The Alex King Series, A BATEMAN [good books for high schoolers .TXT] 📗

orchards. It was a beautiful place, and he wished he could have been there with Caroline. The thought made him anxious again, and he fought hard to control his emotions. He looked up as Anna returned with a pot of coffee and another cup. She poured him a cup with no offer of sugar or cream, then topped up her own cup.

“Tell me about Catherine.”

Anna nodded. “Helena’s little sister. I suppose by now she’d be twenty-four or twenty-five, so not that little,” she paused. “She looked a lot like Helena, so beautiful, beguiling even. Helena knew that she would end up in the same situation, knew she would be sought after. That is why she got her out. The money she stole from the Bratva was given to her to give her a start someplace.”

“Do you know where she is?”

Anna hesitated, then said, “No.”

King stared at her but said nothing. He tapped his fingers on the table, watched her grow uncomfortable and look away from him. “I think you do,” he said.

She sighed, and King noticed her hand was shaking. She caught him looking, moved it to her thigh and rested it there. “And what will you do?”

King shrugged. “My fiancé is being held. I don’t know where, I don’t even know if she’s still alive,” he said, his voice wobbling a little. He took a breath, steadied himself. “I want a bargaining chip. I want like for like. I want to find Catherine Milankovitch and trade her for the woman I love.”

Anna smirked. “And for this woman, you have killed my husband, and who else?”

“The man called Sergeyev. He is dead too.”

“And Romanovitch?”

“No. Not yet.”

Anna looked at him. “I know where he is,” she said.

King nodded. “And you’ll tell me?”

“Perhaps,” she said. “But I know more than this. I know where Catherine Milankovitch is.”

“But you have a price,” King stated flatly.

“There is a price for everything,” she said.

“I thought you had money.”

“I do.”

“So how about giving me the information for free?”

She laughed. “Oh, my dear, nothing is free.”

“I doubt I can afford it then.”

“You are a government man,” she said. “I know the type.”

“Okay…”

“Anonymity. That is my price. For my daughter and myself,” she paused. “A new name, social security details, British identity… that is all. I do not need money, I just want to disappear.”

King had tried to disappear once, and it hadn’t worked. A man had found him, brought him back into the fold. A new role, but life felt very much the same right now.

He nodded. “Go on,” he said.

“You can do this for me? For my daughter?”

“Yes.” He knew that Amherst would be able to swing it. What was a name, a national insurance number and a passport? What price was that for getting their MI5 agent back? “But time is sensitive,” he said. “I don’t break my word, but I need you to tell me. I need you to trust me, and I will make arrangements for both you and your daughter.”

She considered this for a moment, then stood up and nodded. “Okay. We will go inside, and I will write it down.”

King followed her, the swim robe covering little of her backside as she took the three stone steps up into the house. The room was a large, open-plan living area where a lounge, dining room and kitchen merged into one. Anna found a pad and started to write down an address. King could see she was drawing a map as well. “My husband spoke with Romanovitch the day before you killed him,” she said neutrally. “He always goaded Pyotr, delighted in emasculating him whenever he could. Dick measuring, I suppose. Romanovitch had wised up to Helena being on the scene. She had made some moves, paying mercenary types to build a platform from which to operate. He suspected what she was going to do, or at least that she could be after revenge. He took out certain insurances and goaded my husband. Pyotr said he would never hide or cower from her like some damned dog. I suppose that was Pyotr trying to out-dick Romanovitch.”

“What insurances?” King asked, taking the note off her and studying it before folding it and placing it in his pocket.

“Romanovitch found Catherine and took her.”

“Took her?”

“Yes,” she paused. “I don’t know where he took her, or even if she is still alive. But all I know is that Romanovitch is a merciless bastard and he will use her in any way he can to protect himself.”

“And this address, it is his main home?”

“Yes.”

“Why help me?”

The question seemed to stun her for a moment, she shrugged and said, “Maybe Helena needs to end this, maybe things will be better for me if she does. She will not like the fact that I got together with Pyotr. She will have seen that as me siding with him, gaining from that night.”

“And if Romanovitch dies, well that’s one less person to come after you for the secrets you know about your husband’s business affairs.”

Again, she shrugged like it meant nothing. “Win, win.”

King nodded, was about to thank her for her cooperation, but something outside caught his eye. He moved to the edge of the window, keeping far enough back to remain unseen. A large black Mercedes and a black Range Rover Sport had pulled up and parked on the road opposite the house. “Your husband’s men… would you recognise them all?”

“Most of them,” she said. She walked up to King and stood at his shoulder. “Those cars are his, I’m certain of it.”

King stepped back and looked at her. “You said you bought things yesterday,” he paused. “How did you purchase them?”

“On my credit card…” she trailed off, realising her mistake.

“And the phone?”

“Card,” she