“Hello.”
She closed her eyes andpictured his enormous hand encircling the phone. “Marvin, it is me,Anya.”
The giant froze indisbelief, too afraid to believe it was really her. “How do I knowit’s you?”
Anya swallowed the lumpin her throat. “You once gave to me tiny purple flower for behindmy ear on steps of Bonaventure Plantation.”
His relief explodedthrough the phone. “Anya, where are you? Are you hurt? Are yousafe? Where are you?”
“I am safe, Marvin. Iam now with Skipper near Baltimore, and I am not hurt. I phoned tosay I am sorry for hurting you.”
“With Skipper? Whyare you in Baltimore? Are you sure you’re safe?”
“Yes, I am safe, butI cannot tell you why I am near Baltimore just now. I will tell youeverything. I promise this to you.”
“I’m coming to getyou. I’ll be at Baltimore-Washington International as soon as I cancall Disco. It won’t take long in the Citation.”
“Marvin, no,” shewhispered. “You cannot do this. I cannot come back with you now. Iam sorry. Please know that I am safe, and I will come . . .”
“Home,” Mongo said.“You’ll come home. Say it.”
“I will come when Ican, and I will explain everything, but I must now go. Please stoplooking for me.”
“Anya, I love you.”
She pulled the phonefrom her ear and softly pressed the button, ending the call.
The two women rode insilence for another hour.
When Anya lifted hernew phone again, Skipper laid her hand on top of the device. “No,Anya, don’t call Chase. I’ll brief him. Nothing good can come ofyou calling him right now.”
“But there issomething he must know. I cannot keep from him this secret anylonger.”
Skipper shook her head.“No, not now.”
“But he is . . .”
Skipper turned stern.“Anya, listen to me. Whatever it is, it doesn’t matter right now.He’s in the middle of a mission, and he can’t afford to lose hisfocus. Just don’t.”
Anya stared down at herphone for a long moment and then dialed the ten digits from memory.Skipper groaned in exasperation until Anya’s call was answered.
“White.”
“Agent White, shewill do it. Skipper will find for us truth about Viktor Volkov’sbrother in Moscow, and I will be at work on time tomorrow morning.Goodbye.”
23
SVYATOYBUBEN
(THE SAINT OF DIAMONDS)
As promised, Anyastepped into the waiting car at precisely eight thirty the followingmorning. After two hours of sorting and matching diamonds, she lookedup to Volkov standing in the doorway to her office.
“Good morning,Viktor. I have for you eight more pairs of matching stones.”
Volkov ignored theprogress report and crossed the room to within inches of Anya. “Ihave read stories of women working completely naked in drugprocessing operations, as well as counting rooms, where millions ofdollars in cash flow through every day. Do you know why they dothis?”
Anya spun in her seatand looked up. “Perhaps because boss is pig.”
Volkov gave ahalf-smile. “Perhaps, but more likely, it is to keep the drugs andmoney inside the room instead of inside the pockets of the women.”
Anya shrugged. “Ibelieve boss is still pig.”
The man picked at afingernail as he intentionally avoided eye contact. “Your littlesleight-of-hand work yesterday was impressive. There were onlyforty-nine stones in each of those bags when you arrived yesterday. Ipersonally counted them twice.”
Anya leaned close toinspect the fingernail that seemed to have Volkov’s full attention.“Does this mean you are also pig and I must take off clothes? I amnot afraid to show you my body, but I would prefer to do so in yourbedroom and not inside office.”
He dropped his hands,apparently no longer interested in the nail. “Show me.”
Anya stood, slid offher shoes, and crossed her arms to pull off her sweatshirt, butVolkov caught her left wrist. The grab wasn’t aggressive, and hisgrip was little more than light pressure, causing her to freeze inplace.
He shook his head. “Asmuch as I would love for you to continue removing your clothes, Imeant, show me how you returned the diamonds to the bag.”
She slid her feet backinto the shoes she’d kicked off as she tried to decide how long todeny the accusation. “Maybe I let Sascha count forty-nine in firstbag, then I moved two stones from first bag to pile from second bag,and I still have two stolen diamonds.”
“That would’ve beena good plan,” Volkov said. “But that would have left onlyforty-seven stones in the first bag, and we know that isn’t thecase. All three of us know one stone from each bag was in yourpossession for two days and not inside my vault.”
Anya never changedexpressions as Volkov continued.
“I’ve decided tobelieve you borrowed the stones for some reason and then returnedthem. I do not consider borrowing to be the same as stealing. Doyou?”
“I do not.”
He scoffed. “I cansee this is going nowhere, but now you know I knew all along, and Ilet you lie to Sascha.” He moved his finger beneath her chin,repositioning her face. “Look at me, Anya . . . if that is yourname. I won’t allow that again. Lying to him is the same as lyingto me. He and I are partners . . . albeit not equal partners. I am,of course, the majority shareholder because I am the primaryinvestor. I have many businesses around the world, and sometimes Iallow people with a particularly rare skill or collection of skillsto earn a small portion of these companies by committing theirtalents exclusively to my businesses. Do you understand?”
Anya nodded. “I thinkthis is what Americans call sweat equity, yes?”
He took a step back.“So, you do understand. That’s good. Now, on to the real reason Icame in to interrupt your work . . .”
“So, accusing me ofstealing your diamonds was not real reason?”
“I wasn’t accusingyou,” he said. “I was simply making sure you knew that I knew . .. you know?”
She sighed. “Englishis ridiculous language.”
“Yes, it is. We canspeak in the tongue of our fathers, if you prefer.”
“No, I must masterthe language. I have trouble with articles, but I am getting better.My friend, Gwynn, yells at me when I forget to say the.”
Volkov scanned theworktable. “How many more matches are in those bags?”
Anya turned back to thepiles of diamonds worth well into the hundreds of
