Chapter 6
CHAPTER SIX
~IVIE~
“ N ice to meet you,” I say to a tall, dark, and ridiculously handsome Cameron Cox as the three of us walk from the helipad where Cameron just jumped out of a helicopter and to the house. “Is the pilot just going to wait there?”
“That’s his job,” Cameron says with a smile. “He’ll be fine.”
So, I guess he’s not planning to stay, then.
“I didn’t know helicopters could fly that far.”
“We just had to stop in Boise to fuel up,” Cameron replies as Shane opens the back door of the house, and we file inside. “So, your phone call was mysterious this morning.”
“I’m hoping you can help us solve something.” Shane unlocks the door to the basement, and we all go down the stairs.
Cameron has clearly been here before.
“Ivie has a flash drive that she needs to be able to read, and it’s encrypted. When we tried to decode it, it wiped itself.”
Cameron’s eyebrows climb in surprise. “Interesting. Okay, let me see what I can do.”
He sits behind the computer, and as it boots up, he slips black-rimmed glasses onto his nose and gets to work.
“Someone worked really hard to make sure this didn’t get into the wrong hands,” Cameron murmurs. “You have no idea what’s on it?”
“None,” I reply and watch in fascination as his fingers fly across the keys. When he taps out a series of numbers and letters in a formula I recognize, my eyebrows climb. “Oh, I never thought to do that.”
“Why would you?” Cameron asks.
“Ivie’s something of a computer hacker,” Shane says with a proud grin. “It’s a sight to behold.”
“Really?” Cameron smiles at me. “That’s pretty cool.”
“How are things with that woman you were telling me about?” Shane asks him, making conversation. “Maggie?”
“Slow,” Cameron mutters with a frown. “If anyone in the world is more stubborn than Mary Margaret O’Callaghan, I haven’t met them. But I’m working on it. Okay, I’ve got it back.”
“That was fast. Holy crap,” I mutter.
“I’m good, sweetheart.” He looks up at the screen. “Would you like me to translate this for you?”
“Absolutely.” I drop into a chair beside him as he continues tapping the keyboard. Finally, words written in English fill the screen.
“Whoa,” Cameron breathes. “This is some deep shit.”
He clicks through some files and then turns to Shane.
“What is it?” Shane asks.
Cameron glances at me, but Shane just shakes his head. “It’s her drive, man. She should know what it says.”
Cameron blows out a breath and then starts in. “Okay, so this is all about a dude named Ivan Pavlov. I’ve heard of him. He died about a decade ago, in a really, really gnarly way. Anyway, this guy was a true piece of shit.”
He stands to pace the room, and Shane and I turn to watch him. Shane’s standing, his arms crossed over his chest. And all I can do is sit and listen to every single word.
“He was a European operative in the nineties. Ruthless. This man killed hundreds if not thousands of men, women, and children. Here.”
He moves back to the computer and taps some keys. Suddenly, a folder with photographs opens.
“All of these photos are of people he killed, supposedly under the direction of his government. Although many think he was a mercenary and not tied to the government at all. Anyway, all of these people are dead because of him.
“Then, about twenty-five years ago or so, he got in with some extra-bad people. He pissed them off. Big time. And they said the only way to get back into their good graces—i.e., not get dead—was for him to kill his own family.”
I feel Shane’s eyes shift to me, but I can’t take my eyes off of Cameron. How did I not know any of this?
He taps the keys, then stands to pace once more. Suddenly, I’m staring at a photo of my mother.
Murdered.
“He killed the wife,” Cameron continues. “And as you can see, he wasn’t nice about it. But I heard that he spared the kid because he decided he could get them—I don’t know if it was a boy or a girl—to do his bidding. No one suspects a kid getting in and out of places. After he came to the US, Pavlov was mostly into selling information. As far as I know, he didn’t kill here in the States like he did in Europe. Maybe he was getting older and wanted a new gig, who knows?”
“How do you know all of this?” Shane asks.
“I had to research him right before he died.” Cameron turns to look at Shane. “I was on a team that had been given the order to find and terminate him, but someone beat us to it. It looks to me like every single sin this guy ever committed is documented on this drive, along with what looks like account numbers. Now, my question is, why do you have it?”
I can’t stop staring at my mother. In the photo, her throat is slashed, her mouth open, her eyes staring in shock.
He killed her.
“They’re my parents,” I manage to say and then turn to look Cameron in the eyes. “I was the kid. And, yes, he used me. Ruthlessly. But I got away from the son of a bitch.” I feel my blood boiling, running through my veins faster than ever before. And then I can’t stand it anymore. I can’t stay here.
I stand and flee, running up the stairs and through the house, then out the back door, just in time to lose whatever’s in my stomach in the bushes beside the porch.
Someone comes up beside me, rubbing my back and holding my hair out of the way.
When it seems I have nothing left in me, I straighten, and Shane pulls me to him for a tight hug.
I don’t even know how to process what I just saw. How do I deal with this?
“Hey, man, I have to get back to Seattle.”
I clear my throat and turn to Cameron. “Thank you. Really. I appreciate your help. I’m going to let you two say goodbye. I’ll be inside.”
Cameron nods, and I hurry into the house and to the guest room, making a beeline for the bathroom so I can brush my teeth and wash my face.
But when I’m done, the anger and grief swamp me again.
My poor mama. My God, why did he do that to her?
“Here, drink this,” Shane says as he sets a cup of tea near my elbow. After Cameron left, Shane came inside, built a fire in the woodstove, and then set to work making me some tea. I just wrapped myself in a blanket and sat by the fire, staring at the pretty, orange flames.
“How could I not know?” I wonder aloud before taking a sip of the tea. “All of these years, I never knew the cause of my mother’s death. He just came home one day and said she was dead and wasn’t coming back.”
I shake my head and wipe at a tear.
“I knew he was bad. I guess I didn’t want to see that he was pure evil. He must have had that drive and wanted me to take it to someone to decrypt it for him. I don’t know how he got it.”
“But you never delivered it where he wanted it to go?”
“No.” I shake my head and sip the tea. “I was so over it at that point, I hid it instead. I don’t know why he would even have that. Basically, his resume of all the killing he did. Why would he have that?”
“I don’t know how it came to be in his possession,” Shane says, thinking it over. “Maybe they used it to blackmail him. If it got into the wrong hands, he could have been arrested and prosecuted. Maybe even deported to Bulgaria and executed.”
“Oh my God,” I gasp and stare at Shane in horror. “I should have called the police. All I did was run away. I should have called the police. It didn’t even occur to me. How could I be so stupid?”
“Stop.” Shane stands and joins me on the couch, pulling me to him. “You were a child.”
“I was never really a child.”
“Yes, you were. Despite what he made you do, you were still young, Ivie. You were just trying to survive. And I’d say you did a damn good job of that.”
“He killed my mama.” I feel the tears falling again and lean my head on his shoulder. “She was a good person. So funny. And she made the best breads and desserts. She would let me help her in the kitchen. Because he was gone so much, it was mostly just the two of us, hanging out together. We were already in the US when she died. She told me once that she was afraid of New York. It was so big, so noisy, and she didn’t know the language very well.”
“Do you speak Bulgarian?” he asks as he kisses my forehead.
“Not anymore. I did when I was very small but I don’t remember it. I did everything I could to forget that life and to make this new one—one that doesn’t embarrass me. I shouldn’t just sit here and babble about my mother. She’s been gone for a really long time.”
“Yes, but for you, the wound is new again,” he says. His voice is gentle and sexy at the same time. “You can talk about her. It’s not like we have anywhere to be. I’d like to hear anything you want to say.”
I kiss his cheek and smile up at him. “Thank you for always being so kind to me.”
He wipes a tear from my cheek, and I think of my mother again.
“She was tall. Taller than my father. I must get my height from him, given how short I am.” I smile a little as I think of her. “And she loved to dance.”
For a long while, I just sit by the fire with this man I’ve come to care for, telling him the few stories I remember of my mother.
“I wish I knew more, but he never wanted to speak of her after she died.”
I swallow and then something occurs to me.
“If those people want the drive, let’s just give it to them, Shane. They’ll have what they want. Although, at this point, I’m not sure it matters because he’s dead and gone. I can just get on with my life.”
He shifts and then shakes his head. “It’s really not that simple.”
“Why not?”
“After you came inside, Cameron and I had a minute to talk. He finished the story.”
My stomach fills with dread. “What is it?”
“Well, there’s no easy way to say this, so I’m just going to tell you. There’s a bounty on your head, Ivie. One million dollars for your capture—dead or alive.”
“The police want me dead?”
“No, baby, not the police. Those bad guys Cameron told us about. They’re still pissed at your father. And it’s not just one group. Apparently, this goes deep. The man who took you the other day has likely been looking for you for a very long time. He was going to kill you and collect the money. Just as any of them would.”
“ Why ?” And then that man’s words come back to me. “To pay for the sins of my father.”
“These guys have a long memory,” Shane says quietly. “They’re worse than the mafia, and that’s saying a lot given what my family is capable of. I’d like to know what your father did to them to make them this angry.”
“I have no idea. He might have killed someone he wasn’t supposed to or stole from someone and really pissed them off. He couldn’t hang on to money to save his life. Who knows?”
“Well, one thing I do know is that we’re staying here for a while. We’re safest here. I’m going to start doing some digging, and Cameron said he’d do some on his end, as well. I’m supposed to meet up with him in Denver in a week.”
“You don’t pass information via the internet.” It’s not a question.
“No. Not this kind. It’s too sensitive. He’ll bring anything he uncovers with him next week. In the meantime, I’ll put out the word that my associates should keep their eyes and ears open, and I’ll work on the secure network downstairs.”
“I can probably help with that.”
“If I need you, I’ll let you know. But I want your fingers out of this as much as possible.”
“So, what? I’m just supposed to sit here for God knows how long?” I stare at him with disgust. “I’m not good at being idle, Shane.”
“You won’t be. We’re going to start some lessons.”
“What kind?”
“I’m going to teach you to shoot. We’ll go over hand-to-hand. You’re going to learn to defend yourself if anything like this were to happen again.”
“Have you met me? I’m the clumsiest person on Earth. I have no business holding a gun.”
“You’re going to shake that and get used to it. You’re going to be so good by the time I’m done with you, being clumsy won’t even be a thought in your beautiful head.”
I blink up at him. “Really?”
“Really. You’ll never be taken by surprise like that again.”
“You’re intense. I kind of like it.”
“For today, just relax. Take a nap if you want. I’m going to start making those calls.”
“A nap actually sounds really nice.” I stand and stretch. “I’ll go lie down.”
I walk to the guest room, but Shane calls out my name.
“You won’t be sleeping in there. You’ll sleep with me. Go have a nap in my room.”
I grin at him, but he’s already looking down at his phone. So, I change course, shuck my jeans and socks, maneuver my way out of my bra, and then climb under the cool, crisp sheets.
His bed is comfortable, and my eyes are heavy from all of the crying.
Finally, I fall asleep.
No! Don’t you dare do that!
“Shut up.” Father slaps me aside and turns to Shane, who’s kneeling on the floor. My father fists Shane’s hair and pulls his head back, ready to slice his throat with a knife.
“No!” I try to run at him again, but my feet won’t move. I can’t get to him. Oh my God, I can’t move! “Don’t kill him! Please, don’t. No.”
“Shh.” Shane cradles me to him. “Just a dream, baby.”
“He was going to kill you.” I grip onto him tightly and bury my face against his chest. “Oh, God, he was going to kill you. Just like he did my mama.”
“I’m right here, and he’s long-dead, Ivie. He can’t hurt me.”
I can’t stop the tears. They just keep coming. For my poor mama and the thought of losing Shane in the same way.
“He can’t hurt me,” he says again and kisses the top of my head.
“But he keeps hurting me,” I whisper and shake my head in despair. “He keeps hurting me.”