Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
The digital clock on the dashboard read nine a.m.
From his position a block away, Kyle watched Victoria leave the bodega adjacent to her apartment building, carrying a small tray of coffee cups.
Sunlight glinted off her coppery hair as she walked briskly past the unmarked private security vehicle parked at the curb.
She wore faded jeans and a light-blue sweater, perfect for his self-defense class today.
“Isn’t that Victoria Kelly?” Deke asked.
“Yeah,” was all he said.
He’d asked Deke to meet him outside her building to sit in on a prearranged conversation with Mike’s old CI from Chicago.
His brother’s specialty was Polish organized crime, specifically, the Greenpoint Crew, based in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
The Crew shared similar methods used by the Bratva, and he wanted Deke’s opinion on anything this CI said.
“Is there a reason you need to take this call right outside her building?” Without looking, he heard the humor in Deke’s voice and knew his brother was grinning.
“Yeah,” he said again, following Victoria’s willowy form as she headed up the stairs and went inside the Russian orthodox church on the other side of her building. This was the first time he’d seen her in five days. Since kissing her.
He’d felt that same bolt of lightning as when he’d kissed her after Semyon Novikov’s New Year’s Eve party.
A decade ago, he’d successfully convinced himself part of the attraction had been that she was forbidden fruit.
One kiss was all it had taken to debunk that theory.
Then again, wasn’t she still forbidden fruit?
Regardless, he still felt it, whatever it was. She’d tasted every bit as sweet and passionate as he remembered and, for the last five days, she’d crept into nearly every one of his waking thoughts.
“Kyle?”
There was nothing standing between them now.
She wasn’t a mobster’s wife, and he wasn’t undercover, but she was still better off without him.
She’d said that she wished he’d never come back into her life.
He was a part of her past she didn’t want any part of.
Besides, he wasn’t ready for a relationship.
Probably never would be. That emotional brick wall in his head was still there.
He couldn’t give any woman what she wanted or needed, especially not Victoria.
She deserved someone special. That pretty much eliminated him.
The past was still there, standing rigidly between them as surely as the Berlin Wall had once divided East and West Germany.
“Kyle!”
“Yeah?”
Deke sent him a worried look. “Where have you been for the last two minutes?”
Stuck in the past. “Sorry. I’ve just been…thinking.” About a woman he had no business thinking about.
“No kidding.” Deke arched a brow. “What’s with the guy parked in front of her building? Is that why we’re here?”
“Kinda.”
“Is that all you’re gonna say? Yeah, yeah, and kinda?”
He looked at his brother. Sure enough, Deke was grinning, dimples and all. “Yeah.”
“Seriously, what’s up bro? I partied late last night and left a beautiful woman in bed this morning to meet you here. The least you could do is tell me why.”
Kyle sighed. His brother was one of the best agents he’d ever worked with, and he never missed an opportunity to party. He was also right. “I can’t tell you why, but I think Victoria Kelly is in danger. She’s not an asset, so I can’t justify FBI protection.”
“So you hired private security to protect her?” Deke huffed. “That’s a lot of money.”
“Yeah.” It was, but she was worth it.
He curled his fingers tighter around the wheel, wishing he could relive so many parts of his past and do them differently.
Like going back to Sasha’s Place that night and finishing Yuri off.
Though murdering his target would have been frowned upon.
All that would have gotten him was a life sentence in a cell right next to the sonofabitch.
“There’s something going on between you and her, isn’t there? I saw it in the holding room. The heat between you two was enough to singe the hair off my balls.”
Leave it to his little brother to put things in perspective, in his own unique way. No matter that Deke had sensed the truth. He still couldn’t tell him everything. “I knew her a long time ago.”
“Before Diane?”
“No. After.” It had taken him years to get over the death of his wife. Having such strong feelings for Victoria had completely knocked the wind out of him.
“From Chicago?” Deke asked. “Ahh. While you were doing that long term undercover gig. So she’s the woman that got under your skin back then. The one you never talk about. The one you said you could never reach out to because it was”—Deke made air quotes with his fingers—“too complicated?”
Deke had always been perceptive. At times, too perceptive. “It’s still not my story to tell.”
Deke’s green eyes widened. “Holy cow! Is she Yuri Petrov’s wife?”
“Ex-wife,” he corrected.
“Wow. Wow,” Deke repeated, nodding in understanding. “You weren’t kidding. That was complicated.”
“Still is.” His presence in her life was a constant reminder of her dark past.
“Okay, so you hired security to watch her,” Deke said. “So why are we sitting here, too?”
“I’m picking her up and taking her to self-defense class.” Whether she liked it or not.
When he’d given her the address, he’d gotten the impression she had no intention of showing up. After he’d offered to pick her up, he’d been hit with a gut instinct she wouldn’t be here when he arrived this morning, so he’d shown up early to make sure she didn’t ditch him.
“Were you with Heather last night?” Kyle asked, hoping to change the subject. Heather was the last of Deke’s girlfriends that he’d met.
“Nah.” He grimaced. “She wanted to get married, have kids, and I am so not ready for that.”
Kyle chuckled. “One day you will be.”
He shook his head. “Don’t count on it.”
Kyle’s phone pinged with a text from Jack. “The five Russians arrested by the state police aren’t talking.”
“No surprise there. Maybe the boss will give me a brand-new G-ride. I banged mine up pretty good.” He looked over his shoulder at the Explorer parked behind Kyle’s. The front bumper and hood were seriously dented. It was a wonder the thing still drove.
Kyle’s phone rang, and he put the call on speaker. “Gates,” he said.
“Yuri is in New York,” the CI said.
“I know.” He looked across the console at Deke, who rolled his eyes. “Woulda been nice to hear about that a week ago.” Before Yuri made a guest appearance at the courthouse. “Respectfully, I’ll remind you that you’re being paid extremely well for useful and timely information.”
Deke snorted.
“I’ve been away,” the man said. “Even I must take my family on vacation from time to time. A happy wife is a happy life, yes?”
Kyle tapped his fingers on the wheel. He’d let this lapse go. This time. “You asked for this conversation. Whatdya got?”
“The ledger.”
Kyle jerked his gaze to Deke’s. “You have it?” That had been one of the biggest components of his undercover investigation ten years ago that he’d failed to get information on.
Nailing Yuri and Nikolai Lebedev for the kidnapping-murders and discovering where they’d stashed the ransom money still bugged him to this day.
“No.” The CI chuckled. “But the last thing Yuri said when he left for New York was that he had to get to his accountant and get his money.”
“He can’t access it on his own?”
“Guess not,” the CI said. “He needs the accountant.”
“Did you ever get the accountant’s name?” Kyle asked.
“No.”
He glanced at Deke, who shrugged and shook his head. Neither of them could think of any other questions. “If you hear anything, call me right away.”
“Of course.”
The call ended.
“That doesn’t make any sense.” Deke shook his head. “Why can’t Yuri get to his own money? Why does he need the accountant?”
“He must be holding it for Yuri.” Kyle thought back to the conversation he’d had with the same CI ten years ago, the day of Semyon Novikov’s party.
“Yuri once told this CI his money was hidden so well not even the FBI could find it. We subpoenaed every bank he was known to have an affiliation with. We only found a few thousand dollars.”
“What about an offshore account?” Deke asked.
“I suppose that’s a possibility.” He drummed his fingers on the wheel. “Countries with offshore accounts aren’t very cooperative. We inquired as much as we could but didn’t find any.”
“If it’s been sitting in a U.S. bank for ten years while Yuri’s been in prison, no matter whose name the account is in, eventually the account would be considered dormant.”
“Right,” he agreed. There was an escheatment process that would have been activated. “The account holder would be contacted, and if there’s no response, the bank would close the account and the funds would be transferred to the state as unclaimed property. Unless the accountant took Yuri’s money.”
“According to your CI, it sounds like the accountant still has the funds.”
“Then we wait for him to get us a name.”
“I gotta go home and get some shuteye.” Deke yawned. “Got another party tonight.”
“Of course you do.” He didn’t know how his brother partied all weekend and made it to work Monday morning. “Get outta here. And thanks.”
“You got it.” Deke got out of Kyle’s SUV, then drove off in his.
Kyle pulled up and parked in front of St. Nicholas Church.
After shutting off the engine, he got out and looked up at the distinctive gold onion domes and narrow stained glass windows.
He hoped the windows didn’t crack and fall apart when he set foot on hallowed ground.
The last time he’d been to a church was twelve years ago. For his wife’s funeral.
He jogged up the steps and opened the massive, intricately carved wood door.
The interior was dimly lit. Fifty or so pews that looked to be of the same wood as the entry door led to the altar.
The pews were empty. A few prayer candles flickered by the altar, casting shadows on the ornate biblical murals on the walls.
He barely remembered Diane’s funeral. The entire day had passed in a surreal blur, like it was happening, just not to him. His brothers and his mother were the only things that had gotten him through that terrible day. The rest of his life had been up to him, and he was failing miserably.
“May I help you?” a slightly accented voice said from behind him.
Kyle spun, surprised someone had managed to sneak up on him. Only thoughts of the past could mire down his normally alert senses. A middle-age man wearing a black suit and clerical collar stood before him, a pleasant smile curving his lips.
“I’m looking for someone,” Kyle said. “Victoria Kelly.”
“Ah, Victoria.” The priest smiled and held out his hand. “I’m Father Sergei. And you are?”
“Kyle,” he said, shaking hands.
“May I ask what this is about?” Father Sergei had used a pleasant enough tone, but Kyle interpreted the question for precisely what it was.
Whoever Father Sergei was to Victoria, he was looking out for her.
Including protecting her from unwanted strangers.
He glanced at his watch. There wasn’t much time to get back into the city for his class.
“Father Sergei,” he said, taking out his badge and flipping it open, “I’m with the FBI. I’m also Victoria’s friend. I’m here to pick her up for an outing we have planned.”
“Well, then. Hmm.” He scratched his chin, clearly debating whether to help him or not. “Follow me.”
The priest didn’t know it, but if he hadn’t decided in Kyle’s favor, he would have searched the entire church to find Victoria. The last thing he was about to do was give her a chance to flee out the back door. He followed the priest down a long dark hallway.
Giggling spilled from an open doorway. Inside the room, several small children sat with Victoria on a large, overstuffed sofa. More kids lying on a rug on the floor rested their heads on pillows. Sunlight shining through a window glinted off Victoria’s hair, bathing her in a coppery halo.
It was just like her. She’d gotten a raw deal but still had love and kindness to give to these children. When she smiled at the youngest child sitting next to her, his heart skipped a beat, and an image flashed before his eyes.
Sitting on a sofa with Victoria. Their child safely snuggled between the two of them and—
He was going out of his mind.
Father Sergei shifted, and the old floorboards creaked.
Victoria stopped reading and looked up. Her mouth fell open. “Kyle, what are you doing here?” She all but jumped off the sofa, setting the book down and rushing to where he stood behind Father Sergei.
“I came to pick you up for our appointment,” Kyle said.
“Oh. I forgot about that.”
Liar. “Then it’s a good thing I didn’t.” From the corner of his eye, he caught the priest watching the back-and-forth conversation. “We’d better get going.”
“Right.” She smiled nervously, turning back to the children, waving. “I have to go, but I’ll see you next week.”
“Bye, Miss Kelly,” several kids said.
She led the way back down the hallway, her movements rigid and brisk, as if she wanted to get out of there fast. Or, get him out of there fast.
“How long have you been working with the kids here?” he asked.
“Oh, a while,” she said over her shoulder, still speed walking down the hall.
“She’s wonderful with them,” Father Sergei said. “She’s also our good luck charm. Since she started volunteering with the children and helping out in the office, donations are up, and the children adore her.”
“I can see that.” And he had. There was no doubting she’d be a good mother.
“Let’s go.” She opened the heavy wood door, waiting for him. “I don’t want to be late. Good bye, Father.” She smiled nervously.
Something was definitely going on here.
“Good bye, Victoria,” Father Sergei said. “A pleasure to meet you, Kyle.”
“The pleasure’s all mine.” He shook hands with the priest, then followed Victoria out the door and down the steps. When he caught up to her, he stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. “You had no intention of being home when I came to pick you up. You were hiding at the church.”
She parked her hands on her hips. “I was not hiding.”
Except from me.
“How many times do I have to tell you I refuse to hide anymore? And how did you know I was there?”
“I told you,” he said, leading her to his SUV, “I can find anyone.”
When she refused to look at him, that innate sense she had something to hide grew stronger. She’d been adamant about not hiding from Yuri anymore, but this wasn’t about Yuri. This was about him.
When she’d caught sight of him watching her with the kids, there’d been fear in her eyes.
The question, was why.