East of the Sun (24 page)

Amelia hesitated, quickly glancing at Cathy before replying. ‘Let’s just say he wasn’t the most welcoming host.’

‘Yeah, that’s a pity, but I can’t say I’m surprised. He’s a tough nut. And otherwise? You doing okay?’

‘Fine, yes, thanks,’ she replied as she got to her feet, not wanting to be caught in the middle of whatever was going on between them. ‘Listen guys, I have to run. Cathy, it was good to see you, thanks for the tea.’

She still wanted to speak to Patrick about his recollections of the night Robert disappeared as well as the Prism-Sibraz negotiators, but this wasn’t the time. As it was, she felt uncomfortable with both of them confiding in her about the challenges in their relationship.

‘We’ve hardly seen you!’ Patrick accused while Cathy remained motionless at the counter.

‘I know, I’m really sorry. I want to get all this admin out of the way. But I’ll be at this weekend’s party.’

‘Oh, that’s great news. We’ll definitely see you then.’

Amelia smiled. ‘Don’t work so hard,’ she said to him softly before she gave Cathy a quick hug and hastened back to the basement.

The much-needed breakthrough came barely five minutes after Amelia had gone downstairs and started on the first of four boxes of books. As she lifted the thick book out of the box, the memory came to her in an overwhelming rush. One Sunday morning a few weeks before he went missing, Robert had taken a rare break and had finally made time to start on Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina. She thought now of the look of utter contentment as he had sat up in bed, coffee in one hand, book in the other. Finally at midday, he had declared that it was time to get up and continue Anna Karenina’s tale later.

Due to his heavy schedule, he hadn’t made much progress. She let the book fall open at the bookmark which was inserted barely a fifth into the lengthy novel. But when she glanced at it, she saw that it wasn’t a simple blank card, but a few lines in Robert’s hand. Emotions threatened her composure, but just as quickly it turned to confusion as she saw the familiar salutation. DWA – he’d always started his most intimate notes to her in this manner. Short for ‘Darling Wife Amelia’. This was a note addressed to her, but she’d never seen it before.

The note was undated, but she knew with absolute certainty that he would have inserted it into the pages of the book in the last days. Was it a warning, a message she was supposed to see only if something happened to him? And what does the ‘pike-perch’ refer to? She sat back, staring at the beloved handwriting. Of one thing she was sure – he would have hoped that she would never have to see this particular note.

Nick was already waiting for her in the apartment. When she saw the tightly stretched lines of restlessness on his face, she knew that she was not the only one who had found another piece of the puzzle.

Moscow – Early evening

‘Hello? This is
. . .
I think you know who this is. Are you there? I know it’s been a long time since I’ve used this number, but I need to speak to someone. I’m not sure what’s going on, so if you’re there, please pick up the phone.’

Silence.

‘Okay then, I guess you’re not there. If you do get this message, please, could you please contact me? Thanks. It’s important. Thanks.’

21

T
he Hyatt’s lobby and lounge was spacious and airy and unless there was absolutely no one else around, the layout provided a level of privacy to each of the different areas that made it easy for people to go about their business in an inconspicuous way. All of this made it a popular meeting place. Nevertheless Amelia hadn’t been thrilled at the choice of venue. It felt far too public a place for carrying out Nick’s plan.

As agreed, she’d arrived before him and was sitting tucked away behind an enormous decorative plant. Her choice of seat served two purposes: she would be able to remain hidden to most casual observers, but would only have to lean forward slightly to catch a glimpse of the entrance and the other side of the room.

Pretending to be at ease, she leafed through a purposely chosen foreign magazine she had no interest in, hoping any chance passersby would be convinced that she was just another random expatriate or tourist. She’d ordered a glass of white wine and settled in to wait for Nick’s arrival.

It was still early and the lounge was relatively quiet. In one corner of the glass and stainless steel room, a small group of professionals sat huddled over their laptops, only raising their heads to speak to each other occasionally. From time to time the two men seated at the bar turned to one another to exchange a few words, but both were more interested in the three immaculately groomed young women who sat a few tables away from Amelia, scanning the room with their cool eyes, feigning disinterest.

She was aware of movement at the entrance, but kept her eyes glued on the magazine and counted off the seconds of a full minute before she lifted her head. Nick had arrived. She watched him survey the room slowly, nonchalantly, not showing any sign that he’d seen her. As he was about to sit down, a little distance away and with his back to her, his guest arrived too.

Immediately Amelia knew that she’d never seen the geologist before. She’d hoped that she’d recognise him and that he would provide a new connection to Robert, but to her disappointment his was not a face she’d seen before.

From the man’s gait it looked like the final part of Nick’s plan – getting him tipsy if all else failed – was already half achieved. There was something loose and uncontrolled in the way he swung his arms and held his body slightly tilted forward.

Nick stood up to introduce himself and the man shook his hand eagerly.

‘Zdrastvuitye,’
she heard Nick say in his best imitation of bad Russian, making the greeting sound like an alien object in his mouth.

The man’s own greeting confirmed his state of semi-inebriation.
‘Zdrastvuitye, tovarish!’
Silently Amelia cheered. He’d called Nick ‘comrade’, an indication that he felt a sense of kinship with his fellow geologist, a feeling undoubtedly aided by whatever liquid magic he’d consumed before arriving.

How exactly Nick had managed to track down the geologist only he knew, but she did know that he’d leaned heavily on old friends and colleagues to find and make contact with him. It was unclear if the geologist was actually in hiding, but Nick believed he was at least out of work and no longer involved with the project. His prospects of finding new employment would most likely be bleak. Of that Sibraz would have made sure.

And that’s why Nick wanted to meet him here. To be seen in an upmarket hotel, living the good life again, would be invaluable to a man who’d lost his social standing. And if Nick pulled off his act of foreign geologist considering an offer from a major mining company in Russia, the geologist’s ego would be stroked even more if he was treated as a superior, someone from whom Nick was seeking advice. If, as they hoped, he sensed there might be future work in it for him, his tongue might become just that little looser.

She sat back, forcing herself to look elsewhere and when, after several minutes, she glanced in their direction again, she saw a couple of beers and a bottle of vodka on the low table between their armchairs. They were clinking glasses and she was happy to see that they were already deep in conversation. She strained to hear, but could catch only snippets of Nick’s story. He mixed his English with amateurish Russian words and phrases, undoubtedly hoping to win the geologist’s approval by attempting to speak Russian, but not wanting to reveal his familiarity with both the language and its people.

The geologist was nodding, relaxing and evidently liking what he was hearing. Maybe Nick was talking about the size of the fake project he was considering. For a while he kept bobbing his head enthusiastically, agreeing loudly with everything Nick said. Then, abruptly, he stopped, appearing to consider something Nick had said. His shook his head repeatedly and his expression became downcast, almost mournful.

It took effort not to lean forward to try and hear his answer, but she’d been staring for too long already, so instead Amelia continued paging through her magazine while she tried to follow their conversation. Words reached her –
project
. . .
difficult
. . .
joint ventures
. . .
hard work
– but none of them told her much.

After twenty restless minutes, she decided to go to the cloakroom so that she would be able to pass close by their chairs. She stood up, glanced in the direction of the women, who’d lost interest in the people in the room by now and were staring at their nails and shoes respectively, and decided it was safe to walk past the two men.

When she came close to Nick and the geologist, she dropped her keys, making a show of cursing and bending to pick them up. She sensed rather than saw a slight pause in their conversation, but the geologist continued speaking, his voice filled with melancholy.

‘It is very difficult, you must be careful. You give them all your hard work, your life, your health and you think they will be loyal to you for this, but they are not. They never are.’

Nick didn’t speak immediately, then said innocently. ‘Why do you say that? If you’re loyal and you work hard, you will always be treated well, won’t you?’

‘No!’ the man replied vehemently. ‘No, it is not always so here in Russia. I will tell you about a project I worked on where they treated me terribly. You will not believe it!’

It was time for her to move on; she’d pretended to fuss with her keys for long enough. Now was the time to trust Nick. She started walking away and could only hear Nick’s last words.

‘Do you think you could tell me more? Please, I need all the advice you can give me. I don’t really know how things are done here.’

In the cloakroom she powdered her nose and stared at herself in the ornate mirror for a full ten minutes. They were close to something, she could feel it. Just as important as it was to trust Nick now, it was crucial that she remained calm, kept her wits about her and didn’t give in to the impulse to walk over, shake the geologist’s neck and demand the truth.

When she emerged, Nick was leaning forward, filling the geologist’s vodka glass another time. How many had the man had? More importantly, was it working yet? They didn’t want him too drunk, either. She stopped at the bar to order another glass of wine and was able to catch a few more words.

‘It is all a lie, I tell you. All a lie!’ The geologist sounded close to tears.

As Amelia passed them again on the way to her hidden seat, she caught Nick’s eye. With a quick flick of his head, he pointed in the direction of the main entrance, widening his eyes, clearly hoping she would understand his message. She walked past, puzzled by his strange behaviour. Only when she’d reached the safety of her chair again and taken a sip of wine, did she look up.

Nothing seemed out of place. What was Nick trying to say? Was he telling her to get out? Why? But what else could he have meant? Had her stunt with the keys been too suspicious? Was he trying to warn her to stop? She sipped her wine for another few minutes, wondering what she should do. There was no further clue from Nick. Besides, he had his back to her.

She got up, gathered her things as slowly as she could and walked casually in the direction of the entrance, fiddling with her bag to appear uninterested in her surroundings. Only as she was about to exit the lounge area, she lifted her eyes and instantly saw the cause of Nick’s agitation: two men, one in a suit, one in more casual jeans and a leather jacket. They must have arrived while she was in the cloakroom, because she hadn’t noticed them there earlier.

A quick glance at their faces sent her heart racing. She’d seen the suited man before. He was one of Popov’s sidekicks.

Another look told her that they hadn’t noticed her yet. Their postures told the full story, however. Having seated themselves near the exit, one was leaning forward, his forearms resting on his knees while his colleague’s eyes were firmly, hungrily fixed on the spot behind her where Nick and the geologist were still deep in conversation.

She didn’t dare look back. However difficult it was to leave Nick behind, she knew that her absence would give him a better chance of remaining undiscovered. And safe.

She rushed down the street, away from the Hyatt. That morning they’d agreed that they’d act like two people who’d never met. Not only would they arrive separately, but they would leave in the same manner and meet back at his friend’s apartment later in the evening. But now she knew there was the additional responsibility of leading no one back to it. The possibility existed that Popov’s bodyguard had seen her leave. Returning to the apartment immediately was out of the question.