CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Talia read a few more sentences about Lucy’s adventures stepping through the wardrobe, only stopping when she looked over and saw that Maria’s eyes had drooped completely closed and the girl was breathing slow and steady. Putting a bookmark between the pages to hold her place, Talia quietly placed the book on the nightstand, pushing it far enough back so that Maria wouldn’t knock it off in the morning when she jumped out of bed without looking, as she so frequently did. Most people would probably consider The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe a little advanced for someone Maria’s age, but she truly was mature beyond her age, and seemed to be having no problem comprehending the deeper tones of the story.
With a smile, Talia carefully pulled the blanket a little higher over Maria’s small shoulder. Her eyes fluttered open a little.
“Did you have a good date with Lennox?” Maria asked, the words soft and sleepy as she fought to keep her eyes open.
Talia lifted a brow. “And how did you know I was on a date with Lennox?”
“I knew you were up to something good when Mommy said you’d be late coming in to read to me tonight,” Maria informed her, waking up a little as she got into her story. “And then Tom sent me a text to let me know that you’d come through the gate with a guy with short dark hair. I figured it must be Lennox.”
“You get text notifications from one of the guards at the gate when people come through?” Talia asked in surprise.
“I get texts from all the guards at the gate,” Maria said, as if it should have been obvious. “At first I only asked them to let me know when the pizza delivery guy was on the way up because I liked to be at the table and get the first slice. Then I added the grocery delivery people because Sofia takes all the candy and hides it in her room, which I’m not allowed into. I go in anyway, but Sofia keeps all the good stuff locked up. Lately, since all those strange people have started showing up, I have the guards text me when anyone arrives. Just to be on the safe side.”
Talia sat her on the side of the bed, flabbergasted. For about the hundredth time, she wondered if Maria was the age she claimed.
“I’m still waiting for an answer to my question,” Maria said, blankets tucked up to her chin, but her not so-sleepy-eyes continuing to regard Talia suspiciously. “How was your date with Lennox?”
Laughing despite herself, Talia let out a sigh. “Okay…yes…I went on a date with him. He took me out to dinner and then we came back here to have coffee. And yes, it was wonderful. I had a lot of fun.”
Maria beamed, her smile lighting up the room. “Does that mean the two of you will be getting married soon?”
Just when Talia thought there was nothing left to baffle her with, Maria found it.
“No, we won’t be getting married anytime soon.”
Maria pushed herself up on her elbows with a frown. “Why not? You like him. He takes you to dinner. And you have a lot of fun with him. What else do you need to know before you get married?”
“Quite a lot,” Talia said with a sound that was half laugh and half sigh. Maria might be wise beyond her years, but she was still just a kid after all. “You have to spend enough time together to make sure you’re compatible in terms of things like values, beliefs, interests, and life goals. A couple has to talk honestly to each other long enough to develop their communication skills and to ensure there’s true respect there that will see them through the good times and the bad.”
Maria made a face as she lay back on the pillow. “None of that sounds fun at all. Can you just go to Legoland instead?”
“If two people want to just be friends, yes, you can have fun and go to Legoland. But if that couple wants the relationship to be real and last forever, they have to take their time and make sure they do it right.”
Maria considered that. “Wow, I never knew getting married was so hard.” She looked sad for a moment but then her expression brightened. “Glad I don’t have to worry about getting married for a few years. That will give me time to learn everything.”
“Yes, it will,” Talia said, relieved that this particular conversation was over for now.
She ended up having to read another chapter to get Maria to fall asleep. Careful to be as quiet as she could, Talia stood and left the room, closing the door soundlessly behind her. She made her way down the hallway, stopping when she saw Vera sitting in one of the cozy chairs in the reading nook, two mugs on the low table in front of her. Vera must have been waiting for her.
“I see that my precocious daughter finally went to bed,” Vera said with a laugh, motioning toward the chair across from her and the mug on the table. “I made us some green tea. Come sit with me so I can hear all about how your date with Lennox went.”
Talia had mentioned she’d be going to dinner with Lennox, but she hadn’t thought Vera would want to hear about it. After the grilling she’d received from Maria though, this version of sharing should be easy.
“The date went fine,” Talia said as she sat down and picked up the mug.
“You sound less enthusiastic than I expected,” Vera murmured, cupping her mug in both hands. “Did something go wrong?”
Talia hesitated. There was no reason not to tell Vera the details of their date. Besides, who else could she talk to? Katrina was too emotionally attached to the idea of romance to ever look at her situation through anything but rose-colored glasses. And while Talia would like to talk to Kyla since she was involved with a SEAL herself, that time wasn’t now. They weren’t close enough friends yet.
“Nothing went wrong,” Talia said, sipping her tea. “It’s just that Lennox and I started talking about family and I told him about my father and how he was never home because of work. Lennox put two and two together and realized that I’ve been hesitant to date him because I’m scared of getting involved with someone who’s never going to be around.”
Vera winced. “That sounds like an uncomfortable conversation. But it was one that needed to happen. So, how did he take it? It must have worked out since you came back and spent some time together at your cottage.”
“What?” Talia laughed, almost snorting tea out of her nose. “Does the whole family keep tabs on when I come through the gate and who I’m with?”
“Normally, no,” Vera said with a smile. “I mean, besides Maria. I only asked Ken to let me know when you and Lennox showed up because I care about you and want you to be happy.”
When Vera talked like that, it was difficult to imagine her as having any involvement in anything remotely criminal.
“Thank you. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate knowing I have someone I can talk to about all of this,” Talia said, leaning over to squeeze the older woman’s hand.
“You’re most welcome,” Vera said, squeezing her hand back. “I’ve never told you this, but I’ve come to think of you as another daughter, so there’s nothing you can’t talk to me about. Now, tell me what happened with Lennox. How did the two of you get past what seems to be an insurmountable obstacle?”
Talia sat back with a sigh, drinking some more of her tea. “I’m not sure we have—entirely. But I did tell Lennox I want to try and make this work between us. Which probably sounds a little silly and premature, since we’ve been on a grand total of one date.”
“You might have only been on one official date but you two have been dancing around each other for months. Besides, I think him saving your life at the zoo counts for a date. As does going to Legoland with Maria the other day. Kind of. Given all that, there’s nothing wrong with recognizing when you want something—or someone.”
“But what if I’m just setting myself up for heartache at some point in the future?” Talia asked, the misery slipping out even if she hadn’t intended it to. “It feels amazing when I’m with Lennox, but I’m still terrified of the idea of him disappearing off to someplace in the middle of nowhere without even knowing where he’s gone or when he might come back. That’s hard to deal with.”
Vera regarded her thoughtfully. “Is that truly a realistic concern or simply an expression of your fears coming out?”
Talia knew why she was asking that question and had no problem using Lennox’s recent mission the other day as an example. “He got a call and had to leave immediately with no explanation, no idea where he was going, and with no way to contact him. When he came home a few days later, it was like I could finally breathe again. What if it had been longer? What if he hadn’t come back at all?”
She expected Vera to say something about her overreacting, but instead the older woman nodded. “There’s no way you could have known this but when Bogdan first started his career in the Belarusian government, he was required to travel—a lot. With our country’s close connection to Russia, he was sent all over the world. I won’t try and claim that he was at risk in the same way a Navy SEAL like Lennox would be, but Bogdan was gone for long periods of time, rarely able to contact me, doing things that could have gotten him hurt if he was ever caught.”
Talia only had a general sense of what a man like Bogdan might have done for the Belarusian government all those years ago, but it wasn’t hard to figure out that it likely involved travel to those areas of the world that involved Russian military and financial interests.
“All I’m trying to say is that I understand what it’s like to be involved with a man who spends a lot of time away from home, doing things he can’t or won’t talk about,” Vera continued. “I understand your hesitancy to willingly put yourself in that position but at the same time I think you should know that the happiness I gain from being with Bogdan made all the misery worth it. I’ve never regretted my decision to be with him, even in those moments when my entire family was in danger.”
“But how do I know if something that good will happen with Lennox and me?” Talia asked. “What if what you have with Bogdan is the exception? What if I let myself fall in love with Lennox and it doesn’t work out with him? What if something happens to him on a mission and I’m left lost and alone?”
Talia realized she was starting to sound irrational, like she was on the verge of a breakdown, but she couldn’t stop herself even as a quiet voice in the back of her head told her this wasn’t normal. Her absentee father had damaged her more than she’d ever known.
“All those concerns are valid but there’s a harsh truth you need to hear, Talia. Life is full of risks, and the only way you can lose something precious is to have it to begin with. But you’ll never have anything amazing and precious if you don’t put yourself out there and go get it.”
Talia opened her mouth, ready to say that real life was more complicated than that. But then she stopped herself. Because…maybe it wasn’t?
“I know you’re right,” Talia she said softly. “But that doesn’t mean I’m not still terrified.”
Vera gave her a small smile. “My grandmother once told me that being scared is just nature’s way of letting us know we’re alive. I’m not sure I always understood that but in this case, I guess that means being scared means you’re putting yourself out there for a chance at finding love.”
Talia got what Vera was trying to say but she wasn’t sure if she was brave enough to ever face that kind of fear, even for a chance at love.
“It must be nice now that you’re here in San Diego and your husband is no longer involved in all that dangerous work he used to do,” Talia said, wanting to move the topic of conversation to anything other than herself.
Vera sighed. “I wish that were the case. Unfortunately, Bogdan continues to associate with people who want to put him in dangerous situations whether he wants to or not.”
“What kind of people?” Talia asked, her mind coming back to the possibility that her employers were involved in Anna’s disappearance and all this other cloak and dagger stuff.
“People who think that Bogdan, with all his connections in Europe and Asia, can help them with their schemes. People who don’t care who gets hurt as long as they get what they want.”
Crap. Vera is involved in all of this stuff with Anna and these international terrorists.
How could she have been so clueless? But Vera had seemed so sincere when she’d said she thought of Talia as a daughter. How could she think that and still put her and the other au pairs in the middle of all this?
“Is that where your husband is now?” Talia asked hesitantly, trying to make her voice casual even as she hoped Vera would slip up and tell her something else incriminating. “With these dangerous people.”
“Unfortunately, yes.” Vera’s worried expression suddenly bordered on panic. “He had a meeting with them this afternoon and I don’t expect him home for another hour or two at the earliest. Even then, he’ll probably be working on all the paperwork in his office until dawn.”
That was when Talia realized that was why Vera had been waiting for her with mugs of hot tea. She’d needed the company while she waited to see if her husband would make it home safely. Talia felt for her, even if she was involved in everything going on.
“You should go to bed,” Talia said gently. “You’re obviously worn out from worrying and sitting here waiting isn’t going to make the wait any easier.”
For a moment, it seemed like Vera would argue but then it was like all the energy went out of her and her shoulders slumped in defeat. “You’re right.”
Getting to her feet, she picked up her empty mug.
“Leave it,” Talia said, standing up as well. “I have to go through the kitchen on the way to the cottage anyway.”
Vera nodded then came over to give Talia a hug before disappearing down the hallway to the master bedroom.
Picking up the mugs, Talia went downstairs and dropped them off in the kitchen. But instead of going out the back door and heading to her cottage, she walked through the immense dining room and down the hallway toward Bogdan’s office. While Vera had looked sleepy, Talia had an ulterior motive for suggesting she go to bed. This might be her best chance to search Bogdan’s office.
Slowing when she got to the door, she glanced over her shoulder to make sure that no one was around, then tried the knob, fully expecting it to be locked.
But it wasn’t.
Peeking inside, she turned on the light. Like every other room in the house, Bogdan’s office was huge. Floor to ceiling bookcases lined the walls to either side of the door and a big round table with half a dozen chairs stood on her left. It was the desk piled high with papers and file folders that grabbed her attention. The urge to go inside and nose around was difficult to resist. At the same time, there was a voice in the back of her head telling her to walk away.
But what if there was something among all those papers to help her find Anna?
Taking a deep breath, Talia glanced over her shoulder again then slipped into the room, closing the door behind her. It wasn’t until she crossed the room to Bogdan’s desk that she realized she had no idea what she was looking for. This spy business was definitely not for her.
Maybe she should go upstairs and get Maria. She’d probably know what to do in here better than Talia.
After a few minutes of shuffling through papers, Talia figured out that most of them were detailed background checks on various people and companies. Or at least it looked that way to her uninformed eyes. Everything was written in Belarusian, so she threw a silent thanks to her grandma for pushing her so hard to learn.
The first few file folders were on what seemed to be random international corporations. She wasn’t skilled at reading these kinds of profiles, but she recognized that the first one was an oil and coal company while the next two made weapons. Then came a banking and investment firm, followed by a technology company, a microprocessor manufacturer, and a shipping company.
Not sure how any of this international corporate stuff could matter to what was going on in San Diego, she was about to skip on to something else more interesting, when a familiar name caught her attention. John Fredrickson was the owner and CEO of the shipping company.
Talia skimmed the rest of the papers in that folder, stunned to find half a dozen pages devoted to Anna, including information on where she was born and various family members.
Curious, Talia went back through the other files on the desk, digging through the one on the technology firm until she found information on Dayton McDaniel. Just like the file on Fredrickson, this one had a section on Katrina.
A few more minutes of searching revealed several more families that she recognized with details on the companies, the owners, and the au pairs who worked for them. The depth of personal info that Bogdan had on her friends, especially the stuff on their families and even people they’d dated, was downright creepy.
Then she found Bogdan’s file on her, detailing the poor relationship she had with her father and her brothers, and her involvement with Lennox. There were even handwritten notes on the “date” they’d had at Legoland. So much for Talia being part of the family .
What the heck was going on? It was one thing for Bogdan to have files on Fredrickson, McDaniel, and the other powerful families in the San Diego area, especially if he was somehow involved with Keller and his terrorist group in their efforts to somehow gain control over these powerful families. But if that was the case, why the hell would Bogdan have files on all their au pairs? Why would he have files on her ?
Talia was still standing there staring at all the paperwork on the desk when she heard a noise from the front of the house. Bogdan was home.
Crap .
As Talia turned, ready to run toward the door, she caught sight of a sticky note attached to the last page of the file on Fredrickson. Thursday @ 1 AM had been circled twice while the address in La Jolla had been underlined three times. Whatever it was, it must be important.
Reading the message through twice more to memorize it, Talia took a few seconds to reorganize the desk, hoping the files looked the same way they had when she came in. Then she darted for the door, flicking off the light as she slipped out of the room.
A second later, she heard the front door open then leather soles clacking on marble floors. Talia ran toward the kitchen, tiptoeing in an attempt to be as quiet as possible—and probably looking ridiculous as she did. She could duck out the back door and Bogdan would never even know she’d been in the house.
Not that she shouldn’t be there, of course. She was in the main house all the time. But she was afraid he’d take one look at her face and know she’d been up to something.
Unfortunately, her plan didn’t work. Bogdan’s footsteps echoed in the hallway, coming her way.
Heart pounding, Talia looked around the chef’s kitchen. There was no way she could reach the door before he caught her. Instead, she crouched down behind the prep island on the left side of the room, hoping Bogdan was coming in for a late-night snack. If he was going to make coffee, he’d see her for sure and she’d be screwed!
Her prayers were answered when Bogdan headed straight for the fridge. She heard him pouring something into a glass, followed by the sound of a cabinet door opening then the rattle of cellophane. Bogdan was raiding the cookie stash. Vera would be furious if she knew. Her husband was supposed to be on a diet!
Talia waited out his snack attack, breathing a sigh of relief when the cabinet door closed and the sound of footsteps crossed the kitchen and disappeared back down the hallway. A few seconds later, she heard him go into his office and close the door.
A split second later, Talia jumped up and darted for the back door.
She forced herself to walk calmly once she was outside, not wanting to draw attention if someone at the guard shack happened to be looking at the exterior video cameras. But while her face might be calm, her stomach was doing backflips. She’d call Lennox the moment she got to her cottage so she could tell him about that meeting in La Jolla. They needed to find out what that was about.