18 |
18 |House on Mosfilmovskaya Apartments Moscow, Russia
“Ms. Lobanov, my name is Dylan Kane. I’m from Shaw’s of London. I’m here concerning your employer, Mr. Minkin. May I come up?”
He didn’t blame the poor woman for hesitating. After all, Svetlana Lobanov’s employer and boyfriend was in prison, awaiting trial for charges brought against him by a government drunk with power, a government that had shown no hesitation to kill those they felt opposed them. But he needed to speak with her, and his cover as an insurance investigator for Shaw’s was his best hope.
“I, umm, don’t know. I’m very tired. Perhaps later?”
“Ms. Lobanov, I’m here to help your employer. I need to speak to you. It is very urgent, otherwise we won’t be able to assist him in these trying times, and I’m afraid he could go to prison for the rest of his life, or worse.”
He heard a gasped cry, and wondered if she actually cared for Minkin, or just his wallet.
Perhaps a little of both.
“Very well. You can come up.”
“Thank you, Ms. Lobanov.” He handed the phone over to the woman manning the lobby desk, a few words exchanged before he was waved through.
“Fifteenth floor. Unit 1503.”
Kane beamed a smile at the woman, her cheeks flushing slightly. He was looking good, a Tom Ford pinstripe suit tailored to his exact measurements was in the trunk of the car Zorkin had provided, along with all the accouterments needed to look drop-dead gorgeous. There was no better confidence builder than looking good, and no better panty remover than confidence.
And in the old days, he might have looked up the young lady when the job was done, but instead, the show he was putting on was all business, Fang the only woman he needed now.
I can’t wait to get home.
It was an exciting feeling. For years, he rarely came home, for home wasn’t really home. He spent so much time on assignment, and had been so damaged, that his downtime was spent at luxury resorts with bevies of women at his beck and call where he drowned out his sorrows and loneliness with alcohol and sex.
And when he did get a chance to go home to see his parents, he was met with a father who barely spoke to him because he was pissed Kane had given up his career in the military to be a “glorified insurance salesman,” and a family he had to lie to about everything he did.
But it was different now. When the Assembly had kidnapped his parents to get to him, they had finally become aware of what he was doing for a living, and the relationship between him and them, especially his father, was stronger than ever. And with Fang in his life, he had a home to come back to.
My old stomping grounds probably think I’m dead.
He stepped onto the elevator and pressed the button for the fifteenth floor, arriving moments later. He checked himself in the mirrored wall then stepped off, heading for 1503. He knocked and the door was opened, a stunning blond woman greeting him with red eyes and flushed cheeks.
Man or money? Money or man?
“Ms. Lobanov, I’m Dylan Kane. May I come in?”
“Of course.” She stepped aside and he entered, taking in the opulent apartment, no expense spared to keep her happy.
Secretaries make good money in Russia.
The door closed behind him and she headed for a nearby wet bar, refilling a martini glass. She held it up. “Do you want one?”
He waved it off. “No, thank you.” He motioned toward a sitting area. “Please, let’s talk for a few minutes, then I’ll let you get on with your day.”
She stumbled over her own feet and he rushed forward, grabbing her arm and preventing a faceplant. “Th-thank you.” She sighed and allowed herself to be led to a nearby chair. “I’m afraid you’ve caught me at my worst.”
Kane smiled, taking a seat beside her, turning his chair to face her. He leaned in, gently squeezing her arm. “You have nothing to apologize for. These are stressful times.”
“You have no idea.”
Kane pulled a folder from his briefcase, flipping it open then pulling a pen from his shirt pocket. “I’ll try to be brief.” He pretended to scan his notes. “Now, your name is Svetlana Lobanov?”
“Yes.”
“And you are Mr. Minkin’s secretary.”
“Executive Assistant.”
“Of course, forgive me. So, that means you manage all of his appointments?”
“Yes.”
“And when the police raided the offices, were you there?”
“Yes.”
“And was Mr. Minkin meeting with someone?”
She hesitated. “Umm, why?”
“I need as much information as possible if we’re going to mount an effective defense.”
Her eyes widened. “You’re a lawyer?”
He shook his head. “No, but the firm I represent has plenty of lawyers. Right now, we need to determine if Mr. Minkin is at fault for his arrest. If he is innocent, his policy will provide him with the best defense money can buy. But I need to know the absolute truth. What we’re getting from the government, frankly, isn’t helpful.”
“He’s innocent! I swear it!”
Kane smiled, patting her arm again. “I’m sure he is, and I’m sure you want to help him. And the best way you can do that is to tell me everything you know.” He stared back at his notes for show. “Now, was Mr. Minkin meeting with someone when the police raid occurred?”
Again, she hesitated, though only for a moment. “Yes.”
“And the name of that person?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know.”
Kane regarded her. “You don’t know, or you can’t remember?”
“I don’t know. He made the appointment himself and only told me to block off the time. I don’t know who she was.”
“She?”
“Yes.”
Kane removed a photo of their suspect and held it up. “Is this—”
“That’s her! She tried to kill Yury!”
Kane’s eyebrows shot up. “Excuse me?”
“When the police raid began, I entered his office to tell him, and she was attacking him with a letter opener.”
“A letter opener?”
“Yes.”
“Then what happened?”
“Yury told me to lock the doors and go for lunch, and to not come back until I heard from him.”
“What about the woman? What happened to her?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know, but I never got a chance to leave. The police were already on the floor. When they went in Yury’s office, they brought him out, but not the woman.”
Kane leaned back in his chair. “Interesting. Where do you think she went?”
“She had to have gone down Yury’s private elevator. That’s the only possibility.”
“And where does it lead?”
“Well, any floor he wants, but only he has access, so he must have put her in. She must have gone to the basement level. There’s an escape route that almost nobody knows about.”
“But you know.”
She blushed. “Yury used it to get me in and out when his, umm, well.”
Kane chuckled. “It’s okay, Ms. Lobanov, my firm represented your husband during the, shall we say, scandal. I know everything.”
She sighed, her shoulders slumping. “That’s a relief. I hate lying, but I love Yury so much.” She eyed him. “Do you believe in destiny, Mr. Kane?”
Kane regarded her for a moment. If he had been asked that a few years ago, he would have said no, but the number of things that had to have gone wrong in the world, and the number of things that had to go right to bring him and Fang together, made him a believer. “Yes.”
She smiled broadly. “Then you’re a romantic like me!”
“I suppose I am. And two people meant to be together should never be kept apart.”
“Exactly!” She leaned forward and patted his knee. “You do understand!”
Kane brought them back on track, the woman now putty in his hands, two hopeless romantics working together to thwart the powers trying to prevent destiny. “Now, why wouldn’t he have gone with her?”
“Would you get on an elevator with a woman who just tried to kill you?”
Kane laughed. “I suppose not. But if she had just tried to do that, why do you think he saved her?”
Her eyes darted away and she became uncomfortable. “I, umm, don’t know.”
Kane leaned forward, lowering his voice. “I think you do, and I think the Russian government knows too. The only way we can prepare for his defense is if we know everything.”
She sighed. “Very well.” She stared him in the eyes, the earnestness making the cynic in him wonder if she truly did, in fact, love Minkin. “I can’t be sure, mind you, but I think he was giving her something. Something, umm, well, not good.”
“Not good?”
“Somebody arrived with a briefcase just before the meeting. They met for only a few seconds, then the man left, without the briefcase. He seemed very nervous when he entered, but almost relieved when he left. I think he was scared of what was in that briefcase, so I guess that means it was something bad.”
“And the woman, when did she show up?”
“Only minutes later.”
“And you think he gave her this briefcase?”
She shook her head. “No, but I think he gave her what was inside it.”
Kane’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t understand. What makes you think that?”
“Because I was there, remember? The police were holding me in the hallway, so I saw everything. They led poor Yury out in handcuffs. I told them that he was innocent, that some woman had just tried to kill him and that they should be arresting her, then I watched as some men in those special suits, oooh, what are they called?”
“Hazmat suits?”
Her eyes widened and she bounced in her chair, the twins putting on a show. “Yes, that’s it! They went inside, and a few minutes later came out with the briefcase wrapped in some clear plastic bags.”
“And you’re sure it was the same briefcase?”
“Yes. It was metal, silver or something. Yury would never carry something so tacky.”
“Did they question you about the woman?”
“Yes. I gave them a description, told them what I saw, then that was it. We were all sent home.”
“Have you been questioned since?”
She shook her head. “No. Which kind of surprises me.”
Kane frowned. “Me too.” Though if this was all about the stolen Novichok, then perhaps he shouldn’t be surprised. The conversation had confirmed a few things he was already fairly certain about, yet left the most critical questions still unanswered. They now knew the same suspect was likely handed the nerve agent personally by Minkin. She had then tried to kill Minkin, which made sense, since she was trying to kill people involved in the plot, and they knew from West that Minkin was in the room giving the briefing. Minkin had obviously had her whisked away in his private elevator so he wouldn’t be put in the same room with the nerve agent as the police stormed his offices, which was why she wasn’t caught. The secretary—executive assistant—had told the police about her, they had obviously issued a bulletin to have her picked up, then it was canceled by someone.
Yet who that someone was, who the woman was, and who was supplying her with information she couldn’t possibly know, were all critical questions, and all questions that remained unanswered.
Minkin had to know as least some of those answers, which meant he had to meet the man.
He looked at Svetlana. “I need to meet with Mr. Minkin.”
“Yes, do that! You’ll see he’s innocent.”
He smiled. “I believe you, I really do. But unfortunately, the authorities won’t let me. I’ve already tried.”
She closed her eyes, her shoulders rolling inward as she folded her arms. “Then what are we going to do?” Her jaw dropped and her eyes widened. “I could ask him your questions!”
Kane’s eyebrows shot up. “You’re seeing him?”
She blushed. “Yes, in a few hours. In fact, I have to start getting ready. It’s an, umm, what do they call it? A visit for a man and a woman?”
“Conjugal?”
She blushed some more. “Exactly.”
It must be nice to have money.
“Then you better start getting ready. You don’t want to disappoint destiny.”
She beamed a smile at him. “What do you want me to ask him?”
“Only two things. What was the name of the woman, and who arranged the meeting?”
Her eyes narrowed. “Wouldn’t she have?”
“Perhaps, but I have a feeling she didn’t.”
“Why?”
“Just a suspicion. If you could ask him those two questions for me, then I’ll see you later tonight and you can tell me, okay?”
She smiled, reaching out her hand and grasping his. “We’re going to save him, aren’t we?”
He returned the smile. “With your help, absolutely.”