Keeping Thyme (Thyme Trilogy) (17 page)

Tatiana reaches into her delicate white Chanel bag and pulls out her iPhone. Liz takes it off her and looks at the red case on the back. The words
Later. First, Ballet
are written in English across it in bold black letters with jewelled accents. I smile and shake my head in amusement. Her attitude towards her life is light. She accepts the path she has chosen for herself. Maybe that’s something I need to do more of. No one forced me to be a hooker. No one forced me to be an undercover agent, but here I am doing it. I just need to accept everything that I’ve done and make this the best life that I possibly can for myself. First, I just have to get rid of the Dmitri Kozar.

Right on cue, Simon and Mei-Mei come down the stairs with some more information.

“The orders are in. Mia, you are to take Kozar down tomorrow. Here are the directives.” Simon hands out the paperwork to both Liz and myself.

I read over it. Tomorrow
, Kozar is going to invite me for drinks at one of his clubs, where he plans to kidnap me. Simon will infiltrate and drive Kozar’s vehicle for pick up. In the limousine, sit with my back to the driver and fire two rounds into his chest and one in the head, in case he is wearing soft armour. I will be taken to a location and held overnight. Ransom will be sent to Tench with footage of the kidnapping. The body of Kozar will be disposed of by the agency’s Russian connections. News will be leaked to the media that Kozar is dead in a direct attack on the Bratva gang.

Sounds simple enough
, right? What am I thinking? Kill the top dog of a Russian gang in a completely brazen assassination. Great!

I stare up at my brother for a moment and sigh
. “Really? Simple as that?” I ask.

He nods
. “If you don’t kill him, Mia, he will kill you. You remember that. I will be with you if you can’t do it. I will do it.”

“What weapon will I use?”

Liz speaks with confidence. “We have your FLOS firearm with us. I will have to load it with hollow-tip rounds to make sure the projectile stays within him and doesn’t pass through the body.”

“Sure.” I nod, avoiding the magnitude of what she’s saying.

Tatiana sits quietly on the couch the whole time. Her face has a constant frown of worry. My brother sits next to her and smiles.

“It’s good to see you again
, Kira.”

She looks up
, her eyes bore into his for a moment. “It’s been a long time since anyone called me that.”

His shoulders shake as he chuckles
. “I can see that you’ve made a really nice life for yourself here in Russia.”

I tilt my head and smile at Tatiana, knowing the truth about her situation.
I want to tell Simon everything about her so that he understands what we’re up against, but I know this would only bring shame upon Tatiana.

“So why don’t you tell us everything you know about the operation these guys have going with exporting girls
? Do you know where they hold them before they’re sent off?”

Tatiana frowns and shakes her head
. “No, I don’t, sorry. Could I have a tea please?” She looks up towards Mei-Mei.

Mei-Mei’s eyes narrow. I shake my head and snort in Mei-Mei’s direction
. “It’s alright, Tia. I’ll get it for you.” I make my way into the kitchen and prepare Tatiana some tea.

What is with Mei-Mei and getting annoyed with people
all of a sudden? She’s a sour bitch if you ask me,
I mumble to myself as I prepare a pot of tea.

Liz clears her throat from behind
me.

“Oh
, Liz. Hi. Sorry just sorting stuff out in my head.” I look around her quickly and whisper, “Hey, what’s wrong with Mei-Mei? She seems to be really angry.”

Liz smiles
. “She just hates always being ‘the help’ just because she’s an Asian agent working with us.” Liz rolls her eyes. “She gets a bit uptight about it, but she’ll get over it.”

“Well
, she really needs to get over it. I’m the one who has to fuck the POIs … just because I was a prostitute!” My voice is a little louder than intended and Mei-Mei comes into the kitchen.

“Is everything okay?”
she asks softly.

“No
, actually, Mei-Mei. Everything is
not
okay.” Liz glares at me, but I chose to ignore her. “No one thinks you’re the hired help just because you’re Asian. We all have a role to play in this operation. Do you think this is fun for me, too? Do you think I enjoy getting fucked by the agency
and
fucked by Tench? This is worse than prostitution, trust me. So you need to pull your head in. We all have to do things we don’t like, okay? Your attitude makes me wonder whose side you’re really on.” I snatch the pot of tea from the kitchen bench and storm past a stunned Liz and Mei-Mei.

I catch Simon
removing his hand from Tatiana’s leg as I enter the room. When he sees it’s me his shoulders settle and he relaxes. I raise my brow and slowly shake my head.

“So … Ki … Tatiana tells me that she thinks there is a new shipment of girls arriving into town any day
, and that’s why Tench is here, to oversee everything.” Simon slips back into agent mode again.

“Yes that makes sense.” I nod
. “Some of the things I’ve heard him say when he’s on the phone to these guys is that there was something wrong with the last shipment.”

“I wonder what that means?” Simon frowns
. “I’ll go over all the transcripts tonight. There’s more to this.”

There’s a pause in conversation in the room between us for a moment.

“Liz,” I call out, and Liz strolls into the room with Mei-Mei sheepishly following behind. “You know how I always had a hunch about Miss Stephanie being involved in all of this? Well, I think she is the Australian connection. She has all the contacts for the country’s most powerful men.”

Liz
slowly nods. “I’ll get onto the boss immediately and they can run concurrent surveillance on Miss Stephanie back in Australia. I heard Simon say there’s a new group of girls in town being prepared to send off. We need to find out where these girls are and intercept the shipment. If there was something that went wrong with the last lot, I can guarantee it meant some girls didn’t make it. We can’t allow that to happen again. Mia, you have to do what you can to rescue these girls.”

My heart shatters for these young
women. Liz is right. We need to stop them from their impending doom. I chose prostitution; they didn’t. They’re simply sex slaves, sold by their own families. First kill Dima, then rescue the girls, then Tench will be my final target. All in a day’s work really.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Three hours
into our briefing with Tatiana, Simon gets up.

“Okay, time to get you girls back. I’ll drop you off at a building that has an unmarked entrance into St Isaac’s cathedral.”

“I don’t have a headscarf.” Tatiana’s brow pulls in with concern.

Liz rolls her eyes
. “I have one you can borrow.”

“Sorry
, Liz, I feel foolish. Russian women always carry headscarfs with them in case they ever go to church.” Tatiana looks down at her hands in her lap.

Liz’s eyes soften
. “It’s nothing,” she replies.

Tatiana can be such a strong and graceful woman, but
at other times she’s just a lost little girl.

“Mia. Follow me
,” Liz demands and walks back up the stairs to the office. “Here …” She hands me a small sheet full of skin-coloured dots that look like tiny Band-Aids. “These are earpieces and microphones for you to communicate with us. Stick the earpiece behind your ear, and the microphone under your watch.”

“Excellent. Finally
, I can hear you barking orders at me.” I smile and hug Liz.

She doesn’t take as long to react to the embrace for once and holds me tight
, too.

“Stay safe out there.” She smiles.

We pile
into
the car again with Mei-Mei included, and make our way over the bridges and back towards the Bronze Horseman statue and St Isaacs’s Cathedral. I tie my headscarf around my head and Tatiana does the same.

She looks over at me and beams
. “Is that this current season Hermes? It’s so lovely, Mi.”

I nod
. “Yes. It is part of this summer’s collection. I had it ordered in for me from Paris. It seems this life we have comes with a
few
benefits.” I wink.

Could I give this all away? Designer clothes, diamond rings,
sports cars, private jets, and mansions? Could I give that all up to live a quiet life on an island? I watch the buildings race outside the window for a moment before I tap my FLOS firearm that’s in my Kelly bag. This life has a high price to pay. Absolutely, most definitely, I can leave
all
of this behind.

We pull up
at a building with scaffolding covering it for renovations.

“Wait here
,” Simon says before getting out of the car.

We all watch as he disappears into the building. Sitting in silence together, we look around briefly but still struggle to start the conversation.

Mei-Mei is surprisingly the first to speak. “You’re right, Mia. I am sorry for being stubborn. Sometimes when you only think of yourself, you forget to think of others. I understand your role is harder.

“
I always wanted to be in your shoes for so long now. To have the love that Tench has for you. I was always envious of how easy it is for you western women. But now I see that it’s also a curse.” She looks down at my engagement ring.

I hold my finger out and move it side to side between my fingers, watching the light catch the cut of the beautiful black diamond. Brilliant blues catch the light’s refraction as I twist the ring.

Simon startles all of us as he launches inside the car again. He turns to us in the back seat. “The priest is expecting you. He knows Tatiana Pavlenko is making a special visit to the church so he will personally show you around the cathedral.”

Tatiana smiles and drapes the two long lengths of her scarf over her shoulders. All her movements feel like they’re wrapped in tradition. I stare at Tatiana in the headscarf. There isn’t anything Australian about her now. She embodies Russia.

“Thank you for your help, Tatiana.” Simon takes her hand and holds it for a moment, before he gives me a kiss on the cheek. “Sissy, please take care. You can communicate with us now, use it.” I nod and slide out of the car with Tatiana behind me.

We walk through the back entrance and are met by the Russian
priest.

“
Privet Otets
,” Tatiana says as she takes hold of the priest’s hands.

He responds in Russian and draws the sign of the cross in the air above her before Tatiana kisses his hands. She looks up to him again and introduces me in Russia
n. The priest smiles a warm and caring smile, and holds his hands out for me to take.

“Hello
, Father,” I say, and take hold of his hands just as Tatiana did.

The priest turns to me and speaks in English,
“May the Lord bless you, my child.” He makes the sign of the cross above my head and I kiss his hands too, out of respect.

“Thank you for meeting with us like this
, Father. I have been very excited to visit your church,” I say.

He smiles
. “We always welcome new visitors to our place of worship. Come, my children, let me show you around the cathedral.” The priest glides along the floor in his full-length black gown.

We follow the priest around the entire
building and make our way into the main area of the cathedral. The space is awe-inspiring and beyond anything I’ve ever seen. The detail of fresco paintings draws your eye all the way up to the top dome in the centre of the room. The overwhelmingly enormous space instantly has an effect on you and makes you want to whisper.

The
cathedral is filled with people. I do a quick scan around to try and recognise anyone as Tench’s guys. There is one guy that I spot from before. He detects us straight away and scratches his head, probably in disbelief. I look to Tatiana and the priest, who are talking in Russian and pointing at the long columns and alfresco ceiling.

“It’s truly magnificent
, Father.” I beam.

A man briskly walks up to the
priest and fires off a sentence that sounds urgent.

The priest looks at us and remains composed behind his smile while the clergy boy jumps about him like a rabbit.

“I am afraid I must leave you,” he apologises. “But please stay, and Tatiana, you are welcome in here any time; but of course you know this.” He holds our hands in his before he glides across the floor like an apparition.

“What was that all about?” I whisper to Tatiana.