Submit (The Underground Book 4) (27 page)

Instead of aiming for the front door, she turned to go out the back of the building. She knew there would be an agent posted out front. Chances were slim one was also positioned in the back. They didn’t have the manpower for that.

And Anton Yenin? He undoubtedly had eyes out front too. Hell, he also probably had men positioned in the back. Hopefully she could evade them either way. If not, she was toast.

When she reached the back door that led to little more than an alley behind
Chicago Multimedia
, she shrugged into the jacket and then gathered her hair into a loose knot at the back of her head.

With a deep breath, she zipped up the hoodie and stuffed her hands in the pockets, shrugging deeper into its warmth as if she were cold instead of hiding.

As luck would have it, when she exited the building, no one seemed to pay any attention to her, and she strode quickly down the street to the corner where she easily hailed a cab driving by. In less than a minute, she was in the backseat of the cab, slumping down to avoid being seen.

She rattled off the address and held her breath, her eyes scanning around constantly for several minutes before she officially decided she was in the clear.

It took a while in the lunch-hour traffic, but finally the man pulled to a stop. “You sure you want me to let you out here? This is a pretty rough part of town.”

“Yeah. Thanks. I’ll be fine.” She handed the man a twenty. “Keep the change.” And then she slid from the cab, pulled the hood over her head, and ambled down the street, trying with all her might to walk slowly, casually, as if she were in no hurry.

When she reached her destination and pushed through the front door, she realized she’d been holding her breath. She hadn’t been able to look around to make sure no one followed her or saw her enter the building. Any odd behavior on her part would have aroused suspicion she didn’t need. And she had no doubt at all that several people watched her walk straight through that front door—both good guys and bad guys.

All she could do was hope none of them paid a bit of attention to a woman on foot wandering down the street in jeans, tennis shoes, and a dirty gray jacket.

Anton stared into the mirror in his bathroom, combing his hair while he waited for Dayton to answer his phone.

He’d been back in Chicago less than twelve hours. Coincidentally the men he’d hired to follow Belinda’s cousin had found her at a bar last night. Anton jumped at the opportunity and headed straight for her location when he got off the plane.

Drunk was the best kind of woman, especially when he needed them to be compliant. And that crazy bitch had easily fallen for his charm and led him back to her townhouse. Once he got there, it took every ounce of strength to walk away without fucking her.

But he had shit to do, and he was exhausted. It was inconvenient that he needed to deal with Belinda Gallo in the first place. Stupid cunt meddling in his affairs. What he needed to do was get to the lab and move forward with his own plans. The clock was ticking. He needed that drug. Now. Yesterday.

After watching his father die, his internal clock had sped up. Chances looked unlikely the drug would heal something he was already sick with. With that new knowledge, he wanted the drug in his system before he got sick. And that meant he needed antibodies for Hep A. If he didn’t already have Hep A antibodies, he needed to find a way to contract the disease and fast. Again now. Yesterday.

Dealing with Belinda Gallo wasn’t on his short list, and it pissed him the fuck off that she’d made herself rise to the top of it. The bitch would pay.

So Anton had improvised. After easily drugging Rena, he’d called his men to come in and take over babysitting, leaving those huge, sweet tits untouched. He left one man inside her place, ensuring she didn’t wake prematurely and cause trouble. Another man was outside watching the townhouse for unwanted guests.

If Anton was lucky, his men would be able to snatch Belinda when she arrived and leave Rena without her ever knowing she’d been used as a hostage trade. The bitch would wake up later that night having missed a day of her life, hung over and confused.

Meanwhile Belinda would be in Anton’s possession. He’d seen pictures of her. She was Italian and hot. Her tits weren’t as big as Rena’s, but still nice to look at. Not that he had plans to tap that cunt, either. At least not in the next few days. His libido would have to remain on hold until other matters were settled.

The important thing was getting Belinda off the street and keeping her from fucking with him.

Dayton finally picked up. “Boss.”

“Where are you?”

“You asked me to watch Belinda’s office. I’m doing it. What am I looking for?” Dayton asked.

“Have you seen her come back out yet?”

“No. She’s still inside. I put a bug in her purse the other night.”

“Good. I’d rather hear that you tapped her phone, but I don’t suppose she’s gone anywhere without it. Hell, most of the women I know even take it to the bathroom.”

Dayton chuckled. “Not a chance. But her purse is just as good. Slid it into her wallet. Even if she takes that part out, I’ll still be able to trace her.”

“That’s what I like to hear. Stay on the front door. I want to know when that woman leaves the office. Follow her. Do not lose that bitch. I’ll call you back in a few hours.”

“On it.”

Anton ended the call, combed his hair, and left the bathroom.

»»•««

Belinda wove through the dozen people sitting in the clinic’s waiting room until she reached the receptionist.

Mandy lifted her face and smiled. “Bel—”

Belinda interrupted her. “Is Dr. Schwan available? It’s important.”

Mandy’s face fell, and then her brow furrowed. She opened her mouth, but instead of speaking, she stood and walked around the desk to the left to open the door that led to the patient rooms.

Belinda knew the stairs to Katie’s apartment were at the far left end of the hall, and her office was at the far right end of the hall.

Mandy’s brown bob shook as she motioned Belinda into the hallway with a wave of her hand. She pointed to the right. “Go on in her office. I’ll let her know you’re there.”

“Thanks.” Belinda lowered the hood of her borrowed jacket off her head as she walked. “And Mandy?” She turned to speak to the sweet, rounded receptionist again.

Mandy nodded. “Go on. Don’t you worry. I never saw you today.”

Belinda blew out a breath. Thank God for Mandy. Without words, the woman understood the importance of discretion.

When Belinda stepped into Katie’s office, she found Alena inside. The petite woman was up on her tiptoes, reaching to put a book on a shelf above her head. She spun around when she heard Belinda enter, and a smile split her face. And then her smile fell just as quickly. “Belinda, you okay?”

Belinda lowered herself onto the love seat along the wall just inside the office. It didn’t fit, not with the rest of the décor nor with the size of the room. But she figured Katie shoved it in there anyway so there’d be someplace more comfortable to sit than the olive-green, fiberglass chair across from her desk.

“Not even close. And I need to you keep that to yourself.” Alena worked for Katie. She had been for about two weeks. Belinda knew it was a way of getting out of the apartment she usually found herself sequestered in and had been for over a year. By that time, Belinda would have gone stark raving mad.

She couldn’t blame Alena for insisting the men in her life let her go to the clinic to at least help out. After all, the clinic was under FBI surveillance anyway. What difference did it make if Alena went there during the day? Hell, it probably cut down on the number of agents needed on detail with at least two of the women in the same location.

“You know I’d never say a word. Can I get you something? Water at least?”

Belinda shook her head. “No. Thanks.”

The door swung open farther, and Katie stepped in. She shut it behind her with a soft snick. Her face was scrunched with worry. “Belinda. You okay?”

“No.” Belinda stood and gave Katie a brief hug.

“I’ll go find something else to do,” Alena said.

“No. Stay. Whatever happens to me concerns all of us.”

“Okay.” Alena sat next to Belinda on the love seat while Katie pulled the ugly green chair over to sit facing them both.

Belinda pulled the letter out of her pocket and handed it to Katie.

A full minute went by before Katie muttered, “Shit.”

“Yeah.”

Katie handed the letter to Alena. “How’d you get here?”

“Snuck out the back of the office dressed like this, took a cab, got out of it a few blocks away, wandered up like a regular patient.”

“And you don’t think anyone followed you?”

“No.”

“Have you called Nikolav?”

“No.” Belinda met Katie’s gaze pointedly.

Katie’s shoulders fell, defeated. “Shit. I think we need to call Taylor.”

“Yeah. I wanted you to make that decision. You’ve known these agents longer. Somebody in that damn department is a mole. That makes me nervous and leery.”

“I know. But I’m confident that mole isn’t Taylor,” Katie said.

Belinda rubbed her temples. Her fingers shook violently. There was no way to stop them. “I didn’t know who to call or what to do, but I did know I didn’t want to involve Nikolav or any of the other guys. Not yet. He’ll go ballistic and start bossing me around like I have no choices.” She narrowed her gaze at Katie. “I could have gone straight to Rena’s townhouse and traded myself, but it seemed prudent for someone to know what was going on.”

“You did the right thing.” Katie reached out and patted Belinda’s knee.

Belinda grabbed Alena’s hand. “Please don’t call your brother or Ivan yet. I needed a place to think. Figure out what to do.”

“Are you crazy?”

For a second, Belinda feared Alena meant she thought they should call the men immediately, but then she saw Alena’s eyes cringe as she winced and understood her meaning before the woman continued speaking.

“If Ivan or Mikhail find out about this, they’ll send me to Siberia for safekeeping.”

In a different dimension, Belinda might have laughed at the analogy, but it wasn’t funny. And it wouldn’t have been comical to Alena, either. The woman had probably already been sent to Siberia before coming to the US, and it hadn’t been for safekeeping.

Katie went to her desk, set the letter on top, and used a key to open a drawer. She pulled out an older-model phone, flipped it open, and typed in a text. And then she handed it to Belinda. “I texted Taylor. She won’t answer. But she will show up soon.”

Belinda took the phone from her, confused. “Why are you handing me this?”

“It’s a burner. You might need it. I have a dozen of them in the desk.” She shut the drawer, locked it, and put the keys back in her pocket. “Where’s your phone?”

“I left it at work.”

“Good.”

Belinda pursed her lips and then released them. “I left everything except my ID, a credit card, and a few dollars. I didn’t think about anyone tracing me with that phone. I just didn’t want to field calls from Nikolav right now.”

“Yeah, well, anyone on the planet could have traced you with that phone, even without a tracking device. Easy. The fact that you left it behind is probably the only way you’ve made it this far without detection. Now we need to hurry before time runs out.” Katie glanced at the clock. “We don’t want Yenin’s people to think you’re still in that building after five. But we also don’t want them to have any clue where you are by then, either.”

Belinda shuddered. “I don’t like this.”

“Me neither.”

“Nikolav’s going to kill me,” Belinda muttered.

“Get in line. Ivan and Mikhail are going to freak,” Alena stated under her breath while she leaned back into the couch.

“Listen, I need to see patients. If anyone gets the idea I’m not running a business here, they’ll get suspicious. You two stay in here. I’ll come back when Taylor arrives.” Katie stood and stepped toward the door.

Belinda twisted around to face her. “How’s Taylor going to get into the clinic to meet with us without detection?”

Katie paused. “Trust me. That woman’s resourceful.”

As soon as they were alone, Alena spoke again. “I can’t believe you didn’t call Nik first.” She fidgeted and then put her hands under her thighs. Her gaze darted around the room. “I mean, I get why, but I’m not sure I’d have had the strength to make the same choice.”

Belinda realized Alena was trying to kill time, filling the silence with words. “All five of them are overbearing, aren’t they?” Belinda asked to keep the banter going and her mind off the insanity that was currently her life. She stood and started pacing.

“You don’t know the half of it,” Alena responded.

Belinda thought there was a good chance
Alena
didn’t know the half of it, but she wasn’t about to point that out. There was also a possibility Alena knew more than Belinda. She’d seen the blonde woman with Ivan. She was pretty sure he paid closer attention to her than anyone in the room, but then again, what did Belinda know? She’d only been around Alena a few brief times.

Perhaps she and Ivan had something going on. Nikolav hadn’t mentioned it, but it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility. On the other hand, Belinda might have read more into their relationship than existed.

About ten tense minutes passed before Taylor stepped silently into the office and shut the door behind her.

Belinda stopped pacing to face Taylor and almost didn’t recognize her. She’d done a bang-up job of getting into the clinic without detection, same as Belinda. Her brown hair was tucked into her shirt so it almost looked like she had short hair instead of long, gorgeous locks. She wore colored contacts that turned her brown eyes into green pools of water. And the best part—she shrugged out of the long-sleeved maternity shirt she wore and removed the fake belly that made her look seven months pregnant.

Alena gasped.

Taylor set the disguise aside. “What’s going on?”

Belinda pointed at the note still sitting on Katie’s desk. “What’s going on is that Yenin is holding my cousin Rena hostage and demanding I trade myself for her.”