Page 42 of Exacting Vengeance

Greg Washington stood. “Mrs. Kolbayev, why were you scared the first time you spoke to the FBI?”

She lifted her chin. “Because Boris said that if I didn’t lie for him about where he’d been that night, he’d kill me.”

“So, your second statement that Boris never came home until the morning after October 25 was the truthful statement?”

She nodded. “Yes.”

“And did he have blood on his shirt, as you wrote in that same statement?”

“Yes.”

“He left the courthouse,” Jack said in Kyle’s ear. “He met with another guy waiting for him a block away. He just handed Yuri a cell phone. He’s making a call now.”

AUSA Washington continued with a few more questions, ending with, “Nothing further.”

As much as he wanted to throttle Victoria for breaking her promise to him, Kyle had to admit she’d saved the day. Hell, she’d saved the entire trial. The woman had more guts, more courage than⁠—

“Kyle,” Jack said. “I’m still outside, watching Yuri. Something’s happening. The marshals are shutting down the courthouse. They’re not letting anyone else inside.”

“Agent Gates,” came a voice Kyle didn’t recognize. Several other U.S. Marshals on the team were also monitoring the same frequency. “We just received a bomb threat called in to the courthouse. We’re about to announce the evacuation on the public address system.”

A uniformed deputy marshal rushed into the courtroom, speed-walking down the aisle, through the swinging gate and directly to the bench. “Your Honor,” he said, “we’ve had a bomb threat. We’re evacuating.”

The judge pounded his gavel. “Court is adjourned. We’ve had a bomb threat. Everyone, leave the building in a calm, orderly fashion.”

Naturally, that orderly fashion turned into panic as media personnel and the rest of the gallery rushed down the aisle.

“Victoria!” he shouted, waving her over to where he stood. “Over here! Let’s go!”

Alyona stood next to him as he held open the door. Victoria wasn’t making headway. She was like a fish swimming upstream against everyone else going downstream.

“Wait here,” he ordered Alyona.

“Victoria!” he shouted again, but his voice was drowned out by the alarms and the public address system announcing a building-wide evacuation alert. He pushed open the swinging gate, forged a path through the escaping throng to where Victoria stood, and picked her up in his arms, not caring that one of her shoes whacked into a reporter’s head.

At the side door by the witness box, he set her back on her feet, clicking his mic as he ushered both women into the private passageway. Deke and another marshal shoved their way through the crowd to join them.

“Let’s go.” He clasped Victoria’s hand, dragging her through the narrow hallway toward the elevator that would take them to the parking level. Behind him, Deke and the marshal took charge of Alyona. At the elevator he pushed the down arrow.

“You think Yuri called in the bomb threat?” Deke asked.

“Yeah, but it doesn’t make any sense. Why did he wait until after Alyona was done testifying? If he’d wanted to prevent her from testifying, he would have done it before she talked.”

The elevator door opened, and they got in. Kyle pushed the button for the level where their G-rides were parked. He clicked the mic. “John, Malik, Ernie, meet us at the parking level. We’re getting out of here. Jack,” he added, “is there any countersurveillance out there?”

“Probably. But I can’t see them.”

“Get as many officers as you can to get into their vehicles and be ready to drive out when I give the signal.” They could have multiple vehicles stationed in the area to follow them. “I want as many government-issued vehicles that look like ours to be decoys.”

“Copy that. I’m on it.”

“I don’t get it,” Deke said. “Yuri was in the courtroom when Aly gave up the goods on Kolbayev, so what’s the point of forcing her from the building now? The damage has already been done.”

“I agree,” Kyle said, ushering the women from the elevator toward his Explorer where the other agents waited. “This has to be about something else.”

He looked into Victoria’s worried eyes. Considering what a psycho Yuri was, this could all be about something he hadn’t considered.

Her.