“Wait a minute. Youcan’t make a diamond,” Gwynn argued.
Anya produced the stoneShel had given her. “Yes, it can be done, but it is terriblydifficult without Sascha’s equipment. This is diamond made insidelab.”
Gwynn stared inmesmerized disbelief at the size of the diamond in her hand. “Hejust gave you this, or did you steal it?”
“He gave to me andsaid to one day give to my daughter.”
“So, they’regrowing diamonds in a lab that are impossible to tell apart fromnatural ones? Is that what you’re saying?”
“Yes, and then theyexchange these diamonds for natural stones inside shops. This is whatyou saw Veronique do. She taught me how to do this, as well.”
“Then they threw herout of an airplane?”
“Yes, and this iswhat they plan to do with me when I am no longer valuable to them.”
“Well, you’re alittle harder to throw around than most people.”
“Yes, but this isexactly what I am trying to tell you. I wanted to be normal girl,like you, who likes to go shopping and wear diamond ring, but Icannot be this thing and also protect people like Veronica orVeronique. I have to be what I am inside. I have to be killer withoutconscience.”
Gwynn’s mind floodedwith the realization that she was sitting mere inches away from thewoman she most admired and who she most wanted to emulate, butsurrendering her innocence to become the machine Anastasia RobertovnaBurinkova was would leave her dangling between two worlds—neverable to truly exist in either.
“We have to briefAgent White. We probably have enough for an arrest warrant.”
Gwynn made the call,and Anya briefed Supervisory Special Agent Ray White on every detailof Volkov’s operation, including Veronica’s murder.
He listened for fifteenminutes without saying a word or asking any questions. When shefinished, he asked, “Is there anything else?”
Anya looked to Gwynn asif asking for help. “I gave to you murder. Is this not enough?”
White’s voice echoedthrough the speakerphone. “Explain it to her, Davis.”
Gwynn said, “Murderis only a federal crime under seven extremely specific conditions: ifthe victim is a federal judge or federal law enforcement official; animmediate family member of an enforcement official; elected orappointed officials; if committed during a bank robbery; if it takesplace on a ship at sea per the Commerce Clause; if it’s intended toinfluence a court case; or if it takes place on federal property.”
Anya frowned. “Isairplane over ocean not considered a ship at sea?”
Gwynn remained in lawprofessor mode. “Not unless it is engaged in interstate commerce asdefined by the Commerce Clause.”
Anya squeezed hertemples. “It does not have to be federal crime. We can give Volkovover to the state.”
It was White’s turnto take the podium. “Which state were you over when Volkov threwthat woman out of the airplane?”
Anya said, “I toldyou Volkov did not do this. It was one of the pilots.”
“What was the pilot’sname, age, address, and physical description? Exactly where was theaircraft when the alleged crime occurred? What was the allegedvictim’s name, and where is her body? When did Volkov instruct thepilot to kill the woman whose body we do not have and whose real namewe don’t know?”
“I do not know any ofthese things, but I know he threw her out of the airplane. Thisshould be enough to arrest and convict him.”
White said, “I agree.We could probably get one of the New England states to arrest thepilot, but even if he swears Volkov ordered the murder, it’s stillnot a federal crime, and we have no jurisdiction. Arrest, trial, andsentencing, if convicted, falls to the state, and when was the lasttime you heard of anyone being convicted of conspiracy to commitmurder when there’s no dead body and no one knows the real name ofthe alleged victim who may or may not exist?”
Anya huffed. “Americanlaws are too soft. In Russia, someone would shoot Volkov in hissleep.”
“Maybe so,” Whitesaid, “but we’re the good guys, and that means we have to play bythe rules . . . mostly.”
Anya asked, “Doesthis mean you will not arrest Volkov if he has pilot throw me fromairplane?”
White ached to offerany answer other than the truth, but he said, “We need you backinside, and we need you to actually exchange some fake diamonds forthe real thing. And we need Volkov to instruct you to do so. We haveto play by the rules if we’re going to get an arrest and convictionin federal court.”
Gwynn spoke up for thefirst time in several minutes. “What about the tariffs on importedgoods intended for sale? How are Volkov and Sascha getting thediamonds into the country without going through customs and declaringthe value of the diamonds?”
“That’s anexcellent question, and the answer is likely a federal crime. Anya, Ineed you to figure out how they’re getting those stones into thecountry.”
Everyone was silentuntil the silence bordered on uncomfortable.
“How much more?”Anya said.
“How much more what?”White said.
“How much more do Ihave to give you before you bring Irina and Anya to America? If Igive to you Volkov’s head inside box, is this enough?”
“Don’t cut offanyone’s head, Anya. You just keep yourself focused on gatheringenough legal evidence on Volkov to get him put away for a long time,and I’ll worry about the dancer and her mother. Got it?”
Gwynn said, “Okay,Agent White. I think we’ve got it under control. Anya goes back in,and we keep gathering evidence.”
Anya held up a finger.“I have one more question. Am I federal law enforcement officeraccording to your law?”
White said, “No,you’re a cooperating participant in a federal investigation.”
“So, when Volkovtries to kill me, I am same as Veronica from airplane, yes?”
White cleared histhroat. “That’s not something we need to worry about right now.”
Anya picked up thephone. “Wait for thirty seconds, and I will be back, Agent White.”
Before he could answer,she pressed the mute button, temporarily blocking him from hearinganything she and Gwynn said. “Does person have to know the victimis a federal officer when he kills them for this to be federalcrime?”
Gwynn pored through hermemory for the exact wording of the law. “No, I don’t think so,because there was a drunk driving case a
