Keeping Thyme (Thyme Trilogy) (15 page)

Tatiana reaches into her personalised monogram Louis Vuitton bag and pulls out a packet of Cartier cigarettes, just like we used to smoke when we were teenagers. I look around the bar area. Out of the dozen people sitting here, we’re the only ones
not
smoking.

“Do you still smoke?” She holds the packet out towards me.

I smile. “No, but I will for old time’s sake.”

I reach for a cigarette and just as I put it in my mouth, Tench approaches with a lighter.

“I didn’t know you smoked, Miranda.” He smiles, but it’s not an overly happy smile.

“I don’t anymore.” I draw back on the cigarette as Tench holds the
flame to my mouth.

“But she did at ballet school
,” Tatiana adds. “Do you remember how we were the only ones who used to smoke, so we were forever trying to cover our bad habit?”

I laugh at the
rebellious teenager memory and Tench laughs along with me. I look over to Tatiana and realise that our lives didn’t end up so different in the end. I’d always thought we were polar opposites in school, when we were actually very similar from the start. We both smoked when it was against the norm in ballet. Just when I always believed that we were so opposite to one another as teenagers, here we are ten years on and we’re not so different after all.

There’s one thing we share in common with one another that led us to this point. We both use
d our bodies to get ahead in life. Does that make us prostitutes, or smart? Tatiana will go on forever being a prima ballerina that has men falling at her feet and criminals willing to protect her. I will always be the bitch who took Joe Tench down.

Tench takes a seat next to me and Luka conveniently sits next to Tatiana.
I lean on my left arm and touch my Shadow of Love diamond. Rubbing it, I realise my brother has been listening to everything tonight. There’s a lot of my life that we certainly didn’t go into too much detail about. Then my eye catches my new sparkly engagement ring and I smile.
Shit.
I am in so much trouble tomorrow.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Relishing in the
idea of me being good friends with the city’s most celebrated prima ballerina, Tench agrees to Tatiana and I venturing out for the day on our own. What I realised as much as Tench no doubt did, is that I will be far from alone with Tatiana. Not only will he have his men shadowing us, Tatiana alone draws enough of a crowd. Paparazzi and adoring fans follow her wherever she goes.

I need to do an immediate reconnaissance on the surrounding park as soon as we get to the Bronze Horseman statue, and find somewhere to meet that isn’t a public café.
The media can’t see us talking with my brother in Russia. They would already have photographs of him when I met him and Liz in Sydney, and all it’d take would be some slimeball like Dimi to read the local paper, show it to Tench and catch me out.

I dress fashionabl
y while I’m with Tatiana. From what she’s said so far, people love seeing what she’s wearing every day. We can actually use this to our advantage. I keep my hotel robe on until Tench leaves the suite for the morning so he doesn’t know what I’m wearing for the day, then I slip into a very structured navy-blue Armani suit, and wear high red suede pumps that have thicker heels to make it easier to run in, but still don’t compromise on style. I tie a red and white nautical Hermes scarf around the strap to my navy Kelly bag, and lastly tussle my fingers through my hair to loosen my waves and make them more Aussie beach girl and less
Hi,
I’m a secret agent everyone
.

“Simon or Liz
, if you’re listening to this, get a car and wait around the park somewhere. I’ll wear the Shadow of Love necklace today to give you instructions on where to meet us. I think we’ll need to plan a hot extraction to get Tatiana and I out of the public eye,” I say into the necklace as I clasp it around my neck.

Smearing my favourite new red lipstick across my lips, I pucker them across the mirror and leave a nice little mark behind
; a message for anyone who comes back here with Tench, so they can see that I’m around. It’s just another reminder why I am better off away from this life. I can’t stand the thought of Tench being with other women then have him confesses his love for me when we’re together. I just don’t get why men are like that.

These men are different. These men make a living off selling girls. This isn’t even prostitution
; this is worse. This is the sex trade.
Trade!
That’s what Tench calls it, the
trade
. He also said he wants to get out of it? But there’s no way Dima is going to let him back out that easy. I know men, and everything about Dima makes my skin crawl. I have a feeling Dima is the true mastermind behind the whole operation, and he is bad news.

A light tap on the front door interrupts the string of theories
going on inside my head. I open it to Tatiana smiling and looking breathtaking in a multi-coloured Pucci dress. Her green eyes flash up from under her very fashionable silk blush-pink turban. She smiles her dazzling smile. I love seeing her again.

I greet her with a tight hug, “You’re so cute. Look at you … Come in
,” I offer.

“Wow
, Mi. You look stunning.”

I look around the hallway quickly but no on
e is around. “Be careful calling me that,” I whisper.

“But my nickname is Tia and you’re Mia.” She winks, “
The joke’s on everyone else.” She raises a white-gloved hand as she giggles.

She steps into the suite and throws the white cape that she was holding over the back of a chair and places her small white Chanel bag next to it. She is so delicate and everything about her is well put together
. It all seems a long way from the days where we were borrowing each other’s cheap Sportsgirl outfits.

“So there are a couple of changes about today. We’re going to have to make a quick dash for it when a crowd of protesters starts up. I think our best bet will be to have a car waiting to get us out of the area completely. That way we can lose any tails following us and you can give my brother and Liz every bit of information you can about the whole operation.”

Tatiana looks down and shrugs her shoulders. “What’s going to happen when they find out that I was part of all this, Mi? You don’t understand what these men do to girls like us. When they find out you were an undercover agent all this time, they will surely kill both of us.”

Her furrowing brow
shows her worry. I put my arm around her to reassure her, “Don’t worry, babe. I have everything covered. They won’t even know I’m part of it, so they will never know about you. After I’m gone, your life will be as it was.”

Her green eyes peer at me. I can see that this isn’t exactly comforting news to her. There’s something more that she’s not telling me. Despite having the immaculate shell Tatiana’s created on the outside, I finally see there’s so much sadness on the inside.

“Come on. Let’s have some fun with these guys today.” I wink at her as I grab her cape and head for the door.

“How do you
know if anyone is following you?” Tatiana asks nervously as we stroll along the street.

“There’s a few ways you can tell.” I slide my sunglasses on and have a quick glance around the street.

I see two men standing on the bridge talking and pointing towards the Church of the Savior on the Blood at the end of the canal.

“Okay
, let’s just try something. See those two guys in black standing on the bridge?” I look at Tatiana and tip my head towards the men.

“Yes.”

“They’re following us,” I reply.

She smiles
. “But how do you know that?”

“We’ll quickly make a stop
-off into the Dom Knigi bookstore. We’ll slowly take a walk around the books and make sure they’ve seen us, and then we’ll leave out of the exit that gets us onto the rear lane. We’ll stop for coffee in the lane somewhere and I can guarantee that we’ll see them again within minutes.”

Tatiana giggles.

We walk into the grand bookstore that I was in yesterday and do everything I suggest. We stroll across the laneway to the coffee shop on the opposite side of the lane and take a seat at a table and order a coffee. Within three minutes—quicker than I anticipated—the two men come out of the same exit we just did and stop to look around the lane. I smile and wave at them as soon as they spot us. Tatiana giggles. The men look at one another and one of them pulls out his phone as they walk off towards the main street, Nevsky Prospect.

“How did you know they were the ones following us?” Tatiana asks and takes a sip of her coffee.

“They looked completely out of place amongst the families and tourists who were looking at the church on the bridge. How many big guys do you know who would stop and appreciate the beauty of this city together like that? And neither one of them had a camera, taking photos like the rest.”

She chuckles again
. “Good point. You’re very clever, Miranda.”

“Not really
. They’re just not very bright.”

T
atiana’s entire body relax a little. She settles back into her chair as she understands that she is in safe hands with me.

I check the time on my watch and see it’s ten thirty. There’s two hours left before the protesters start up at the Bronze
Horseman statue. I still need to locate the babushka doll stand and find the best spot for a hot extraction where no one will see us get into the car.

We walk along the Prospect and pass another beautiful canal framed by a line of tall buildings either side. The needlepoint tower of the Russian Navy’s Admiralty building is getting bigger as we get closer to Alexander Park. As we reach the end of the Prospect, I see the most spectacular palace to the left of us. I can’t help but gasp.

“It’s magnificent isn’t it?” Tatiana she smiles. “I never ever tire of the magnificence of this city. Why do you think it never interested me to come home after being away for over ten years? This is home to me. I would never have had these kinds of opportunities in Australia. Even if I am owned here.”

That’s it. There’s the sadness. These guys control everything Tatiana does. She is their little Russian doll. They do whatever they want with her, whenever they want.

“So who has you at the moment?” I urge her to speak.

“No one
, really. Although Luka wants more, and I do too, but I am used goods now. Half of the Russian government have had their piece of me. They come to my theatre; they sit in the private balcony that you were in. I dance for them, and then I get sent home with whomever they need to influence the most at the time.”

Her words are morose, but she makes it sound
like there is no way out of this merciful situation when all she needs to do is give up the ballet. They allow her to be the prima ballerina, as long as they all get a piece of her. My heart breaks for the girl who was Kira Pemberton She paid some price for her need to be the best ballerina in the city.

“How do they get these other girls? Do you know?” I ask as we walk through the lush green gardens before the Bronze Horseman.

“They mostly find them in the country villages in eastern Russia. The girls are told they will get a chance at a new life. They’re promised the world. Their families are paid more money than they would ever make in a lifetime, which isn’t much, and then they are brought into St Petersburg and shipped off internationally. Mainly to Australia I think, but I know they have branched out further recently, and now they send them anywhere. Joe Tench is the most essential component to it all, from what Luka tells me, and has all the contacts for overseas.”

I think about what she’s telling me for a moment. Is this where Miss Stephanie fits into the picture? Is she helping Tench import girls into the country? She would have the contacts
; not Tench. My mind spins wildly at the possibilities. I told Nick months ago that I had a feeling Miss Stephanie had something to do with all of it, and I just know I’m right. But I still can’t work out is why Tench had Sally murdered? Was she going to expose all of it? Who was she going to expose it to?

I see the massive statue of the Bronze Horseman ahead of us
. “Let’s go and sit on that bench and watch the crowd for a while. I need to see exactly how many tails we have following us.”

A shorter round man with a wispy comb
-over runs up to us, shooting fast Russian at Tatiana very excitedly. He pats all of his pockets desperately trying to find something. I shoot a look at her and she winks.

“A fan. He’s looking for a pen and paper for me to sign.” She laughs.

The man’s commotion causes a few other onlookers to take notice of Tatiana and I standing at the rear end of the statue. A couple of mothers lean down to their small children and point in our direction. Within an instant the little girls tug at their mother’s sleeves, begging to come over to us. I smile and nod, and they rush over. They all start firing off their praises to Tatiana and she graciously dips her head in appreciation. When the little girls approach her, she bobs down and starts speaking to them gently in their native tongue.