Exposed Target, page 9
Beck helped Elmo gather up the drones in the canvas. Beck cursed. “Let’s get inside before someone comes after their drones and us.”
Elmo took the canvas and glared at Beck. “Pull your truck into the garage.”
After Elmo raised the garage door, Beck parked inside, next to an older model Ford pickup. Elmo lowered the door. He led the way into the cool recesses of the garage. They rounded the old Ford and went through a door, into a mudroom with an old washing machine and dryer in one corner.
As Elmo closed the door behind them, Beck went to the wall, flipped up an old outlet cover, and pressed a button.
The washer swung away from the wall on a perfectly silent platform. Beneath the washer was a round lid, like one put over a sewer in the city. No, a hatch on a submarine was more like it because it had a handle on top that Beck spun.
It thunked and Beck pulled the hatch up to reveal a metal ladder that went down into the bowels of something.
Things started to make a little more sense now. The conspiracy theorist living in an old farmhouse didn’t make sense. A farmhouse that served as a cover for whatever lay below, did.
“Get down there.” Elmo sounded crankier by the moment. “Before whatever you brought with you finds us.”
9
“Vasilisa’s father returned from his travels and came to live with his daughter and the prince in the castle.” Natalia Sokolov leaned forward in her chair beside Raisa’s hospital bed. “The girl always carried the magic doll in her pocket and took the old woman who helped her into service.”
Natalia closed the book and held it in her lap. “The prince and Vasilisa were very happy.”
“I liked that story, Miss Natalia.” Raisa held up the doll Natalia had given her before she had read the story. “Vasilisa loved it too.”
Natalia stroked the flower on the satin band around the Russian girl’s bald head. “The times my mother told me this story are some of my best memories. Vasilisa the Beautiful is one of my favorite Russian fairy tales.”
Raisa, surrounded by beeping medical equipment, looked even smaller than other seven-year-old children.
She gave an adorable smile that warmed Natalia’s heart. “Can I have another story, Miss Natalia?”
Since when could she say no to such a precious child? Before Natalia could agree, Raisa’s nurse entered the room. “Time for your meds, Raisa.” Nurse Anita smiled at Natalia. “Visiting hours are over, Ms. Sokolov.”
“I lost track of time.” Natalia stood and squeezed Raisa’s hand, the one without the IV. “I will come back next weekend and tell you another story.”
Raisa cradled the blonde doll to her. “Thank you for my own Vasilisa.”
“You are most welcome.” Natalia kissed the girl’s forehead before leaving the room.
Viktor waited for Natalia beside the door when she walked out. He enjoyed going with her to the hospital, where he played with the children in the recreation room.
Natalia liked to visit the children who could not get up from their beds. She didn’t want them to feel left out, and they needed her, like she needed them.
Terrible things happened in this life, yet children’s spirits prevailed. They leaned to the light, even when times grew dark.
Natalia wanted to be as strong as the children were, but sometimes she felt weak and that everything around her had grown dark.
She hated those feelings, and visiting the children reminded her to always go to the light. She became stronger when she was with them, as if their spirits fed hers so that they were more powerful together.
She gave Viktor a quick kiss before they left the children’s wing of the hospital located in Manhattan’s Upper East Side.
They walked toward the parking garage, where Natalia had left her Mercedes.
Her phone rang before they entered the garage. She stopped and opened her bag, created by a well-known but elite Russian designer, and drew out her mobile. She glanced at the screen.
Yuri.
She smiled at Viktor. “One moment. Business.”
“Of course.” He gave a nod then moved away to a nearby park bench.
Her smile vanished. Yuri had called as arranged. Now to see if he had good news.
“Do you have them yet?” Natalia spoke without pleasantries.
Yuri cleared his throat. “I believe we are close.”
Natalia gripped the phone tightly. “I grow tired of hearing nothing but excuses.” Natalia’s tone grew harsh. “I expect results, and I want them now.”
“Of course,” Yuri said. “We will get her.”
“See that you do.” Natalia disconnected the call and let out a slow breath.
Duraki. Idiots.
U nee tolko duraki vokrug!
Yes, nothing but idiots surrounded her.
Viktor pleased her, and she felt more deeply for him than she would admit even to herself.
He was, as the Americans say, dumb as a rock, but she had never considered him an idiot.
Speaking of the rock, Viktor noticed she no longer spoke on the phone and started to get up from the bench.
She gave a shake of her head. “I must make a call.”
He smiled and settled back on the bench.
Viktor never seemed to mind that she conducted business at all times. No doubt he enjoyed her family’s wealth and for now had nothing required of him but to serve as her arm candy when she attended functions.
Natalia liked that expression, arm candy. It suited Viktor, with his fine muscular form and his striking dark looks. He pleased her in all ways.
Viktor became dearer to her every day, something that gave her pause. She had never felt strong feelings for a man—few had been in her life long enough to develop a relationship. But then she had met none that she cared enough about to want more.
She had started to develop a deep fondness for Viktor and then she realized she cared for him more than she wanted to admit.
Natalia dialed Roman. She had grown irritated at hearing nothing from him for the past twenty-four hours. He had planned to send in a team last night to the location, where Ciara and her new deputy marshal had gone.
He answered with a sharp “Yes.”
She looked out at the Fifth Avenue traffic as she spoke. “I require a status from you.”
Roman remained silent for a moment. When he spoke again, his fury left him in waves. “The marshal and the woman slaughtered my team.”
Natalia’s skin prickled. “You let Ciara and this marshal escape?”
“No.” He bit out the word. “Another team located them when they fled to Fort Collins. They met with other deputy marshals. We learned Ciara’s deputy marshal’s name is Beck Richardson. The other deputies helped them flee again.”
“You are telling me you lost them yet another time?” Natalia put her fingers to her forehead. “Did your drone team follow them?”
Roman sounded like he had eaten feces for breakfast. “My team followed them as far as Wyoming. Something took down both drones. My team believes they were eagles because they saw a flash of feathers in the camera lens.”
“Eagles?” Natalia spoke with incredulity. “How and why would eagles take drones from the sky?”
“Some organizations, such as law enforcement, often train them to do so. They can be very effective.”
“What are you saying?” Natalia asked, hoping it didn’t mean what she thought it did.
Roman audibly released a heavy breath. “We are searching their last known location from the air by helicopter and other drones, as well as by land.”
Natalia’s head started to pound. “This is unacceptable, Roman.”
She could sense his fierce anger over the line. He probably thought how dare she, a woman who could work only through her uncle and had no real place in the Sokolov organization.
God, she hated men, at least the ones in her uncle’s organization.
“Find them.” She dug her nails in her palm as she clenched her fist. The pain reminded her of her strength. “Call me with an update this afternoon.”
“Of course.” Roman only agreed because he worked for Oleg Sokolov, not because he wanted to appease her.
She disconnected the call before he could end it. It didn’t give her any satisfaction but saved the annoyance of having him do it to her.
Natalia took a deep breath and let it out in a rush. She would love to wrap her hands around Ciara’s throat for herself—after they retrieved the Star of Russia from her.
Did Ciara have the broach with her? Had she hidden it? Where could she have put it?
Natalia had to see to it her men brought Ciara to her soon. Not only for the Zvezda Rossii, but for Niko. She couldn’t see her twin stay in prison or face the death penalty.
Family is everything.
She dropped the phone into her handbag and walked back to Viktor. “I am hungry.” She tempered her tone for her lover. “A steak would be good.”
Something she could stab like she wanted to do to Ciara Cruz.
10
Beck stepped onto the top rung of the metal ladder, gripping the canvas-covered drones in one hand while using his other to hold on. He disappeared through the illuminated round opening.
Like he’d just stepped into the rabbit hole in Wonderland.
“Go on, girl,” Elmo said when Ciara hesitated.
She’d always hated heights and this qualified. She sucked in a breath, let it out, then followed Beck.
The lights warmed the cold white of the curved walls that the ladder clung to.
Ciara didn’t look down. She concentrated on one step at a time while clinging to each bar with a death grip. She wasn’t sure how far they were descending, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to know. Not yet.
She did look up and saw Elmo several rungs above her. He closed the round door that made a loud snick when it settled into place. He pressed a big red button on the curved wall, and she heard a noise above that sounded like the washing machine had slid back into place.
“One more step,” Beck said a few moments later.
Clearly, he saw that she refused to look.
When her foot hit a hard surface, she let out a sigh of relief. She continued to grip the bars tightly until both her feet hit the floor.
“Out of the way, girl.” Elmo spoke in his grumpy tone. She wondered if grumpy was his normal.
Ciara stepped back and turned to take in the bare, hexagon-shaped room with metal walls. Now she felt like she was in a submarine.
Elmo’s feet thumped the floor hard, and she startled.
“Keep going.” Elmo ushered them down the narrow hallway, which they had to navigate single file.
A domed passageway branched off to their right. It appeared to be something out of a military facility. She raised her brows as another piece fell into place. “Is this an old missile silo?” she asked Beck, keeping her voice down.
“A former Titan missile silo.” Beck said. “Elmo bought it back in the nineties. He’s lived here for twenty-something years now.”
“Wow.” That was a long time to live in something so harsh...or whatever the opposite of cozy was. No doubt the floors below included some kind of mess hall, bathroom facilities, military-style bunkbeds, a command center of sorts, and storage.
“That means this goes even deeper,” Ciara said.
“You’ll be fine.” Beck tossed the words over his shoulder. “I’ll be right below you and I’ll catch you if you fall.”
“Comforting,” she muttered.
“First, we’ll hit Elmo’s quarters and the command center below that. Then we’ll go into the actual missile silo.” Beck spun a wheel on a huge metal door at the end of the passage. What seemed like a dozen locks disengaged, each with a loud metal thunk.
Her stomach felt like it was filled with buzzing insects. The image reminded her of last night’s dream and the sensation suddenly made her nauseous.
Beck swung the door open and gestured for her to go before him. She walked through the open doorway and into another unwelcoming round room. She imagined the rest of the place must be equally austere. It was, after all, previously a missile silo.
A huge round support took up the center of the room. She groaned when she saw a curving staircase around the support that went deeper into the silo.
“I don’t suppose there’s an elevator,” she said, not hopeful at all.
“Not in this section. It’s an easy walk down now.” Beck dipped his head and indicated the stairs. “This is much easier to go down than the ladder is.”
“I can handle stairs.” She nodded to herself. “Ladders just make me nervous.” She swallowed. “My dad fell off one at the construction site, which is how he died.”
“I didn’t know that.” Beck paused and squeezed her hand with his free one. “Your fear, or concern, makes sense.” He hitched the canvas containing the drones over his shoulder and gestured to the stairs for her to follow his uncle. “You’ll be fine.”
The wood staircase with a wrought iron railing, rather than utilitarian steel, surprised her. She slowly went down the steps, which she found much easier to navigate, and gripped the rail to one side of her.
As she walked down, her eyes widened. The staircase took them into a room that was clearly Elmo’s private quarters, as Beck had said. But she hadn’t expected to see polished wood floors and a room decorated in hunter green and burgundy. The room was divided, with a door on the left of the family room.
Beck stepped beside her, and they walked away from the staircase. “U.E’s bedroom is through that door.” Beck gestured at the furnishings around him. “And this is his man cave.”
“Some man cave.” Curved floor-to-ceiling bookshelves lined the walls and took up residence to either side of a massive built-in flat screen TV. Couches and chairs rested on a fine rug in front of the entertainment center. A stainless-steel fridge filled a small nook, along with a microwave and stainless-steel sink. “This is lovely.”
“You haven’t seen anything yet,” Beck said.
Elmo came up behind them. “Stop lollygagging and get down to the CC.”
Beck gestured to Ciara to head to the stairwell. She headed down, this time to the Command Center.
A world of high tech filled the CC. Most of the electronics she had seen only on TV, and much more she hadn’t come across before. The room glowed a soft blue shade due to the lights of the monitors.
The bank of monitors lined one wall. The monitors showed views of the outside of the house, a couple of smaller buildings. Also fence lines, a forest, and golden fields.
Beck nodded to the monitors. “U.E.’s property stretches across a good three hundred acres. No one makes it close to his place without him knowing about it.”
Elmo gestured toward an oval table. “Set those things over there. This room blocks signals and is deep enough where no one’s gonna have access to any video or audio from the drones. These things are useless to whoever manned them.”
Ciara moved closer. Glass covered a large map of the U.S. on a table at the center of the room. Beck placed the canvas bag, still wrapped around the drones, on one end.
Elmo turned to Beck. “And who the hell sent the drones after you?”
Beck winced as he set the canvas on the table and hesitated.
Elmo narrowed his gaze. “Don’t give me any bullshit about it being classified or whatever other crap you could come up with. You are aware I had the highest clearance back when I was in charge of one of these blasted missile sites.”
“You’re right.” Beck braced one hand on the back of a chair. “The Russian mafia.”
Elmo’s face turned an awful shade of red. “You mean to tell me you brought the fucking bratva to my place?”
“I thought we lost them, Elmo.” Beck dragged his hand down his face. “I’ve got a whole team back at the office trying to figure out how these bastards kept finding us. I never heard or saw anything that would have indicated drones.”
“I had a dream about humming.” Ciara spoke softly. “Maybe my subconscious heard something.”
Beck nodded then turned his gaze on Elmo. “If it wasn’t for your eagles, I’m not sure what would have happened next. Now that we know, it takes away from the advantage they had.”
“But now they’ve got me in their sights,” Elmo said in a harsh tone. “You know I don’t like anyone knowing anything about me.”
Beck sighed and nodded. “I was desperate.” He rested his hand on Ciara’s shoulder. “The Russians kept finding us and trying to kill me and take Ciara.”
“What the hell do they want with her?” Elmo glared at Ciara.
“You know I can’t talk about anyone in my protection,” Beck said.
“WITSEC then.” Elmo looked Ciara up and down. “You don’t look like no accountant. Mistress?”
Heat flushed Ciara’s face. “Fiancée.”
“One’s as good as the other when it comes to the bratva.” Elmo turned back to Beck. “You’re going to have to lie low for a while. You can stay here until you figure out your next step.”
Beck looked relieved. “Thanks, U.E.”
“What happened to your face?” Elmo asked Ciara.
The man sure as hell was blunt.
“Had an altercation with a door,” Ciara said.
“Should have seen the door,” Beck added.
“Let’s take a look at these damned things.” Elmo unfolded the canvas on the table and revealed the pair of drones.
“How did you train the eagles to grab these?” Ciara looked over the drones. “One would have been a coincidence, but two makes it clear they’re trained.”
“They’re golden eagles.” Elmo looked almost fond as he spoke about them, if he had it in him to be fond. “Trained by the Netherlands police department.”
“That’s incredible,” Ciara said.
“Daffy and Bugs,” Elmo said. “Best eagles around.”
The corner of Ciara’s mouth tipped into a smile. Not exactly the names she would have chosen for the two majestic creatures. It surprised her too, that the big bad military man gave them cute names. But whatever made Elmo happy.
