Dead Ringer (35 page)

"Angelina!" He bolted after her, but only got a few yards before skidding to a stop.

Grisha rumbled toward him, one thick arm wrapped tight around Angelina's shoulders, protective yet menacing. Against him she looked small and vulnerable as a rag doll, and Finn went cold at the sight.

"Mr. Universe." He threw Grisha a tight smile. "Out for your daily constitutional?"

The bald-headed beastie gave him a hard, blank stare. "Miss Montgomery, she is found."

Angelina's eyes locked on Finn's. "I explained how I stumbled on the mine and sat the storm out here."

"That's right," Finn said pleasantly." He didn't like the way the big man was eyeing him, but the gun at Finn's back gave him a degree of confidence.
Stay cool, Arnold, and no one gets hurt.

"Mr. Borian, he tell you to leave." Grisha's eyes drilled into Finn's, hostile and accusatory.

Finn shrugged.
We don't all do what Mr, Borian says.
"Well, the storm put the kibosh on that. In fact, I was about to take Miss Montgomery back to Helena with me."

Grisha's eyebrows rose, but he made no reply. Nor did he make a move to turn back the way he'd come.

Finn gestured toward the entrance. "First we have to... to go outside."

Grisha didn't budge.

"Marian told him to wait here"
Angelina explained, emphasizing the name the tiniest bit.

Finn blinked. "You contacted Marian and not Victor?"

Again, Angelina answered for him, her voice calm, though he heard an edge of panic there. "She wanted to tell Victor herself that I was safe."

Interesting. Finn eyed the big man. Was Grisha's loyalty to Victor not as unwavering as it seemed? Or was it just that he had a crush on Victor's sister-in-law? Finn knew firsthand how a woman could get in the way of duty. Maybe Marian had gotten in the way of Grisha's.

A small wave of relief washed through him. This was good. Very good. He'd far rather deal with Marian than with Victor.

He smiled. "So, you and Marian are good friends?"

"She watches over Mr. Borian. And me."

"I'm sure she does," Angelina said, trying unsuccessfully to wriggle free. "But I'm safe now. You can let go."

Grisha ignored Angelina's struggles and focused on Finn. "Miss Marian say make sure she does not disappear again."

Angelina rolled her eyes, and Finn crossed his arms, trying to appear relaxed when in truth he was tense as razor wire. He had a weapon he couldn't use without blowing their cover, and an opponent that didn't seem inclined toward persuasion. "Well, surely Marian didn't mean for us to wait right here. We'd all be more comfortable outside." And as far away from the equipment as possible.

With a furtive glance, he scanned the campsite. His heart sank. The laptop, all the batteries, his holster, the monitor that tracked the signal from the pearl brooch... everything was in plain sight.

Before he could do anything about it, the sound of approaching footsteps reached them. Grisha continued to stare wordlessly at him, his bulging forearm tight around Angelina's shoulders. Seconds later, Marian appeared. She wore a light blue sweater over pressed khaki slacks and ushered in a wave of competency and civilization with her. Finally, someone they could talk to, reason with.

"Marian, please tell Grisha to let me go."

For a few minutes Marian stood silently, taking in the scene that greeted her. Then she smiled pleasantly. "Not yet, my dear. Not until you tell me who you are and what you're up to."

Angelina flicked a fast glance from Marian to Finn and back again. She smiled. "I'm not up to anything."

"I see you spent the night here with Mr. Ingram. How cozy."

Finn tried his best bluff. "I spent the night searching for Miss Montgomery and found her early this morning. We stumbled on this place and waited out the storm here."

"And did you 'stumble' on all this equipment, too?" She gazed around at the campsite and Finn held his breath, hoping she wouldn't understand what she was seeing under the lantern light But the hope was short-lived. "There's enough here to outfit a small army." The word seemed to coalesce something in her mind. She turned to Finn with a cold, hard expression on her face. "Who are you? Do you work for Ivanov?"

She named the head of one of the Russian mob factions whose conflicts with Victor had compelled Borian to move stateside.

"See what he's carrying," Grisha said. "Russian made maybe."

"Do you have a weapon on you, Mr. Ingram?"

"Don't be ridiculous."

Marian jabbed a finger at Finn. "Turn around."

Finn smiled. "This is crazy." He gestured to the stash around them. "This is just a sleeping bag and some camping equipment I had in my trunk."

"Turn around."

And reveal his weapon? Not on your life.

"Grisha, show Mr. Ingram what you can do with those clever hands of yours."

Before Finn could move, Grisha's arms slid up from Angelina's shoulders to her throat. One hand nearly made a complete circle on her neck. The pressure brought Angelina up on her tiptoes. She turned white. Finn went stock-still.

"Let her go."

"Turn around, Mr. Ingram. Hands on top of your head."

Angelina closed her eyes and gave a small shake of her head.
Yeah, Angel, nice try.
But he couldn't risk it. Not with her neck stretched in Grisha's stranglehold. Reluctantly, he did as Marian bid and felt her slip the gun from his back. When he faced her again she was holding it up for Grisha to examine.

"Glock forty. Not Russian." Grisha turned his black eyes on Finn. "Government."

"Ah, federal agents. Just like those two in the shack." She aimed the gun at Finn.

The barrel caught a glint of lantern light, and he stared at the woman holding it, trying to disregard the muzzle pointing at his chest. Had she just admitted to killing Mike and Jack? A spurt of fury shot through him, but he shoved it back down.
Don't think about that. Focus. Get Angelina out of here.

"What shack? I don't know what you're talking about Look, I did what you asked. Now let her go."

But Marian ignored him. "I warned Victor, but he's been such a fool about..." Her gaze flicked to Angelina and back to Finn. "Who is she? Did she have plastic surgery? Is she some kind of warped experiment?"

He glanced at Angelina, his belly slanting in dread. She was breathing in quick, tiny gasps. Not a good time for evasion.

"She's your niece," he said flatly. "Now let her go."

A grim, deadly silence greeted that bit of news. As though Angelina were suddenly significant in a whole new way, Grisha loosened his hold, though his hand stayed in place around her throat. But as her feet met the ground, she began to breathe normally and her race took on some color.

The tension inside Finn relaxed a hairsbreadth.

Marian shook her head. "I knew you'd come up with something wild, but this is too much."

"It's true." Finn's voice was low and careful.

"Carol was barren."

"Not at fifteen, she wasn't."

Marian's eyes narrowed.

"The boarding school," Angelina said, looking directly at Marian. He could see her appealing to her aunt's heart, trying to make a real connection. "Remember telling me about that? We were having coffee and I asked you about Carol. You said she went to boarding school when she was fifteen. Well, it wasn't a boarding school, it was a home for unwed mothers."

Marian stared, face white and drawn. "I don't believe you."

"I was born there," Angelina said softly. "I can show you the papers."

Oh, Angel, I'm sorry.
Finn knew how much this revelation meant to her. And how much was riding on Marian's response.

With a slow, painful chortle, she began to laugh. "What a joke," she muttered with a shake of her head. Her gaze shifted to Angelina's face. Carefully, she examined her from head to toe. "So you're the spawn of the devil."

Damn. Not the reaction they were hoping for.

The wire squeezing his gut tightened again and Finn stepped forward, but Marian raised the gun. He held up his hands. "Look, she can't hurt you. You have me. Let her

go."

"No," Angelina said. "I won't let you do that."

He ignored her, as did Marian. The negotiation was between the two of them now. Good. He had to get her to focus on him. To see that he was her problem, not Angelina.

"Why should I let her go?" Marian said. "She'd only worm her way back into Victor's heart. I've gone to great lengths to protect him from himself. I don't intend to stop now."

"Please, Marian. Don't do this," Angelina said.

"Be quiet, Angel." Finn kept his voice low, his eyes on Marian.

But Angelina had never been very good at taking orders.

"You're my aunt. I came here to get to know you."

Marian turned the gun on her niece. Christ. So much for turning Marian's attention away from Angelina.

"No," Marian said through gritted teeth. "You came for Victor."

"That's not true. I swear it." Her eyes glittered with unshed tears.

"Don't say anything else, Angel." Finn's heart rate shot up.

"All my life I've wanted to find my mother-"

"Shut up."

"Angel, don't-"

"You're my family, the closest thing I'll ever-"

"Shut up!" Marian's face twisted in hatred. "Shut up! Shut her up, Grisha."

"No!" Finn jerked forward as Angelina started coughing and gasping for breath, but Marian turned the gun on him.

"Stay where you are."

"Like hell I will. He's choking her!" Again, he jolted toward her, but Marian fired the gun. The shot hit something behind him. Gravel and dirt fell in a heap of dust.

"Let him. Victor doesn't need her. All he needs is me, and soon he'll understand that." Marian's voice hardened. "Everything I've done has been for him. Starting with my pathetic sister."

Grisha's head snapped toward Marian, and his hold must have loosened again because Angelina stopped struggling and swallowed huge gasps of air.

"Mrs. Borian died of cancer," Finn said, eyeing Grisha's shaken expression.

"Yes, she did, poor thing." Marian gave a little shrug of dismissal. "So much pain. I'm sure she was glad to have her suffering cut short."

The implication caused another ripple of shocked silence. Silence Marian didn't seem to appreciate. "And now here's another weak woman blinding Victor to his destiny. I won't let him make the same mistake again." She nodded toward Angelina. "She should have left when she got sick. The poison should have made her sick enough to go. But she's as stupid as my sister."

"You
tampered with the water," Finn said.

"Who else? Victor needs a helpmate, someone who understands him. Someone strong and capable."

"Like you," Finn said softly.

She bowed, acknowledging the words as if they were a compliment. "Yes, like me. After all, where would Victor be without me? I caught your compatriots at their little spy game. I eliminated them. I would do anything for Victor."

He fisted his hands, desperate to control the rage about to spew out of him. This shitty excuse for a woman had murdered Jack and Mike. She'd nearly killed Angelina. And bragged as though she were proud of it.

Marian's eyes gleamed with a ruthless intelligence she'd hidden from everyone. She
was
proud. As the mask of dutiful submission fell away, the truth slammed into Finn with the force of a tidal wave.

They'd been watching the wrong person.

"You
stole the plutonium," he said. "Not Borian."

"Of course. Victor appreciates cleverness. And I was clever enough to do what he'd never been able to-purchase one of the deadliest and most sought after items on the black market. In his name, of course. He appreciates money and power. And I'm going to give him both. Then he'll see how much I love him."

The theft was her gift to Victor, her sick, twisted love token. A chill stole over Finn.

"You're crazy if you think he'll ever love you back," Angelina said quietly. "He's still in love with your sister. And me."

Marian's eyes narrowed into menacing slits. "I killed her once, I can do it again. Grisha, show Mr. Ingram what your hands around his throat feel like. I have something special for my dear niece."

But Grisha didn't move. "You kill Mrs. Borian." He repeated it as if he hadn't quite understood.

"And I'm going to kill her ghost. Get out of the way."

Grisha shook his head. "I have always do what you say. But always for taking care of Mr. Borian. But this..." He switched into a flood of what sounded like Russian. Marian answered hurt in kind, the sense obscure but the meaning obvious.

Grisha was balking.

Finn met Angelina's gaze.
Don't move. Don't do anything stupid.
Marian's attention was split between him and the big man. Finn inched forward.

"You've been Victor's true and loyal servant," Marian said, switching back to English, her patience clearly strained. "I've enjoyed our little... friendship. But if you want to continue in that capacity, I suggest you move away from that tramp."

Grisha dropped his hold and stepped toward Marian, shielding Angelina by blocking Marian's line of sight. "I don't listen. Not this time. Mr. Borian, he do not like it."

Finn caught Angelina's eye.
Now. Run.

But before Angelina could escape, Marian sighed. "Very well." Without another word, she turned the gun on Grisha and shot him twice in the chest.

Angelina screamed as gunshots echoed inside the hollow mountain. Grisha fell, landing like a tree trunk at her feet, and two of the flimsier wooden supports wobbled. Dust rained down and suddenly everything moved at once.

"Run!" Finn dived for Marian, pushing her backward. The gun went off, a shaky shot, not even aimed. But Finn was close, so close. A surprised expression crossed his face. He stepped, wobbled, then crumpled.

"Oh, my God, Finn, no!" Angelina raced to where he'd collapsed, and another shot zinged past her ear. Timber groaned behind her; one of the weakened wooden supports teetered and fell, bringing rock and earth with it.

She lunged on top of Finn to protect his body from the falling debris.