Chapter 40
We make our way to the coach house and I whisper, “Do you think it will work?”
Valentin shrugs. “It’s fifty-fifty. Marsha isn’t stupid. She will guess this is a set up, but she will also realize this is her final chance to discover what she is looking for. If I had to make a guess, I’d say she’ll go for it and hope to get away with it.”
We turn the corner and head straight for the coach house where Artem has set up a camera so we can observe Marsha’s progress through the house.
As we step inside, he says without taking his eyes off the screen. “She moved fast.”
We crowd around the screen and I can see that Marsha has left the living room and is walking with purpose toward Aunt Veronica’s study.
My breath catches as she opens the door, glancing around as if checking she isn’t being watched, and I whisper, “Where are the cameras?”
“Invisible to the naked eye.” Artem assures me, and I peer closer as Marsha heads straight for the walnut desk.
My anger bubbles to the surface as she tears open the drawer and, like me, checks underneath and is obviously searching for a false bottom.
“Wow, she really does know her stuff.” I say with a slight giggle, and Valentin grins.
“She obviously knows something because she went straight there.”
We observe with interest as she slams the drawer shut and stares around the room with a growing impatience. As she moves through it, checking every shelf and every drawer, cupboard and even cushions, I have a growing sense that there is something hiding in the room. I sensed it when I first came here and it’s obvious Marsha knows it is too, and I wonder how well she knew my aunt.
As the men study the screen, I whisper, “You should research her relationship with my aunt. If she is convinced there is something in that office, she must know something. Perhaps my aunt told her, confided in her and she is here to guard her secret.”
“Or use it for her own gain.” Valentin adds with growing anger as she searches behind the paintings on the wall and then turns her attention to the rugs.
“She is concentrating her efforts on that room alone. That tells us the location at least,” Artem says thoughtfully and Valentin growls. “I’ve seen enough. Time’s up.”
He catches my hand and as we leave the room, I suppress my mounting excitement because this is the most exciting week of my life. Mystery, passion and a marriage. My marriage and I still haven’t come to terms with that and as we head back to the house, I am the happiest I have ever been in my life, despite the situation I find myself in.
As planned, we gave Marsha thirty minutes, and it was obviously unsuccessful because as soon as we venture into the room, I note the strained frustration in her eyes and her obvious displeasure.
“I’m so sorry. That took longer than we thought.”
Valentin surprises me by staring at Marsha with a frown and she’s obviously uncomfortable about it because I detect the alarm deepening in her eyes.
“Um, well, I’m sorry to take up so much of your time.” She begins by saying and before I can answer her, Valentin says roughly, “Take a seat please, Miss Steele.”
The tension in the room has increased like an approaching storm and she is obviously unnerved by that and says falteringly, “I’m sorry, I have overstayed my welcome already and should really be heading back to London.”
“It was not a request, Miss Steele.”
I stare in astonishment as six of Valentin’s men crowd into the room. Two remain by the door, two head to stand on either side of Marsha, and the other two station themselves opposite her.
“What’s going on?” She hisses and Valentin says calmly.
“I am not my brother, Miss Steele. The information you gave him was indeed helpful, but it wasn’t the complete story, was it?”
I note the wild panic in her eye as she’s caught in a trap and my heart is beating wildly as I sense Valentin’s impatience. I dare not even breathe because it’s as if the air would choke me, poison me with its toxicity, and Valentin points to the settee and says roughly, “Sit down.”
She drops into the chair on command and I don’t blame her. This is a scary situation, even for me and I’m not the focus of his rough attention.
Valentin points to one of the chairs opposite her and says in a softer voice, “Take a seat, Polly.”
I don’t even miss a beat and drop into it and as Valentin takes the one beside me, Marsha says quickly, “I gave your brother what he wanted because he threatened me. It appears you want more, Mr. Romanov, but I really don’t have anything left to give.”
“Are you sure about that?” Valentin cuts off her speech and leans forward, his eyes glittering dangerously.
“You seemed interested in Veronica’s office a few minutes ago. So interested, you raided it and were obviously looking for something.”
The blood drains from her face and Valentin snaps, “You take us for fools, Miss Steele. You came here to exploit Polly for your own gain. When you realized it wouldn’t work, you were desperate, so you took a chance, which I always anticipated.”
“You set me up.” She hisses, and he laughs softly, a sound that chills me to the bone.
“Yes, I set you up. You see, you aren’t the first unwanted visitor to this house. Somebody got here before you, but they focused their attention on the coach house. Did you send him, Marsha? Did his search come up empty, so you turned your attention to another room? Is that why you offered to buy this house, to conduct your search more thoroughly?”
He leans back and frowns. “There must be something extremely valuable here to go to all that trouble. To kill for, in fact.”
“I haven’t a clue what you are talking about.” She feigns ignorance, but she doesn’t hide the terror in her eyes well and it’s obvious to anyone with a working pair of eyes that she’s lying.
We glance up as Artem heads into the room straight over to Valentin and whispers in his ear. Valentin nods, his angry glare never leaving Marsha for a second.
She shifts nervously on her seat as he says evenly, “Are you acquainted with a man named Nikolai Barinov, Miss Steele?”
It’s as if he’s stabbed her in the heart because she gasps for air and glances around with real fear.
“What about him?”
“I asked you a question, Marsha, it’s in your best interests to answer it.”
She peers down at the floor and says with a tremor in her voice, “I’ve met him once.”
“For what reason?” Valentin says simply and then leans forward, glaring at her with an expression that could chill the sun.
“Think extremely hard about your answer, Miss Steele, because I’m guessing if that man paid you a visit, you are involved in some serious shit.”
“It’s not that easy, Mr. Romanov. You see–” She lifts her eyes and I’m surprised to detect a hint of defiance in them and she says with animosity, “He knew of my close friendship with Veronica. He came to me for help, which I was reluctant to give because I pride myself on my loyalty, Mr. Romanov and she was one of my closest friends.”
I study her as she says in a harder tone. “She has something he wants. Hidden in one of her homes. He narrowed it down to Thorn House and told me of Polly. I resisted, of course I did, but if you know of him, Mr. Romanov, you will realize I was a fool.”
I detect the hard edge to her voice as she hisses, “Veronica was heavily involved with your father. Their relationship went back many years and I can only guess she was hiding something of importance for him. Nikolai informed me that it was of great interest and offered me no choice but to help him.”
“No choice?” Valentin asks, and she nods miserably.
“He threatened my life, and I’m kind of attached to that. Poor Veronica was obviously not so lucky.”
“So you came here to finish the job. Do you have any idea what he wants?”
I listen eagerly and she nods. “Documents that are printed with the Russian presidential crown.”
Valentin says nothing, and Marsha shakes her head in dismay.
“Listen. I’m not sure what Veronica was involved in and knowing my friend, neither did she. It was your father who used her and your father who made her a target.”
I sense Valentin’s anger as she directs her vitriolic tirade at him and, if anything, I admire her bravery.
She turns her attention to me and hisses, “Wake up, Polly. The Romanovs use women for their own gain. It’s the same for you. You have this house and he–” She jabs her finger in Valentin’s direction. “He wants what they all want. The documents and you will pay a heavy price for your ignorance.”
Her words hit home because she’s not wrong. It’s what brought him here in the first place, and I don’t feel good about myself right now. I can dress up his apparent infatuation as something more, but I must also listen to the niggling doubts that have called me a fool ever since I first let him into my body.
I’m surprised when Valentin reaches out and his fingers lace with mine as he faces Marsha with a frown.
“My relationship is none of your concern, Miss Steele. Do you really believe I would marry Polly to get what I want when I could just take it?”
She flinches under his disdainful glare as he hisses, “Look around you. I don’t travel alone and we had already searched this entire house long before I made Polly my wife. You see, this woman was happy to help. To help me find my father’s killer and I will, Miss Steele, make no mistake about that.”
He nods to Artem, who is standing by his side and hisses, “Escort Miss Steele from the premises with the usual word of warning.”
The alarm on Marsha’s face almost makes me feel sorry for her as she stutters, “What are you doing? I told you everything.”
“Did you? For some reason, I doubt that.” Valentin fires back and then jerks his head to the door.
“You may leave.”
His men move to her side and reach down, taking her arms and pull her roughly out of the chair.
“Let go of me!” She yells, but they remain impassive and pull her protesting from the room.
As they leave, Artem whispers, “Nikolai has boarded a jet for New York.”
Valentin appears thoughtful and then says softly, “Do we know why?”
“No, but I have alerted our men there and they will be waiting for his arrival.”
“Does my brother know?”
Artem nods. “He is aware.”
Artem moves away and as the door closes behind him, I’m not sure if we got any further with our investigation and the frustration is eating at me inside and I sigh heavily.
“What now?”
“We find what she was looking for.”
He says simply and I say wearily, “But what if it’s not there? It didn’t appear to be.”
“Her information may have been wrong, but knowing my father, he came into the possession of important presidential documents that he has hidden away.”
I’m surprised when he turns to me and I detect a softness in his eyes that catches me off-guard and he reaches up and strokes my face with a light touch. “Marsha was wrong about my intentions, Polly.”
“She was?”
I hold my breath as he whispers, “I married you because I couldn’t bear the thought of not being with you for the rest of my life. I hope you understand that.”
I press my cheek against his hand and smile. “That’s good to hear.”
His eyes glitter and he says huskily, “You are my wife because I want you to be, not because of my search. We are a team, malyshka. Remember that and we will be a successful one.”
“I have no doubts about that.”
For a long moment we just stare at one another, and all my doubts evaporate on his words. I know he wants me. It’s obvious, but for how long?