“He’ll keep calling.”
“He will, and Grigor will continue monitoring.” Viktor nods once more and leaves the kitchen.
I stand in the kitchen holding a glass of water while analyzing the most honest conversation I’ve had since arriving in this apartment, and it was with Adrian’s second-in-command. What surprised me most wasn’t the warning itself. He didn’t soften it or dress it up. He gave me pertinent information and let me decide what to do with it. He also left me to infer what he’d do if I’m not who Adrian thinks I am, but that doesn’t worry me. I’m not going to betray Adrian.
It strikes me then that I haven’t even considered going to the police to tell them what I know or identify Adrian as the killer. Part of that is self-preservation, since I’ve flirted with gray areas during my career at the nightclub, but part of it is an odd, unfamiliar urge to protect him like he’s protecting me.
10
ADRIAN
Viktor’s call comes while I’m reviewing the latest Karpov intelligence in my study. Aurora is in the living room reading the Catherine the Great biography she’s been working through for three days, and I’ve been pretending not to notice that she turns pages at irregular intervals, which means she’s thinking more than she’s reading.
“We have a problem.” Viktor doesn’t waste time. “Fedor followed Nathan Reyes, a bartender from Echelon, to a restaurant in Little Havana this morning. Nathan met with Ludo Cassarian.”
I set down my coffee. Ludo Cassarian is Karpov’s right hand, like Viktor is mine. “How long was the meeting?”
“Forty minutes. Fedor recorded it from a parked car using the directional mic. The audio is clear enough for a transcript.” Viktor pauses. “Nathan confirmed Aurora was at the club the night Dominic disappeared. He described her leaving through the rear corridor with you and me. Ludo asked specificallywhether Adrian Bugrov was present, and Nathan confirmed that too.”
I freeze. “Did Nathan mention the private room?”
“He mentioned Aurora’s interactions with you throughout the evening. He didn’t specify the private room, but he mentioned she was alone with you in a meeting for a while, which is close enough.”
I stand and walk to the window. Biscayne Bay is flat and bright under the afternoon sun, but the view is irrelevant. What matters is that Karpov now has confirmation from a human source that Aurora was at Echelon the night Dominic vanished, and she left with me. “How much did Karpov pay?”
“Fedor’s camera caught a stack of bills changing hands. We’ll estimate from the footage, but it looked like five thousand, maybe less. Nathan sold cheaply, probably motivated by unemployment since the club remains closed.”
“They always do, and I don’t care what his motives were. He betrayed me.” I close the study door. “Nathan signed an NDA and took the money two weeks ago. How is he justifying this to himself?”
“He probably isn’t. He’s scared, and Karpov’s people are better at applying pressure than I am at distributing bonuses.” Viktor’s tone isn’t defensive. He’s stating a fact. “Nathan is being handled. The question is what Karpov does with this confirmation.”
“He connects Aurora to me. He escalates from ‘Echelon employee’ to ‘Bugrov associate.’ He starts looking for her specifically instead of generally.” I run the scenarios. Nathan’s betrayal confirms what the Dominic situation already suggested.My operational security inside Miami’s nightlife network is compromised at every level. Karpov isn’t probing anymore. He’s building a target list, and Aurora just moved to the top of it. “She needs to move. Tonight.” I instantly discard my Miami penthouse as an option.
“Where?”
I think it over for about ten seconds, reviewing and discarding my options. I could take her halfway around the world, but I don’t want to get too far from Karpov and let him slip away. “The coastal property in Key Largo. Fedor checked it routinely a few weeks ago, and the security infrastructure is intact. It weathered the last hurricane well. It’s far enough from Miami that Karpov’s street-level surveillance won’t reach, and it’s accessible only by boat or private airfield.”
Viktor grunts, which seems to be his stamp of approval. “I’ll arrange the jet.”
“Do it. Wheels up by eight.”
I hang up and go to find Aurora. She takes the news better than I expected. She goes still, then nods once. She closes the Catherine the Great biography, sets it on the coffee table, and asks, “Where are we going?”
“Key Largo. I have a coastal property there with security infrastructure already in place.”
“How long?”
“At least a week. Possibly longer, depending on what Karpov does with the Nathan confirmation.”
She nods once more. “Does Marisol need to know?”
“You can call her from the secure line once we arrive, but not before. I don’t want the departure logged on any communication channel until we’re on the ground.”
She stands, picks up the biography, returns it to the shelf where she found it, and walks to the guest room to pack the suitcase Marisol filled for her. She doesn’t argue, negotiate, or ask me to justify the decision. She reads the urgency in my voice and responds with no wasted motion.
I find her calm competence intriguing and attractive. Every time I expect her to push back, she reads the situation and adapts. She adapted at the club, she adapted to the penthouse, and she’s adapting to this. It would be easier if she fought me. Fighting would give me something to manage. Instead, she cooperates with efficiency that makes her a kindred spirit. It also makes me want her again desperately.
The jet is a Gulfstream G650 that I keep hangared at Opa-locka Executive Airport. Viktor handles the pre-flight coordination while Fedor drives us from the penthouse. Aurora sits beside me in silence, her bag in the cargo area beside mine, her hands folded in her lap.
