The door closed behind them. Dragonov looked down at the stain spreading on his pants.
CHAPTER SEVENTY
Mandy Atherton wore a tailored gray business suit of Italian silk that set off her perfect features and slim body. A gold bracelet studded with sapphires circled her left wrist. Mandy liked sapphires. She looked up as Foxworth's Chief of Security came into the room.
"He's not expecting you," she said. "I thought you were out of town."
She considered the man. Rough around the edges, though Healey had been no jewel himself. She missed the sex, the thrill of sneaking behind Foxworth's back. Looking at Dragonov, she felt the beginnings of arousal. He had big hands, a massive build. She wondered if the rest of him matched. Besides, she'd never had a Bulgarian. At least she didn't think so.
"You don't have to announce me," he said. He walked over to her, bent down and smelled her hair. "What is that perfume you're wearing?"
"You like it?"
"Very much." He laid his large hand on her neck and put hard fingers around her throat. She shivered. For a moment she felt frightened. There was something about Dragonov, a kind of feral danger that radiated like heat from his body. She felt moisture between her legs. He paused as if considering something, then gently withdrew his hand.
"Don't announce me, okay?"
"Okay."
"We'll go out when I'm done here."
"Okay."
Mandy had never felt anything like this. She wasn't the kind of woman who took it well when a man told her what to do. Somehow Dragonov was different.
"Malcolm wants me to go to an event with him tonight."
"That won't be a problem."
"All right."
"Why don't you go have a cigarette? Come back in ten minutes."
She watched him go into the inner office. She heard Foxworth's voice raised in surprise.
"What are you doing here?"
The door was thick and soundproof. Dragonov closed it behind him. Mandy took a cigarette and lighter from her purse and hurried from the room.
Foxworth looked up from his desk, annoyed. His head was throbbing. Morel was late. His hand trembled as he reached for a glass of water.
"Well? What is it? I thought you were in Hong Kong."
"I was."
"Is he dead?"
"No." Dragonov drew a pistol from under his jacket.
"Ah. I see," Foxworth said. "What did he offer you?"
"More than you," Dragonov said.
"I'm disappointed, Dragonov. Money is no object. Here, I have another 50,000 for you."
He reached in his desk drawer and took out his Walther and fired, just as Dragonov shot him between the eyes. Foxworth's head snapped back. He tumbled from his chair. Dragonov clutched at his chest and took his hand away, covered with blood.
He shot me. The bastard shot me.
The strength went from his legs and he fell to the floor. Blood gushed between his fingers.
He shot me.
Darkness descended.
CHAPTER SEVENTY-ONE
Nick put down the phone. Selena watched him.
"That was Harker. Foxworth's dead."
"How?"
"His security chief shot him. Foxworth's assistant went out for a smoke break and when she came back they were both dead."
"Both of them?"
"Foxworth killed him. It looks like they both fired at the same time."
They were in Nick's apartment. Miles Davis played in the background. He took down a bottle of Jameson from a cabinet over the wet bar and a glass.
"Get me one," Selena said.
He got another glass and brought the bottle and glasses over to the counter where she sat.
"I love this album," Nick said. "Kind of Blue. Davis, Cannonball Adderly, John Coltrane. Bill Evans. There's no one like them around anymore."
"It's a different world now." She drank. "What do you think Elizabeth is going to do?"
"You mean about the Project?"
"Yes. Where will the new headquarters be?"
"She's not happy with all the publicity. Maybe somewhere away from the city."
"I never thought it would be like this."
"Yeah." He looked at her. "What are you going to do? About the Project? About us? No one would blame you if you stayed out of the field after what happened in Mexico. Or if you left."
He looked down at his drink as he said it.
"I won't be ready for the field for months." She considered her words. "Would anyone blame you if you got shot and left?"
"What do you mean?'
"It sounds like you think there are different rules for me than there are for you."
"That's not what I meant at all."
"You didn't answer my question. Would anyone blame you?"
"It's different for me."
"See? That's how you and Ronnie and Lamont think." She poured herself another drink.
Nick could feel tension settling on his shoulders. What she'd said was true. He did think it was different for her.
Selena said, "It's important. Do you think getting wounded makes any difference? Excuses me if I quit?"
He looked at the ice melting in his glass. "I don't know."
She took a breath. "We're a team. If I quit, I'd be letting you and Ronnie and Lamont down. And I resent the fact that you think I might do that."
He was silent. She toyed with her glass, turning it on the smooth stone countertop.
"I admit, getting hurt like that scared the hell out of me. More than Pakistan. But I'm not quitting."
"You almost died."
"I didn't. Because you saved me. Just like I'd do for you." She looked at him. Her voice betrayed her emotion. "The team is important to me. It's not just what we do. It's everything. We depend on each other. We're a family. How could I give that up? You think I don't understand after what we've all been through in the past year?"
Nick reached out and took her hand. "You're right. I'm sorry."
"All right, then. So shut up about not going back in the field." She took her hand away.
"You didn't answer my second question. About us.
He waited. She was working up to saying something.
"I'm not sure about us right now. How do you think I'd feel if you were killed? Did you ever think of that?"
The words stunned him.
"No. I never thought of that."
"Well, I do. I pushed it away, before. Mexico changed that. It's made me look at my fears in a different way. Not only about me, about you dying. Then you almost don't come back from Russia."
"But I did."
"This time. What about the next?"
"It's the risk we take."
"Yes, it is. That doesn't make it easier."
She stood.
"I think I should go now."
"Why don't you stay," he said.
"I'm sorry, Nick. I can't, right now. Give me a little more time to work it through."
The door closed behind her.
CHAPTER SEVENTY-TWO
Three days later Harker called an evening meeting at Selena's. Nick was ten minutes late. He got out of the elevator and went to Selena's door. Since the night they'd talked he'd only seen her at the meetings. He used his key and went in.
The door opened onto a wide hall that led to the great room on the right. He walked to the end of the hall and turned the corner.
"Surprise!"
Selena, Elizabeth, Ronnie, Stephanie and Lamont stood in a group under a wide red banner that shouted Happy Birthday! The room was festive with balloons. The dining table was loaded with food. A cake with candles waited.
He stood speechless.
"Happy Birthday, Nick." Selena came forward and kissed him. She whispered in his ear. "I love you," she said. "It's all right. I'm not going anywhere." She kissed him again.