To Russia With Love (Countermeasure Series) (19 page)

As she passed the bedroom, she heard Trevor whistling in the shower. Another grin spread across her face only to fade as an image of him wet and slick flashed before her eyes. Heat crept up her neck and she pressed the cool glass to her cheek, hoping to ease the need.

Back at her desk, Cassandra logged in and stared at the screen, searching for the nerve to reach out to her old friend Nathan Nelson. He still hadn’t accepted the fact that her heart belonged to Trevor, and their contact had been spotty at most since the day of the wedding. Cassandra knew he was keeping tabs on her based on conversations she had had with her father, but still she hoped at some point he would move on.
Just
freaking bite the bullet!
She took a deep breath to center herself and opened a chat window. His status was set to offline so she typed a quick message.

Hey, Nate. Let me know when you can pop in. Ears if possible. I have a huge favor to ask.

The response was immediate. His status turned online and a call request popped up on the screen. She accepted promptly.

“Cass,” Nathan’s deep voice came over the speaker, startling her.

“Hey. Damn, that was quick. I wasn’t expecting you so soon.”

“I just walked in and caught your message. What’s the favor? Need a plane ticket home? Tired of the Blarney Stone?”

Damn. Straight to the chase.
“Nathan.” He must have gotten the hint when she used his full name in a chastising tone instead of the casual nickname she used to call him.

“Shit.” He exhaled a deep breath. “What do you need, Cass?”

“Okay, Nate. I’ll make this quick. Trevor and I have to travel to St. Petersburg—”

“What the hell are you going to Russia for?” Nathan’s voice lowered, “What is he up to now, Cassie?”

“
We
have a business opportunity we can’t pass up, Nate.”

“So where do I come in?” His tone simmered with unvoiced anger.

Cassandra swallowed hard. She really needed his resources and knew she had to tread lightly. “You, of all people, know how I always like to be prepared in case something goes south. I just need a backup plan in case foreign businessmen become targets for any reason while we’re there. Can you help me?”

“Fuck, Cassie. I don’t like this one bit. First Paris, now Russia? What kind of business is he dragging you into that you need a contingency plan? Last time you were shot. If anything happens to you this time…he’s dead,” he bit out.

“Nathan. Stop that shit! All I need to know is if you can you help me. I need access to a safe house in the area. Inactive. No host.”

Nathan grew silent and, after another dragged-out intake of air, began clacking on his keyboard. She pictured him scrolling through databases searching for the right real estate. The silence was unnerving to her. “Do you have something?”

His fingers paused and returned to drumming on the keys several times before he spoke again. “There is a location. A farmhouse outside of St. Petersburg. The host was transferred to South Africa and they haven’t found a replacement.”

He gave her the address and coordinates, which she immediately cross-referenced with the accommodation options she’d listed earlier. The dots were connecting nicely.

“What are the access protocols for the house?”

The creak of his chair reached her ears. “Damn it, Cass. I could get nailed for this.”

“We’ll probably never use it. It’ll just be reassuring to know it’s there.” Desperate to do everything in her power to keep them safe, she played her trump card: “You owe me.”

Silence filled both rooms. She imagined that he, too, was recalling that afternoon, some years back, when she’d saved his pretty ass. “Give me this and we’re even.”

“Hell. This is your lucky day. Consider it done. I am doing this for you. Not for him. Hear me?” he spit out snidely. “I’ll email you the security codes tomorrow. And Cass,
don’t
make me regret this.”

Cassandra was slightly taken aback by the viciousness of his response. She loved him like a brother and the tear in their friendship was an ache in her heart. She had hoped that they would be able to patch things up, but more and more it looked like that wasn’t about to happen any time soon. “I’ll keep an eye out for the email. I assume it will be encrypted?”

Before he could answer, the squeak of door hinges and someone stepping into his office flowed over the speakers, followed by silence when the call was abruptly disconnected.

Cassandra stared at the chat window and sighed heavily when his status turned to offline again. All she could do was wait and hope he would follow through.

She closed the window and turned in her chair to find Trevor leaning against the door frame with narrowed eyes. “What the hell was that about? What does the Hulk want? He has no right to speak to you like that, Cassie.”

Her mouth quirked at the nickname. “I called him to find out about available safe houses in or near St. Petersburg. He’s emailing me the access code for one we can use.”

Trevor’s hands itched when he had heard Nelson’s voice over the speakers. It irked him that Cassandra still made overtures to the bastard. Nelson made his feelings for Cassandra clear when he had declined the invitation to their wedding. Trevor knew he still harbored feelings for her and hovered like a vulture waiting for their marriage to fail.

Trevor moved to his desk and sat. “What else? That was a lot of talk just for access codes.” He hated coming off boorish, but couldn’t help himself.

Cassandra must have noticed the tone right away, but instead of being upset about it, the corners of her mouth twitched with humor. “Jealous much?”

“What do you expect? The guy is like a dog with a bone. It’s been almost eight months since our wedding. When will he give up? I know he hasn’t given up on you. Hell, I’ve witnessed it firsthand.” Trevor couldn’t believe the jealousy that flowed through him like a freight train. He knew she was his, but the fact Nelson was still sniffing around pissed him off. Royally.

Cassandra’s smile grew wider. “Trevor, you are being, as you call, an ‘
eejit
.’” She stood and climbed into his lap. His arms automatically wrapped around her waist as she pressed her lips possessively against his and combed her hands through his hair. “I love it when you get all Alpha Geek on me.”

Trevor captured her mouth again in a deep kiss and moaned as her tongue rubbed against his. A moment later, she whispered breathlessly, pressing her forehead to his, “We can’t…otherwise nothing will ever get done. We have stuff to do.”

“You sure have more self-control than I do,” Trevor sighed as she scooted off his lap and returned to her chair. A twinge of satisfaction appeased him, seeing the glazed look of desire in her eyes.
Definitely mine
, he thought, turning to his screen.

Messages from George had arrived overnight and Trevor hoped he had good news regarding the taps he’d placed on Vladimir Mikhailov. He planned to spend the day reviewing the background checks and reports he already had at hand and reacquainting himself with the Russian’s operation. Once they had a good handle on his infrastructure, it would be easier to determine the infiltration procedure.

Trevor preferred to get in and out of their servers remotely and not risk their necks—Cassandra’s neck—needlessly. But if the server was a standalone, then the only way to erase any possible hint of the software from it was to physically infiltrate the location and zap the server with a data destruction tool or worm. Excitement filled him at prospect of the task ahead and he grinned widely at his wild streak.

Cassandra must have caught the grin and understood the reason for it. “Ah, hell. I can see the Techboy’s gears turning.”

Trevor glanced at her. “Oh yeah. I am so going to enjoy leaving them a little gift—servers that can be used as doorstops.”

Trevor’s grin took her breath away—all boyish and sexy at the same time—and his excitement beat at her, bringing a smile to her face. But, with all his enthusiasm, apprehension at the prospect of an on-site physical infiltration gnawed at her.

So many things could go wrong. A dropped connection, changes in the target’s routine, an unforeseen alarm or alert system. Cassandra sucked in and exhaled a deep breath to ease some of the tension building in her gut.
Well, that’s what backup plans are for
. She picked up her notebook and ran through her to-do list again.
Damn. Guns!
She sat back in her chair and chewed on the tip of her pen as she weighed their options. “Babe, think weapons.”

Trevor’s fingers paused on the keyboard and he looked at her across the desks. “Okay. Thinking weapons. Would rather think geek, but thinking weapons.” He wiggled his eyebrows. “Are we talking light sabers? I want red.”

Cassandra shot him a serious look. “Sorry. No can do. There’s been high demand for them. All sabers are out of stock. I tried hiring Obi-Wan to build you one, but he’s booked solid. Convention schedule is hell on his Force.”

Trevor burst out laughing and shook his head at her cheeky grin.

“Seriously, though. We can’t take weapons with us. But we should have something when we are there just in case.” Cassandra turned back to her computer. “Damn. I should have discussed weapons with Nate.” Trevor began muttering up a storm—she heard something that sounded like “
Eejit
” escape his mouth at her mention of Nathan’s name and she chuckled.

With the safe house address in hand, Cassandra traced escape routes back to the few locations left on her list. Those had been reduced to just a small number by then; within minutes, she zeroed in on the location that provided them with the best possible outcome in an Escape & Evade scenario—E&E as it’s called in the CIA.

Without hesitation, she filled out and sent the tenancy agreement as well as credit card information to book the place. They still had the second-best option available as back up, but she hoped to get the one she had her sights on. At that moment, a thought hit her. “I just remembered something. I think Bob has a friend in St. Petersburg who also runs a security agency. Let me check to see if maybe he can help us.”

After a quick glance at the clock, she reached for her cell. “I think I can catch him before he leaves for the office.” She put the phone to her ear and leaned back against her chair.

On the third ring, Robert’s voice flowed over the connection. “Hello?”

“Hi, Dad.”

“Cassandra! Everything okay?”

“Yes, Sir. Everything is perfect.”

“Is everything okay with Trevor?”

“Trevor? Yes, he’s good.”

“Did you get the picture?”

“Yes, I got the picture—but I have a bone to pick with you on that one when we can talk longer…”

He peppered her with questions. “Have you received the wine I sent?”

“No, the wine hasn’t arrived yet.”

And still the questions kept pouring in. “Dad—” she burst out laughing when he continued with his drilling. She tried to get his attention again, “Dad!”

“What?”

When he settled, she added, “I need a favor.”

“What kind of favor?” His tone was cautious.

“Trevor and I have a business meeting in St. Petersburg.”

“Russia?”

“Yes, Sir. Russia.” He flooded her with new questions to which she gave quick replies. “No, Sir. We should be okay. That’s why I’m calling. Does your friend Boris Kostas still run his security agency there? No Sir, we don’t need a security detail. But…do you think he can set us up with a few Glocks and Sigs or something similar plus ammo?”

“That’s my daughter. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

Amusement and pride surged through her when Robert praised her fast thinking and preparedness. “Well, you’re the one who always told me to be prepared for anything.”

“Let me get a hold of him. It’ll give me an excuse to talk with him. It’s been awhile since the Old Russian Hound and I talked, but I don’t think it’ll be a problem.”

She nodded at Trevor and smiled, adding, “Okay. I’ll email you the deets. We’re on a tight schedule, so I’ll need to know by tomorrow.”

“I’ll contact him as soon as I get it. Oh and Cassie? Tell Trevor ‘Hi’ for me—and that if anything happens to you again, I am coming for him.”

“Thanks, Dad.” A snort of laughter broke loose and Trevor glanced her way. Grinning at him she responded, “I’ll let him know.” After a brief hesitation, she added, “Love you.”

Silence settled over the connection before he responded, “I love you too, Cassandra.”

“Bye, Dad.”

As she set the phone down, she could feel the weight of Trevor’s eyes drilling into her. “Well?”

“He said he’ll get a hold of him. He hasn’t talked to Boris in quite a while and this will give him an excuse to talk with him. He doesn’t think it’ll be a problem. I’ll email him the address in St. Petersburg as soon as we have a firm location.”

“Anything else? You seemed awfully amused by something he said.”

She smiled. “No. He said to tell you hi and to keep an eye out for the wine.” She stifled a chuckle at her father’s words. No need to worry him needlessly about Robert gunning for him. They would get the job done without a hitch. With the weapons issue dealt with, she moved on to flight schedules.

Trevor watched his wife return her attention to the screen as if nothing had happened, but he knew there was something left unsaid. Her little smirk spoke more than words and he was positive that she was playing with him. With a shrug he let it go, but began planning what sort of persuasion tactics he would use to extract the hidden details from her.
Later
.

During her time with the CIA, Cassandra had been one of the top strategists and, with her ability to read facial expressions, a real asset to her team. Her psychology background gave her an added edge, allowing her to analyze the targets as well. His woman had many talents for sure. Trevor knew she worked all angles in her head, planned for any possible scenarios. He also knew she missed the thrill of the field, the adrenaline rush coursing through her veins, and the satisfaction of a task completed.