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Krakow, Poland
Thursday, 28 January, 6:21 p.m.
––––––––
I pushed the dinner trolley out of the suite and locked the door. With my back against the door, I studied Ivana and wondered how she ended up in the BSS. "Aren't you tired of all the faces you see every time you close your eyes?"
"Your tricks won't work on me. Do what you want; blood eagle me if you wish, but I won't help you kill my son."
I made myself comfortable on the coffee table in front of her and placed my hands on hers. Part comforting gesture, part because I knew how lethal her hands are. "I don't think Piotr is killing these people because he wants to. He's working for someone and that's the person I want."
Ivana didn't remove her hands from mine, neither did she lunge at me. I took this as a good sign. She's tired. I felt her exhaustion, the weight of what she had carried for far too long. I wondered if she ever admitted to anyone else that she had a son. The woman in front of me wasn't a ruthless assassin, a black ops operative, or a soldier. This was a mother desperate to keep her son safe. There's nothing in this world I won't do to protect my daughter, even if it means going as far as my mother had to protect Lizzie and me. Even though she couldn't have known how futile her sacrifice would be in the long run. Don't go back there.
"If you tell me the truth, you have my word I won't take Piotr's life. Have you ever told anyone? Or did you push it into the darkest corner of your soul, convincing yourself whatever you did is for the greater good? Even if it meant someone else, strangers, raised your son?"
Ivana pulled her hands from mine and covered her face. "Why do you think Piotr's involved with an assassin?"
"Serial killer, not assassin." Aidan remained in the desk chair, his right ankle resting on his left knee.
A deep line formed between her eyes. "Piotr won't help a serial killer. He's a good man. A better person than Ivar and I ever dreamed he would be."
"Why did you train him? The years he spent in Wojska Specjalne couldn't have taught him everything he knows. No, both you and Ivar trained Piotr. Why?" The answer was in front of me but for the life of me I couldn't grab it by the neck.
"Years spent in what?" Ivana asked.
Aidan smiled. "Please excuse Kelly, her Polish isn't fluent. She knows a few swear words. He spent twelve years in the Polish Armed Forces, of which ten was in Wojska Specjalne."
The years Ivana and Ivar had spent training Piotr made him stand out from the other soldiers, and this led to his quick transfer to the Polish Special Forces. We had learned enough about Piotr during the flight from Moscow to realise taking him out wouldn't be easy for any of us. Not in close combat. He was as much a human weapon as anyone working for Fortius.
"He's here now. It won't be difficult to locate him and put a bullet in his pretty face. I don't want to kill your son, Ivana. I will. If it puts me closer to the serial killer we're hunting."
Not a single word formed on her lips or came from her mouth.
"Max Jefferson, aka Oleg Petrov, said all roads lead to Bergia. Piotr has been photographed with Princess Ylva."
When I said Jefferson's name, Ivana's eyes lifted to mine. With nothing to lose, I followed my gut instinct. "Lieutenant General Volkov. Bill and Cora Fontanilla. Carlos and Luciana Hernandez. Isaac Johnson. Who am I missing?"
Isaac Johnson being the father of the woman who owned the modelling agency in Australia, and a member of their parliament. No concrete evidence linked him to the paedophile ring, but worth a shot throwing his name out there to see if Ivana knew more than we did.
Ivana took a deep breath and stood. She walked to the window and stared out over Krakow. Not her place of birth, but Piotr's. "I have your word no harm will come to Piotr?"
"Yes, we'll spare his life." I joined her, placing my hand on her shoulder.
She snorted a laugh. "You're clever with your words, but you forget I've been in this game much longer than you. I want your word that my son will remain free. To tell me he will live is one thing, I don't want him to spend the rest of his days locked in a cage like Ivar. Not when all Piotr has done is for the greater good of our people."
Aidan spoke before I could. He was, after all, the commanding officer. "It depends on what you tell us. As the acting head of Fortius you have my word that Piotr won't be harmed, and left to live his life. As long as he stays within the confines of our laws."
Ivana turned to Aidan. "You are your father's son, Aidan Walker. Your wife isn't too bad herself. What I want is a position for Piotr in the organisation as an ally; he'll be a valuable asset to you in the future. Either you bring him onboard, or I won't say a single word. With your help, this can be much easier and faster than if he keeps going at it alone."
Aidan picked up his mobile phone and switched on the speaker. He relayed Ivana's request to Ryan.
"Ivana, as Aidan said, it all comes down to what you tell them. We will take Piotr in if he passes all the required physical and psychological assessments. The same ones you had to go through. Do we have a deal?"
Before Ivana could answer, Heather's voice came loud through the speaker. "My dear friend, aren't you tired of all the lies you kept for most of your life? Let's end this here and now. You can retire and know that Piotr is protected by us, the same way you've been for many years."
"Why is Ivar in prison?" I asked.
Ivana turned towards the window. "He failed his mission."
I lifted my arms, palms facing the ceiling. "Which was?"
"Assassinating Lieutenant General Volkov. The man responsible for the disappearances of countless Russian children."
I showed her a photo of Volkov's decapitated head. Tears streamed down her face. "The children will be safe. Until the next one takes Volkov's place."
"I need blueprints of Black Dolphin and everything and anything we'll need to ensure our mission doesn't fail."
Aidan stepped forward and placed his hands on my shoulders. "You want to break him out of prison? It's one of the most secure prisons in the world. It's impossible."
"Challenge accepted. I won't stand by and allow another man to suffer in that hell for a crime he didn't commit."
An emotion filled Ivana's face, one I doubted she had experienced in years. Hope. "I like this one. If Piotr wasn't already in love, I would've liked to have you as a daughter-in-law. You're just the right amount of crazy."
He didn't seem in love when he rubbed himself against me. "I'm not crazy, and I'm married. Your son is rather handsome, but very easy. Not my type. I prefer my men a little more dangerous."
"You reached your quota on verbal foreplay for the day," Rowan said, waving his finger at me. "I like the idea of breaking into Black Dolphin. What's the plan?"
"Blueprints, and everything else, then I'll tell you my plan. Aidan can run the variables, probabilities, the other whatnots and thingies for us. Then he'll tell me it can't be done, and I'll remind him – where there's a will, there's a way."
Aidan shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm not even going to explain it to you – again – if you're just going to keep calling it whatnots and thingies. It's a good thing you're so damn sexy, lethal, and I happen to like your crazy ideas. You keep me on my toes and challenge me. You're a valuable asset to this organisation."
Ivana studied both of us with a sly grin on her face. "I bet she's even better in bed; but that you learned later. It's not the reason you fell for her; like Ivar and I saw something else in each other. The same fire burns between the two of you, feeding off each other as an energy source." She made us sound like fire vampires.
I turned to Ivana. "Your son will live and your lover will return to you. Whatever you tell us better be worth the risks we'll be taking."
Ivana wrapped her arms around me and whispered, "The tale I'm about to tell you is as dark and unsuitable for the ears of children as they come."
"Oh, like most original fairy tales then?"
"No, my dear. This one is worse than anything ever written. For it is written with the blood of innocent children. The author's blood is blue."