Suddenly a Spy (15 page)

They descended the stairs to the room that
held the sale, and Veronica’s stomach tightened once again. She
tried not to think about the fact that they were effectively
trapping themselves in a dungeon. With only one way out, a single
mistake would mean they didn’t reemerge.

It was comforting having Rick so close. As if
maybe he had some superhuman power that would keep them both safe
no matter what. Ronnie didn’t really know what to expect. Her
knowledge of human sales was limited to a Hollywood depiction or
two. She wondered if they really researched those, or did they
count on the audience to not know any better?

At first, no one noticed their presence.
Maybe a dozen men sat around the room, watching as bound women were
led in one by one. When they took out the guards at the door, the
two at the far end of the room were quick to act. Veronica tucked
her body and rolled away as the first bullets flew. She came up
returning fire. Terrified businessmen scurried to get out of the
basement; the girls huddled together, frightened and naked in the
center of the room. A haze of smoke obscured her view and scorched
her nostrils.

She could hear Marko swearing. Petrov was
barking orders. Still, Veronica’s aim was true. She surprised
herself at how well she was able to block out the chaos of their
surroundings to hone in on a particular target.

Marko had pulled his gun and was taking aim;
Veronica swung her gun towards him and froze. A voice in her head
screamed to pull the trigger. But her finger did not move.

Rick had no such qualms and took two quick
strides towards Marko. Without a word or preamble, he hauled off
and punched him in the face. Petrov raised his own gun and Veronica
fired a round, knocking the gun from his hand. It was too early in
their plan to kill him or Marko—not if the intent was to dismantle
the operation.

Rick raised his weapon, holding the brothers
at bay while Veronica rounded up the women and ushered them out the
door. The path back was strewn with bodyguards. Wordlessly, Ronnie
kept the girls moving. She dared not set their fears at ease yet.
All that mattered in this moment was getting them out the door and
into the van that would be waiting for them.

Once the girls were loaded, Veronica closed
the door and melted into the woods. In the distance, she could hear
the rumble of the van as it moved away. She knew Vance would pass
the girls off to the next trusted link in the chain before
returning to his post as if he’d been there all the while. She’d
never know how he always managed to pull it off, but she had no
doubt in his ability to do so.

Although she wanted to wait for Rick, she had
promised to get herself back to the SUV. That was their meeting
point, and she had no reason to believe he wouldn’t be there as
promised. The partner in her knew she had to stick to that plan.
The wife in her wanted to rush back and make sure he’d been able to
extract himself. Regardless, if she expected him to treat her as a
partner, she had to do the same. So she obediently began her jog
back to the SUV.

Veronica nearly screamed when she jumped in
the car; he was there already, waiting in the driver’s seat.

“Ha. That was brilliant,” Rick was all
smiles, pulling back her mask to give her a loud kiss. “Oh, well,
except for the part where you didn’t want to shoot your boyfriend.
That was kind of suckish.”

“I can’t believe Devon has you saying
‘suckish.’ And he’s not my boyfriend, and I didn’t hesitate.”

“Oh, so your reaction’s that slow all the
time, is it? I might want to rethink partnering with you,” he
pulled out of the parking lot and headed back to her hotel.

“Maybe I hesitated a little, but it’s only
because I know him. He’s human now.”

“You didn’t hesitate to blow Petrov’s hand
off and you know him.”

“I blew it off?” she wrinkled her nose.
“Anyway, that was different. He was going to shoot you.”

“So I rank somewhere between Marko and
Petrov. Good to know.”

“You are such a child.”

“You didn’t blow his hand off; don’t worry.
But we do need to get you home. I think Marko might pay you a
visit.”

“Excuse me?”

“I might have overheard him say something
about a double-crossing bitch.”

“Speaking of things that are good to know,”
she took a steadying breath.

“I can drive the other way if you want me
to,” something in his voice said he hoped she would ask him to do
just that. “But you said you were in this thing to the end. If
we’re going to finish this, then you need to convince him you had
nothing to do with it. Preferably without sleeping with him.”

“Only preferably?”

“More than preferably.”

Veronica nodded, amused despite the
circumstances. Rick took the corner into the hotel on two wheels,
skidding to a stop by the back door.

“Aren’t you worried about my guard’s
suspicion being aroused by your driving?”

“It’ll be Vance’s shift by now. Just in case
there’s someone on the inside… your chariot awaits,” he motioned to
a food cart that stood waiting by the back door. “I’ll be watching.
If you get into any trouble, I’ll be right there.”

“I know you will,” she stroked his cheek and
then folded herself into the bottom of the cart. Rick wheeled her
inside before handing her off to a well-paid waiter who would take
her the rest of the way to the room.

Although she was glad for the years of yoga
that allowed her to contort her body into impossible poses, she was
also very glad when the waiter finally let her out of the cart in
her room. The second he was gone, she stripped out of her clothes,
shoving them under the bed as she ran a steaming hot bubble
bath.

She poured herself a stiff drink and slammed
it down before pouring another for looks. She set it on the edge of
the tub along with a copy of the
Scarlett Letter
, pausing
only long enough to scatter a few towels on the floor before
sinking into the mountain of bubbles.

She opened the book and tried to concentrate
on the words dancing before her eyes while she waited for the
pounding at the door. Instead of pounding or even yelling, the next
sound to shatter the silence was the turning of a key.

Chapter Sixteen

“Marko,” she could barely breathe his name;
fear clutched her throat. She looked into black eyes burning with
hatred.

“Elizabeth,” he said the name with an eerie
calm.

“What are you doing here?” she watched as he
moved quietly into the bathroom, the door to the room clicking shut
behind him.

“You remember my little get together tonight?
Someone crashed it, and I thought, maybe, you might know something
about that.”

“Why would someone crash a poker game?”

“A poker game?”

“Isn’t that what you boys were doing? Daddy
always played poker when he had the boys over. I just assumed…”

“What are you reading?” he changed
tactics.

“
Scarlet Letter
. It seemed like the
enlightened thing to do. I have to say I’m kind of struggling to
get into it,” she lied. “I guess I don’t understand a man who
doesn’t have the spine to just own up to loving a woman.”

“He’s conflicted. The social mores of the
time…”

“Did you really break into my room to discuss
literature?”

“Are you nervous?”

“That a strange man is standing in my
bathroom while I’m in the tub? Yeah, a little. You know, this isn’t
the best way to get a second date.”

“Right,” he shook his head as if to clear a
fog. “Right. Sorry.”

He handed her a towel even as he began
backing out of the room. “I’ll just wait out here for you.”

Veronica dunked herself under the water,
washing away the last vestiges of sweat and grime from her evening
before reemerging to step from the tub. She dried herself off and
wrapped in a black satin robe. While she wished dearly for her
favorite terry cloth, she knew this one would hold more appeal.

“So, do you want to tell me what you thought
I’d done? And why do you look like you’ve been in a bar fight?” She
poured herself another Scotch and offered him the same.

“Thanks,” he took the drink and winced as she
poked at his face. “Knock that off.”

“Don’t be a baby,” she admonished,
nonetheless setting her drink aside to put some ice in a washcloth
for him. “Here, let me fix that for you.”

Gently, tenderly, she dabbed at his face with
a warm washcloth before replacing it with the one full of ice. He
caught her hand, his eyes now warm and soft and inviting. It was as
if two people existed within the one shell. She was as drawn to the
one as she was repulsed by the other.

But neither was her husband, she reminded
herself and pulled her hand free.

“Ah now, you didn’t think it would be as easy
as all that to get back in my good graces.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,”
he was the picture of innocence.

“You really are used to dating dumb women,
aren’t you? We both know you came here tonight with fury in your
eyes. Maybe you won’t ever tell me why, but you can’t expect me to
swoon in your arms just because you’ve flashed a charming smile or
two since then.”

“You think my smile is charming?”

“I think you’ll survive your injuries,” she
rolled her eyes and pulled her hand free. “Now go. You can pick me
up at noon tomorrow and spend the day convincing me to give you
another chance.”

“Sounds intriguing,” he stood, his incredibly
large presence filling both her room and mind. He had a way of
looking at her that made her think he would unwrap her like a
present—one decadent layer at a time.

“Go,” she pointed to the door. His grin
deepened, but he obeyed. Once he was gone, she sank into the
nearest chair. Only then did her hands begin to tremble.

Once he’d seen her relaxing in the tub,
oblivious to his plight, he’d been surprisingly quick to believe
her innocence. She wasn’t sure what he’d expected to find when he’d
let himself into her room. She had gambled that it wouldn’t be her
naked in a tub.

Veronica wondered how closely Rick was
watching and whether he was relieved or livid. She was personally
still in a daze—and unwilling to think about what Marko would have
done had she not been able to set his mind at ease.

Now that his suspicion had turned from
Veronica, he would begin looking within his own organization for a
mole. Eventually, he would stumble across some carefully planted
clues that all pointed to Adrianna.

Between her family and the friends she’d made
throughout the years, Veronica had no problems finding employees of
the U.S. government who were willing to leak the word that Adrianna
had been a great asset to them. An email here or there, a “little
slip” to someone brought in for questioning.

It had all been set in motion before ever
leaving for Ecuador, and now that Veronica had been cut off from
the rest of the world, Rick was pushing the right buttons at the
right time.

She knew this and had nothing left to do but
be patient and wait for it to take effect. Rick wouldn’t risk
coming to her again tonight, so she was alone with nothing but her
jangled nerves and a bottle of scotch to keep her company.

So maybe downing an entire bottle of liquor
after every raid wasn’t the best habit to get into, but it seemed
an okay way to celebrate surviving her first real mission. And, it
served the necessary purpose of knocking her flat of her behind for
the night.

Given the pounding headache she woke up with
the next morning, maybe her approach hadn’t been a brilliant one.
As she popped several aspirin and tried to rehydrate her brain
cells, she decided next time she’d try a different relaxation
technique.

She’d slept most of the morning away, so
there wasn’t much time to prepare for her outing with Marko. She
took another shower, hoping to regain some color in the process.
Then she dressed in a black two piece swimsuit that should hold
Marko’s interest without coming across as cheap.

She firmly believed part of the appeal she
held for him was the challenge she presented. He was used to women
coming easily. The longer she could draw out the chase, the more
she had his attention.

She slid into a gauzy white wrap dress, half
hoping she wouldn’t have to take it off again. She had no desire to
explain the scar from a bullet hole in her shoulder, and there was
no swimsuit on earth that would cover it.

She mussed up her hair and called it ready.
She’d always had a neat and tidy hair style as Veronica. She was
beginning to really appreciate Elizabeth’s just-rolled-out-of-bed
look.

The driver that came to retrieve her was the
same one from the night before. He was just as stoic in the
daylight as he had been the last time she’d seen him. He was the
kind of man whose face never seemed to crack a smile. Somehow it
wasn’t as endearing on him as Vance.

The warm greeting she gave him was met with a
cool stare, so she gave up. In fact, the ride was uncomfortable
enough to make her once again grateful for Marko’s presence. He was
all smiles at the marina as he welcomed her onto his yacht. Any
trace of accusation was gone from his eyes.

Petrov didn’t seem entirely sold on her
presence and was even more aloof than before, if possible. Veronica
was actually a little relieved to see that she could count all five
fingers sticking out from underneath the bandage on his right hand.
She might have felt a twinge of guilt otherwise.

She was very relieved to see that Vance was
also accompanying them on their trip. That gave her some
reassurance Marko wasn’t taking her out to dump her body in the
sea. Admittedly, she had spent some time over the past day
wondering if the Black Sea contained any man-eating sharks.