Chapter 15
Chapter
Fifteen
Katya
I’ve never been to Helsinki. I don’t have the streets memorized, nor do I know the best place to get an off-network burner phone, but Dimitri knows where to go. One quick subway ride, and we’re in Kallio. It’s still early in the morning, and the city is asleep, but he finds a place where no one has gone to bed yet. He ducks into a back alley, knocks on a door, and leaves me outside. A few minutes later, he returns with a phone in hand.
I post in the forum using the phone number to call, encoded through album, song, and lyrics references. Now, all we can do is wait.
“How’s your shoulder?”
“I’ll live.”
We walk until we find a café opening for the day.
“You hungry?”
“Can I trust you not to poison me?” I’m only half-serious.
He shrugs. “Poison’s not really my MO, but there’s a first time for everything.”
We walk into the café. White stone walls and a hodgepodge of chairs and small tables dot the space. It’s cute and homey. We both get coffee. I order a croissant and a granola yogurt bowl, he orders porridge. I hand over the euros, earning a side stare from Dimitri.
“Don’t pay for my food.” He dips his head. “You’ve done more than enough.”
“Well, you used to throw extra money in my paychecks whenever you were pissed at Sveti—which happened a lot. I’d say this makes us even.”
We take a table far from the door. Neither of us wants our back to the entrance, so we slide the chairs around to avoid blind spots. I don’t have to explain why I don’t like sitting next to the door or windows. He just gets it.
He dips his head. “You never answered my question last night. How much of you is real?”
“My real name is Katie. I’m from North Carolina.” I slip into the real accent I’ve tried burying for a year. “I was recruited by the CIA right out of college, thrown into a different program, and this is my longest undercover mission.”
He turns away, unable to hide his feelings of betrayal. “You were using me?”
“Well, I had you under surveillance for two months before I started working for you. In fact, I was only supposed to do surveillance, like Markus. But one of the field agents broke her leg, and I was sent in instead. I needed to get information about your family, crimes—yadda, yadda, yadda. But I spent more time intercepting attacks on your club than anything else.” The carpet stains seem easier to focus on than my confession. “I’m not sure who your family pissed off, but I tried to hold them off for as long as possible.”
“Why would you uproot your whole life for this mission?”
“I was running away from a broken heart.” I exhale, disappointed in my story. “I was young and in love—or so I thought. I ignored all the advice and became his bride. And when it went tits-up like everyone said it would, he left me with a cat and a shit-ton of debt I’m still paying off.”
His jaw tightens, and his fingers flex. I can’t tell what he’s mad about.
“But everything else was real.”
He scoffs but stops and smirks. “Do you even like otters?”
I place my hand on my chest. “Sir, you dishonor me. I would lie about my identity and my combat skills, but never about my love of otters.” I pause. “But I could do without cats.”
Our coffee and food arrive, and I swear to God, this is the best coffee I’ve ever had. I shimmy my shoulders—something Katie used to do, but Katya never would.
Halfway through my croissant, the burner phone comes to life. We both stare at it like it’s a sleeping dragon, afraid to move and wake it.
But if it’s Markus on the other end of the line, I have to answer.
“Hello?”
The gruff voice responds, “Jarad from accounting farts when he walks.”
I reply, “I was trapped in an elevator with him.”
In the background, Uri yells, “Seriously? How fucking immature are you?”
“It’s easy to remember,” Markus snaps back. Then he grumbles, “Should’ve let you burn.”
Uri calls out again, “Bitch, I saved you!”
Markus fires back, “Holy fuck, you did not.”
Dimitri laughs—a big, booming laugh that seems to come from his soul. “God, Uri’s such a pain in the ass.”
“Is there anyone else with you?” I ask.
“No, Uri and I barely made it out.”
“Is anyone hurt?”
“My knee has seen better days—jacked that up pretty bad.” Markus clears his throat. “Uri was shot in the side. It’s a pretty small injury, but he’s being such a baby about it.”
“I am not. It fucking hurts,” Uri snaps.
I only care about the important question. “Are you safe to travel?”
Markus’s voice lowers. “Yeah, but it’s going to be slow-going. Public transit and the police, once loyal to Koslov, can’t be trusted anymore.”
The words sting. Dimitri and I bailed without even thinking. Were we followed? Do we need to jump ship again or lay low?
“Who else is with you?” my partner asks.
“Dimitri is the only one I was able to get out.” I swallow hard. “The team...”
“Yeah, I saw. We went back to the safe house for protocol.”
“We’re in Helsinki.”
“Stay there. We’ll come to you.”
Uri’s voice rings through the phone. “Hey, Dimitri.”
Dimitri’s entire face lights up—joy and relief battling for dominance as he takes the phone from my hand. “Yeah?”
“Remember when I told you Katya has a secret?”
He glances at me, a frown etched across his face. “I do.”
“Turns out she’s a spy.”
“Yep.”
“She’s been saving our lives for a while.”
“I am aware.”
“So don’t be too pissed at her.”
Dimitri hangs his head over his porridge, which is growing colder by the second. “I’ll think about it.”
Uri adds, “Svetlana sold us out to the Smirnovs and I think they’re in bed with The Deviant.”
Dimitri slams his hand on the table. “That fucking bitch! She killed our entire family because I dumped her?”
The man behind the counter glances up from his newspaper. I cough and he goes back to reading. I’m glad we’re the only ones in the cafe this early in the morning.
“Well, she’s been feeding the Smirnovs information for months now.”
He growls. “I'll kill her.” And for a second, I think he might hop back on a train to do it.
“Don’t bother. The Deviant got to her first.” Uri’s voice quiets. “Some old guy shot her. Markus thinks she was feeding him information and since she wasn’t as useful anymore…” He clears his throat. “I saw the video. She got what she deserved.”
It’s hard to tell how Dimitri feels. His face contorts, thick lines criss-crossing everywhere.
I reach for the phone and as I pull it away from his face, my fingers brush against his cheek. He doesn’t flinch. Watching Dimitri for some cue of how he's going to react, I say, “Come to Helsinki. Ditch these phones and post in that other fandom’s thread when you get here.”
“Done,” Markus says, and the line goes dead.
I place my hand over Dimitri’s. “You okay?”
“Hmm.” He stares at my hand before looking at me. “Did you know about Svetlana?”
“I knew she was cheating on you and that neither of you were happy. But I never thought she would betray your family.”
He says nothing, and we sit in silence until his coffee and porridge are cold.