Firebird (39 page)

“All the more reason for me to encourage him to be a Baranski benefactor.”

“Stay away from him, Red.  He gave the Firebird file to Fraser for a reason.  I won’t rest until I know why.”

“All the more reason to find Ivan, then.”

“Right.  Rossinski, Karpasian, Zacaria.”

“And Ivan could be any one of them.  They’re all smart, ambitious, charming.  They like discussing politics, art, skiing.  Good restaurants.  I keep thinking that I heard something important, but it won’t come.”  She shrugged, looked up at him.   “Yet.  But there are three new messages on my cell.  Rens Karpasian, asking me to call him.  And Zee Zacarias, inviting me to dinner.”

Garcia raised an eyebrow.  “See what Karpasian wants.  And find a way to put off Zacarias.”

“Depends on the restaurant.”  Her look was enigmatic. 

“And the third?”  He already knew her answer.

“An aide to the Senator, inviting me to a fundraiser in New York.”  She shook her head.  “It’s Senator Rossinski who raises the biggest flag for me.  I don’t trust his ambition.  He could run for President in four more years.  I know his papers say he was born in this country, but what if he wasn’t?”

Garcia stared at her.

“What?” she demanded.

“When are you going to take your head out of the sand, Red?”  He waited a heartbeat.  When she looked stubbornly away he said, “Hitchcock.
Dial M for Murder
.”

“What on earth are you getting at?”

“Your brother-in-law.  Anthony Rhodes.  He’s one of the old Lions as well.”

“Anthony?  You can’t be serious!  No more late-night movies for you, Garcia.  Anthony may be one of the Lions but he would never have hurt Eve!  He
loved
her.”

He could see the two angry sparks in her cheeks.  “Last night I watched Rhodes lace his coffee with vodka.  He’s favored to be the next Secretary of State.  He has that scar on his temple…”

“He got hurt when he was thrown from a horse years ago, damn you.  He’s a
hero
, not a murderer.  He went to Yale, studied at Cambridge.  He fought in Viet Nam, helped organize an escape route in Germany while the Wall was up, he - ”

He held out his hands, backing off.  “Okay, so he’s a saint.  A saint who – oh, what do you know - had means, motive, opportunity.  I know you don’t want to hear this, Chica, but he could be Saint Dagger-In-The-Toga.  Don’t you think you should keep Juliet away from him until we have all the answers?”

Alexandra stood up.  “You’re right.  I
don’t
want to hear it.  Juliet is safe with Anthony,” she said coldly, “and so am I.”  She stiffened.  “My God.  You’ve suspected Anthony all along?  You
wanted
me to ask you for help.”  She shook her head back and forth.  “You gave me your business card in Maine, so that I would know where to find you.  You
played
me, damn you!”

He frowned down at her.  Enough, he cautioned himself.  Now was definitely not the time to tell her that he’d been re-assigned to the National Security Division at Justice.  That his Chief knew all about the search for Ivan.  Or that he was running the counterespionage investigation now.  Not now, when she was just beginning to trust him. 

Don’t scare her away.  You need to keep her close, know what she’s doing.  She’s safer if she doesn’t know.  Just hold on to her trust.

“I gave you my card because Eve was my friend, and I thought you might need help.”  He ignored the unfamiliar stab of guilt.  Dagger in the toga…  “Anthony Rhodes is one of the Lions, Chica.  So help me prove his innocence.”

Her chin came up.  “Count on it.”

“Good.  Because this is far from finished.”

“But I feel finished,” she said quietly.  “I don’t know what else I can do.”

“You gave it your best shot, Red.”

“But it wasn’t enough!  Oh, damn, don’t you see?  I told Jules I’d find out what happened to her mother.  Now I’m going back to New York without the answers.  I’ve broken
another
promise to that child.”

“It’s
my
job to go after the monsters, Alexandra, not yours.  Your girls need you home.   But I won’t stop until we have Ivan.”  He smiled at her.   “That’s a fact.”

She was slipping the Firebird brooch into its velvet pouch.  “What’s this?”  Squinting, she held the bit of velvet under the light.  “From your hands to mine, Eve,” murmured Alexandra.  She held out the pouch.  “Maybe it’s not over after all.  This could be the next link in our chain, Garcia.”

Tiny gold letters, in script, were stamped on the black velvet.  “
LP
,” she read aloud.

“LP.  Lucky Pin?  Loopy Partner?  Jewelry isn’t my best event, Red.”

“Leonard Pfisterer,” she smiled.

He snapped his fingers.  “He was my next guess.  And he is?”

“The court jeweler who designed for Czarina Alexandra in St. Petersburg.” 

“How do you
know
this stuff?”

“I read a lot.”  Her eyes shined at him. 

“You’re exhausting, Chica, you know that?”

“Charles Fraser wrote that the Firebird Operation was conceived in Leningrad during the Cold War, that this brooch was found with the KGB file, and he gave it to Eve for safekeeping.”

He saw where she was heading.  “So the brooch Eve hid is the original.  And if
you
are holding it now, what brooch was used to activate the agent?” 

“Yes!  We know there was at least one copy.  Researching the provenance is something I can do in New York.” 

He held out his hand.  “I don’t want you leaving here with that pin,” he told her. 

She opened her mouth to argue, and he said quickly, “You and the girls will be safer with the brooch in my possession.”

She searched his face, unsure of his motives, then shook her head.  “I’m doing the research, I’m going to need it.  No one knows I have it with me, they think it’s safely hidden in New York.  And I’ll make very sure it’s safe.”  Reaching for her cell phone, she snapped three close up photographs of the Firebird from different angles.  “I’ll email these to you right away.”

She pinned the brooch to the inside of her waistband as she moved toward the steps.

“Just don’t let Rhodes know that you have it.”  You fool, he thought, nothing good will come from this conversation.

She swung around, anger flaming on her cheeks.  “Why won’t you let this go?”

“Because it’s the right thing, Alexandra.”

“And you don’t care if someone gets hurt?”

“I care,” he said softly.  “But I can’t let it stop me.”

“Maybe I was wrong about you.”

“I’m done with breaking the rules, dammit.  If I do, then I’m no better than the monsters I’m chasing.”

“It’s my fight, Garcia. 
My
sister!”

“
My
rules.”

“Do what you have to do, then.  I have a flight to catch.  I’m leaving.”  She spun away from him.

“Alexandra.  Don’t walk away from me like this.” 
I don’t know when I’ll see you again
.  Without thought, he reached for her, gripped her jacket.

She stopped, swung around, stared at him with defiance. 

He reached out to grasp the two ends of the scarf around her neck.  Slowly, slowly he pulled her close.  Bent to her.  He could feel her breath warm on his lips, see his reflection in the shocked mirrors of her eyes.  “Stay with me, Chica,” he said hoarsely.

She tensed in his arms.  For a long moment there was only the sound of their breathing as she stared up at him.  Their eyes locked.   Unable to stop himself, he raised his hand to her throat, felt her pulse leap under his palm.  He cupped her face, very gently, in his hands.  Rubbed his thumb across her lips.  Her skin was soft, warm against his.

She made a sound like a sigh and closed her eyes.  Her body softened, melted, leaned into him.  Very slowly, she raised her face to his.

His lips brushed her forehead.  Moved over her eyes, down her cheek.

Desire, sudden and fierce, stunned him.

He tilted her chin, until her mouth was a breath away from his...

Her eyes flew open, and she froze.  Then he felt her hands on his chest, hard, pushing him away.  “No!  Damn, damn.  I can’t do this...”

“Alexandra,” he whispered.  “Jesus.  I shouldn’t have, I had no right to - Bad timing, Chica.”

“God.  God.”  She spun away, ran toward the steps to the dock.  Hoover ran after her, barking.

“Stay, Hoove.”  And then, “Don’t do this, Red.”

He stopped, Hoover straining against his hip, and watched her flag a taxi parked at the end of the marina.  Watched as she passed her luggage to the driver, the scarf around her neck flashing blue in the morning light, and disappeared into the cab.  Watched as the taxi sped away.  She never looked back.

Christ, he thought.  She’s getting to you. 
A too-complicated woman with mirrored eyes who loves Puccini and Modern Art and old stained glass
.  So fine and beautiful.  And those damned eyes, the way they held the light…  What the devil was he thinking?  

The Lab settled with a despondent sigh by an empty chair and turned his head away.  Et tu, Hoover?

“Okay, so I blew it.   The woman just walked away from me, and I let her go.”  Hoover chose not to respond.

Garcia gazed out at the empty pier.  All those years, he thought, building her wall of anger and pain.  What would it take to bring down that wall?  He’d never know.  Now she was off to New York, gone for good.  And all he had was a Casablanca goodbye.  Just without the rain.

For a long time he stood at the rail, still seeing an image of a woman with dawn firing her hair and a dog asleep at her feet, while the sea whispered against the hull and the high clouds tangled in flame.

CHAPTER 41

“...a brooch of gold ful sheene...”

Chaucer

NEW YORK CITY

Stay with me
.

Three small words, but so profoundly unsettling. 

Alexandra gazed around the narrow, non-descript hotel room tucked away in Manhattan’s Upper West Side.  Kicking off her shoes, she dropped her suitcase on the bed as the words played over and over in her head. 

Stay with me
.

He’d said those words to her on the cliff in Maine.  And on the narrow wooden bridge over the Potomac River, where her sister had died.  And again in Middleburg, when blackness threatened.

But this time, it was different.   This time, that moment on the boat…  When he had touched her. 
God, when he had touched her
.  Come so close to kissing her.  She had
wanted
him to – and he knew it.  Sweet Mary.  That moment could not be ignored, no matter how much she tried.  But now here she was, back in New York, and he was back in Washington.  How did I let my guard down? she asked herself.  And where do I go from here?

The scarf he’d given her was still knotted around her neck.  It was the color of lupines.  She pictured him, grasping the scarf, pulling her slowly, slowly closer.  God.  She held the soft wool to her lips, breathing in the sea-scent of him. 

With an oath, she pulled the scarf loose.  Just keep pushing him away, she told herself.  Protect yourself.

A soft knock on the door scattered the images.  Just as well, thought Alexandra, opening the door.  Her daughter darted like a bright firefly into the room, followed by her nanny.

“Ruby!  Oh, Liv!”

“Welcome home,” said Olivia Manning with a broad smile and tight hug.   

“It’s good to be back in New York, Liv.  I can’t thank you enough for meeting me here.”  Alexandra held out her right arm to her little girl.  “Come to Mama, Ruby.”

Ruby gave an unintelligible cry as she buried her face against her nanny’s leg.  “Hush, Ruby, hush,” crooned Olivia.

Alexandra swallowed.  “Will she ever call me Mama, do you think?” 

Olivia shook her head.  “Of course!  She’s been cooped up, that’s all.  Too much cloak and dagger and not enough fresh air.  Are you sure it’s safe for you to be here?”

“Only Garcia knows I’m at this hotel.  Your brother will be with us all afternoon.  And Garcia has extra security for Ruby 24/7.” 

“You trust him.”

It was a statement, not a question.  Alexandra thought for a moment.  “With Ruby, yes.”

Olivia just smiled at her.  “Nice scarf,” she said.  “New?”

Alexandra shot her a don’t-go-there look.  “This should all be over soon.  I found something, Liv, in Anthony’s stable.  A brooch, in the shape of a firebird, hidden by Eve.   It’s the best lead we have to my sister’s killer.  I have an appointment with an expert on Russian jewelry after we see Ruby’s doctor.”

She lifted her chin and approached her daughter.   With a small wince she removed the sling on her arm, determined to use her baby signing.  She sat down on the floor in front of her daughter. 

“Your Mama’s here now, Ruby,” she said as she signed the word ‘mother’ with her thumb under her chin and fingers spread, and then the word ‘home’ with her fingertips making a roof.  “I’ve missed you - and I have a big surprise.  We’re going to walk through Central Park and see our friend Doctor Weinberger!”

Alexandra smoothed the crimson curls.  Ruby lifted her tear-stained face and smiled shyly.

Alexandra held out her arms and this time Ruby reached for her.  Cradling her child against her chest, she inhaled her daughter’s sweet scent and whispered, “When all this is over, Ruby, I’ll find a way for us to be together more.  We’re going to live in a real house, a home with swings, and windows without bars.  And we’ll get a dog.   A
big
dog!”  She grinned at Olivia as she signed the word ‘dog’ with her middle finger against her thumb.

Olivia made a rude sound followed by a gesture of her own as she pushed the carriage toward Alexandra and held out Ruby’s bright red jacket.  “Danny is waiting for you in the hallway.  He won’t let you out of his sight.  We’ll talk about the dog tonight.  Just be careful.  Good luck at the doctor’s office.”  She tossed the sling at Alexandra.  “And put this contraption back on, for goodness sake, I can see you still need it.”