CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Greeting another round of people in the vast dining hall wasn’t on my to-do list after getting two hours of sleep once I’d returned from my midnight wanderings—not that I had a choice in the matter as I shook hands with another person whose name I promptly forgot.
Petrov—or rather, Vasily insisted on it, though, and after our early morning chat, I would be hard-pressed to deny him.
That was why I was pleasantly surprised when I recognized Papatonis among the crowd, despite the lack of proper lighting on our initial meeting.
“Papatonis,” I greeted with an eager handshake before Vasily made the introductions. My attention shifted to Leo, who stood beside the tall Greek man. “Leo, do you two know each other well?”
Leo glanced between us, his eyes round. “P-Pap—I-I, um, what?”
Papatonis’s brows raised at Leo’s stammering. “You heard her, Leonidas. Why didn’t you tell Callie that we know each other?”
My brows furrowed as I caught the undertones of my having missed something important. A glance showed a pinched expression on Vasily’s face as he inched closer to me, though he kept his eyes trained on Papatonis—like he was a threat.
“Lisichka,”Vasily began, but Papatonis interrupted.
“You heard her. We’ve already made our acquaintances. A second introduction isn’t necessary.”
Vasily’s face pinched with displeasure, and Leo looked lost.
Instinctively, I searched for my team, who’d been shuffled off by Joe for their own introductions. Had Vasily maneuvered that on purpose, separating me from my most protective hotheads to avoid angering someone nicknamed Ares?
“Actually, Callie,” Papatonis began, “I hoped that I could impose on you for a minute of your time.”
Vasily bodily moved to block me after that, and Leo’s Mediterranean complexion paled several shades.
“No, you cannot have her for a minute of time,”Vasily hissed.
“Calm yourself, comrade Petrov. I only wish to talk.”
Vasily’s eyes narrowed. “I cannot tell if you are mocking me and my culture, or addressing me with respect in an ignorant way, but I know your Russian is impeccable, comrade.”
Papatonis smirked. “Maybe a bit of both. Don’t worry, Petrov. Your little fox will be as safe with me as my own Sasha.”
“Given past events, that is not as reassuring as you are implying it to be.”
Papatonis’s eyes blazed with rage, and what little doubt I had of the man’s identity—if there’d been any to begin with—evaporated beneath the inferno.
I stepped between the men. If the situation wasn’t deescalated, there’d be a bloodbath on our hands. Smoothing things over before my eight fiercely protective boyfriends noticed whom I was talking to would be ideal as well. “I can spare a minute, Papatonis.”
Vasily’s hand gripped my arm tight enough to bruise.
“If he wanted to kill me, he could have done so easily last night,” I whispered in Mandarin, hoping Papatonis wouldn’t be able to speak that language, since it was the only one I knew for sure Vasily could understand that our mixed company might not.
Vasily relented with one more glare. “Fine, little fox, but my men will not be far.”
Either Papatonis was an old hat at reading verbal cues, or he could understand. “Excellent, come. No, not you, Leo,” Papatonis interrupted when Leo moved to follow. “You can hold down the fort here. Go. Network. Enjoy the delicious spread. Callie and I won’t be but a minute.”
Leo still hesitated, but I stepped up and took Papatonis’s proffered elbow, not even flinching when he closed the hold by arranging his free hand on top, sandwiching mine in place.
“Was that Mandarin?” Papatonis asked conversationally as he escorted me out the wide double doors. “My daughter speaks fluent Mandarin. She’s been trying to teach me, but I find it much more difficult than Russian or English—even Greek.”
Sure.
I still wouldn’t be using Chinese as a go-to language for secret communications in the future. He’d seemed to have more than a working knowledge if the amused smirk that danced across his features when I reassured Vasily was any clue.
“Sasha Popova, right? That’s the name of the firefighter who nearly died in the maze of fire Tarasovich built.”
Something shifted. It wasn’t how he talked or walked, nor in the light grip he kept on my hand tucked into the crook of his elbow, but I was suddenly in the presence of the fabled god of wrath they’d spoken of so many times. “What do you know of Sasha Popova?”
“I know the Director of Delta asked me to hack the NSA and retrieve an archived phone call stored under her registered number. I know I listened to the sound of her voice as she witnessed the murder of a close friend, the culprits of which seemed to be on a first-name basis with her. Thanks to Leo and Vasily, I also know that her biological father is a man so renowned and feared that he earned the name of a mythological god.”
“Petrov’s fondness for calling you little fox,” Papatonis began. “Does it have anything to do, I wonder, with how very clever you are?”
A curse stole through my thoughts because I’d done the very thing Leo and Vasily had specifically warned me not to do.
“Would I be the clever fox in this instance or the foolish crow if I allowed myself to be swayed by your flattery?”
“So you’re not just read up on Greek mythology and gods then. You’ve read Greece’s beloved Aesop’s Fables as well.”
“Years long captivity gives a girl a fair amount of free time. I covered all the public domain classics, unwilling to utilize my hacking skills when given a choice to delve into illegally downloaded literature circulating the torrent sites.”
Papatonis patted my hand. “Ah, there’s that mention of those principles you brought up during your identity crisis.”
I restrained the incredulous look that fought to free itself. Just because I sought to avert an incident in the dining hall didn’t mean that I lacked a healthy dose of fear. “Book pirating is not what I had in mind when I asked about morality and ethics.”
“No, I suppose it wasn’t. That’s partly why I wanted to talk to you this morning.” He gestured for me to take a seat on the carved bench. The sound of the three-tiered fountain echoed around the stone courtyard. When I hesitated to sit, he reassured me, “Callie, there are no less than six of Petrov’s men with eyes on us. You’re not in any danger.”
My brow arched. “And I heard you slaughtered double that without a weapon of your own.”
He grinned. “No, but I had one soon enough. Please.”
I sat, the coolness of the rock seeping up through my pants. “And to be clear, I wasn’t checking for Petrov’s men.”
Papatonis smirked, glancing in the same direction I had earlier. “Then you must be referring to your own Russian shadow who has me in the crosshairs of his scope three rooftops over.”
That earned a sharp look from me. “You saw Aleks?”
“No, and you were very good not to give away his position yourself, but I had the… honor of making his very loud and very protective acquaintance on Petrov’s private jet while you enjoyed your blissfully unaware nap. Since I recalled Leo mentioning his skills as a sniper, it seemed like something your stalwart protector would do.”
I volleyed his words back at him. “Clever fox.”
“Actually, I’m more of the foolish crow, it seems,” Papatonis confessed, staring at the running water.
Recognizing the segue, I kept my gaze trained on him. “Are you steering the conversation to why you wanted to talk to me alone?”
Papatonis laughed. “Yes, I am. Part of the reason, at least. The rest has to do with enjoying your candor with me. I find it refreshing.” He turned, studying me. “You remind me of someone.”
I cleared my throat, glancing in Aleks’s direction since his cover had already been made, if he’d even been trying to hide. We’d worked together many times by now, no longer strangers, so it might be my experience talking, but his position seemed rather obvious. “If you’re going to get sentimental, I should warn you that I’ve already suffered through about five fatherlike figures in my short lifetime. There seems to be a high turnaround rate involved with the gig, and a more than fifty percent chance of termination ending in death.”
The corners of his dark eyes crinkled, but he gave an otherwise ambiguous hum. “Back to principles—”
I stared at him, agape. “That’s what you called me out here for?”
“Yes. You seemed torn last night, suffering through an existential dilemma. This world is a dangerous sandbox you find yourself playing in. Inner struggles like that have seen many of my relatives killed. I wanted to share with you more about my side of things and possibly sway you to not hesitate. It could save your life. I’ve confronted monsters like the one we’re chasing—in fact, including the one we’re chasing—”
“And he’s still alive? A young man, practically a kid, survived the great god of wrath?”
“You didn’t miss the part about me being the foolish crow, correct?” He cast me an assessing glance. “Besides, didn’t you—practically a kid—take down Nikolai Ivanov?”
“I had a lot of help,” I sputtered in denial. “Tarasovich usually works alone.”
“And that was what I assumed as well, thinking I was the clever fox when I struck out for revenge. It went poorly, needless to say. I lost several good men. I was lucky that I sent Leonidas away at the time to check in on my daughter, or he might have become a casualty in the needless slaughter.”
My mind flashed to the warehouse of Tarasovich’s collected treasures, and a shiver worked its way up my spine like an army of ants.
“It happens each time we think we have a location on him. We converge on the location, discover it’s a trap, and lose men.” Papatonis glanced at me. “My daughter seems to be the only one to have outwitted him, but I won’t have her embroiled in this. She just shook herself free of this world, and I refuse to drag her back in.”
“Which leaves me.”
“If I can get close to him, I can kill him.” He said it with such confidence that it was easy to superimpose the bloody, katana-wielding monster whom Leo had detailed in his story. This was a man more than comfortable with killing. Papatonis shot me a warning look. “Keep that in mind. I don’t plan on turning him over to your government’s spooks so they can whisk him to some black site and keep him locked away like a weapon, dusting him off and pulling him out if they need his skill set.”
An icy tendril curled through me at the awful thought. Would they really do that?
“I couldn’t agree with you more.” My voice was hoarse with fear.
He seemed taken aback, as if I’d poked a hole in his sails.
“Oh,” Ares replied, seeming at a loss for words.
Despite the topic, I couldn’t help but feel amused this time. “Did you think I would fight you on that matter?”
“To be honest, yes, after your mention of principles.”
I shrugged. “Tarasovich knows where countless bodies are buried. The second the CIA threatened to lock him up, he’d dangle those secrets in front of the people in power for blackmail to get what he wants. He’s too good at playing puppet master. He’d be out in no time.” It’d happened before. “No, the world is better off without Tarasovich in it.”
Papatonis smiled. “Clever fox.”
“Foolish crow,” I corrected. “If I wasn’t so adamant about ending his reign of terror, I’d use that same knowledge of his as a way to leverage my team into the CIA’s good graces.”
I wouldn’t though. Tarasovich was too dangerous to capture.
“There they are. That’s where your principles were hiding.” Papatonis sat back. “So we agree then?”
I could almost hear a warning echoing in Ivanov’s voice. “Dance with the devil, and you’re bound to get burned.”
Papatonis’s entire spiel had boiled down to the ends justifying the means, sacrificing for our loved ones, and I’d already said I’d do anything to keep my team safe from Tarasovich. “We agree.”
He had us shake on it.
“You’ll deal with the hacker he’s paired up with. Help me get within spitting distance of Tarasovich, and I’ll ensure you and I both have our happy ending.”
My hand stilled, and since we’d been mid-handshake, he noticed. “What?”
“The hacker? Didn’t anyone tell you—”
“Callie!” someone called, stepping out from the colonnades supporting the roof of the cloister surrounding the courtyard. It was Leo. “Have you seen my bo—oh, there you are, boss.”
Papatonis looked unamused. “That’s the best you can do?” When Leo didn’t respond further, choosing not to dig himself deeper into his own grave, Papatonis rounded on me. “What was it that Leo advised you not to share with me?”
More uncertain now, I hesitated.
Papatonis shifted to block my view of Leo. “No, don’t look at him. Tell me. Consider this a free pass. You have your Russian shadow, right?”
Like clockwork, a red dot appeared on Papatonis’s chest, though the target seemed wholly unbothered by it.
He was right, and Aleks’s timing couldn’t have been anything but deliberate, meant to reassure me he was watching our interaction so closely that he’d been reading Papatonis’s lips.
“The hacker is my sister.”
Papatonis stilled. “Hm. I can see why Leo advised you to keep that to yourself.”
I frowned. “That’s not fair. I’ve never met her—didn’t even know she existed until two days ago!”
“It’s not about what is unfair. I have a difficult time restraining myself when I see someone has slighted me. Leo knows me well.” Papatonis stared into the far distance.
“You’d punish me for the actions of someone who’s already actively trying to kill me?”
Papatonis didn’t answer at first, but eventually he called, “You can come out, Petrov. I know you’re lurking about.”
Vasily did, standing near Leo as he gave Papatonis a hard glare. “You will not harm a hair on her head. Do you hear me, Ares?”
Papatonis returned a little to himself. His eyes lost their blankness as if he’d suffered from an out-of-body experience and had only just snapped back into his physical form. “I never said I would.”
“Don’t play me for a fool! You never answered her question either, and your hands moved to your side. What kind of weapon do you have hiding there? A knife? A gun?”
Wait, what?
My eyes rounded as I fought not to run away screaming. Every sense warned of a nearby predator, and that fleeing could trigger its instinct to chase the prey.
“Be still, clever fox. I was being a foolish crow just then,” Papatonis soothed, but the inky blackness of his vacant stare left me feeling uneasy. “It’s sometimes difficult to break old habits.”
With allies like him, who needed enemies?
I reminded myself that Petrov had also once seemed unhinged, especially when he’d kidnapped and hand delivered me to Ivanov to save his own daughter. If I could overlook that, I could… No, it was still more extreme for Papatonis to yearn to exact punishment after the fact, on someone who’s not even involved. Petrov’s daughter had been under an active threat when he made his rash decision.
Not wanting to assuage him nor mollify the seriousness of his transgression, I said, “It’s reassuring in a way. We need a monster to fight a monster, right?”
“That’s a fair assessment,” Papatonis conceded. “Truly, Callie, I do apologize. Since my daughter came into my life, I’ve recognized it for the second chance it is. My actions drove my wife to the edge, and I lost her because of it. I still stand by my willingness to get my hands dirty to protect those I care about, but I also don’t want to return to old habits and drive them away either.”
“I under—” My brain zipped, firing off a lightbulb. “Old habits!”
Eager, I glanced at Petrov, not at all surprised when the rest of my team melted from the shadowed recesses of the covered walkway. If Aleks had been nearby, it made sense they were as well.
“Yes,” Payton began, his attention narrowed behind me. “Come here, Callie. I think we’ll rest easier if you put some space between yourself and Mr. Papatonis.”
I shook my head. “You have your psychology degree. It’s almost impossible for someone not to develop habits. We already sort of figured that was how my sister could track us, despite being able to evade the CIA and their far-reaching resources, but my sister has something they don’t. She would know all my habits because she learned them from our dad.”
Payton still hadn’t shifted his focus, but he acknowledged, “Alright.”
“So what if we turn the tables on her by using her own trick to code a program that’ll track certain patterns?”
CJ joined my excitement. “Then we can be notified anytime she’s online.”
I nodded before deflating once more. “But the second we try to go after her, she’ll realize we’re onto her because her tracking software would alert her as well.”
CJ grinned. “Not necessarily. I had a thought…”