“By tomorrow, Inspector,” Jana assured Vachon. “We will know then.”
“Tomorrow,” echoed Levitin, a note of hope in his voice.
“You are both sure?”
Levitin nodded, Jana making a brief gesture of assent.
Vachon eased his pad back into his jacket pocket. “I cannot wait much longer. The store you damaged has influence in Nice. I have to show them I am working in their best interests.”
“Tomorrow, Inspector.” Levitin was trying to avoid jail.
Vachon focused on Jana. “Day or night, Commander?”
“Night, day, who knows. Tomorrow is all I can say.”
Vachon sighed. “Don’t upset me, Commander. Serve me up this meal as you have promised.”
“With dessert,” Jana added.
“Good.”
He called an officer into the room, waving at his two guests. “Take them where they want to go.”
The cop drove them to the Negresco, very impressed that they appeared to be able to afford a room in the most expensive hotel in Nice. Jana and Levitin didn’t enlighten him. It takes a lot to impress a cop, and they didn’t want to disillusion him.
They waved as he drove off.
Chapter 52
J
ana and Levitin sat in the large oval reception room just off the main lobby of the hotel waiting for Sasha. They had offered to go up to her room, feeling they would all be more comfortable in the security of her suite, safe from possible attack, but Sasha had been insistent on coming down. Jana and Levitin had been waiting for an hour and Levitin was alternately apologetic and worried. They had to content themselves with viewing the wildly expensive but uneven and eccentric art collection that the owner of the hotel had scattered around the reception area and its environs.
“I don’t care for the portraits,” Levitin abruptly declared. “The people all look like they have bad indigestion and worse breath.”
To make conversation more than anything else, Jana studied the art and indicated that she liked the sculptures, a number of them antic and playful, which elevated her somewhat somber mood. The events of last night with Katka had been ugly; their relationship appeared irreparable.
The only hope Jana had was the intervention of Katka’s husband. But she had not stayed away as she had promised him, and he would probably think twice about trying to help her. Who wants to deal with a distraught mother, anyway? She feared she might never reconcile with her daughter.
Sasha finally walked through the arches that led into the room from the elevators. She loked refreshed and wore virtually no makeup. She was clear-eyed, dressed in clothes with simple lines that accented her body’s contours without exaggerating them.
Levitin jumped up, ran over to her, kissed her on both cheeks, then pulled her into a bear hug. She worked her way loose, giving him a peck on the cheek, then came over to Jana, smiling in greeting. She seemed to be continuing her performance of the night before, her back straight and her head high. She held out her hand for Jana to take, then hooked her other arm into Levitin’s.
“I’m so glad you have come to visit me. My rooms are now tidy. We can go up.” Gazing up at Levitin, who was melting in the glow of his sister’s affection, Sasha walked them both to the elevator and they rode upstairs to her floor.
“I’ve been hearing all about you this morning.” She looked over at Levitin. “You have been doing very well for yourself. Everyone is impressed.”
“I don’t understand, Sasha.” Levitin sounded confused. “Who has been telling you all about me?”
“Uncle Viktor, of course.”
Levitin passed from confusion to astonishment. “Uncle Viktor is in Moscow!”
“No, he is here. He saw you at the party last night. But only for a moment. He decided not to stay.”
Jana remembered the thickset man who had arrived with Katka’s group. “Sasha, did your uncle arrive at the party last night with Moira Simmons? Was he the man who left just after he came in with her?”
Sasha smiled, her teeth even and white. “That was Uncle Viktor. He wants to speak to you both, but in private.”
Jana lifted her eyebrow at Levitin. “Your uncle, the minister? The one who sent you? Is that Viktor?”
“Yes.” Levitin’s face took on the look of a man in peril. “There is only one Uncle Viktor,” he finally got out.
They entered Sasha’s suite. Like all suites in the Negresco, it was luxurious, fit for any millionaire or visiting dignitary, even for a bourgeois couple out to spend a huge sum of money on a once-in-a-lifetime fling.
Sasha led them each to a separate couch, seating herself next to her brother. She continued to cling to his arm.
Jana persisted with her questions. “What is the minister doing here?”
“He’s engaged in his criminal activities, of course,” Sasha explained, as if he were a merely a workman or any other kind of low-level drone. She moved away slightly, turning to face Levitin. “Did you know Uncle Viktor supplied me with drugs in Russia? And when I was unable to do without them, he exchanged sex for drugs with me on a regular basis until he was tired of my services and put me on the street to earn money?”
Sasha’s ingenuous way of talking, her open face, was more telling than if she had cried or raged through her recital. However she disclosed it, it was clear to Jana that this was a woman who had been severely damaged and hadn’t yet come to grips with what had been done to her. Her demeanor never changed; she remained a young lady describing her recent pastimes as she spoke, irrespective of her words’ meaning.
“He’s a terrible man,” Sasha continued, her voice still devoid of emotion. “But I’ve survived him. Uncle Viktor couldn’t get over how well I look. He has no conscience, you know.”
“I never realized.” Levitin tried to ingest her statement. “He was always my favorite uncle,” he finally uttered in a bewildered tone.
Sasha studied him, a slightly quizzical look on her face.
Levitin saw the look. “Why didn’t you come to me? I’m your brother.”
The quizzical look remained. “You went to work for him. To me, that meant you were allied with him. How could I come to you?”
“Sasha, I would never . . . I cannot believe you would think. . . .” His voice trailed off. “We are brother and sister.”
Sasha took his hand, kissing the back of it. “It’s all right,” she whispered soothingly. “We are together now.” She turned to Jana. “Uncle wants to talk to you.” She checked the time on the watch that had been given to her the previous day. “Uncle Viktor should be here any minute.”
Jana saw Levitin’s anguish. He was feeling the same way she had last night when Katka abused her.
She focused on Sasha. “Is Uncle Viktor the man called Koba?”
Sasha looked surprised. “I’ve never heard that name.” She nodded toward the entrance of the room, announcing his arrival. “Our Uncle Viktor.”
Viktor walked into the room followed by two men, bodyguards who were burly enough to make four individuals. They stayed at the door, facing out rather than in. No one else was going to be allowed to enter the suite. Uncle Viktor wasn’t afraid of the individuals inside.
Levitin’s eyes were fixed on his uncle.
“I am Viktor Levitin,” he announced to Jana. “My niece and I had a charming conversation together in which she was kind enough to refer me to you. It’s about a ledger.”
“Uncle,” Levitin whispered. “You are a monster.”
“No question, dear Nephew.” Viktor took no offense at the characterization. “All of us are. I’m just luckier than most to realize it, and act on it.” He pulled a chair over, sighing as he sat down heavily.
“How could you have mistreated my sister so badly?” Levitin was becoming angrier. “She is your brother’s child. You abused her.”
“I only gave her what she wanted, Nephew.”
The animal growl that came out of Levitin’s throat was a precursor to an attack. One of the bodyguards appeared, as if by magic, at Levitin’s shoulder. A massive paw held him down in his chair.
“Nephew, you will have to sit still. Commander Matinova and I have to talk, and we cannot be interrupted.” He eyed Jana. “I once thought my niece had the ledger I wanted. Now I have been told that you have it. Is that so, Commander Matinova?” He shifted his heavy bulk, the chair creaking in protest.
“What ledger, Minister?” Jana asked, as if she hadn’t the vaguest notion what he was talking about.
A look of distaste appeared on the minister’s face. He snapped his fingers for the second bodyguard, then pointed at Sasha. “Her!”
The bodyguard balled his hand into a fist and punched Sasha in the stomach. She let out a whoosh of air and slid off the couch to the floor, the shock of the blow paralyzing her. Levitin tried to get to Viktor, but the other bodyguard put a headlock on him, immobilizing him.
Viktor threw his hands up, palms out. “Since you do not know about the ledger, my niece obviously lied to me and has to be disciplined. We will have to keep on disciplining her until she tells us the truth.” He nodded at the bodyguard, who promptly kicked Sasha in the ribs. A small moan came from the young woman.
Viktor smiled at Jana. “If my niece persists in lying, we will have to punish her even more severely. I think this time we’ll break both her wrists.”
“No!” The word popped out of Jana’s mouth. “The ledger. It’s in Slovakia.”
Viktor sighed, a deep sound of contentment. “I’m so glad my niece was not lying to me. But how terrible. You let her be punished for nothing.” He looked down at Sasha. “I’m so glad you were telling the truth to your Uncle Viktor.”
Jana bent to help Sasha, rolling her over. She was having trouble breathing. Jana spread Sasha’s arms, hoping to give her more lung capacity. “Breathe in and out, slow breaths. Make them deep breaths if you can.”
Sasha nodded, her eyes opening wider, her breathing steadying. She was in pain, but her eyes were clearing. She moved her head, first to one side, then the other, checking the muscle function of her neck. She held out one hand to Jana for help in rising, her arm held tightly to the ribs that had been kicked by the bodyguard. Jana gradually helped Sasha to get her legs under herself. Painfully, the young woman rose to her feet.
Sasha winked at Jana. The wink so surprised Jana that she stepped back, quickly becoming angry at herself for almost giving Levitin’s sister away. The young woman had a plan. As gracefully as her sore ribs let her, Sasha sat once more in the same place. “The hurt will go away,” she assured everyone, even Viktor.
Jana watched Sasha gradually recovering, astonished at the young woman’s ability to continue as if what she had just gone through was the most natural process in the world. Jana turned back to Viktor.
Viktor motioned to the bodyguard who had a headlock on Levitin. “Nephew, my friend is going to release you. If you choose to commit a rash act, then it will go very badly for you.” The bodyguard loosened his hold on Levitin, pulling him erect, allowing him to take full breaths again.
Levitin swayed, his face flushed, trying to get his bearings, then focused on his uncle, rage stiffening his posture. Sasha’s surprisingly firm voice stopped him. “Brother, everything will turn out as it should. Listen to Viktor and me. Stay still!”
Levitin shook his head, a bull deciding whether to charge, looking at Jana, then back at Sasha. Gradually, Levitin contained his rage, deliberately cooling down. This was not the moment to take action.
“Good for you, Nephew,” Viktor encouraged Levitin. “Wait a while. If you still want to come after me when I’m without my large friends, you can try. I wouldn’t advise it, but you are notable for not taking good advice.” Viktor shrugged.
“Now, Commander Matinova, I’m afraid I can’t take a ‘no’ for your answer. You need to get me that ledger.”
“Is it yours?”
“Of course it’s mine. Not that I wrote it, but as the legitimate successor of the person who did.”
“You are the legitimate successor to Koba?”
Viktor got up from his chair, amused by Jana’s guess. “The ledger’s author is of no significance. He’s dead.”
“Are you sure?”
Viktor’s eyes and mouth took on the look of a man who had swallowed a very sour pill. “I have every reason to believe Koba is dead, dead, dead.”
“Did you kill him?”
“Do I look like a murderer?”
“Yes.”
The sour expression became worse. “If I had killed Koba, I would be the first one to brag about it.” He walked to the door, followed by his bodyguards, one running ahead to open it, the other to check the corridor.
“Efficient; very efficient.” He seemed to be complimenting himself rather than his men. Viktor turned back to the people he was leaving, planting his feet, giving them a last glower. “I don’t demand the actual ledger. A copy will do.” He thought for a moment. “Have it in my hands by tomorrow, noon.”
He started out of the door, turning just outside the door-jamb which framed him. “If you don’t get me the ledger, then I will mourn your lack of intelligence, or generosity, as the case may be, and what happens to my nephew, my niece, and you, will all be on your head.” He paused to make sure she understood the import of what he had said. “Good-bye.”
A bodyguard closed the door behind him.
Levitin came over to his sister and gave her a soft, careful hug. “I couldn’t do anything, again,” he announced sadly. Levitin’s hair had become disordered. Sasha patted it into place, comforting her brother.
Despite her pain, and to cheer the other two up, Sasha announced that she was hungry. “It is amazing what you can order in this place just by picking up the phone. What would you like?” She looked from one to the other, then dialed before they could answer. “I’m ordering for all of us.” Room service answered. Sasha said, “I have guests for lunch. I want everything I had yesterday, only for three.”
Jana watched her put the phone down. “Sasha, I would like an answer or two. Honest answers.”