The second they approached, she flashed her badge, making it visible to the guards and cameras both. It was enough to make them hesitate to get physical, but they remained barring further entrance into the establishment.
“What is problem?” Anatoly tried to whisper, but he had to speak so loud to be heard over the music that he was practically shouting.
Maggie tilted her head and replied over her shoulder without taking her gaze off the meat shields in front of them. “We’re waiting for the big boss to decide if he wants to talk with a cop or not.”
“Pizdets…” Anatoly swore, barely audible, and even then she couldn’t be sure she heard him correctly.
Her attention was drawn back to one of their guards when he suddenly said something in what Maggie guessed was Russian. Except he wasn’t addressing her, his eyes had landed squarely on Anatoly. The priest raised his eyebrows and replied in the same tongue.
Maggie barely had a chance to register what an odd exchange it was, when the guard barked at her in broken English, “Come with me.”
When she glanced over at Anatoly he was smiling pleasantly at her as though whatever had passed between them had settled something. “Your profession might be unwelcome, Detective, but mine is not.”
She didn’t reply. In ordinary circumstances, she might have chuckled at his observation, but under the watchful eyes of their guards, she was more than a little on edge. To his credit, the further they went into the back of the establishment, the more serious Anatoly became as well.
The music was quieter back here, but the change in sound felt out of place now that Maggie had grown accustomed to having her eardrums blasted. It almost felt too quiet.
On their way to what Maggie assumed was a back office, they were met by the bartender who seemed annoyed with their presence. He shouted at the guard and the guard shouted back and Maggie saw with a glance that their conversation made Anatoly blush uncomfortably.
Maggie leaned over and whispered to him, “What are they saying?”
“I would not want to repeat it, especially in front of woman,” he answered, raising his hands as if to defend himself.
When they were finished yelling at each other, the guard looked back at Maggie and snapped more harshly, “Why you wait? Come, we speak to boss!” And they were on the move again.
It didn’t take them long this time to reach their destination and as they did the guards watched Maggie very closely as if expecting her to turn into a pumpkin or worse yet, attack them all. She almost snorted at the notion. She was a regular cop, not a crime show action hero on TV.
While one opened the door, the other waited behind them, ever vigilant. Maggie went first, every muscle on alert for betrayal as she stepped into the dim office. Right away, she saw the boss and almost swore out loud at the sight of how big he was. And that was with him half sitting on the edge of the desk!
“Luka Markov, I presume?” Maggie made sure she was the first to speak, even as Anatoly came to a halt at her side. The boss stared back at her with yellow eyes that seemed to glow in the faint light. He studied her as if he couldn’t quite decide whether she was a nuisance or not.
“What’s it to you if I am, policewoman?” he growled, his voice low and sharp. His Russian accent was thick, but unlike Anatoly, his English was perfect if a little overstated. She suddenly realized why the guard had brought Anatoly to meet the owner and tried a different tactic.
“I have a few questions I’d like answered,” she replied honestly. “I’m told you’re the new player in town and I thought?—”
“Who told you that?” He interrupted, his eyes piercing into hers as he worked to light the cigar that until then Maggie hadn’t even noticed was in his hand. She didn’t dare break eye contact even as the lighter flared to life in front of his broad chest. “I am very curious to know who is speaking my name to the police, you see.”
“I’m sure you are,” Maggie shot back, trying to ignore the way Anatoly had flinched at the spark of the lighter. Had the light startled him? It was rather dim in here, but not that dim.
The movement caught the predator’s eye, and for the first time, Markov looked directly at Anatoly. “Father, forgive my rudeness. Normally, I would greet you properly, but your companion seems to be the eager sort.” He raised the cigar to his lips and took a deliberate drag before puffing the smoke out through his nostrils. “I am indeed, Luka Markov, and just who are you two?”
Before Maggie could answer, Anatoly stepped forward, putting himself closer to Markov, and for the first time she realized how tense he was. If she had to guess, he’d picked up the same thing Maggie had; this guy was more than a local thug. He had connections. To whom she wasn’t sure, but he had a big pair of cojones if he was willing to stare down an armed cop without breaking a sweat.
“Father Anatoly Brusilev,” he introduced himself in English and then suddenly was speaking Russian again, leaving Maggie in the dark. Whatever he said, it made Markov bark a mirthless laugh and growl back in reply something she likewise couldn’t understand.
Am I gonna have to get a Russian to English dictionary?
She cleared her throat, trying to remind them that she was still present.
Anatoly immediately apologized or she thought he did considering his way of saying sorry was almost always to offer it in Russian. He realized what he’d done and then added, “Forgive me, Maggie. It is treat to speak native tongue with someone.”
“Indeed. Now, not to be rude, but why is there a policewoman and a priest in my club together, bothering me? Is this about the rash of murders in the area lately? Are you sure it’s not just a rabid animal?” His eyes fell to Anatoly as he said it, and Maggie felt suddenly defensive of him.
“I’ve seen the bodies,” she asserted instead of telling him to back off. The last thing she needed was to let him know she was developing a soft spot for her ridealong. Let him think she didn’t care. “They weren’t mauled. Someone medically drained them of blood. It’s the only explanation.”
Markov’s eyes glittered with malice and mirth, still fixed on Anatoly. “Oh, is it now?”
The way he said it sent a shiver down Maggie’s spine, but to her surprise, Anatoly didn’t budge. Not for the first time, she wondered what was going on in the priest’s mind. One second he was flinching at fire and the next he was a block of ice.
