Saving Anya (19 page)

Just then Royal walked into the room, fully dressed and escorted by Renee holding one baby and Briggy holding the other.

Royal had never once in their entire marriage interrupted a meeting at his home. Her presence threw him off guard.

“
Baby, what are you doing?” Dmitry asked, urging her in his own way to leave.

Royal ignored his cue. “I’m putting myself
in the loop
,” she said, walking into the room with a silver service of tea and cookies and placing it on the coffee table. Sitting down beside Dmitry, she crossed her legs and nodded. “I need to be a part of this. She’s my daughter, too.” Her voice pleaded and at the same time demanded his support.

Dmitry had his reservations but understood. “Fine.” He turned to Renee and Briggy. “But you two need to leave….
now
.”

Langston put a finger up in the air and the other hand over his tie. “Before you do…go,
Renee
congrats on the baby,” Langston said, waving at her. “I’m sure that Anatoly will make a great father. Where is he this morning by the way?”

Royal frowned. Pregnant? Her mouth flew open, but she quickly shut it.

Briggy did the same.

Renee was too lost for words to speak. She froze like a snapshot. No one knew about the baby but her, Anatoly, Dmitry and the doctor. And she doubted anyone of them had said a word. She looked to Dmitry for direction and explanation.

“
Ignore him, Renee. Take the babies,
please
, and leave us to talk,” Dmitry interrupted. His patience grew shorter by the minute.

Renee moved slower than Briggy, who was used to taking orders from Dmitry and had already disappeared beyond the doors a few steps ahead.

Alone again, Dmitry turned and gave Langston an admonishing stare. “Speak now or leave
now
. It’s your choice, Langston,
for the moment
, but in just a second, I’m going to throw you out on your ass.”

“
You want to discuss this in front of your wife,
Chloe or Royal
? What is she going by these days?” Langston asked Dmitry without looking at Royal.

“
Mrs. Medlov,” Dmitry said, standing up. The muscles tensed in his shoulders like he was preparing to pounce on all three men.

The sight of him - tense and unreadable - clearly made Langston uncomfortable for a minute.

“
Okay, okay.” Langston cut his games short. “I’m here to help you, Dmitry. I know that Anya has been abducted, and while I don’t have a location
yet
. I do have a name and some pertinent information that might be directly related.”

“
And what the fuck does the CIA want for this information? Nothing comes free,” Dmitry said, sitting back down.

“
You’re right there,” Langston chuckled. He paused, and the agent beside him pulled a file from his briefcase and put it into Langston’s manicured hand.

Langston dangled it like a carrot on a stick. “You’re aware of the Krysykstonia situation, right?”

“
I am,” Dmitry answered.

“
Well, in exchange for the information that I give you, I need the dictator, Berkovich, to have an
accident
. As I’m told, he’ll be traveling through Belarus in two days. You have a significant presence there. If he were to not return to Krysykstonia due to a hit by local thugs while during his stay, then the people of the country he’s currently holding hostage would be very grateful. Think about it. They could have open elections, practice their religions freely, be allowed the liberties that have been taken away from them.”

Dmitry sat quietly for a minute rationalizing his options, while Royal sat horrified by the men’s exchange. She had never in her life laid eyes on a CIA agent, and now she was actually listening to an assassination plot take form. Her heart skipped a beat in fear that he would turn it down.

On one hand, by doing this, Dmitry could potentially save their daughter, and on the other hand, if he did this, he would be upsetting an entire country. However selfish the desire, she wanted nothing more than the dictator’s head, if it meant getting Anya back alive and safe. But only Dmitry could make the call, because only he could fulfill the bargain.

She looked up at her husband in amazement of the choice that he had to make under such extreme pressure. But in his normal way, he looked back down at her with a cool exterior, barely even changing his breathing pattern.

“
Well now, I have a few other things that I’ll require if I am to do this for you,” Dmitry said in a flat monotone. He turned his attention to Langston, who sat patiently waiting.

“
Finally, we get to the negotiations,” Langston said with a smile. His thin lips spread across his perfect teeth to show a snake’s grin. His eyes told that he would consider most anything for the deed.

With fingers laced across each other and legs crossed at the knee, he narrowed his gaze on the man and in a low, clear voice Dmitry said, “I want the current death certificate for Royal to be sealed and her to resume the ability to travel in and out of the United States freely.”

Langston looked over at Royal assessing her worth quietly. “Fine,” he said, raising his brow at her. “She serves as no direct threat to the country, and she
is
a citizen.” Looking back to Dmitry he asked, “Anything else?”

Dmitry was far from finished. “Yes, I want the current investigation on my son to be dropped by the FBI.”

There was a rude snort. “Are you kidding? Former Memphis Police detective Destiny Palmer, - the one your son fucked in the pool and posted on YouTube while she was undercover - just signed a book deal with a major publishing house for her memoir,
My Night with a Mob Boss.”
Langston huffed as if the request was too much. “It’s going to be a New York Times bestseller,” he stressed.

Dmitry cut Langston off, unimpressed with his false apprehension. “I’m not done with my requests,
yet
.
And it’s all or nothing just in case you’re wondering
. You can find someone else to do your dirty work otherwise.” He took a deep breath as he contemplated what else he wanted. “I want my nephew, Gabriel Medlov, off the watch list. He’s done nothing wrong.”

“
Yet,” Langston implied. He knew well that Gabriel was here and had been commissioned to do what the Medlov’s where known for - assassination. Still, Dmitry had not asked for anything unreasonable.

Dmitry continued on. “I want a nice sea-side villa in Krysykstonia once the rightful royal family comes out of exile and resumes its position. Nothing under 7,000 square feet and nothing under $10 million.”

Langston moved in his seat. “Don’t you have enough real estate, Dmitry? You own half of the universe.”

“
You can never have enough real estate, and I want the CIA to lean on the powers that be to stop pursuing the
Victoria Jackson
situation, because you and I both know that she’s not coming back to the states any time before… judgment day,” Dmitry said, clasping his hands together.

Royal looked at Dmitry with a frown, and for the first time was sure that he had killed her former nanny. Only, like so many other sensitive points in their lives, now was not the time to discuss it either.

Of course, Dmitry could feel Royal staring at him over his shoulder, probably bubbling over with questions and accusations, but he chose to ignore it and her. After all, it was she who wanted to be
in the loop
. Now, she was.

“
So, what do you say? Do we have a deal?” Dmitry ended.

“
That’s a pretty expensive tab that you’re asking the American government to pick up,” Langston reminded Dmitry. He folded his left arm under his right elbow and cupped his chin in between his thumb and index finger. The movement so natural, you could tell he had done it a million times before.

“
Well, I’m sure you’ll make up for it with the untapped oil reserves
and
the gold
and
diamonds
and
the opium in Krysykstonia,” Dmitry said, showing his cards. He didn’t bat a single lash. He didn’t have to. He knew that Langston would bite.

Langston sucked his teeth when he realized that his cards were on the table as well. “You
are
familiar with the Krysykstonia situation, huh? Alright. So, let me get this straight. Death certificate sealed, Anatoly’s investigation ended, Gabriel off the watch list, the Victoria situation forgotten about, and a new villa for you and the wife to go and vacation with the kids in exchange for one very dead dictator?”

“
That’s right.” Dmitry waited.

“
Fine. It’s done,” Langston confirmed.

Royal exhaled a deep breath. Swallowing hard, she pinched herself to make sure that she wasn’t dreaming this. Even though she was married to Dmitry and had witnessed him do many unsettling things, this was by far the most bizarre.

Dmitry turned to her and in the sweetest voice that he could muster said, “
Darling
, go and get my black journal from my desk and bring me a phone. Any phone will do.”

Upon hearing that Langston was on his property, he had purposefully left his cell in his office, right after taking out the battery. He was quite familiar with the CIA’s ability to tap phones as long as they had a battery inside of them even if they were off. For that matter, he was also familiar with
The World News’
ability to do the same. Regardless of the fact, he planned on having this room swept for bugs the instant that his guests left.

Without a word, Royal stood up, posture erect, and excused herself out of the room. The sound of her stilettos echoed down the hall as she moved quickly, attempting to set a record time for a house errand.

All the men in the room listened carefully to her steps and when she was far enough out of earshot, Dmitry sat forward in his seat. His voice was deeper now, more sinister. “Now, about those files.” He eyed Langston.

The agent beside Langston on the left stood up and walked over to Dmitry with three files in his hands: one on the dictator and two that would help get Anya back.

“
The guy who took your daughter…his name is…” Langston snapped his fingers as he made a production out of his recollection.

“
Balthazar,” Dmitry interrupted.

“
That’s right, but you don’t have any contact information on him.” Langston knew because he had his team hack into Upheil’s computer and steal the information before deleting it from his computer right before the colonel’s untimely death. “We do, however. It’s in
that
file along with his lover’s last known whereabouts, his current banking accounts, some aliases, a few next of kin and professional and some personal affiliations. Also, we know that he’s working for someone else and that person is working with Vladimir Sidorov.” Langston’s eyes sparkled with malice as he said the name.

Dmitry looked up with an icy stare. “Vladimir Sidorov is dead,” he said in a matter-of-fact tone.

Langston put an index finger on his nose to rub in his clue. “According to whom? If you look at the composites that we have of him, they are from three months ago in Paris, France. And he looks pretty
alive
to me.”

Dmitry looked through the file quietly and then sat back disgusted. Rubbing his temples, he tried to calm his rage before it escaped from its cage.

“
He’s Khalid’s son, right?” Langston asked, repressing a grin. He already knew the answer to his question.

“
He is,” Dmitry answered. “What else do you have?”

“
In the last few months, Vladimir has been seen with the woman in those photos. We haven’t been able to get information on her, but we know that they are working together and nine times out of ten, they have Anya…
together
.”

Dmitry looked at the picture of the blonde woman and instantly recognized her.

Langston picked up on Dmitry’s sudden mood change. “She’s tall,” he commented. “Six two
without
heels. Blue eyes. Perfect features. Maybe you guys are related somehow?” Langston said, looking over at Royal who came back into the room with Dmitry’s book and phone as he had requested.

Dmitry closed the file before Royal could see the photos. “Thank you,” he said to her, taking the phone. He opened the book and pulled out a number. His eyes moved from the paper to Royal as he seemed to be calculating something in his head.

A voice broke the quiet chaos.

“
I’m just curious about how you are going to maneuver around the other Vory who have lucrative relationships with our dictator,” Langston said, leaning forward on the sofa. He gave a pensive stare full of determination to see this deed done.

Royal instantly recognized her husband’s irritation with the man and wondered why he continued to egg Dmitry on.