The Russian's Greed, Cap Daniels [free children's online books txt] 📗

at the doorVolkov had left ajar. “I have great idea!”

Volkov recoiled.“There’s no need to yell, my dear. I’m right here.”

“I am sorry, but Ihave brilliant idea. If I can see stones while Shel is cutting them,I can describe to him how they should look to match the ones inshops.”

Viktor held up afinger. “Don’t go anywhere.”

He stood from the sofaand nestled into his chair behind the enormous desk. With the phonein hand, he dialed the long number. “Sascha, stop Shel. Do not lethim cut anything else until tomorrow when we arrive.”

“We? Who is we, andwhy would I stop Shel?”

“Anya and I will bein Yarmouth tomorrow morning, and she will work with Shel to cut thestones perfectly.”

Sascha sighed. “Idon’t know if this is a good idea. Bringing her here once wasdangerous enough. She still has a lot to prove.”

“I understand yourconcern, and with anyone else, it would be valid, but you haven’tseen her come alive when she works.”

Sascha groaned. “Sheis an actress, Viktor. Lying to her audience and making them believeit is authentic. This is what she does. Yes, she has a magnificentmemory, but there is so much more to what we do. Viktor, this is ourlife. Our everything. We have to be careful.”

“Listen to me,Sascha. I’ve done this since I was ten years old. I know what I’mdoing.”

Sascha surrendered. “Iknow you do, my friend, but we have so much to lose. I am afraid—”

“Yes, you are afraid,and no one can do his best work when he is afraid, so find a way,Sascha. Find a way to have faith in me. I need you, and you need me.We’re in this together, but never forget your position.”

“Yes, Viktor, I amthe minority shareholder, and you never let that fact drift far frommy mind. Of course I’ll do what you ask, but in return, I want youto be careful for both of us.”

Volkov gave a satisfiednod. “Good. I’m happy you haven’t forgotten. Anya and I will bethere tomorrow, and Shel does not cut another stone until we getthere. This is agreed, right?”

“Agreed,” Saschawhispered. “No more cutting until you arrive. I will see youtomorrow, my friend . . . and majority partner.”

Without ceremony,Volkov returned the handset to the cradle and slapped his hand on thedesk. “Sascha is excited that we are coming, and he loves youridea. We will leave from Teterboro tomorrow morning at nine. I willpick you up at eight thirty.”

“I’m so excited,”Anya said. ‘How long will we be there?”

“Perhaps two days, nomore.”

“I cannot wait, andGwynn can come to make Sascha feel better? I could hear only yourside of conversation, but perhaps a beautiful woman would make himfeel better. He puts himself under so much stress.”

“You’re exactlyright. He does put himself under too much stress. He likes to blameme for that, but he does it to himself. Yes, Gwynn can come. She willbe a fine stress reliever for him.”

* * *

“What? Are youserious? No, I’m not getting on a plane with a history of womenbeing thrown in the ocean. You’ve lost your mind.”

Anya laughed. “Youare not afraid, are you? Remember, we took an oath, and it is our jobto stop these people.”

“Yeah, I took anoath. I don’t know what that was you took this morning, but we arenot the same. You can fight off a musclebound pilot and probablythrow him out the door, but I can’t do that.”

“Yes, I can do this,and I can also land airplane when he is gone, but there is somethingelse I can do. I can protect you because you are my friend.”

“Oh, boy,” Gwynnsaid. “Here we go again with the friend stuff. I don’t know.Regardless of what I say, it’s not up to me. We have to call AgentWhite.”

He answered almostbefore the phone rang. “White.”

“Agent White, it’sDavis and Anya. There’s a twist, and you need to know about it.”

“Don’t keep mewaiting. Spit it out.”

Gwynn motioned towardthe phone as it lay on the table on speaker.

Anya wasted no time. “Iam flying back to Nova Scotia with Volkov tomorrow to work with Shel,the diamond cutter, and Gwynn is coming with me to gather evidence.Oh, and thank you for my badge.”

“I think you may haveforgotten how this works. You don’t call me and dictate what’sgoing to happen. In this case, though, you guessed right. You’reboth going, and you’re coming back with enough to put these guysaway for a long time.”

Gwynn said, “I wantto go on the record here as saying if I get thrown off that airplane,I’m coming back, and I’m going to haunt both of you for the restof your lives.”

Anya let out a laugh.“I do not know about you, Agent White, but I am already haunted byso many demons I will hardly notice one more.”

White said, “Trustme, Davis. You don’t want to live in my head. It’s dark and scaryin there.”

* * *

Viktor Volkov waswaiting on the curb when Gwynn and Anya emerged from their building,each with an overnight bag in hand. The driver kept his seat whileVolkov ushered the women into the back. Traffic was light, and theypulled into the private hangar less than forty-five minutes afterleaving Times Square.

They slid from the car,and the bulky pilot who’d done the dirty work on the previousflight reached for their overnight bags. “It’s nice to see youagain, Ms. Anya. Let me take your bags. We wouldn’t want anythingto happen to them along the way, would we?”

They climbed the stairsinto the luxurious jet.

“This is impressive,”Gwynn said as she nestled into the leather seat.

Anya sat beside her andfastened her seatbelt. The flight attendant immediately handed Anya ablanket, and she looked up. “Thank you for remembering.”

The woman lost hersmile. “I never forget anything, and I hear the same is true foryou.”

Anya kept her smile. “Iam simple actress, nothing more.”

The flight attendantsaid, “Aren’t we all?”

Volkov climbed thestairs and leaned into the cockpit momentarily. Neither woman couldhear what he was saying, but unlike Gwynn, Anya didn’t suspectanything sinister.

Just as they’d doneon the previous flight, someone towed the Hawker jet from the hangar,and the engines came alive. The wait for departure was a little lessefficient than the exit from