“Don’t I feel special?” Robin said, shaking her head in disgust. Austin squeezed her hand reassuringly.
“Unfortunately,” Derek said, “while Rajiv informed some top officials in the Ukrainian state department that he was running a sting operation, he didn’t inform the Russians. He cared only that Shiva would eventually act on the information she got, and when she did, he would make his move.”
“Wow,” Dad said, scratching his head. “Becky, this isn’t a movie. It’s more like a Ken Follett novel.”
Derek smiled. “Shiva’s contact was Galina, because they’d worked together before. She suggested to Galina that the Ukrainians might use the information to barter a better oil deal with Russia. In a classic case of the right hand not knowing what the left was doing, the sting information never filtered down to Galina and Alex, and those two never told their superiors what they planned to do. Mainly because they were promised a kickback from Shiva if they retrieved the flash drive in record time.”
“Amateurs,” Gabriel muttered.
“They probably thought they’d get a big bonus for capturing the information,” I surmised. “But instead, they both died gruesome deaths.”
“For nothing,” Robin said grimly. “I should blame Rajiv for their deaths, since he started the ball rolling, but I don’t. I blame my mother. She was at the center of it all. She lied to everyone from day one, and the worst part is, she did it for money. Why? She had plenty of money, but she wanted more. She could’ve killed Jeremy! I’ll never forgive her for that.”
Guru Bob, sitting in the chair next to Robin, reached out and took her hand in his. “Forgiveness will remove the weight of guilt from your shoulders, gracious. Allow me to suggest that you learn to forgive, but do not ever forget. Do not forget her lies. Do not forget her true nature. Do not forget that her beauty cloaked the snake within. That is the lesson I will have to take with me, as well. For I, too, and all of us were deceived by the woman.”
Robin gripped his hand. “I’m so sorry.”
“You have a lovely heart,” he said. “You have done nothing wrong, gracious, and I want you to remember that always.” Then he smiled at her so sweetly that I felt tears spring to my eyes.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
After a solemn moment, Derek picked up the story. “Shiva had told Yuri Borkov, the Russian, about the flash drive hidden in the scarf. And since Robin was staying with Brooklyn, he broke in to search for it. He didn’t get very far before we returned and he had to run.”
“I don’t know what would’ve happened if he found the Kama Sutra,” I said. “But thank God he didn’t.”
The book was now in the safe hands of Ian McCullough and the Covington Library. Ian assured me that Minka had been fired-again-so I would finish my work on the Kama Sutra in one of their on-site workshops.
Rajiv had received a slap on the wrist for his part in the fiasco. He’d shot both Jeremy and Shiva, but he said he’d meant only to scare Shiva into backing down. He also insisted he’d grabbed Robin only to make her mother toe the line.
Rajiv had been so guilt ridden by the outcome of his sting that I was able to coerce him into donating the Kama Sutra to the Covington Library. He would receive credit as the donor, of course, and I would receive credit for discovering the book’s connection to Jean-Pierre de Garme, royal bookbinder to the French court of Louis XVI. A small win-win in a sea of tragic losses.
“Indeed, it was a good thing Yuri didn’t find the book,” Derek said. “But his day got worse when he was unknowingly spotted by little Tyler, Brooklyn’s neighbor. Once the police got a workable sketch from Tyler’s description, Galina was able to use a connection she had inside the police department to track down Yuri. Based on Shiva’s admissions, we believe Galina is the one who killed Yuri, because he admitted to her that he killed Alex.”
“So who killed the young one, Stanislav?” Dad asked.
Derek leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees. “We don’t know. My money is on Rajiv, but I’m not sure we’ll ever know.”
“And who killed Galina?” Mom asked.
Derek struggled not to smile as he and I exchanged glances. Mom and Dad were hanging on to every word of the story.
“Again, we’re not sure,” I said. “Rajiv and Shiva have denied killing her, even though both of them had the means and motive. But now that Galina is out of the picture, it becomes a matter of ‘he said, she said’ between Shiva and Rajiv. We may never know what truly happened unless one of them breaks their silence.”
“So many deaths,” Mom whispered.
“It’s all an ugly mess,” Robin said. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly before she continued. “They let me see Shiva before they took her away. You know what she said to me?”
“What, honey?” Mom said.
Robin sniffed. “She said I should forgive her because she didn’t do anything to hurt me.”
I gasped, then covered my mouth quickly.
Robin glanced at me. “I know; it’s unbelievable. She used me as an unwitting mule. I was drugged. Viciously attacked. A man was killed in my home. My friends were almost shot. I could’ve been killed by any one of those silly agents, not to mention that jackass Rajiv, and she wouldn’t have given a damn. As long as she got her money.”
Guru Bob took her hand again. Austin held her other hand tightly. I got up and knelt before her. Mom and Dad came around the back of the love seat and touched her shoulders.
“You are loved, gracious,” Guru Bob said. “You are strong. Your mother was weak.”
“We love you, honey,” Mom said, and squeezed her shoulder.
“Sure do,” Dad said.
I slipped Robin a tissue as tears trickled down her cheeks.
Guru Bob stood. “We will not speak of her again.”
“Right on, Robson,” Dad said, and raised his fist in solidarity.
Derek kissed my forehead and gave me a tight hug, and I sighed with relief that it was all over.
“Rebecca,” Guru Bob said, turning to my mother, “I suggest you perform one of your charming purification ceremonies to rid us of the negativity that the woman has wrought upon us all.”
“Super idea!” Mom said, clapping her hands. “I’ve been working on a cleansing chant that’s a guaranteed humdinger.”
Robin laughed, and it was the loveliest sound I’d heard in days.
Brooklyn’s Glossary
Boards-Usually made of stiff cardboard (or, occasionally, wood) and covered in fabric (cloth, paper, leather).
Covering-Cloth, paper, or leather fabric used to cover the boards.
Endband-Small ornamental band of cloth glued at the top and bottom of the inside of the spine, used to give a polished finish to the book (also called a headband or tailband).
Endsheets-The first and last sheets of the textblock that are pasted to the inside of the cover board; the pastedown.
Flyleaf-First one or two blank pages of a book, not pasted to the inside of the cover board. These pages protect the inner pages of the textblock.
Foredge-The front edge of the textblock opposite the spine edge. The edge is usually smooth but may, on occasion, be rough, or deckled. The edge may be gilded or, in rare instances, painted. Fore- edge painting gained popularity in the seventeenth century when religious or pastoral scenes were painted onto the foredge to embellish the book’s content. The painting was invisible until the pages were fanned in a certain direction.
Grain-The direction in which the fibers are aligned in the paper. When grain direction runs parallel to the spine, the paper folds will be straighter and stronger and the pages will lie flat.
