Heroes In Uniform (12 page)

“Good,” Luke said. “Now what about the envelope?”

“I looked at all of Nina’s runs through the last year and cross-referenced them with the times you also made similar runs. There are several reasons why you keep bumping into each other. One, you were both looking for Drei. Two, I was piecing together clues of this quest she is after and passing you what I’ve found out, except that we both couldn’t see what was right under our noses.”

“What?” Luke and Nina asked together.

Konstantin pointed at Nina. “Her. She was your quest all along, not your brother.”

“Okay, you lost me, buddy,” Luke said.

“It’s like this. Drei disappeared while helping her but she and he have been sharing information about things she had been collecting. So everything she was after had a little Drei touch to it. I, the Great Constantinos, was looking for anything connected to Drei to help you out.”

Luke nodded. “Yeah, I see it now. We were both looking for Drei, like you said, Nina was the one with most of the answers because she was working with him.”

“He was just giving me a hand,” Nina said. “But we managed to look at all my little errands and pick out the exact things those terrorist wanted.”

“Oooh, I actually know the answer to that,” Konstantin said, glee in his voice. “You see, all I have to is look at the master file in the laptop indicating the clients. There were five items going to the same guy.”

Nina swallowed her food. “Go on,” she said.

“A political document of some sort. A photo. Someone even made a copy on your file, Nina. It’s some kind of meeting at a café. Three men and a woman. The next was a small notebook with dates inside showing government meetings. Again, someone scanned all the pages into your file. The one before last night was Number Four, a glass with a fingerprint you stole.”

Nina nodded. “Wow,” she said, turning to Luke. “He’s really good at this.”

Luke finished the second piece of pizza. “Not that big a deal. All the time I paid him my hard-earned money, he only found tidbits with no real connections. Now he’s got a laptop with a whole list to cross-reference, sure he’s good.”

“Hey, I was good too,” Konstantin protested indignantly. “I gave you the biggest clue, La Niina herself. You were just too damn interested looking at her.”

“That’s true,” Luke agreed. He’d been looking and looking. And looking. And now, he had her. He could afford to be generous. “Tell us about Number Five then.”

“It’s going to cost you,” Konstantin warned. “It’s big and I feel obligated to make some money for my extra hard work.”

Luke gave a loud sigh. “Kost—”

“I could get MI6 to pay you,” Nina interrupted. “One of those phones belongs to my contact there. He’s very interested in making sense of all these quests too, I bet. With the way the damn agency has kept me in the dark, we’ll make them pay. Let’s ask for top Euros.”

Konstantin nodded enthusiastically. “Wow,” he gushed. “She’s really good at this. She’d make a great quest partner. We exchange clues and information in my online game a lot, Nina. Feel like joining me?”

“There’s this matter of several people’s lives being in danger here,” Luke reminded his friend. Sometimes, Kostya lost his concentration and had to be pulled back in. “Number Five?”

Konstantin rolled his eyes. “It’s the envelope.”

“I know that,” Luke said, “but what is it? Did you see what’s been on the market?”

“Cross-referencing is the new black, my dear friend,” Konstantin mocked, crossing his arms. “I looked at locations and then checked the usual requests on the black market sites. I believe I’ve discovered two things—where Nina’s father is hidden and what those ampoules are.”

Nina had dropped her spoon when she heard what Konstantin said. Her excitement warmed Luke’s heart. He could tell she was trying to hide how much Kostya’s words affected her. Konstantin didn’t miss it either.

“He’s still in England,” he said, the tone of his voice gentler now. “Maybe you can tell that to your contact and they can save him. They need to get the terrorists for sure. They’re after someone big and they mean to kill him. Luke, those ampoules are poisonous and there’s no way to safely get rid of them. The specific black market item wanted by the same group or individual is Pulonium-210.”

Luke stared at his roommate, then at the plastic package in the middle of the table. Pulonium-210 was lethal radiation poison. A very small dose ingested would make a person die a slow and painful death by radiation poisoning.

“Someone in that photo connected to the dates in that black book will be assassinated,” he said with quiet certainty. “We need to contact someone about this.”

Dangerously Hot
: Chapter Eight

“Kostya, are you sure MI6 can’t track you at all?” Nina asked. “Because he did not look very happy with our demands.”

She had Luke to thank for Konstantin. The man was a gift. During the last two days, he’d helped send out secret messages to MI6 about her father’s location. Saving her father was Number One, she’d told them. Then they could talk.

It took one day before she received a call on the special satellite phone they’d given her. It was her father’s voice at the other end. He reassured her in code that he was alive and well, but unable to talk too much. No matter. He would get online and they would talk soon. She was just relieved he hadn’t been harmed.

“Mother is fine,” she told him. “Is there a reason why these men kidnapped you specifically?”

“Naya, your father knows many names of powerful men and defectors, and I’ll leave you on that note.”

Her father liked to refer to himself in third person when someone was listening in. It was a private warning to her and her family. He’d sacrificed his freedom so they could live freely. One day, she vowed, she would get him out, and he’d be able to walk anywhere without looking over his shoulder.

Somehow, using her phone, Konstantin also managed to get her and MI6 in a face-to-face conversation via computer. The half-hour negotiation was exactly what she needed to reestablish control. They had the Polonium-210 in their possession as well as all the information on the possible target.

“Your father is safe,” reported the operative in a crisp British accent. “You can see it for yourself.”

Her father, sitting quietly beside him, looked well enough. In front of him was his beloved chess set. He waved at her and moved a piece on the board.

Nina nodded. Her father was urging her to continue with this particular game. “Okay. Now, transfer the money so the digger who saved me gets paid. You know I’m going to need him to find out whose life is in danger.”

“From your list, we think it’s the Ukrainian president. Presently, we could only warn him of a possible attempt on his life, but he already knows this is likely since the Ukraine is in a state of war.”

The Ukraine’s civil war was taking its toll on international relations between Russia and many NATO countries. Everything was already hanging on a delicate balance. The NATO members didn’t want another international incident that could create more political fallout. The fact that Russia was the main source of black-market Polonium-210 would certainly escalate the tension even further.

“Look, I’ll do as you ask but only if you cover my partner too,” Nina said. She shifted her gaze onto Luke. He had gone very still at her announcement. “He has a missing friend he needs to find, so I need all the correct papers to cover his presence.”

“A partner? When we sent you to Tallinn, we never sent you with a partner,” the MI6 operative said, dryly. “Now we have to cover the cost of your friends too?”

“Do you expect me to enter the Ukraine by myself without a safety net?”

“Polonium-210 has a short half life,” the British man pointed out. “They have a very narrow window to attack.”

Nina felt Luke moving to stand next to her. “Whoever is behind this whole plot has waited a whole year to implement this kill,” he said. “They aren’t going to just stop if there is no polonium. There are other poisons. Your problem is to extract the assassin without causing an international ruckus. On the other hand, I need to enter that country quickly. Nina has no combat experience and you’re asking her to go out there into a war arena. That’s, how should I put it politely, bloody stupid. I’ve been an Airborne Ranger and have experience with war. For the price of two, you get to avoid putting boots on the ground over there. Fair exchange or not?”

Nina enjoyed it when Luke took charge like that. She could see her father intently staring back at the screen, a small smile lifting the corners of his mouth. He seemed pleased. The operative was looking off-screen for a minute before answering. Obviously, some higher-up was sitting out of camera view.

The agent returned his regard on the camera. “Fair enough,” he said. “You get everything you’ve requested. The military plane leaves tonight. You’ll find what you need then. Good luck, Nina. The chief of operations wants to congratulate you for your year’s work. Very well done indeed.”

When the screen went blank, Konstantin jumped up in excitement. “Why didn’t you tell me The Wizard King is your father?”

Nina frowned. “What?”

“Your father! He had his board set up exactly that way when he and I have our conversations during my game. He is the Wizard King to my Krazy Knight, giving me protection as I go hunting for treasure. I formed a pact with him because he’s really very knowledgeable about history, which is good, since the game gets really deep. Also, he passes on great information through our chess moves.”

Nina smiled. She could see Konstantin was totally obsessed with his game. She must remember to ask her father what the heck he was doing playing Dungeons and Dragons online. “Ah yes, my father likes to talk with his chess pieces. You must have broken his code and that’s why he tells you things. He enjoys having one up on MI6.”

“I need to meet the man! He has the key to that great treasure I am seeking,” Konstantin said earnestly, sweeping his hand dramatically. He affected a British accent. “My quest will take me to a magical object sought by many. I shall win the ultimate prize, with the world at my heels in an amazing race.”

“Oh, brother,” Luke groaned aloud. “Let’s pack,
partner
, before he goes all medieval on us.”

He drawled out “partner” in a sexy twang, making Nina giggle. She found it hilarious when he did his country boy act—cowboy hat tilted to hide his face, hands on belt, one booted leg crossed over the other. Last night she made him do just that while standing naked. Good Lord. A naked cowboy like looked like that should be against all the laws for decency. She had slowly and deliberately sauntered over to him then. He had continued to wait while she circled him. What followed probably did break many decency laws.

She grinned. “You like that,” she noted.

“Yup. Partner sounds good,” he agreed. He stepped closer. “I like it a lot. Thank you for getting me a fast ride to the Ukraine to look for my brother.”

“Drei is a good friend,” Nina said. “I want him back too. And stop looking at me like that. I meant I want him back as a friend. We never did anything. He’s too damn kinky, anyhow.”

Luke cocked an eyebrow. “Kinky? My brother?”

“Your brother,” she said, poking a finger at his chest, “likes women, as in two or three at the same. Women seem to like to share him with each other. Me, I don’t go for sharing, so you better remember that.”

Luke laughed. “Drei does like to entertain himself like that. I remember one time we and the Lawrence quintuplets—.” He cut off as if he realized what he was going to say would get him in trouble. He coughed, then continued, “Hmm…well. Farmer Lawrence’s daughters gave some great parties.”

“Uh-huh,” Nina said. “Quintuplets.”

“Quintuplets?” Konstantin chimed in. “Can I get an invitation to that party?”

Luke gave his friend a long look as he pulled Nina closer. “I really don’t want you coming along with us. Shouldn’t you just stay here and continue your online role-playing quest?”

“You forget, I’ve amused myself for almost a year watching the two of you trying to outshine each other looking for your damn things. Nope. I can’t miss all the fun.” His expression sobered. “I can help find your brother, Luke. You’ll need lots of electronic access and I can provide that.”

“Hmm. How are you with jumping out of airplanes?”

“I can do that, no problem!” Konstantin whooped.

“Uh, what?” Nina asked, a puzzled frown creasing her forehead.

“Military plane, sweetheart. It sure ain’t landing there. I have a feeling we’ll be making a jump.”

“No. Way.” Nina crossed her arms. “I don’t jump out of airplanes and definitely not in the dark! I mean, how would I know where I would land?”

“I’ll bring a compass!” Konstantin said.

“We’ll have to go tandem,” Luke decided. “Me on your back, humping you. Hot.”

“I’ll bring a camera!” Konstantin added.

“It isn’t going to happen!” Nina exclaimed, looking from one to the other. She backed away from Luke as he came for her, then squealed as he tossed her over his shoulder, just as he did that night when he kidnapped her. “Cowboy!”

“We’re going to practice tandem maneuvers for tonight, partner.”

Nina could only cling to that hot body with which she was growing too familiar. Partners with work and…tandem moving.

As they left the room, she heart Konstantin whistling the Kissing song. She and Cowboy sitting in a tree. Jumping off a plane. Maybe. Together, though. Yes, yes, yes.

“Can you really hump me from the back?” she wondered out loud.

Luke’s sexy laugh sounded promising. Hot days and hotter nights ahead.

—The End—

NOTES

1) Tallinn has always been a great city for espionage. The combination of modern high-tech systems and medieval building is fascinating. I love the wild, wild West feel to parts of Eastern Europe. Here is an interesting link about its history and its spy connection:
http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20111208-tallinns-secret-history-of-espionage

2) Polonium-210 is real. It has been suspected as the substance used to kill a Russian defector living in Britain, named Alexander Litvinenko, as well as Yasser Arafat. The idea behind this story comes from the combination of the above murders and the recent poisoning of another Eastern European leader. I hope to explore this further in the next Dangerously novella.