10. Ruslan
10
RUSLAN
“Do you want to tell me what the fuck is going on then?” I ask.
The general flips the folder in front of him open and pulls out a photo.
He slides it toward me.
My hand freezes halfway to the table.
It’s Tara and me outside the Blue Diamond Lounge.
Her arm is linked through mine as I’m walking her toward the elevators.
“You’ve had me followed,” I say, voice low.
“We didn’t have to follow you,” he replies.
“This arrived anonymously by email about two weeks ago.”
“How well do you know the woman you’re with?” the general asks me.
“We met that night,” I answer honestly.
Although I did technically meet Tara when I nearly ran her down in the street.
“Did you target her that night?”
Fuck!
“I saw a beautiful woman sitting on her own who had obviously been stood up, and I approached her.”
“It was just a coincidence you were staying in the same hotel?” The general says.
The door opens again.
My eyes widened in surprise when a woman of average height, slender, and beautiful walks in.
She’s dressed in the same black uniform with a red stripe on her arm.
The circle around the number four stands out like a burn.
Lavender clings to her skin as she approaches and walks over to the general, handing some papers over to him.
She’s the one who took my keys.
The general takes his time scanning the page.
“Petra?” I greet her.
“What the fuck are you doing here?”
“Hello, Ruslan,” Petra says smoothly.
“I could ask you the same thing… uh, wait. I don’t have to.” She pulls my phone from her pocket and wiggles it in the air.
“My phone,” I growl.
“You dropped it at the Zorin farm.” She puts it on the table beside me.
“You really should be more careful, Ruslan.”
I don’t move.
Don’t blink.
“You went through my phone?” My eyes narrow angrily.
“I had to,” Petra gives me an innocent look.
“How else would I’ve known who it belonged to?”
She turns to the general.
“Everything’s arranged. I’m ready when you are.”
“Thank you, Petra.” He nods and she leaves.
“She works for you?” I ask, stunned.
“You do know she was a wanted fugitive? I want to say, by the Russian Government, but she’s on nearly every country’s most wanted list. She is a notorious black hat and cyber thief.”
“One of the best,” the general says proudly and smiles.
“You have Konstantin Romanov,” the general says.
“I have his sister. You don’t get better than the Romanovs when you need something done.”
I don’t respond.
He knows that I would never turn Petra in.
That would break the trust and bond between Konstantin and me.
“You said you didn’t target the woman in the picture with you?” The general looks at me inquiringly.
“That's right.”
“Then can you explain these?” He slides a page full of my text messages to Konstantin, asking him to follow Tara.
“Like I said, I met her once, that night in the bar,” I repeat. “We had one night together.” My eyes meet the general's, and a flush of hot rage flashes in his eyes. Oh, yes, he knows who Tara is. That's the type of anger I’d get if someone had just told me they’d seduced my daughter for a one-night stand. I actually admire his restraint because if I were him, I’d have thrown myself through the wall.
“Why have her followed?” He pulls out another page. “Should I answer that for you?” He slaps another page of text messages. “You think she’s Gavriil Mirochin’s mistress?”
“She is,” I reply, and see the anger flare in his eyes once again. “Look, yes, I targeted Tara. But I didn’t know who she was until that day. I was looking for Gavriil Mistress. I wanted to get her away from Gavriil.”
“So you seduced her?” The general's eyes narrow dangerously. “What?
Were you going to romance her into falling in love with you, string her along, and then dump her as soon as you knew she was no longer a threat to your sister's marriage?”
Yeah, something exactly like that. “I was protecting my sister.” I defend my actions.
“Has your question about Leonid Zorin’s connection to Anya got anything to do with her?” The general continues questioning me.
“Yes,” I answer honestly.
“Did you find the picture in this box?” He shows me one of the pictures Petra just handed him, and this time, my blood runs cold.
The puzzle box.
“I believe so,” I reply honestly. “What is this all about?” I grow suspicious now.
“Where did you get this puzzle box?” he asks, ignoring my question.
“Garage sale.” I shrug.
I don’t expect the instant anger that jolts through the general as he slams his hand on the table. Hard. Making the contents on it jump and the metal table rattle.
“For fuck’s sake, Ruslan. This isn’t a joke.”
“Why does the box matter?” I ask, heart hammering. So there is a connection between the Zorins and Morozovs. That box has hit a very tender nerve. “What is the significance of it that has you so fucking mad?”
“Because it was stolen from a private safe of mine three weeks ago,” he tells me.
“And you think I stole it?” I splutter in disbelief. “What the fuck would I want with an old puzzle box containing a photo of your wife?”
“The safe was hidden in your grandfather’s house.” The general's words have me jolting in surprise.
“Is that why he left the house to you?” I ask.
It had not made sense at the time.
I know my grandfather and the general were good friends, but to me, it didn’t warrant the general inheriting my grandfather's house in Dragunov Village. Now I’m wondering what else besides a photo of Anya was in that box that has him so rattled and was so important that my grandfather left him a house just to protect the safe.
“Part of the reason,” the general tells me.
“So what was in the box that is so important?” I ask.
“You tell me,” the general says.
“Fuck. I didn’t steal the fucking box.” My anger bubbles over. “I’m not the one who has your precious box. I didn’t even know it existed until Konstantin sent me that photo this morning.” My stomach knots.
“If you didn’t steal it,” the general asks. “Where did you find it?”
I sigh. “In Vegas.”
That makes his face drop. “Where in Vegas?”
“On Tara Craft’s lap.” My answer has the man sucking in his breath and fear flashing in his eyes.
“Fuck, this is not good.” He runs a hand through his hair. “Tell me all you know about the puzzle box.”
“Why?” My eyes narrow. “You tell me why it has you so freaked out first.”
“Inside the puzzle box was DNA in the form of baby teeth, hair, and cheek swabs in a small medical bag. A birth certificate, a photo of Anya, and a one-of-a-kind key.”
“I’m guessing it’s the key that’s got you worked up.”
“Partly.” He pulls out another photo and holds it so I can’t see it. “The main reason I thought you had taken the box was because of this.” He puts the photo in front of me.
The vault. My throat closes as I stare at the vault, which I was beginning to think was nothing more than a myth.
He leans forward. “It’s the key that opens the Dragunov vault.”
“You’re the gatekeeper?”
“Not for long,” he tells me. “The DNA in the puzzle box belongs to the next gatekeeper. The photo of Anya has a cryptic message on the back letting my estranged daughter know it’s safe or time to come home. The picture of Anya was taken in the place where my daughter and her family were to meet us.”
“It’s Tara’s DNA, isn’t it?” I watch him closely. Again, he doesn’t so much as blink. “She’s the next gatekeeper?”
“When the box first went missing, I thought you’d found and figured out who the birth certificate was,” The general admits. “I was waiting for you to make your next move after sending me that photo of you and Tara.”
“But now that you know it wasn’t me?” I ask.
“Do you know how Tara got the box?”
“Konstantin saw her sitting on a park bench. When he approached her, he saw her pull a photo from it and overheard her wondering aloud why her father would have the picture of a woman hidden in a puzzle box. When Konstantin questioned her about the woman, Tara said she had no idea who she was.”
“How did she find the puzzle box?” the general pushes.
“It was in a box of her late father’s things,” I tell him. “Konstantin found the storage unit and got inside. There was nothing else of significance in the box except the picture of Carla and Sol Craft, whom he recognized as Leonid Zorin.”
He runs a hand through his hair and pinches the bridge of his nose. “If Tara found the puzzle box, it was not by accident but by design. If I had to hazard a guess, I’d say the key was not in the box.”
“I don’t know, she keeps it with her, and Konstantin hasn’t been able to get into it,” I tell him. “If they have the key, why haven’t they gone after the treasure? Why send the box to Tara?”
“Because this isn’t just about the treasure,” the general tells me. “It’s about something far more valuable, and they’re using the treasure to leverage it. The picture of you with Tara is a message. That if I don’t deliver what they want, they’ll get you to do it because they know you want that treasure.”
“What do they want that’s more valuable than the treasure?” My heart kicks up speed as I fear I already know the answer. I swallow, and before he can say it, I do. “They want Tara, your granddaughter. When you refer to 'they’, I’m guessing you mean either the Russian Government, Military, or the RMSAD. Which could only mean that Tara is a prodigy like her grandmother.”
The room spins.
“Oh, she’s much more than a prodigy,” the general's voice lowers. “As you work closely with the RMSAD, I know you have access to their top secret projects, correct?”
“Yes.”
“Then I assume you’re familiar with their prized initiative. The Jewel Program.”
A chill crawls over my skin.
“I don’t think they can call it their prized initiative, considering only one test subject survived,” I say. “And he wasn’t even the Jewel of the project.”
“That’s what you were told,” the General says. “The truth is—two survived. Ergorov’s son. And test subject Eleven.”
Now, shock has me frozen to the spot, and my chest feels like an anvil has been placed on it. The general doesn’t have to say it out loud. I already know.
Tara Craft is the new Jewel of Russia, and someone just found out she’s still alive.