AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Your alter ego, actually. Arkady Solokov,” she said.
“How do you know about Arkady?” he demanded, outraged. His arms-trafficking undercover persona was a deeply buried secret.
Tam rolled her eyes. “So? Shall I give her Arkady’s number?”
“Fuck, yeah.” Nick was dazed. “Tam, how is it that you have all these contacts with the sex workers who service the Russian mob?”
“None of your business. Don’t push your luck. I should probably go into hiding as soon as your taillights disappear, now that I’ve mixed myself up in your suicidal bullshit. What a fucking bore.”
“Aren’t you in hiding already?” he asked.
“It’s a matter of degree,” she grumbled. “I’ll have to stay on the move, leave my comfortable house, my studio, my business. I may even find it necessary to make myself unattractive.” She shuddered with distaste. “Be warned, Nikolai. Milla is doing this as a favor to me. If you fuck up, and she gets hurt, I will cut your throat.”
“I understand,” he said. “I just want to know if—”
“There is nothing else I can tell you,” she said crisply. “This conversation is over. Do not ask me for anything else. And keep in mind, brokering arms deals undercover is one thing. Getting up close and personal with Zhoglo, as Arkady, is going to be very different. If you don’t have the guts to do whatever Zhoglo might ask of you, you’re dead. And if you do have the guts, you’re damned. Think about it before I give Arkady’s cell number to Milla.”
“I’m thinking. I thought,” he said promptly. “I’ve decided. I owe you, Tam. If you ever need anything from me—”
“You still don’t get it, do you? I haven’t done you any favors. I’ve just cut your life short by about fifty years.” She glanced at the glass in his hand. “Depending on how hard you’d drink, of course.”
He shrugged. “Maybe. I wouldn’t know what the hell to do with those fifty years anyhow.”
She sighed out a long breath, pressing her slender hand against her midriff. The look in her eyes mirrored his own.
Cold, wind-whipped wastes. Secrets in the shadows. Rocks and hard places.
“You want to do me a favor?” Her voice was low. “Do the world a favor. Kill Zhoglo. Don’t just spy on him. Don’t just hand him over to the law. Put a bullet through his brain stem at close range.”
He thought about Sveti. “Tam, I—”
“Kill him if you can. If you can’t, then God help you.”
She turned, and disappeared into the gloomy shadows.
Nadvirna, The Ukraine
Vadim Zhoglo slowly sipped the fine brandy from the crystal snifter in his hand and gazed out at the snowy peaks of the Carpathian mountains. “Transport details for the first shipment are in place, Pavel?” he asked.
“Yes,” the man replied stolidly. “Everything’s arranged.”
Zhoglo turned to look at him. “And you can vouch for each one of your people this time? No more surprises, like six months ago?”
Pavel’s hand darted to the collar of his suit, tugging to make space for his large and lumpy Adam’s apple to bob and twitch.
That was his answer. Again. Zhoglo closed his eyes. “What has happened this time, Pavel?” he asked with deceptive gentleness.
“Nothing serious,” Pavel hastened to assure him. “But one of the men in place in Puget Sound had to be, ah, replaced.”
“Killed?” Vadim frowned. “How is this possible?”
“Suicide,” Pavel forced out, his voice gravelly and reluctant. “He hanged himself. Pyotr Cherchenko.”
“Your nephew, no? The one you had me arrange those expensive immigration documents for? I see. Yet another wasted investment,” Vadim said. “My condolences, Pavel. And his replacement?”
Sweat shone on Pavel’s pale forehead. “A man named Arkady Solokov. From Donetsk. He’s taking care of security on the island.”
“And you can vouch for this Solokov? Without hesitation?”
