Chapter Twenty-Nine

Dimitri returned to the tunnel entrance and pulled out his gun. This was every operator’s worst nightmare—a blind tunnel with a known enemy on the other side.

He should have tied Barrow up, but Ivy had been in bad shape and she was his number one priority. Now Dimitri had to crawl through the tunnel and hope Barrow was still unconscious. And he wouldn’t mind if the asshole was bleeding out.

He inched through the opening, moving as silently as possible. He paused before emerging and listened. Silence.

Gun at the ready, he exited the tunnel. A quick scan of the chamber showed…nothing.

Fuck.

A blood trail led down the steps. He followed it, scanning carefully, prepared for Barrow to pounce.

Nothing.

The former CIA agent was gone. The blood trail stopped at the pool. He must’ve swum out through the tunnel—knowing it was possible thanks to listening at the skylight.

It would be too much to hope the bastard got stuck in the narrow tunnel.

Once he was certain the cave was empty, Dimitri set to work, moving quickly in case Barrow decided to return. He woke the computer and pulled up the final map Ivy had created, the one with red areas marking seven potential hiding places for the AUUV. He copied the data onto a chart he’d grabbed from the chamber below. He had no intention of being here when Luke or Ian arrived, but he wouldn’t take CAM with him. He couldn’t betray Ivy in that way.

If the AUUV was in one of the other locations that Ivy hadn’t flagged as high probability, he was fucked. He deleted the last map layer and turned off CAM—now it would need Ivy’s fingerprint at startup—and descended the stairs to grab his escape kit.

He donned a wetsuit, then grabbed a dry bag filled with three days’ worth of supplies. There was another cave on a nearby island with supplies and a kayak at the ready. He was moving on to Plan C.

And once again, he was alone.

Ian found the tunnel entrance without much trouble. Veselov hadn’t bothered to erase his passage the last time. The opening was practically neon lit and just as Ivy had described.

He considered calling out to give Veselov warning that he was about to enter, but there was no way in hell the sonofabitch would be there. There might be someone in that cave, but it sure as hell wouldn’t be the Russian spy.

He hoped it would be the American one, and he had no intention of tipping Zack off that he was here. He crawled through the tunnel silently, gun at the ready.

Ivy would be waking from surgery soon, and would want to talk to Veselov. He didn’t envy Luke’s job of telling her that her new boyfriend had taken CAM and fled. Of the two of them, Ian knew her. She’d had dinner at his house and was friends with Cressida.

She was friends with him.

He should have drawn that straw, but Zack Barrow was his first priority. Ivy would understand.

He emerged into the upper chamber—again, just as Ivy had described—and his eyes adjusted to the afternoon sun that beamed down from openings in the rock. First his gaze landed on the spatters of blood on the walls and limestone floor, then he took in CAM and the assembled drone in the corner.

Well. He’d been wrong on one count. Did that mean Veselov was still here?

“Hammer?” he said, his voice bouncing off the cavern walls.

No response.

No sign of Zack, but a blood trail led down the steps. He followed it to the lower chamber where it ended at the pool.

Shit.

He’d expected this, but his anger spiked nonetheless. Too bad Veselov hadn’t used the ball-peen on Zack.

Zack must’ve left in a hurry, or he’d have taken CAM. He probably escaped while Veselov carried Ivy to the floatplane—or Ian would be seeing signs of struggle, including a more dramatic blood trail.

The boat Ivy had told them about was still hidden in the vegetation near the beach, which meant Veselov had swum to his next destination. He couldn’t have gone very far.

Zack was a different story. He probably had a boat full of allies not far away. The question was, would he go after Ivy or Dimitri?

Ivy had said they’d zeroed in on possible locations for the AUUV. The assassin hadn’t given up, he’d simply moved on. Cold, when Ivy was in the hospital having surgery to repair a gunshot wound, and it was obvious she was infatuated with the Russian.

Which card would Zack play?

Ian returned to the upper chamber and studied the computer. It was shut down, which meant only Ivy could start it. He’d pack it up and bring it to her. They’d use it to find Veselov before he found the AUUV and made his escape.

Ivy was the key. To the AUUV. To Veselov. And to Zack.

He needed to call Luke, the CIA, FBI, and his boss to tell them all what he’d found in the cave. But he had one other call he needed to make first. He stood under the largest skylight in hopes of making a connection and dialed the number on his satellite phone.

Cressida answered on the first ring. “Well?” she asked, the single word as anxious as he felt.

“Sorry, honey. Zack got away.”

“We knew that was likely.” He could hear the disappointment in her voice.

“True.” His gaze fixed on the trail of blood. “The good news is he bled. A lot. And Ivy said it was a head wound.”

“Well now, there’s a reason to celebrate.”

Ian smiled. “He’s still here. He’s after CAM and the AUUV. We’ll get him.”

“You will. But protect Ivy. She comes first.” Cressida paused. “Is Veselov—?”

“Gone.”

“If what you suspect about their relationship is true, that’s going to crush her,” Cressida said.

Ian fixed his gaze on CAM and the drone. “I just hope she’s right about him. Because Dimitri Veselov would make a dangerous enemy.”

Ivy woke in stages, logic being the last thought process to come online. Disoriented, it took her a moment to grasp the concept of hospital room. Well, really more medical clinic, and a small one at that considering Palau’s population was lower than that of her outer-beltway hometown in Maryland.

Her arm was numb, as though it didn’t exist. Surgery, she remembered. To remove the bullet, clean the wound, and set the bone. They’d used a general anesthetic in case they needed to use metal pins to connect the bone.

She looked toward the man sitting in her visitor’s chair. Luke Sevick. She’d told him and Ian as much as she could before the surgery.

“The break was relatively clean,” Luke said. “But they did have to rebuild the break with metal reinforcement.”

She offered up a weak smile. “Please tell me they gave me bionic parts.”

He smiled back. “Sadly, no. Your arm is splinted for now. The doctor said they won’t cast it until after the swelling goes down in a day or two.”

“Thank you. For staying with me. I know you wanted to go with Ian.”

He tilted his head to acknowledge her thanks. “Zack Barrow escaped.”

She’d feared that, but she had another concern. “And Dimitri?”

“He wasn’t in the cave either.”

If she wasn’t drugged from the surgery, she might feel more pain—or even relief—at that statement, but as it was, there was a veil that separated her from really feeling. “And CAM?” she asked. She doubted any drug could mask the pain she’d feel if Dimitri had taken CAM.

“Ian found both CAM and the drone in the cave.”

A tear spilled down her cheek, but her brain was too fuzzy to quite understand why. Happy or sad, she didn’t know.

“If you have any idea where he’s gone, Ivy, you need to tell us. There are things about Dimitri you don’t know.”

“He told me you were friends. That he trusts you.”

Luke’s lips flattened. “I no longer trust him.”

“Is it true he was the other man on the Osprey? He helped you that night?”

He gave a sharp nod.

“If you’d failed, he would have died right along with you and everyone in the Osprey. He risked himself just as much as you did, with one difference. He knew exactly what he was facing when he stepped on the ferry that night. You and Undine were clueless. For you, it was just a PR event. But he knew, and still he got on the boat.”

Luke’s nostrils flared, and she knew she’d hit a nerve. She rubbed her eyes with her one good hand. The world was becoming clearer by the second.

“He’s a spy. For Russia. And in case you haven’t noticed, our relationship isn’t as sweet as it was in the early post-Cold War era. Don’t fool yourself into thinking they’re our allies.”

“I’m not. But Dimitri Veselov is—our ally, I mean.” She closed her eyes and asked herself if she could betray Dimitri’s secret to Luke. Would Luke use Sophia and Yulian in the same way Russia had? Dimitri had feared the US government would use them, but Luke wasn’t government—well, he was in the uniformed service for NOAA, but that wasn’t armed forces. Luke was here as a private citizen. Seeking an old friend, or settling a score?

His attitude suggested the latter, but something in his expression suggested the former. Luke wanted to believe in and maybe even help Dimitri. She believed it in her gut.

A knock on the door was followed by a man poking his head inside her small clinic room. When the man saw she was awake, he stepped into the room. “I’m sorry to disturb you so soon after surgery, Ms. MacLeod. I’m Assistant Special Agent in Charge Kaha’i Palea, from the Honolulu FBI Field Office. Curt Dominick asked me personally to handle this investigation, and I have a few questions for you.”

There went the idea of telling Luke about Sophia. This man was government.

She pressed the button to raise the head of her hospital bed so she was almost sitting up. “Of course, Agent Palea. I’ll do anything I can to help you track down and arrest the man who shot me—Zack Barrow.”

“We’re just as interested in the man who abducted you, Dimitri Veselov.”

“Dimitri didn’t abduct me.”

The agent’s brow furrowed. “I was under the impression that you told Attorney General Curt Dominick in a text message conversation that you’d been abducted by Veselov.”

She frowned. The anesthesia must still be clouding her brain. She should have seen that coming and tried a different tactic. She cleared her throat. “I thought he had, but not long after that conversation, it became clear that not only was I not his prisoner, but that he was protecting me. I’d be in Syria right now if not for Dimitri Veselov.”

“You are aware, Ms. MacLeod, we don’t need your testimony to convict him on the theft of top secret military technology.”

She shrugged. “I hear the Navy is getting it back. And he never actually touched the cases or equipment without my permission. CAM was always under my control.”

“We’re on the same side, Ms. MacLeod.”

“I’m not entirely sure of that, Agent Palea. You see, my country—the government I work for—sent me to Palau with top-secret equipment, intending to use me as a spy, without warning or assistance. That’s not feeling like the same side to me. So if you’re here hoping I’ll help you go after Dimitri, when he’s the one person who did protect me when my government failed, you’re going to be disappointed.”

He sighed. “Regardless, I need to question you.” The agent—whose name, features, and accent indicated he was hapa, if not full Hawaiian—cast a sideways glance at Luke. “I’m afraid my questions will get personal.”

This man was sent by Curt, which meant she could trust him, but in the back of her mind was the memory of FBI interrogations she’d suffered right after Patrick’s arrest. They hadn’t always played fair, and a few agents had twisted her words to make her sound like she’d confessed to something she’d known nothing about. Up until the night in the mangrove swamp, it had been one of the scariest experiences of her life.

“Lt. Sevick stays,” she said firmly.

Agent Palea cleared his throat. “Fine, then. I understand you had sexual relations with Veselov on the night you were attacked in the mangrove swamp. Did that relationship continue after you were made aware Veselov was a Russian spy?”

Curt stroked Mara’s back as she leaned against him on the sofa. He had at least a half-dozen calls to make, but right now he needed to be a husband, and holding Mara was his number one priority.

She’d been battling severe nausea from the moment Ivy disabled CAM’s tracking beacon, likely a combination of stress and morning sickness, but the result had been difficulty keeping food down and he’d been worried for her and their unborn child.

She’d managed to eat and hold down a decent-sized meal after Luke called to say Ivy was back in Koror, but the news that she’d been shot had tempered their relief.

“I can’t help but feel like it’s my fault, Curt. I was so excited we finally got the funding for the survey, I didn’t question why.”

He kissed her temple. She’d been beating herself up for days, and no amount of talking could convince her she was blameless. It didn’t help that she was more than a little angry with him for telling Ivy to cooperate with the assassin.

He blamed himself too.

He’d fucked up, but from what Luke had told him, Veselov had protected Ivy. Zack Barrow had been the one who fired the shot.

Without Veselov, Ivy could well be en route to Syria right now.

His cell phone rang, vibrating against his chest where Mara pressed against him. She leaned back and pulled the phone from his breast pocket.

“It can wait,” Curt said.

She frowned at the screen. “It’s Fredrickson from the DIA. You’d better take it.”

“I’ll call him back.”

“What if they’ve called another damn meeting and left you out of the loop?”

Mara was right. Fredrickson was the only person within the DIA who kept Curt informed in a timely manner. He took the phone and swiped the screen to answer. “Rudy. What’s up?”

“The briefing I just received on the situation in Palau is pretty ugly for Ivy MacLeod. The boys here know they fucked up, and now it sounds like they’re going to hang MacLeod out to dry. There’s even speculation she and Veselov were colluding from the start.”

Curt’s head throbbed, and the look on Mara’s face as she took in his reaction to words she couldn’t hear made him worry for her health.

“That’s bullshit, and everyone knows it.”

“I wish it were that simple, but there is evidence she called Veselov twice prior to her departure for Palau.”

Dimitri held the satellite phone in one hand and Ian Boyd’s business card in the other. He needed to know how Ivy was doing. One call. He might even get to speak with her.

But every contact was a risk. Raptor might have technology to track his location through the phone.

It was easier this way. It would hurt Ivy, but she was going to hurt no matter what.

He shoved Boyd’s card back in his pocket and dialed the number he’d memorized months ago and which he’d been reporting in to on a weekly basis, a requirement of their bargain. The phone was answered on the first ring.

The Russian on the other end of the line used a voice distorter as before. Dimitri didn’t know if the person was male or female, young or old. “You have acquired the AUUV?”

“Not yet,” he said in Russian. “But I expect to find it soon.”

“You are taking too long, Veselov. Your sister suffers while you waste time fucking the cartographer.”

He tightened his jaw against issuing a denial. Nothing he could say would protect Ivy. The person was fishing for a response. He wouldn’t fall into that trap. “Send your man to collect the AUUV. Have him wait at the new resort in Koror. I will have it in two days.”

“We wish to amend our arrangement.”

“No fucking way. You will release Sophia and Yulian, or you won’t get the AUUV.”

“We will still release your sister and nephew. That hasn’t changed.”

“There is nothing else you can offer me that I want.”

“Not even your own life? A chance to be with the cartographer?”

Were they fishing, or did they know something? If they had an inside man in the FBI, CIA, or DIA, then everything Ivy said would reach his handler’s ears.

“We’ll release you from your commitments to Mother Russia,” the person on the line continued, “if you kill Luke Sevick as you were ordered to do last fall.”

“No. I won’t kill for you again.”

“You don’t understand, Veselov, this isn’t up for negotiation. If you don’t kill Luke Sevick, Ivy MacLeod will die.”