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“I owe him,” Alex said, giving Jack a glance. “I wish Nik had not agreed to return to the CIA.”
“He didn’t have a choice,” Jack said. “His younger brother, Dan, is in need of a technique called brain entrainment, that can only be performed by one neurologist who has a clinic in Colorado Springs, USA. The CIA has promised Nik that, if he’ll be a mole and help get Korsak captured, the State Department will grant Dan and himself political asylum. They’ll be able to remain in the US and obtain citizenship. Plus, Dan will receive the brain therapy free of charge.”
Alex’s eyebrows raised. “Really?”
Jack smiled a little. “Yes. Your best friend is seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. All he has to do is hook up with Daria, and keep feeding her intel on where Korsak’s team is heading next on their jungle and Highlands circuit.”
“How will he do that?” Daria wondered.
“Well, you are probably not going to like this, Daria, but Nik has already been told you’re coming down to Aguas Calientes and that you are his new contact. Not only that, you’re going to eventually, after meeting, pose as lovers.”
Her own eyebrows shot up this time. “Excuse me?” Her heart pounded once and she stared at Nik’s photo in the projection on the screen. Already, she was drawn to him. But his lover? “What, exactly does that mean, Jack?”
“Nik is known to have no relationship with any woman in Korsak’s team. He will meet you in Aguas Caliente at the Catholic church, noonday mass, on the main plaza, in plain sight of Korsak and/or his men when they come in for R& R for five days in that town. Nik will make overtures toward you, as if meeting you for the first time, and you’ll show interest in him. While the Russian team rests up, Nik will be out and about with you. You will show that you’re interested in him. We need Korsak to buy into the facade that Nik has finally found a woman that he wants a relationship with. That way, Korsak won’t realize that you are Nik’s contact and that you’ll be the one taking any intel he can give you and sending it on by satellite phone to the CIA. You will also be in sat phone contact with that Special Forces team I mentioned, Sergeant Mace Kilmer’s, so they can hopefully, at some point, corner Korsak, capture him and get him the hell out of Peru and back here to us on US soil.”
Frowning, her heart skipping beats, Daria said, “Just how far does this love-interest thing go?”
“Hold hands while out in public,” Jack said. “Later, maybe Nik gives you a quick kiss on the cheek or something. You two can work out the details. Nothing will be asked of you that you aren’t comfortable with. Eventually, he will be living with you at an apartment during those five day R& R periods when Korsak’s team comes back to Aguas Calientes to rest up.”
Daria felt her heart twinge. “Live with me?”
“You have to make it look like you two have a serious, torrid affair to Korsak. Right now, when Korsak’s team comes in for R& R, they hire prostitutes, and they do drugs and get drunk. Nik will spend time and nights with you. During the day, you can go with him to where he spends his time as a medic helping at an orphanage that is run by the Healing Hands charity in that town. He never participates in what the rest of the team does when on R&R.”
“Nik is a man of strong morals, integrity and values,” Alex told her. “Like me, he hated seeing the team rape women out in the villages. It was wrong. It will always be wrong. Nik and I would leave the team in the village. If we had tried to interfere and stop the rape, our leader would have put a gun to our heads and killed us. We were helpless to stop it, Daria. But Nik never approved of hurting anyone, especially an innocent woman or child. We are medics. We care for the sick and helpless. We do not harm people.”
Daria considered the information. “So, he has to stay at my apartment?”
“Yes,” Jack said smoothly, “otherwise, Korsak won’t buy his cover that he’s finally fallen in love with a woman. This will all make him more trustworthy to his team in general, but especially with Korsak. That way, Nik is hoping that Korsak will trust him and give him pertinent info on where he’s taking his drug team next. They have a ten-village circuit and Korsak keeps mixing it up concerning the exact day when he’ll go into a village to collect the cocaine the Quechua Indians have been forced to make for him. If Nik could know ahead of time, he MIGHT be able to give you the information so that Kilmer’s Spec Forces team could be in place to kidnap Korsak and remove him.”
“But Morozov is only coming into Aguas Calientes once a month,” Daria protested.
“Well,” Jack said, “that’s why you have the botanist job as cover. Nik has a woman in each of these ten villages that he passes notes to. And the woman will then pass it on to his contact, which used to be Hutchison. As a botanist, you are expected to be out in the field, in the jungle, looking for orchids. You can wander into these villages, approach Nik’s contact, and see if there’s info for you or not. If there is, then you can alert the CIA and the Army team via the sat phone you’ll have with you.”
“I see.”
Alex scowled. “What are the chances of Daria showing up at a village the same time Korsak and his team is visiting it? That could be dangerous to Daria. Korsak or one of his other men could rape her.”
Jack shook his head. “We aren’t letting Daria stick her neck out in the field until it has been well established with Korsak that Nik has claimed her as his woman. He will respect that and leave Daria alone.”
Rubbing his jaw, Alex’s mouth pursed. “I do not know, Jack. Korsak, if anything, is unpredictable. He has an eye for beautiful women. And Daria is very beautiful. She will attract his attention.”
“He won’t lay a hand on me,” Daria growled.
“Let’s not go there,” Jack said. “We need Daria to have time to talk in-depth with Nik about all of this. I’m leaving it in his hands to decide if Daria will be safe out there or not. If he says no, then we play the cat-and-mouse game with Korsak. The best that can happen is Daria will be given intel by Nik once a month. It lengthens their time of trying to catch Korsak, but no one wants to put Daria at risk or in that situation, either.” He looked at Daria. “The choice is up to you. Even if Morozov is sure Korsak will leave you alone because you are his woman, you do your own gut check on this, okay?”
Daria nodded, her heart in turmoil. She was already drawn to this Ukrainian medic! What if he honestly liked her? And she liked him? What then? Where did mission end and personal time begin? She wasn’t about to admit she was drawn to Morozov to anyone. That would be disastrous, and Daria wanted out in the field more than anything. “Okay, sounds good. I can do this.” She felt Jack’s gaze trying to penetrate her innermost thoughts and feelings.
“I think,” Alex said, “that if Nik acquired a woman in town, this would go toward Korsak trusting him more. He would be living with this woman and they would like that. He would appear to be more like them in some ways, not standing off, as he did before. I think it is a well-planned mission, Jack.”
“Thanks, Alex. I think so too.” His voice lowered as he looked over at Daria. “More importantly, how doyoufeel about all of this?”
Shrugging, she said, “So long as Morozov understands my ground rules, I’ll lay out to him. We might have to spend time together at night in my apartment, but he’ll sleep on the couch and I’ll take the bed.”
“Well,” Jack murmured, his mouth twisting in a slight smile, “I know you will set him straight on the rules of the road regarding his behavior toward you. During the day, though, you need to be seen together, like lovers. You have a problem with him holding your hand? Putting his arm around you? Maybe a kiss? He has to convince Korsak one-hundred percent that he loves you, and that you are his woman.”
“I’ll deal with it,” Daria grumped, avoiding Jack’s penetrating stare. She knew Nik well enough from Alex’s and Lauren’s stories, that he was a kind man who cared deeply for people who were in pain and suffering. He was truly a medic, just like Alex. The stories Alex had shared with her about Nik had always made her wonder what it would be like to meet the man someday. Well, she was going to get her chance to find out, wasn’t she? Part of her thrilled at the idea. The other part of her was wary.
“Alex? Do you know if Nik has a relationship?” Daria asked.
