. Or maybe he was on his way down. Either way, she needed to be still for a moment until he decided there was no chance of finding her.

The night was still and cool. She caught the scent of wet earth, trees, and the lingering exhaust fumes from the train and the cars on the road a few hundred yards away. She couldn’t see the sky, but she imagined that somewhere in a place with no lights there were stars overhead. Just once she wanted to see the stars.

“Annika.”

She struggled to sit up. Either she was hearing things, or someone was calling her name in a very low, very quiet voice.

“I can hear you out there somewhere.”

Something in the cadence and tone told Annika the speaker was Feliks. How had he ever found her? Was he angry? Did she even care anymore?

“Feliks!” she whispered roughly.

“There you are,” he murmured just loud enough for her to hear his voice drifting on the night breeze.

She locked onto the sound of his voice and struggled to stand up. Her legs were wobbly, and her bottom hurt as though she would be badly bruised in the morning. But Feliks was here, and for now the only thing she could think about was the security of his embrace.

“Annika.”

He materialized from the dark tangle of trees and brush. She wasted no more time. Running straight at him, she was gratified when he opened his arms to receive her. Snuggling close, she buried her face against his chest and inhaled the familiar and safe scent of him.

FELIKS HAD NOT necessarily put much faith in what Irina had told him. It seemed preposterous that the best way to hang onto Annika was to essentially let her
choose
to be with him. Why would a woman ever choose to stay with a man who had once been ordered to kill her and had repeatedly held her captive against her will?

Yet as he stood in the darkness and cradled Annika’s shaking frame against his chest, he had to admit that Irina had known what she was talking about. There was no hint of resistance in the way Annika clung to him. She trusted him implicitly.

“It’s all right now,” Feliks murmured. “You’re safe.”

“I should have never left like that.”

He considered that statement. “That’s true, but I can understand why you did. Nobody likes being taken against their will and made to feel like a captive.”

“At this point I think we’re both in this together.” Her shoulders shook as she gave a bitter laugh. “Or I suppose I’m dependent upon you not to fulfill the contract. God knows you’d be better off putting a bullet in my head and just being done with it.”

Odd, but that idea did not sit well with him. “I don’t think it’s that simple anymore.”

“You think someone other than Yuri is pulling strings,” she guessed. He could practically hear her thinking things through in her head. “Your friend Irina is pretty certain that my papa murdered her husband.”

“Yes, but she also told me to be careful. She said that Vasily knew about things going on in the syndicate and that the knowledge is what got him killed.”

“So what if we suppose that someone in the syndicate hired my idiot papa to murder Vasily?”

He couldn’t see her expression in the darkness, but he could feel the tension in her body. She knew what his thoughts on this subject were likely to be, and yet she’d still had the courage to point the finger at his associates. He could respect that even if he didn’t like the implications.

Feliks chose his words carefully. “I would hate to think that anyone I call friend and comrade is capable of that sort of duplicity, yet I can also see your point.”

“I’m not trying to excuse my papa’s role in Vasily’s murder, if he was involved.” There was a very pregnant pause. “But I also know my papa. If someone offered him money to kill a man like Vasily, he wouldn’t have done it.”

He took a breath to argue, but she laid her palm flat on his chest.

“No. I’m not saying he wouldn’t have killed Vasily,” she clarified. “I’m just saying it would have required more than just money to convince him to take that sort of risk.”

“So you’re suggesting that someone might have offered him immunity on something else?” Feliks had to admit the turn of her mind was far cleverer than he ever would have suspected.

“Papa likes to operate on his own terms. So if someone offered to look the other way, he would be inclined to make a deal.”

“Look the other way on what?”

She sighed. “I don’t know much about his business. I’ve tried to steer clear.”

“Has he said anything recently that would make you suspicious?”

“This morning,” she began slowly. Then she made a tiny noise. “Or should I say yesterday? I’m so tired I can hardly keep track of how long it’s been since this all started.”

Feliks rubbed her arms, telling himself that he was only doing it so she’d be more relaxed and give him the information he wanted. It had nothing to do with feelings of affection. “What happened this morning?”

“He wanted me to take a note to the FBI office for him.” She snorted, the sound angry and derisive. “He swore that the note would clear up a little misunderstanding and that the only reason he couldn’t take it himself was
because
of that same misunderstanding.”

“And you thought that was a lie?”

She pushed away from his chest and wrapped her arms around her midsection. It was getting cold. Full dark had fallen long ago and the temperature was dropping quickly. Feliks needed to think of what to do next, and he needed answers. Quickly.

“You have to understand my papa,” she told him softly. “His first concern is always for himself and his business dealings. Everything else exists only as a tool to help him achieve his goals. He’s very driven.”

“Meaning that he’s used you to further his own plans most of your life,” Feliks said flatly. “The man is insufferable, Annika. And what I cannot understand is why Orlov kept assuring the council that you were the linchpin to making your father pay for his crimes. That he loved you so dearly he would be completely destroyed if you were harmed.”

She actually laughed. “He would be sad. I’ll give him that. But I would be stunned if it went beyond a moment’s notice. He was granted citizenship here in the U.S. when I was a teenager. That ended my only purpose in his life.”

“And since?”

She shrugged. “He initiates contact when he wants something. Other than that, we leave each other alone.”

He took her hand and began walking in the direction of the train station. “I think it’s time we initiate contact and extract what we need from your father.”

Chapter Nine

Annika’s stomach was in knots by the time they arrived at the South Boston warehouse where her father worked and lived. It was strangely quiet. There was no moon, and the breeze was brisk and unfriendly. She couldn’t decide whether the night truly felt ominous, or she was dreading the errand that had brought her to Vadir’s doorstep.

She tried not to let her hand shake when she buzzed the delivery bell on the warehouse’s ground level. There was no doubt in her mind her ultra paranoid papa would have cameras watching her every move.

A muted crackle accompanied her father’s disembodied voice on the intercom. “Come to change your mind about the task I assigned you?” he asked in Russian.

“
Nyet
.” She ground her teeth, trying to hold on to her temper. “I came to talk about the syndicate thugs who made an attempt on my life.”

“
What
?” There was a low buzz and a click as the door popped open. “Come in, and quickly!”

Annika grabbed the door and held it open as Feliks slipped from the shadows and entered the building before her. She followed on his heels, wondering if this was going to be the night her loyalties were sorely tested. Vadir Polzin was a bastard, a liar, and a cheat. He had used her just as he’d used her mother before her, but he was still her father. He was all she had and all she knew.

Yet as Feliks carefully ascended the metal stairs leading from the warehouse floor to the loft apartment upstairs, she couldn’t help but think that in a way, Feliks was her future. She was having this man’s baby. What kind of loyalty did that require her to give
him
, if any?

“Annika!” Vadir appeared at the top of the stairs. Then he saw Feliks and began cursing in Russian. “Why have you brought this murdering fiend with you? Have you turned traitor on me? My own daughter?”

They reached the top of the stairs. Annika saw her father go for his gun. Feliks was already aiming his at her papa. She knew what would happen next, and it would do none of them any good.

“
Stop!
” Circling around Feliks, she placed herself between him and her papa. “No, Feliks. You can’t kill him or we’ll never get any answers.” Then she turned to Vadir. “And
you
! You owe me an explanation. Feliks could have killed me a dozen times over today, but he’s saved my life every time instead. If you had one ounce of fatherly feeling, you would lay down your weapon and thank him for taking care of your daughter after
you
put her in danger.”

“Me?” Vadir sidled toward the loft’s kitchen area. Annika knew he had more weapons stashed around his drawers and cabinets. Even when she’d been a child he’d kept an arsenal in their kitchen.

“Papa, stay put.” She glanced at Feliks. “He keeps a gun and a bunch of throwing knives in the kitchen.”

Vadir stopped and turned, staring at Annika as though he’d never seen her before. “It wounds me to think that my daughter has thrown in with my enemy.”

“Was Vasily your enemy?” Feliks demanded. “Is that why you murdered him?”

Vadir’s soft laugh raised the hair on the back of Annika’s neck. “This young pup thinks he knows everything that is going on in his precious syndicate, Annika. But he doesn’t.”

She glanced briefly at Feliks, willing him to be silent. “Then why don’t you explain it to us, Papa?”

“Vasily’s killer was your own Yuri Orlov,” Vadir said arrogantly.

That wasn’t enough for Annika. “But you were there.”

“Yes. That was the deal.”

“Wait. What deal are you talking about?” She frowned. “If Yuri killed Vasily, why were you even there?”

Vadir sighed. “I was expecting a shipment that night. Orlov knew this. I’ve been paying him off for years so that he would leave my business alone.”

It was obvious that Feliks was having a hard time digesting all of this. His jaw was clenched, his hands fisted at his sides. “Orlov has been taking bribes.”

“Yes. But your Vasily found out.”

“So they lured Vasily to the place where you were meeting Orlov to give him his percentage,” Annika guessed.

“
Da
, but I didn’t know that Vasily was going to be there. I thought for sure that Orlov was screwed.” Vadir didn’t seem disturbed by this possibility. “Then Yuri stepped out of the shadows and killed Vasily. He shot him twice in the chest and once in the head to make sure.”

Feliks covered his face with his hands and cursed over and over again in Russian. The anguish in his tone was enough to break Annika’s heart.

She knew they needed to press on. “So why are they trying to kill me? The whole world knows you value yourself first, your business second, and then me if there’s any time left in the day.”

“I’m not quite that bad a father,” Vadir mumbled. “Though I’ll admit I’m not the attentive sort.”

“Now isn’t the time,” Annika snapped. “Why me?”

Vadir gestured to Feliks. “This has nothing to do with you or with me. I suppose that in a perfect world the Orlovs would like me dead, but I also provide an important source of income independent of the syndicate.” He gestured toward Feliks. “If
he
gains power on the council, he could put a kink in that deal.”

“So why not kill him?” Annika frowned. She was still missing something.

Vadir snorted. “Killing him would be far too suspicious. But if they can prove he’s a coward who cannot do the tasks necessary to win his position, he is no longer a threat of any kind.”

Feliks began to laugh. Low at first and then louder, until the sound rolled across the room as though it came from the depths of his soul.

“What?” she demanded. “You’re totally creeping me out here.”

“They’ve set me up to be a coward by using my scruples against me.” He made a vague gesture in her direction. “Killing women and children is anathema to most men. Yet if it becomes necessary, it must be done to protect the syndicate. By proving that I can’t perform, they’ve rendered me powerless.”

“But you would have happily killed me had I not…” Annika glanced toward her father, unwilling to share anything more while he was listening.