Russian Law (Law Series ) (Volume 1) (18 page)

Elena
gave him a smile. “You know you’re wasted in the public sector right, SVR could
really use you.”

“Call
me crazy Elena, but I don’t particularly want to work for the agency that wants
to hang you out to dry.”

Elena
conceded.

“One
more thing Dmitry,” Lucas said. “You mind giving us a lift?”

Chapter 19

Dmitry
pulled up
out the front of Moscow Leningradsky Station. He set the car in park and waited
for Elena and Lucas to get out. The two of them had been trying to come up with
a plan on the ride over. They hadn’t been able to come to an understanding.

“We
should call Mishkin,” Elena had said.

Lucas
shook his head. “What if he’s involved?”

Exasperated
she glared at him. “Well we can’t exactly walk into the summit guns blazing now
can we? Isn’t that
your
plan?”

Dmitry
grinned like the Cheshire Cat. “That’s rather a suicide mission isn’t it? Those
FSB boys don’t fool around.”

“When
I get to the station I’ll call Jim,” he said simply.

Elena
got huffy. “And how is it we can trust your boss and not mine?”

He
turned around in his seat and leaned close to her. “Because my boss doesn’t get
anything out of this either way.”

“And
mine does?” she said indignantly.

“We
just don’t know that. Really who are you defending, Mishkin? Why in God’s name
are you defending the gnome that sent his henchmen after you?”

She
sent him a look that chilled him more than the weather outside the car could
ever do. The three of them had then turned silent for the rest of the drive.
Relief came at the sight of the train station. Elena leaned forward and hugged
her brother from the back seat.

“Take
care of yourself you hear?” he said.

She
nodded. “Be good, and Dmitry?” he looked at her, waiting. “We are going to talk
about that dummy account when I get home.”

Now
it was Lucas’s turn to grin, the woman certainly didn’t let things slide.
“Let’s go Elena.”

They
got out of the car, Elena taking the bag containing their two guns and
additional ammo with her and stepped out of the snow under the cover of the
station. Lucas shook Dmitry’s hand.

“If
you don’t like SVR you can always try the CIA.”

“Thank
you Lucas, I’ll keep that in mind,” Dmitry promised.

“You
do that.” He had one foot out the door when he turned back to Dmitry.
“Oh...could I borrow your cell?”

Dmitry
nodded and pulled the cell from his pocket. He held on tight when Lucas went to
take it from him.

“Remember
if anything happens to her, you my friend are going to have firsthand knowledge
of playing Russian roulette. Only they’d be more than one bullet in the
chamber, clear?”

Lucas
nodded. “Clear, you’re a good man Dmitry. I hope I have the opportunity to see
you again.”

“Let’s
make it under better circumstances next time shall we?
Do svidaniya
Lucas.”

“And
you Dmitry.” Lucas stepped back from the car, pocketing the cell phone. He
tapped the roof of the car and Dmitry drove away. Elena held her hand up and
waved goodbye.

Lucas
joined her and together they walked into the station. They were both wearing
beanies and scarves taking care to keep their identities hidden. They were so
close now. So close to the action and still have time to do something about it.
He wanted nothing to interfere with their plans. Of course that usually meant
something will. They boarded first class and made their way to their
compartment going down the tight almost claustrophobic corridor.

“
Do
svidaniya
doesn’t mean you’re going to die, does it?” he asked Elena, badly
mispronouncing the word.

Elena
smiled, “No it means goodbye and its
do svidaniya,
” she replied, gently
correcting him.

Lucas
opened the door to their shared compartment and Elena collapsed on the seat,
her hair bouncing as she sat down. Lucas sat across from her, she looked so
clean and fresh and he could still smell the lavender. He knew it was going to
drive him crazy for the next four or so hours. She leant forward and regarded
him. He wondered how she was seeing him. He probably looked like homeless
person, his hair and teeth unbrushed, his shirt and pants crinkled, yesterday’s
stubble on his face. He hadn’t had the chance to clean himself up at Dmitry’s.
They had left as soon as the ink was dry on the tickets. There had been no time
to lose getting here. They were currently on the only train that would get them
to St Petersburg before the Summit was to begin.

The
snow was going to make it bad enough and the only luggage they had with them
contained their two guns. He ran his hand across his mouth subconsciously and
prayed his breath wasn’t too bad.

“That’s
it,” Elena said, snapping her fingers as she had a ‘Eureka’ moment. She smiled
at him, excitement causing her cheeks to flush. “Zimtovich was SVR’s liaison to
FSB.”

He
sat there trying to make heads or tails of what she had just said. He knew she
was speaking English of that he was sure but the rest was going in one ear and
out the other. But he didn’t want to rain on her parade and mention that it
made no sense whatsoever to him.

He
frowned, she enlightened him. “FSB stands for Federal Security Service of the
Russian Federation, the successor of the KGB.”

He
nodded, understanding up to this point so she continued, “FSB is also the
security for the President.”

Ah
– ‘Eureka’ moment, it all made sense now. He remembered back in her office, she
had mentioned that fact but at the time it had had no bearing.

“That
was Ducane’s plan all along, to wipe out both the American and Russian President’s.
Along with half the UN summit,” he added.

Elena
scoffed, “That’s rather ambitious.”

Lucas
had seen worse. “It’s the perfect opportunity, two birds – one stone.”

Elena
was right it was awfully bloody ambitious and Ducane could pull it off too.
That’s the real scary part of the plan. Most assassination attempts were so far
out of left field you weren’t even in the same state anymore.

“Well
that certainly explains why Zimtovich now fits into a body bag, he simply knew
too much.”

“What
kind of information was Zimtovich privy to?”

Elena
thought for a moment. “Presidential itinerary, Secret Service escape plans,
code words, even the President’s bathroom breaks.”

Lucas
grinned. “So basically everything, the whole kit and caboodle?”

She
nodded. The train pulled away from the station on route to St Petersburg
Moskovsky Station. Lucas looked out the window, the countryside a mash of blurs
and white dots. He pulled out the cell phone he had borrowed from Dmitry and
quickly worked out the time difference. Moscow was a good eight hours ahead
than Washington. It would be around four am in D.C. He dialed a number from
memory. Elena watched him with interest.

The
phone rang several times before it was answered. The voice croaked down the
phone line. “James Fitzgibbon.”

Lucas
could tell he had just woke his boss up. He prepared himself for the backlash. “Jim.”

He
didn’t get any further. “Goddamn it Gates, I send you to do one lousy job and
you fuck it up. This has to be a new record for you.”

He
could hear Maggie in the background telling him to calm down and hear Lucas
out. God he loved Maggie, always the level-headed one and the only person he
knew of that had balls enough to tame the James Fitzgibbon beast. No one else
dared to in fear of being shot or sent out on a suicide mission.

“Now
all that was blown way out of proportion Jim, you know that.”

Fitzgibbon
sounded like he was going to have an aneurysm. “And you involved a Russian
National while you were at it,” he scolded.

“Jim,
your ulcers,” he heard Maggie say.

“Fuck
my ulcers Maggie, when you get your ass back here Gates I’m going to tear you a
new one. Have you any idea the shit I’ve dealt with over the last forty-eight
hours because of you?”

Lucas
looked over at Elena, whose eyebrows were raised. Lucas had no doubt that Elena
could hear every word James was saying.

“Yeah
well I didn’t have a choice. We’re fine by the way, thanks for asking.”

For
a moment Lucas thought he’d hung up. “She’s with you now?”

“Yep
and do we have a story for you. Bestseller,” he told his boss and mentor as he winked
at Elena who smiled back in response.

He
could see the relief on her face. She probably thought Jim would hang him out
to dry after the crap Mishkin had more than likely been feeding him. But he
knew Fitzgibbon was made of a lot more sterner stuff. He wasn’t one to charge
an offence until he heard it from the horse’s mouth.

Lucas
started at the beginning with Nikolai’s murderer. Along to the SVR agent he
shot, to the knowledge that Ducane was here to take out the summit and oh...the
President as well. Fitzgibbon stayed quiet the entire time, only when Lucas finished
did he speak.

“Holy
fuck.”

“Yeah
tell me about it, we need some help here Jim,” Lucas stated. Elena sat forward
hanging onto every word. “Pull out all those favors you have saved, we’re going
to need all of them.”

“Okay
give me more info, when and where did you say this was going down?”

Lucas
relayed the information to him.

“Your
partner in crime doesn’t have any suggestions does she?” Jim asked.

Lucas
looked at Elena and repeated what Jim had asked. Elena thought for a moment, a
frown creasing her brow. She sat forward in her seat, excitement lighting face.

“He
could try contacting -” she broke off when Lucas handed her the phone. She took
it, handling it like it was something that would bite. He almost laughed out
loud at the sight.

“Hello?”
she said tentatively into the phone. Lucas could hear Jim’s voice booming
through but couldn’t make out the words from where he was sitting. “Yes,
Special Agent Fitzgibbon that was how it happened,” she looked up at Lucas and
smiled, turning slightly in her seat to give him her shoulder. “No sir, I made
the decision on my own.” He could hear laughter in her voice, “He did not
coerce me in any way.”

Lucas
snatched the phone from Elena. “What kind of question was that Jim?” he growled
into the phone. He could hear Jim and Maggie chuckling on the other end.

“Give
me the phone Lucas,” Elena held out her hand and gave him a stern look. Like a
naughty child who had taken something he wasn’t supposed to, he placed the
phone back in her hand. “I apologize for the rude interruption sir,” she said
while glowering at Lucas. “Yes. I understand. Permission to shoot him if
necessary, I will, thank you sir.”

He
was going to kill Jim, as soon as he got home he was going to track him down
and kill him then he and Maggie won’t have to worry about the damn ulcers.

“Yes
sir, are you ready?” she listened to Jim. “The agent’s name is Alexei
Dimitrovich he would probably be on site now, tell him Elena Ivanova told you
to contact him in regards to Nikolai Nagregor. Tell him everything that Lucas
told you. He is with the FSB on Presidential duty. He will be able to remove
the President out of harm’s way.”

She
hung up and handed Lucas back the phone. “He’s a very nice man.”

Lucas
glowered at her. He could see Elena and Jim getting on well with one another.
They were both alike in many ways. He thought it would be nice to officially
introduce the two. “You’re not really going to shoot me are you?”

She
smiled. “Only if you get frisky.” Lucas’s eyebrow went up, she held up a hand
stopping him for speaking. “His words not mine.”

He
was thinking of getting frisky, that was half the problem. The scent of
lavender and gardenias wafted through the air. He inhaled the sweet smell.
Everything Elena did somehow tantalized him, aroused him. He liked how the
light shined on her silky hair, how it fell on her shoulders. He remembered how
it had felt to touch it during the brief moment when he had tucked the strands
under his beanie and that was only her hair. He imagined himself combusting if
he ever touched anywhere else on her person.

“Jim
should keep his mouth shut.”

Elena
sat back in her seat, closing her eyes. After a while Lucas looked over at her,
he could tell she wasn’t sleeping, her breathing too fast. He could practically
hear the gears moving inside her head.

“You’re
quiet,” he commented.

She
opened her eyes. “I was just thinking of Nikolai and how pissed off at him I
am.”

He
raised an eyebrow. “How so?”

She
looked at him, an expression on her face asking ‘isn’t it obvious?’ Perhaps it
was to a woman, but try as he did, he couldn’t see it.