The Romanov Ransom

56

Remi, Tatiana, and the boxes they’d loaded flew backwards into the cargo hold as Sam slammed on the brakes, then made a turn onto the street. Remi grabbed one of the cargo straps hanging from the side. “Any chance you were sampling that champagne we were serving?”

Sam took the corner a little too fast, sending her against the side of the van. “Sorry,” he said. “Must have been all the alcohol.”

He looked back at Tatiana, who was also clinging to one of the cargo straps, looking a bit shell-shocked. “Ignore my wife,” he said, turning back to the road. “She’s a little sore that she had to watch the baby while I had all the fun.”

“The what?” Tatiana asked.

Remi cleared her throat as she made her way to the front passenger seat. “Do you really want to get into who was the better parent?”

“Did I mention how good you look in that uniform?”

The van jarred as they hit a pothole. Remi turned a stern glance his way.

“Sorry,” he said. “That one, I really didn’t see. He checked the side mirrors just before turning down an alley. “Keep an eye out. The van’s a bit obvious.”

“You think?” Remi said. “The giant catering sign on the side? Or the bullet holes in the shattered windshield?”

He laughed, glad to see her sense of humor had returned.

Even Tatiana smiled. “You two are incorrigible.”

“Makes for a good marriage,” Sam replied as he pulled up behind their rental car.

They got out, Remi glancing at the damage to the front of the catering van as they walked to their car.

They drove straight to the hotel where Nika and Felix were waiting. Sam knocked on the door of their room. Nika opened it after only a moment. “Sorry we’re late,” Sam said. “Stopped by to pick up another passenger.”

He stepped aside to let Tatiana in the door first.

Nika’s eyes widened. “Tatiana…?” she said, her voice filled with disbelief. “How…? I don’t understand.”

“The Fargos saw an opportunity and took it.”

Nika stared a moment longer, then shook herself, saying something in Russian as she gave Tatiana a hug. “I can’t believe you’re here.”

Felix closed the door behind them. “We were just talking about what we were going to do — I wasn’t sure we could pull this off. I—” He hugged her, then stepped back, uncomfortable with the show of affection. “Good to have you safe.”

“Thank you, Felix.”

“You’re not hurt?”

“Other than a few bruises, I’m fine.”

He nodded. “Have you called Viktor?”

“Not yet,” Tatiana replied. “We were—” She took a deep breath, then sat on one of the beds. “Sorry. It’s just now hit me how very close we were to not making it.”

“It was the key,” Felix said. “That was brilliant.”

Sam and Remi backed to the door, Sam saying, “We’ll talk in the morning. Give you time to call Viktor and get some rest.”

Tatiana nodded. “I don’t know how to thank you both.”

“No thanks needed,” Sam said. “You looked out for us. We wanted to do the same for you.”

They left, driving back to the hotel that Selma had found for them. After checking in, they called Rube on speakerphone, informing him of the night’s events.

“Glad it worked out,” Rube told them. “I’ll get a more detailed briefing from you tomorrow — in case there’s anything we need to know for the investigation.”

“Actually,” Remi said, “there is one thing I’m curious about. The Ambassador’s wife. She knew we were there. She even created a distraction for us. CIA, by chance?”

There was a second’s hesitation on Rube’s end, then, “Wow. Didn’t realize how late it was there. You two should get some sleep. Big day tomorrow.”

“Guess that answers that question,” Remi said.

“Good night, Rube,” Sam said, then disconnected. He walked over to the bar. “I don’t know about you, Remi, but I think we deserve a celebratory drink.”

“As long as it’s not champagne,” she replied, moving to the window and pulling the curtain.

He looked over at her in surprise.

“After spending the night serving whatever cheap brand Rolfe bought for that party,” she said, “I’d rather have a good brandy. Enough to sleep in tomorrow morning.”

“A girl after my own heart.” He selected the brandy, and poured two glasses just as his phone vibrated. He picked it up, reading the text from Selma. “Looks like you and our flight crew will be getting up early tomorrow after all. Selma found the address we need.”

Remi lifted her glass to his. “Here’s to discovering what that key leads to.”

“I’ll definitely drink to that.”