Chapter 6
Staring at the ceiling, Sonya laid in bed going over her conversation with Yolanda the day before. Poor girl. To be in a new country with no ties to her old life. No wonder she’d fallen victim to Zwick’s manipulation.
As Yolanda had prepared to leave, Sonya had reassured her once again.
“Is Zwick expecting you tomorrow night?”
Yolanda nodded. “He’s been expecting me every night for the past few weeks.”
“Every night?” Sonya said with revulsion.
Again, Yolanda nodded.
“Okay. Here’s what we’ll do.” Sonya grabbed Yolanda’s shoulders and looked into her eyes. “Tomorrow you won’t go. Tomorrow, I’ll go and meet with him. We’ll see how he handles a more mature woman.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“I do, and I will. I’ll deal with him, Yolanda.”
“He can get quite angry when things don’t go his way,” Yolanda warned.
“I’m not surprised, but I know how to deal with big angry men. Don’t worry.”
“Thank you, Big Sister.”
Now, staring at her bedroom ceiling, she still saw the relief in Yolanda’s face and knew she was making the right decision.
*****
AFTER ANALYZING AND agonizing over various tactics with which to confront Zwick, Sonya smiled as a devious little trick came to mind.
“Of course,” she said to herself. She would go to Zwick dressed as Rhonda Baker.
Assuming he wasn’t involved in her death, he wouldn’t be surprised to see her arriving at his office. With her body still cramped up in Sonya’s freezer, no one knew what had happened to the detective.
Wearing Baker’s outfit, Sonya entered Zwick’s office without knocking. It was late in the evening, late enough for the sun to be out of sight over the horizon. The only light in Zwick’s office was the small desk lamp aimed at the documents on his desk.
“Hello, Zwick,” Sonya said as she entered. She remained in the shadows of the far corner of the large office.
He looked up from his paperwork. “Who’s there?”
“Have you forgotten me already?” Sonya said, sultry just like Baker.
“Rhonda?”
“In the flesh.”
“What are you doing here? We specifically said that you shouldn’t come to my office.”
“We need to conclude this little deal of ours.”
Zwick stood and tried to peer into the darkness. “We shook on it. Our deal has been concluded, Rhonda. Or would you prefer I call you Detective Baker.”
Sonya hesitated for a moment. “You know?”
He chuckled. “Do you think I’m an idiot? Of course, I know. The moment you first walked through that door, I knew.”
“You never said anything.”
“Why should I? I liked what I saw. You were eager to please, enchanting and, well, you’re not bad to look at. Why ruin it by breaking your cover?”
She huffed. “Not bad to look at? And yet you’ve already moved on to another girl. I think my ego might be bruised slightly.”
“I have no doubt your ego is intact, my love. This new little diversion has nothing on you.”
“How sweet of you to say,” Sonya dryly said.
“This young ingénue is as innocent as they come. She’s a talker, excited and unrestrained when it comes to yapping about silly and insignificant things. But I suspect she could spill everything she knows about Songbird quite easily. Just a little prodding and she’ll be an open book.”
Songbird? What could he possibly want to know about that?
“But her big sister,” he went on. “She’s more tightlipped.”
He believed Yolanda was her sister. That was interesting.
“She’s a real cold fish. Her life is a closed book, and that’s what makes her all the more interesting.”
Cold fish? Okay, that was harsh. She pushed the insult aside and wondered what Zwick wanted to know about her.
“Songbird,” Sonya said with a bored yawn. “What do you want her for? She’s just a singer. There doesn’t seem to be much to see there.”
Zwick let out a laugh, then turned stern. “Nice try, Rhonda, but I know you Americans would love to find out. You and your agency. You always need to know what foreigners are up to.”
“I don’t follow.”
“Don’t play the stupid blonde, Rhonda. You’re smarter than that. Stop thinking that I’m a Russian spy. I’m not. You’re tracking the wrong person. Don’t get me wrong. There is, indeed, a spy in our midst, but it’s not me.”
Sonya remained silent. A spy. Who? Was that what Rhonda had been tracking? A spy?
“Agents from the Bureau like you always think Russians are spy. Some of us do have regular jobs, you know. Some of us do have other talents.”
“So, you think we should be looking at the Chinese instead of the Russians.”
“Give it a try and get back to me.”
Sonya bit down on her lip. Rhonda was an FBI agent, and Zwick thought the Songbird was a spy.
How interesting.