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Ten minutes later, I retrieved a key taped inside an air conditioning vent and let myself into my safehouse, a little apartment in Queens. It was modest compared to the one Colton and his friends had caught me at, but it had the advantage that no one knew about it, not even my Russian intelligence bosses.
I stripped off as I walked to the bathroom, groaning in relief as I pulled off my soaked, ruined ankle boots and filthy clothes. I groaned even louder when the shower’s hot spray blasted my body. I scrubbed myself and washed my hair, then wrapped myself in a soft towel and sat in front of the mirror while I applied make-up.
I thought that once the borrowed clothes were gone and I was clean and fresh, he’d be gone, the memories washed down the drain along with the dirt. But when I saw my bare shoulders, I remembered his hands there, when he’d nearly kissed me. When I went to apply eye shadow and saw the faint, red rings on my wrists where the ropes had been, I thought of that sudden weakness that had washed through me when he’d pinned me down. I glanced down at my stomach and felt the ghost of his arm there, when he’d held me during the night.
Stupid. I stood and pulled open a drawer of clothes. It was Konstantin, so I went sexy but classic: I’d studied enough photos of his girlfriend that I knew what he liked. I wasn’t planning on sleeping with him to get what I needed, but it’s always good to have options.
I pulled on a dark green garter belt with gold clips, and black stockings. Then a matching dark green bra and panties with gold embroidery, a dark gray, stretchy pencil skirt that hugged my ass and a black blouse with two buttons left open at the neck.
I pulled on some calfskin knee boots and dabbed on a little scent. Then I carefully emptied the rest of the clothes from the drawer, swung up the fake bottom and loaded up with basics: money, a new passport, a phone, a gun. I threw them all into the backpack Colton had given me, and I was done.
I refilled the drawer and then hesitated, staring at the neat stacks of clothes. I buy clothes the way I buy a silencer for a gun, or a lockpick: this dress will work on this man and it’s short enough to run in, when he’s dead, these pants are boring enough that no one will look at me when I sneak into this office to plant this bug. I wondered what it must be like to buy clothes on a whim. I couldn’t imagine going into a clothes store with friends, buying clothes together for a girls’ night out. But then, I couldn’t imagine having friends.
I slammed the drawer shut and went to meet Konstantin.
28
COLTON
I was asleep, but it wasn’t a comforting, peaceful sleep. This was like being wrapped in a scratchy, too-hot, suffocating blanket. I fought my way up and out—
And immediately regretted it. Someone was playing a drum solo using my head as the bass, hi-hat and snare. I opened my eyes and grimaced. If I was just waking up, why was there dazzling sunshine? Why was I outside?!
Then I remembered and struggled up to sitting. Whatever she’d given me had left my head swimming and my vision blurry, but I could see that she’d gone. And the sun was well across the sky: she’d probably been gone a few hours.
I crashed back onto my backpack, panting. I was weak as a newborn foal and I was furious, mainly with myself. I’d fallen for her tricks again.
I was an idiot. But maybe not as dumb as she thought.
I rooted around in the bottom of my pack and finally pulled out the little gadget that Erin had made for me. I held my breath as the screen came to life. I had to squint to get my blurry eyes to focus but then I saw a pulsating white arrow with a number showing distance. She was already a few hundred miles north, probably heading back to New York.
The tracker had been too bulky to plant on her body. But it had slipped into the bottom of the backpack I’d given her no problem. And as I hoped, she’d taken it with her.
I pushed myself up to standing. The pounding in my head got ten times worse. When I pulled on my pack, it felt like it weighed a thousand tons and my legs almost gave way. But I managed to get one foot in front of the other and began stumbling down the path towards town.
Tanya Yeshevskaya, I’m coming for you.
29
TANYA
I double-checked the address Konstantin had given me, then looked up at the hotel, puzzled. I was in Manhattan, which made sense. The hotel looked ridiculously, extravagantly expensive, which made sense.
