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Daria tried to brace herself to meet her relative. Nervously, she tugged at her neckerchief, wanting to make sure it was in place to hide her birthmark. It was. Up ahead, she saw Pavlovich talking with Korsak. The drug lord’s guards were nowhere to be seen and neither was the rest of the team. They were probably in their huts, resting up, drinking water and grabbing some food from their rucks. She took a deep breath as Nik slowed their approach to the pair.
When Pavlovich raised his head, his eyes narrowing upon Daria, she felt her stomach twist and tighten. It shocked her how much they had in common, from their gold-brown eyes to their black hair and same general shape of their faces. Her heart felt as if someone were ripping it open. Daria didn’t have his mouth, which was thin, or that jutting chin that spoke clearly of his pitbull demeanor. His eyes were not wide-set like hers were, either. There was only the slightest slant to his eyes, unlike the definitive tilt of her own. He lifted his chin, surveying her, and she felt like a prize horse beneath his inspection. Worse, as Nik halted in front of them to introduce her, she felt a coldness wrapping around her. His eyes, although her color, were flat. Lifeless. As if he had no soul. A frisson of fear jagged through Daria as she forced herself to give them both a weak smile.
“Don Pavlovich, please meet Daria McClusky. She’s an orchid botanist, down here to do research and write a book about them.”
Rolan smiled warmly and offered his hand. “This is quite a nice surprise, Ms. McClusky. It’s an honor to meet you,” and she shook his hand.
Daria nodded. “Thank you, Don Pavlovich.” She looked up toward Nik. “I don’t know who was more surprised, me or Nik. I hadn’t expected to see him for goodness-knows how long. He told me that your team was hunting for minerals, and he wasn’t sure when he’d get back to Aguas Calientes.”
“Hmmm, rightly so,” Rolan murmured, giving Korsak an amused look. “Well, we must take advantage of your beautiful presence. I’m sure my team boss can find room to invite you to dinner with us tonight.”
Daria shook her head. “I’m sorry, but I’ve got a touch of something, maybe food poisoning, and I’d like to just rest in my hut. If you don’t mind?”
Rolan frowned. “Are you leaving, then?”
“No,” Daria said. “I’m hoping by morning I feel better. And I’ll be leaving after breakfast with my new orchids. I’ll be heading back to Aguas Calientes with them. Once there, I will create botanical drawings of each of them.”
“Well,” Rolan said smoothly, “perhaps when I return there, I will look you up?” And then he stared over at Nik. “Merely a social courtesy, of course.”
Daria slipped her hand into Nik’s. “Of course. I’m open for lunch if I happen to be in town.”
Pavlovich arched an eyebrow. A silence spun out before he finally gave a nod. “I hope you feel better. You do know that Morozov is a medic?”
“Yes. I’ve already asked him for something to help my symptoms.” Daria gestured down the village toward their hut. “Now that we’re done with introductions, I’m going back to lay down. If you’ll excuse me?”
Nik released her hand and watched her walk away. Turning, he saw Pavlovich watching Daria closely and he wanted to step over and tell the Don that she wasn’t to be pursued by him. But Nik said nothing. It had become clear to him that the new mafia leader wanted to understand the pattern of this team, the stops, and get to know the Indians and meet the chief of every village. Pavlovich was initiating a very different campaign to the one Korsak had been running. He always sat at dinner with each chief and their family, and through his own interpretation skills, promised them he was bringing them food, aid and more medicine. Korsak had sat through those dinners grim and unresponsive, but Nik had felt the rage vibrating through the black ops soldier. His days of raping were over, it appeared. Nik almost liked Pavlovich because of that alone, but he couldn’t say anything to anyone.
“Go and be with your lady,” Rolan said equitably. “You’re very lucky to have snagged her, Morozov.”
“I think so, too,” he told the Don. He turned to Korsak and said, “I’m going to hold a clinic later after she’s bedded down and resting. Is that all right with you?”
“I don’t care,” Korsak muttered. “Do what you want.”
Pavlovich smiled a little, appearing thoughtful. “You’ve done some good work here in the last five years with the villagers, Morozov. I saw the little children around you earlier when we first came into the village. That’s always a good sign. The team bringing good will to the village is always a plus. Makes them want to help us even more.”
“I always have candy on me,” Nik said, grinning. “They know it, too.”
“I like your style of getting the villagers to trust you. I believe in winning hearts and minds because they’ll work for us, not against us. These people need medicine and you’re here doing just that. You’ve held a clinic in every other village we were at, and I can see how the people love and respect you.” And then he grimaced. “At least they don’t run away from you, Morozov. They run toward you.” He frowned, looking pointedly over at Korsak.
“Have you noticed, Korsak? Everyone is hiding when your team comes into a village? Even the dogs go running away. They won’t even bark at you. The inhabitants have done this at every village we have come to. They’re afraid of your team, with the exception of Morozov, here. When I return to Aguas Calientes, I’m going to create a protocol for you and your team to follow that is very different from the way you’ve been dealing in the past with these Indians. We need not only their goodwill, but I want their hearts bent on collecting the cocoa leaves and making cocaine from them for us. Give them more food, health and medical services. Kindness, not threats.”
Korsak lifted his upper lip and said, “You’ll make them lazy, Don Pavlovich.”
“What do you think, Morozov? Is he right?”
The last thing Nik wanted to do is get between these two men. “I know all the people of the villages could use a dentist out here. An eye doctor, too. If you could pay for someone to come from Cusco, meet us at the villages, and come in once a month to help, that would go a long way toward getting the Quechua to appreciate your generosity. They are a hardworking people, and giving them back their health would be a very positive step.”
Nik wasn’t about to speak up and damn Korsak. He wasn’t so sure the angry Russian wouldn’t take out his pistol and put a bullet in his head even though Pavlovich was standing right there next to him. Better to be diplomatic. But he saw something in the mafia leader’s expression, a gleam in his eyes that told Nik the man was onto Korsak’s violent, abusive ways with the villagers. If nothing else, if the tense, distrustful environment between the teams and villages changed under Pavlovich’s reign, that would come as a huge relief to Nik. No more little girls or young women would be raped by these predatory bastards. That was a miracle Nik had never expected, and his opinion of the mafia leader grew greatly as a result.
CHAPTER 18
Daria was walkingdown the center of the village toward their hut, when shots suddenly rang out through the air. She gasped, automatically crouching. She had no weapons on her! She turned in Nik’s direction, terror in her expression. He was running toward her, his face hard.
Nik cursed, gripping her arm, yanking her toward the hut.
Screams of women and children filled the air.
Curses in Russian exploded along with AK-47 fire as Korsak’s team rallied against the attack, firing back down the path leading into the village.
