The words hurt as they came out of me. “As little as possible, but if you could help her get back on her feet a bit. I’d be indebted.”
“We’re her family now. She’ll know that soon enough. We’ll always have her back.”
That promise might have been the only thing that would get me through what I faced. I didn’t deserve my brother. There were precious few people I trusted in this world, but he was one of them. And it made my coming choices bearable, knowing that he would be looking out for Mila and protecting her.
I sounded so damn emotional. “I really appreciate it.”
“Just do your best to sort yourself out, okay?” His voice sounded a bit ragged. “It’s not going to be easy.”
“I’ll be in touch.”
“I’ll be here.”
I waiteduntil right before I was called to board my flight. As expected, Yuri answered on the first ring.
“Yuri, it’s Axel.”
His voice went low. “Where are you?”
“PDX airport.”
“Where the hell is that?”
“Portland.”
Only his erratic breathing sounded between us.
Finally he spoke. “Is this it, then? Are you calling to tell me you’re going off the radar? It’s only going to get worse for you if you run, you know.”
I cut him off. “I’m about to board a direct flight to Moscow. I’m unarmed and I want to come in.”
The news that I was coming in under his control bolstered his confidence immediately. “Do you know what kind of international shit show you left in your wake when you walked?”
“Are you going to let me come in?”
I could hear his breathing on the end of the line. “Why are you doing this?”
“To keep the pressure off her.”
He exhaled. “Why is it always a piece of ass that ruins the best of agents?”
I let that insult go. Only because I had no more bargaining chips left. “Do we have a deal?”
“You know you’re not going to get a warm welcome. I can’t protect you from whatever consequences they give you.”
“I know.”
I heard the sound of papers shuffling. “I’ll send someone to pick you up.”
It tookfour days of interrogations, reviewed footage and intense negotiating before Yuri showed up at my cell, a thick document in hand.
He reached through the cell and tossed it on the bed. “My superiors want to make a deal with you.”
“What is it?”
“You can read the full report, and I advise you do so, but essentially they need you to go undercover again. This time in a less pleasant environment than what you just enjoyed.”
I didn’t even pick up the packet. “Is this one of those missions that sounds impossible and that’s the upside?”
