In Sheep's Clothing
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She’d held her head in her hands, wiped her tears…Evelyn’s blood streaked her face.
Gracie felt another howl begin in her gut and fought it. She wanted to retch on the sidewalk.
Run.
Light-headed, she stumbled to an alleyway. Threading between metal garages, she found a niche between two blue, peeling units and sank down next to a pile of vodka bottles.
Hiccuping in horror, she wrapped her arms around her body and rocked as Evelyn’s pale face ravaged her memory. And Gracie was covered in her blood. The world spun; she forced herself to breathe. Battling for sanity, she spoke aloud.
“Get home. Get clean. Get out of Russia.”
Yes, get out of Russia. Now. Gracie climbed to her feet. Bracing an arm on the garage, she forced herself to formulate a path home.
She’d cut through the garages, around the park, along the alley and behind the bread kiosk, then make a frenzied dash to the front door.
Ducking her chin, she raced toward her apartment.
“We’re not as free as you think, Vita, that’s all.” Yanna didn’t look at Vicktor. She stirred her cold tea, pushing the tea bag into a wad at the bottom of her cup. The beverage had long since sent off its last wisp of steam. Vicktor’s stomach churned as he watched her twirl her spoon. Something was eating at her, something bigger than tonight’s tournament.
Vicktor kept his voice low. “Could you be more clear?”
Yanna sighed, dropped the spoon and flicked her hair back. It shone rich mahogany in the well-lit cafe. She crossed her arms over her chest, wrinkling leather and appearing exasperated. “Nyet. Just keep our little online friends a secret. Don’t breathe names, or even connections. Chat rooms are not private, even encrypted ones like ours. Ponyatna?”
“Yeah, I got it.” Annoyance plucked his nerves and he felt a faint ripple of fear. He wasn’t under any illusions that the Internet, and even his e-mail, couldn’t be monitored. That was why they used nicknames and chatted in English, why Preach had set up their private, encrypted chat room. Vicktor rubbed his thumb along the handle of his coffee cup. Post-Communism residue soured his stomach.
“Is it lunchtime yet?”
Yanna’s face lit up. “Roma!”
Vicktor stood and locked hands with Roman, who grinned. “I got a tidbit for you that will make your day.”
“You’re on Evgeny’s case,” Vicktor guessed. It gave him pleasure to see his friend’s smile droop.
“How did you know?”
“Malenkov. Chewed my ear off this morning for not calling him on his day off.”
Roman turned a chair around and straddled it, joining them at the round table. He eyed Vicktor’s beverage with a grimace. “Vicktor, why can’t you drink tea like every other Russian?”
Vicktor ignored his sour stomach and took a long, loud sip of his coffee.
Roman put two hands to his neck and squeezed, mimicking choking. Vicktor nearly choked for real with laughter when a waitress hustled up, and looked at the COBRA captain like he had a disease.
Yanna shook her head.
Roman cleared his throat, becoming, instantly, the counter-terrorist Red Beret who knew how to defuse a tense situation. He smiled, nicely. “Got any borscht?”
“I’ll see,” the waitress snapped. She whirled and headed for the kitchen.
Roman gave an exaggerated shiver. “Oh, how I love Russian service.”
Vicktor gulped his laughter. Roman didn’t need any outside encouragement.
“So, you already know my big news.” Roman crossed his arms and waggled his eyebrows. “Well, I’ll bet you don’t know this…”
Vicktor gave him a mock glare.
Roman glanced at Yanna. “He’s grumpy, huh?”
She smirked.
“Roman,” Vicktor warned.
“Keep your shirt on, Vita. Some of us got to asking how the comrade major found out about Evgeny. I mean, Arkady certainly didn’t roust him out of bed with the news, did he?”
Vicktor leaned forward, his heart missing a beat. “Who told him?”
“Actually, we’re not sure.”
Vicktor’s eyes narrowed.
“But we do know the call came in early this morning on one of Major Malenkov’s private lines, right after he came in to work.”
Disbelief almost stole Vicktor’s voice but he forced out the words, “The comrade major’s phone is tapped?” He glanced at Yanna, whose eyes were wider than her teacup.
Roman held a finger to his lips.
Vicktor gasped. “Why?”
Roman’s smile vanished. “Listen to me, Vita. Everybody’s phone is tapped at HQ. Fourth Department knows all.”
The Fourth Department. Internal Affairs. Shock turned him cold. Why would the Fourth be investigating Comrade Malenkov?
“The call came in on an ancient number we’ve been monitoring for years.” Roman leaned forward for emphasis. “It’s been out of use for a decade, but the comrade major himself requested the tap.”
Vicktor’s mind reeled. Why would the major ask to have one of his lines tapped?
“Why hasn’t the number been used for so long?” Yanna rested her elbows on the table. “Shouldn’t it have been reassigned?”
“It used to be Comrade Major Ishkov’s line. I guess they thought leaving it open might lead to his murderer.”
“Murderer?” Vicktor said, and three heads turned from a nearby table.
Roman shot him a cross look.
“Sorry,” Vicktor mumbled. He schooled his volume. “Ishkov was one of the heavyweights, mentored under Khrushchev. I didn’t know he was murdered.” He pushed his coffee away, his appetite gone. “I thought he had a heart attack. I remember him. He was a legend. I never did figure out why he didn’t retire.”
“They needed him around to keep the old spies in line. Ten years ago, the plants from the old KGB were still working the system. Ishkov was assigned to reel them in and send them to pasture. He bought it before he could finish the job.”
“So Malenkov kept Ishkov’s number open to see if he could tempt some of the old goats in from the cold, in case they called to report?”
“Maybe.” Roman fingered his soup spoon.
Yanna steepled her fingers and rested her chin on them. “So, you’re saying an old agent, or an informant, called in on Ishkov’s old number, got Malenkov, and reported Evgeny’s murder?”
Roman pointed at her. “Tochna.”
“Who would know enough about Evgeny’s murder to call Malenkov, and why?” Vicktor asked.
Roman gave Vicktor a steely look. “One of Arkady’s boys? Disgruntled?”
Vicktor scowled. “Hardly. His men are more loyal to him than their own wives.” Still, the image of a scaly-skinned tech at Evgeny’s clinic flashed through his memory. He pressed his thumb and forefinger to his eyes and pinched the image away. “I don’t know.”
“Food for thought,” Roman commented, and crossed his arms over his chest.
Vicktor chuckled to himself, spying Roman’s captain bars glinting gold on the collar of his COBRA uniform. Although clad in black jeans, boots and a black leather jacket, Roman never could stray far from the reminder of his rank. Roman had fought for his bars—Vicktor didn’t blame the guy for wearing them every waking moment. He supposed it kept Roman focused on his end goals, and his mind off his losses.
“Ah, food for the famished!” Roman smiled broadly at the waitress skulking back to them. She balanced a bowl of borscht on her tray.
Ignoring him, she plunked the borscht down on the table. “Twenty rubles.”
Roman peeled a bill off a wad from his pocket. She snatched it from his grip and marched back to the kitchen.
A tendril of steam curled from the borscht like a ribbon and Roman made a show of sniffing. The smell of dill clawed at Vicktor’s taste buds, but he doubted he’d ever have an appetite again after Roman’s news.
The cell phone trilled in his coat pocket. Vicktor dug it out and flipped open the case. “Shubnikov.”
“Get over here, and don’t ever say I never did you any favors.”
“Arkady?”
“That’s still Chief Arkady to you. I’m at Kim-yu-Chena Street, apartment twenty-three, sixth floor. You’d better hurry if you want to beat the rest of your three-letter cohorts here and get a piece of this.”
“Piece of what?” Vicktor asked, wadding a paper napkin in his fist.
“You’re in luck, hotshot. The Wolf has struck again.”
Chapter Five
Gracie’s keys shook as she fought with the bolts of her steel door. Flinging herself inside her apartment, she slammed the door shut behind her.
Fatigue buckled her knees and she crumpled hard onto the floor. Sweat poured down her face, into her eyes, down her chest and back. Hiccuping breaths, she fought with her buttons, then shrugged out of her coat and left it in a heap.
Get clean. The thought pushed her forward, beyond exhaustion. Toeing off her shoes, she unbuttoned her dress, let it slide off and left it in a ring. Stumbling down the hall, she whipped her turtleneck over her head and pitched it into the corner. She slapped on the bathroom light, then reached for the faucet and cranked the water on full, hoping the city hadn’t turned off the hot water yet. She ripped off her socks and underclothes and shoved her hands under the spray. Dried blood loosened, dripped off her. Evelyn’s blood. She felt her stomach convulse.
Keep it together, Grace. She fought the shakes as she climbed into the tub, unwilling to wait for the water to warm, and grabbed her soap.
The water turned her skin to ice. Blood edged her fingernails, lined the creases in her hands. She scrubbed until her fingers were raw and wrinkled. Her eyes burned as she watched the water pool red at her feet.
Evelyn. Oh, Evelyn.
A howl, hot and painful, began at Gracie’s toes. By the time it had worked into her chest, she was shaking.
Gripping the sides of the tub, Gracie sank into a ball and wept.
Evelyn deserved better than this. After everything Evelyn had done for God, didn’t that guarantee her some safety? It felt as if Gracie had been kicked in the chest. “Is this how You protect those who serve You?”
What did it mean to be a Christian if she couldn’t count on the Almighty for the one thing she needed from Him—protection? Why had she poured out her life for a God who so obviously didn’t care?
Gracie curled her arms over her head, kneaded them into her wet hair and rocked. Evelyn’s face, white and horrified, stared at her. She pressed her fists into her eyes. She heard herself moan, and gulped it back.
If Evelyn’s sweet life devoted to God couldn’t protect her from a brutal murderer, then where did Gracie, a soiled failure, stand in God’s eyes?
Memory hit her like a fist and she heard laugher.
Tommy’s laughter. She pushed away the feeling of his hands on her body, his roughness. Had she seriously thought that an escape across the ocean might free her from the nightmares?
She got out of the tub, toweled off and grabbed a robe. Shivering, she realized she’d come full circle.
She was alone. Just as she had been the night three years ago when she’d gone home with the campus jock.
No wonder God had abandoned her. What a farce she lived.
Better than anyone, she knew she didn’t deserve God’s forgiveness, let alone His protection.
She pulled the robe tight, trying to warm herself, but it was quite possible she’d never be warm again.
The ringing phone sliced through her despair. Gracie’s heart stopped. Who knew she was here?
No one.
The only people who would call her now were…dead.
She dried her hair with the towel and dashed to her room, panic making her muscles pulse. She tugged her sweater over her head and was pulling up her jeans when the ringing finally stopped, leaving an eerie silence in its wake.
Gracie abandoned her apartment moments later, to the sound of the murderer—she was sure it was him—again ringing her line.
Vicktor flipped on the siren. Somehow the rhythmic whine slowed his heart beat and enabled him to sling his car safely around traffic toward Leningradskaya Street.
The Wolf had returned. Vicktor’s knuckles blanched white on the steering wheel as he tried to corral his racing thoughts. The implications of the Wolf appearing again after nearly a year meant he hadn’t moved on to Moscow, as informants had speculated. Vicktor’s pulse hammered in his ears.
Maybe he could finally put right what went wrong and atone for his mistake. And it all hinged on him finding a woman covered in blood, stumbling around Khabarovsk.
How hard could that be?
Vicktor screeched onto Leningradskaya, nearly dropping his cell phone. “Yanna, you still there?”
“We just got the file from Passport Control, Vicktor. It’s loading. Hold on to your shirt.”
Vicktor slowed and turned into the rutted courtyard of Grace Benson’s apartment. Please, please let her have returned home. He’d spent the last hour walking through the crime scene with Arkady, reliving every crime that bore the Wolf’s mark. The Wolf’s first victim had been a girlfriend of a KGB colonel. Ten years hadn’t erased from Vicktor’s memory her glassy eyes, or the wound across her throat. No forced entry, no obvious struggle. Medical Examiner Comrade Utuzh had dubbed the killer “the Wolf,” like the Siberian dogs who stalked their prey, then pounced without mercy. This was a lone wolf, however—cruel, maybe desperate.
And an American woman might be Vicktor’s only lead. While Vicktor scoured the scene with Arkady, Yanna had pulled the FSB file on the victims—Dr. and Mrs. William Young. Evidently, they had one emergency contact, a woman who just might match the description offered by the local neighborhood watch, an elderly babushka sitting outside the apartment building. Vicktor had tracked down the American’s address, and after calling her flat three times, he’d had to concede that Miss Grace Benson was not going to answer.
But…maybe she was holed up inside, hiding. He eased his car over a pothole as he struggled to think like an American.
“Yanna?”
“The file is still loading,” Yanna snapped. “That’s what we get when the government siphons funds for parades instead of equipment.”
Apparently Yanna still nursed wounds over the city’s penchant to re-do the streets every time Putin came to town, leaving her with ancient paperweights for computers. No wonder she did so much of her work at home.
Vicktor softened his tone. “I’m sorry, I’m just in a hurry.”
“Blond, five foot two, green eyes.”
“Thanks, Yanna. You’re a prize.”
“I forgive you.”
Five minutes later he was leaning on the American’s doorbell. “I know you’re in there,” he muttered to the closed door. “I see the footprints.” Her steps were outlined in mud, and a wad of fresh dirt stuck out from a groove in the metal door. She’d scuffed her shoes stumbling over the frame.
No answer.
He buzzed the neighbor. A wide-faced babushka cracked open her door and peeked her nose over the chain.
“Did you see your neighbor come home—an American lady?” Vicktor asked.
The babushka ran a wary gaze over him. She shook her head. Vicktor leaned close and lowered his voice. “Did you hear anything?”
“Nyet.” The woman slammed her door. Vicktor tried not to kick it and sucked in a hot breath.
Think, Vicktor. Preferably like an American.
Vicktor ran down the stairs two at a time to his car. What would an American do when faced with the murder of a friend? What would David do?
Call the cops. Americans believed in their judicial system and their police force. In the absence of cops, she would call soldiers, or maybe American friends in town.
Or the U.S. embassy.
Vicktor climbed into his car and slammed the accelerator to the floorboard. The Zhiguli screeched out of the courtyard, scattering a flock of pigeons.
The nearest American consulate was in Vladivostok. She’d have to take the Okean train. Vicktor checked his watch. He had forty minutes before the next train left.
The voxhal teemed with travelers toting children and suitcases. The Trans-Siberian Railroad remained Russia’s best and most efficient method of transportation, especially after the fall of communism when the ruble plummeted to new, despairing depths. People could barely afford bread, let alone an airline ticket. The train, however, could transport a person to Vladivostok and back for the price of a McDonald’s Happy Meal.
Vicktor flashed his ID and hustled past vendors hawking wares in the dank underground passageway that burrowed under the train tracks. Ascending to the platform for the Okean train, he squeezed past a soldier holding an AK-47 and surveyed the crowd.
No blond American. He fought frustration and strode through the crowd. She had to be here. The train had rolled in and layered the air with diesel fumes. Vicktor wrinkled his nose and tried not to sneeze. A baby began to wail. The crowd murmured as it shifted toward the tracks. Vicktor backed away, took a deep breath and stared at their shoes.
Americans could always be identified by their footwear—sensible, low, padded and expensive. Russians wore black—black heels, black loafers, black sandals, black boots.
He spotted a pair of brown hiking boots and trailed his gaze up. Smart girl. The American had wrapped her head in a fuzzy brown shawl like a babushka and now clutched it as if a hurricane were headed in her direction. She held a nylon bag in the other hand, a black satchel peeking through a tattered corner.
She joined the throng and shuffled toward a passenger car. He clenched his jaw—he had to get her before she boarded that train. Pushing through the crowd, he worked toward her, but the passengers tightened and packed him in. He felt an elbow in his side, didn’t search for the owner, and plowed forward. The crowd split into two lines and he suddenly found himself propelled toward a car entrance. He scanned the other queue and glimpsed the American handing over her ticket.
Gotcha!
Stepping up to the conductor, he flipped open his identification, weathered her annoyed expression, and took the train steps in two strides. Taking a left, he edged into the car and peeked over the tops of embarking passengers until he saw Miss Benson’s fuzzy, shawl-covered head duck into a compartment.
Vicktor pushed past a family stowing suitcases and reached the Americanka’s door just as it was sliding shut. He rammed his foot in the gap and curled a hand around the door, intending to slam it back.
Her boot crunched his loafer. “No!”
Pain speared up his leg. He yanked his foot back, unable to stifle a grunt.
“Get away!” she yelled, and started to yank the door shut.
He wedged his arm into the crack, banged it open and plowed into her compartment. She stumbled back, clutching her bag.
“Get out!”
Her startled, fearful look stopped him cold. Rattled him.
She flung her satchel at him. He caught it. What was her problem?
She gasped and scurried back into the corner, looking as if he were going to eat her alive. “Get out!”
Okay, he could concede he might be a bit scary—big man, no identification. He reached into his pocket, scrambling for English.
She nailed him in the shin with her boot.
He winced and couldn’t keep frustration from contorting his face. “Calm down!” he ordered. Yes! His language skills hadn’t defected.
Only… “Get away from me!” she shrieked. Her face blanched, as if his English had stunned her.
Shoot. He didn’t want to scare her, but most of all he wanted to get off the train before it started rolling.
“Are you Grace Benson?”
Her eyes went wide.
Bull’s-eye. He smiled at his sleuth work. “I’ll take your silence as a ‘yes.’”
Fury filled her green eyes. She glanced past him, into the hall, as if hoping for reinforcement.
He had to make her understand. “I’ve been searching all over for you.”
Oh joy, she went white.
He turned and slammed the door shut behind him. He didn’t need an audience, and he had a feeling she wasn’t going to go quietly. Sighing, he weighed his options as he ran a hand through his hair. Now what? An ugly picture of him throwing her over his shoulder, fireman style, and hauling her from the train filled his mind. No, bad idea.
Turning back, he caught the warning expression on her face a millisecond before she went berserk. She pounced on him, clawing at his face.
What was wrong with her? He grabbed her forearms. “Stop it! Please. I’m not going to hurt you, trust me.”
She ripped her arms from his grip and sat down, hard. Her breath came in gusts.
“Perestan!” he hissed, both to her and his thundering heartbeat. “My name’s Vicktor. I’m with the KGB and I’m trying to help you!”
Chapter Six
Shock turned her numb. Gracie drew her legs into a ball and stared at the officer. He blinked at her and smiled, as if suddenly he’d solved her every problem. He was a KGB officer?
“Is that supposed to inspire confidence?”
His smile dimmed.
“I mean, the KGB isn’t exactly a foreigner’s best friend. So, excuse me for my hesitation.”
His eyes darkened, and she called herself a fool for her sassiness.
“Actually, it’s the FSB now,” he said, “and you’d better start to trust me. I am trying to save your skin. You’re not leaving Khabarovsk until you answer some questions.”
“Spit it out—the train has already whistled,” she retorted with false bravado. Behind her sassy mouth lived a coward whose brain was screaming, Run!
His jaw dropped like he’d been slapped. She saw shock flicker in his blue eyes, then he stepped up to her and held out a hand. She stared as if it were a bomb.
“C’mon. We’re not having our chat here.”
“I—I’m an American citizen,” she stammered. “I want a lawyer.”
“Why? Do you need one?”
Gracie’s heart slammed into her ribs. “No,” she squeaked, swallowing hard. His hand remained outstretched.
“I could stay on the train. You can’t make me get off.”
A muscle tensed in his jaw. His presence filled the compartment—wide shoulders, thick arms that strained the material of his jacket. He was tall enough to scrub his head on the door frame, and he looked as fit as a soldier and in no mood to argue. His eyes latched on to hers and sent a streak of fear into her bones. She raised her chin, hoping to appear strong and defiant.
“I could make you get off, but I won’t.” His tone was low, calm. “If this train moves, however, I stay here, in this berth with you all night until we get to Vladivostok.” He paused. “Your choice.”
Gracie ignored his outstretched paw, stood, grabbed her bag and brushed past him just as the train lurched. She felt his presence closing behind her as they wobbled down the corridor. The train had already begun easing forward. She paused at the door, watching pavement glide by.
He touched her elbow. “Jump.”
She shot him a glare and made the easy leap to the platform. He swung down right behind her. His hand again curled around her elbow.
“Unless I am your prisoner, please unhand me,” she snapped.
He withdrew his hand, but stayed close enough to rein her in, obviously to ward off any impulses she might have to ditch him in the tunnel back to the parking lot.
Gracie seethed all the way through the station, refusing to make room for cold fear.
The KGB. She didn’t know what was worse. Being chased by a killer or interrogated by the KGB. Where was a decent hiding place when a person needed one?
They climbed into his greasy rattletrap of a car and Gracie huddled on the smooth vinyl seat, shooting a glare his direction. He ignored her. Motoring into traffic, he said nothing.
“Some interrogation,” she muttered.
He kept his eyes forward, but she noticed his whitened grip on the steering wheel.
“Where are we going?”
“Back to the scene. We need you to walk through what happened with us.”
“What? No!” She grabbed the door handle. “Let me out! I’m not going back there.” She began to shake, her composure unraveling. Tears bit her eyes. Where was Miss Sass and Courage when she needed her?