Pictures lied. Isabella wasn’t all that. Daughters lied. She hated the pearls, thought they were a joke. Mozart lied. Life was no symphony.
Kirilo removed his coat with the cattle prod tucked in its lining and hung it on the rack in the corner. Released the latch to his bathroom.
The stench hit him. It couldn’t be. He sniffed again. Did one of the crewmen have the gall to use his private bathroom? If he found out which one, he’d kill him tonight.
Kirilo opened the door. A withered old man sat fully dressed on the toilet bowl, arms folded across his chest. He looked like a cigarette butt that needed to be stomped out.
Kirilo froze. Victor? Victor Bodnar? On his yacht? In his bathroom?
“Greetings, cousin,” Victor said. “My men have your daughter. Isabella will die if I don’t walk off this boat unharmed within thirty minutes. Do we understand each other?”
Kirilo burst inside and wrapped his hands around Victor’s neck. Lifted him up and off the toilet bowl. Victor’s feet dangled six centimeters in the air. Kirilo squeezed with all his might.
“Your father was a bitch, and so you are you,” Kirilo said through clenched teeth. Victor grabbed Kirilo’s wrists, but it was no match. His cousin had the grip of a daisy. The bitch was as good as dead.
Victor’s cheeks inflated. His face turned purple.
Kirilo eased his grip a bit. Victor gulped air.
“Breathe, bitch. Breathe,” Kirilo said, struggling to catch his own breath. “Don’t die just yet. No, no. I’m going to enjoy this over a span of an hour, or two, or seven. Only then will you die.”
Victor opened his mouth. “Isabella,” he said.
Kirilo’s eyes fell on the television monitor outside the bedroom: Isabella. Victor had her.
Kirilo released his grip.
A knock on the office door.
“Everything okay in there, Boss?”
Kirilo hustled to the door and unlocked it. Pavel stepped inside.
“Help me get this man to the sofa,” Kirilo said.
They rushed to the bathroom, where Victor lay on the tile, panting.
“Who is he, Boss? Where did he come from? How did he get on board?”
Pavel and Kirilo lifted Victor by his shoulders and carried him to the couch.
“He snuck on board when you were or weren’t watching,” Kirilo said. “You wouldn’t have seen him either way. He’s a pickpocket. He’s a thief. He’s the shadow on the street.”
While Victor recovered, Pavel brought them tumblers of single-malt scotch and tall glasses of ice water. He closed the door behind him as Kirilo instructed.
“Here, cousin,” Kirilo said, handing him the water and the scotch. “Drink. Drink.”
Victor drank the water and sipped the scotch. He coughed and repeated. Reclined on the cushions and sighed.
“Where is Isabella?” Kirilo said.
“She is safe,” Victor said.
“Safe? What does that mean, safe? Where are you hiding her? Has someone touched her? Is she hurt? Has anyone looked at her the wrong way?”
“She hasn’t been touched. I’ve been gone a long time, but even an old man has friends in his homeland. The men who are helping me are professional.”
“Why have you done this?”
“Why did you send an assassin to kill me?”
“You know why.”
“Why now? After all these years?”
“Think of it as a gift to myself on my daughter’s wedding. I don’t want you to die a natural death.”
“Well, I do want to die a natural death. That is one of the reasons I’ve taken your daughter.”
“What’s the other reason?”
“You’ve met my business partner, Misha Markov. He intends to cut me out of this money we’re chasing. I want us to put our animosities aside—for now. I want you to keep me involved in this Tesla thing.”
“That’s all?”
Victor sipped his scotch and then cracked a smile. “Almost. I want you to also consider a simple mathematical fact.”
“What?”
“Ten million divided by two is greater than ten million divided by three.”
“You want me to kill your business partner?” Kirilo knocked back some scotch, put his tumbler down, and scratched his chin. “No, that I cannot do. I have no love for him. After all, he’s a moscal. But it would not be good for business. He’s an important man with important contacts. Someone could be out revenue because of his death, and I don’t need the aggravation. No, there has to be a good reason to kill him, and there isn’t one. And besides, I’m not a barbarian.”
“Of course not,” Victor said dryly. “When you die, they’re going to bury you with the saints in the Caves Monastery.”
A spasm ripped through Kirilo’s back. “Don’t even mention that place to me. Back to my daughter.”
“Isabella will be returned to you unharmed.”
“How do I know you won’t kill her after you get your money?”
“You have my word. A thief doesn’t lie to another thief.”
“I need proof that she is well.”
“You have my word.”
“I need proof.”
“My word is good. You know that.”
Kirilo grunted. It was true. Victor was a thief. Under the certain circumstances, he could become a killer. But he would never lie to another vor.
“Where is the Tesla woman?” Victor said. “Where do we stand?”
The impulse to strangle the bitch seized Kirilo again. He took a deep breath to calm himself before briefing Victor. He had no choice. Isabella’s rant about her mother’s pearls faded to a distant memory. He longed only to hold her in his arms again.
CHAPTER 40
KAREL’S WORDS RANG in Nadia’s ears. He knew who she was. He knew her agenda.
Back against the wall, Nadia smiled. She wrapped her arms around Karel’s waist and moved in for a kiss. His eyes widened with shock and confusion. When her lips came within an inch of his, she swung him around.
Nadia spun out of the corner. Karel fell into it. His back pressed against the wall. Hers pointed toward the exit. The dominant American woman was asserting herself in barroom foreplay. Nothing unusual. Wasn’t the American woman always on top?
“Who are you?” Nadia said, hands around his neck.
“What?” Karel glanced around furtively to make sure no one was listening. He whispered. “I told you. I am Karel. I’m just a zoologist—”
Nadia gripped his Adam’s apple with the first three fingers of her right hand, her body obscuring the act from everyone’s view.
Karel tensed.
“I’m not asking you who you are,” Nadia said. “I’m asking you, who are you? Who sent you? How do you know me?”
“Your uncle sent me. Damian sent me.”
Nadia squeezed. “Why?”
Karel rose to his tiptoes. “Because he’s ill. He couldn’t come to the meet himself.”
“What meet? The meet here, at the bar?”
“No. The meet in Pripyat. At the Hotel Polissya. I got there early and saw the poacher. I knew the meeting was a bust. So I came here. For the party. I was planning to tell Damian later, and he would set up another meeting through the woman.”
“Woman? What woman?”
“The boy’s aunt. She speaks English. Seelick. Clementine Seelick.”
Nadia released her grip. Karel swallowed and massaged his throat. Nadia checked her watch. It was 10:33. She was three minutes late for her rendezvous with Hayder.
She studied Karel. Sweat beaded on his forehead.
“What is your relationship with my uncle?” she said.
He looked her in the eye and spat the words out with conviction. “He’s my friend.”
Nadia considered her options. “Where is Damian?”