“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.”
R
emi lifted her glass to his. “Here’s to discovering what that key leads to.”
“I’ll definitely drink to that.”
57
Your car is ready,” Gere told Rolfe from the doorway.
Rolfe ignored him, watching as the last guest’s vehicle exited from his property, the red brake lights momentarily lighting up the faces of the two guards at the gate. “Let’s hope everyone bought our story,” Rolfe said.
Leopold glanced up from the computer monitor, where he’d been reviewing the surveillance videos. “How could they not? With that catering woman screaming that her van had been stolen, and the guards firing at it as it fled, there’s no other explanation than a few rogue catering employees. You’re lucky.”
“How? They got away.”