Anya did the same. “Whywould you apologize to me? You have done nothing wrong.”
“Yes, I have,” hesaid. “I have a bit of a paranoid personality. It comes with thebusiness. I had some people do a little digging into your backgroundwithout telling you.”
Anya shot a wary glanceinto her mug, fearing it may be the final cup of tea in her shortlife. “And?”
He leaned back in hischair. “I learned some interesting things about you . . . somethings you didn’t mention.”
She curled her toesinside her shoes, trying to focus the stress into her feet instead ofletting it show her face. “What have I not told you?”
“Your real name, forone thing.”
Anya swallowed hard.“Of course my real name is—”
“Tatiana, I know,”he said. “And you’re actually an American citizen already.”
She breathed a sigh ofrelief but wished White had told her about changing her first namefrom Anastasia to Tatiana. “Yes, I am American citizen. See?” Shepulled her plastic flag from her pocket and spun it between herfingers.”
“Cute. You’re aregular Betsy Ross,” he said.
She turned her braininside out, but she couldn’t remember that name, so she took agamble. “That is me, Betty Ross.”
Volkov laughed. “Well,Tatiana, how would you feel about getting out of the office today?”
“I don’t know. Iwould have to ask my boss, and he is terrible man.”
Volkov’s laughtercontinued. “Forget about him. Have you ever been to Nova Scotia?”
Still unsure if herbackground check was as clean as Agent White promised, her hesitanceto answer left the beginnings of a frown falling over Volkov’sface.
Allowing her cover asan actress to take over, she said, “I have been to only the airportin Halifax, but this is all I know of Nova Scotia.”
He slapped both palmsonto his enormous desk. “Then today shall be an adventure, andmaybe you’ll even learn a few new tricks.”
“We are going todayto Nova Scotia?”
“Yes, the airplane iswaiting as we speak.”
“But I do not have mypassport. I will need to first go to my apartment.”
Volkov waved off herconcern. “Nonsense. You’re with me, and when you’re with ViktorVolkov, nobody checks for passports.”
* * *
The drive to Teterborotook about half an hour, and after making their way through twosecurity gates, they pulled inside a hangar where a Hawker jet waitedwith the stairs deployed and a red carpet rolled out on the hangarfloor.
The driver held openthe rear door, and Anya stepped from inside.
“There is restroominside your hangar, yes?”
Volkov motioned towardthe rear of the vast space. “Yes, of course. They are back there,but we also have a lavatory on the airplane.”
Anya looked between theback wall of the hangar and the airplane. “I would be morecomfortable here if you do not mind.”
He checked his watch.“We’re already behind schedule.”
“I will be quick. Ipromise this.”
Before he could insist,she walked away, feeling for her phone. Inside the relative safety ofthe stall, she furiously typed a text message for Gwynn.
Viktor is taking me toNova Scotia from Teterboro, and he thinks my name is Tatiana. Hisairplane is Hawker jet N111VV.
She pressed send andquickly deleted the text. If she were a sheep being led to slaughter,she wanted the DOJ to know where to find her body . . . if NovaScotia was their true destination.
Anya climbed the stairsinto the cabin of the Hawker and was surprised to see Volkov wasn’tthe only occupant.
“Good morning, Anya.It’s nice to see you again.”
The woman she’d knownas Veronique a few days earlier had lost her French accent, andinstead of two-thousand-dollar shoes and the elegant wardrobe of anaristocrat, she wore jeans, hiking boots, and a flannel shirt.
“Is nice to see youagain, also, but I do not think your name is still Veronique.”
The woman smiled andpatted the seat beside her. “Come join me. I’m Veronica, but Ienjoy being Veronique from time to time. I hear I’m not the onlyactress in Viktor’s stable.”
Anya took the offeredseat. “I am sure you are better actress than me, but I amdetermined to become American star.”
Veronica forced a warmsmile. “You and a billion other beautiful girls. Once we’re atcruising altitude, I have a few things to show you.”
Curious, but lessconcerned for her life, Anya buckled her seatbelt and raised a fingerfor the flight attendant.
“Yes, ma’am. Whatwould you like?”
“May I have blanket?I detest cold.”
The uniform-clad younglady reached into a locker and produced a pair of blankets. The firstwas a lightweight cover, and the second was a heavier fleece-linedthrow.
Anya pulled the heavierone onto her lap. “Thank you.”
“You are welcome,ma’am. Is there anything else?”
Anya spread the blanketacross her legs, snuck her phone from her pocket, and slid it betweenher thighs. “No, thank you.”
The woman closed andsealed the door just as the jet began to move forward. The towtractor pulled the gleaming white airplane from the hangar and ontothe ramp. Minutes later, the engines whistled to life, and one of thepilots closed the cockpit door, separating the cabin from the brainsof the craft.
After climbing out ofTeterboro to the northeast, the pilots lowered the nose and settledthe luxurious magic carpet into cruise flight at thirty-seventhousand feet for the short flight over the coast of New England.
As their speedincreased, Veronica unbuckled her belt and slid forward in her seat.She held a fist toward Anya as if offering an unseen surprise. Anyainstinctually stuck out her palm, and Veronica dropped one blackmarble into her hand.
“What is this?”Anya asked, inspecting the smooth glass orb.
“This is a prop.Think of it as a set of training wheels, for now.”
Anya shook her head. “Ido not know this term, training wheels.”
Veronica looked up,wide-eyed. “You never had training wheels on your bicycle as alittle girl?”
“I never hadbicycle.”
Veronica’s expressionfell. “Oh, I see. Well, never mind about the training wheels. I’mgoing to teach you to make your marble disappear.”
Anya held the ballbetween her fingertips. “So, this is school of magic tricks.”
“Yeah, you could saythat. Watch me closely.” Veronica held her white marble between thethumb and index finger of her left hand. She passed her right handover the marble, lifting it from between her fingers. With the indexfinger of her left hand, she magically tapped the knuckles of herright, and opened her fist to reveal the marble gone.
