“We are trained to run. The secret police have ways of making people talk.” Leopold laughed; the cheerful sound was jarring in the stillness. “That sounds like an American movie. Humphrey Bogart, yes?”
“Maybe,” Maggie said carefully.
“You still haven’t told me who betrayed my brother to the police.”
“What makes you think anyone betrayed him?” Maggie said hotly. “No one could have known what would happen. He decided at the last moment to accompany me when Randall didn’t—when Randall’s plans changed.”
“I would appreciate it,” Randall drawled beside her, “if you wouldn’t try to protect me when you don’t have the facts. It only makes matters worse.”
Leopold’s cold, smiling eyes were old in his young, handsome face. “So why don’t you tell me the truth, mister? Did you betray my brother?”
“Yes.”
There was a dead silence in the ancient Fiat. Maggie could hear the distant sound of birds in the trees overhead, the rustle of leaves in the wind. She could even hear their breathing—Leopold’s rapid and angry, and Randall’s even and controlled beside her. Her own heart hammered in sudden shock and disbelief.
“Maybe you’d better explain what you mean,” she said sharply. “Leopold is likely to misunderstand and think you literally betrayed Vasili to the secret police.”
“I did.”
Maggie considered moving away from him on the bench seat. At that point, she didn’t even want his blood splashed on her rumpled suit. But she stayed where she was, waiting, knowing there had to be more to it.
She waited for Leopold to cock the gun. He kept it on Randall, but his expression didn’t change. “Explain, mister.”
Randall shrugged his elegant, unconcerned shrug. “It was a choice given to me. I chose what seemed to be the lesser of two evils.”
“Not enough explanation, mister.”
“No,” Maggie said quietly, “not enough explanation. What happened on that day six years ago?”
His eyes met hers for a long, contemplative moment, and she wished she could read his thoughts as easily as he read hers. But as always, his thoughts and emotions were veiled, masked behind defenses that could never be breached. He looked at her, then turned back to Leopold with his usual self-control, ignoring the gun, ignoring the demands, making his own decision.
“Maggie and I had to get out of Eastern Europe. A bureaucrat named Miroslav Wadjowksa had agreed to provide phony passports. When I delivered the necessary photos, he developed a not-inconceivable passion for Maggie’s picture. He agreed to provide the papers if Maggie would be the one to retrieve them and provide a few hours’ entertainment at the same time.” He looked at Maggie’s still profile. “I could have put pressure on him to do it without the added inducement of sex, but I wanted Maggie to be kept busy for a while.”
“Why?” Leopold demanded.
“Because I’d been followed for the previous two days. Vasili knew about it and warned me, but he didn’t know how much the secret police knew. When Maggie went off to pick up the papers, I went off to distract the police. I mistakenly thought I was clever enough to lead them on a wild-goose chase, away from Maggie, and then escape them on my own. I’d overestimated either my skills or their ineptitude.”
“They caught you?”
“They caught me. I must agree with your assessment of the secret police. They are not very nice men. Not very bright, either, but quite adept at finding out what they want to know. They gave me a choice. I could tell them the name of my contact, Vasili, or they would kill Maggie.”
Maggie’s swift intake of breath seared her lungs and burned her heart. She sat very still, staring at his averted profile, still saying nothing.
“So you decided my brother was expendable—is that how you say it, mister?” Leopold’s eyes glittered with rage.
“I decided that Vasili had a better chance of escaping than Maggie. Particularly since I was being—detained—in a back room of the government building where Maggie was getting the passports. After a little—physical persuasion—I gave them the name they wanted, and they kept their part of the bargain. They let Maggie go and went after your brother.”
Maggie shivered in the warm summer air. “Randall, they tortured you. You aren’t to blame for breaking under the pain.”
His smile was wintry. “It would take days of pain to break me, Maggie. I’m not saying I wouldn’t, sooner or later. But it would take more than a few broken bones to do it. I gave them Vasili because they already had you in custody. Vasili was still out there, he still had a chance. You would have had no chance at all.”
Leopold nodded. “You made the right decision, mister. They would have killed her without hesitation, and then they would have found out what they wanted from you sooner or later. They are stupid men, but they know their job.” He lowered the gun. “They killed Vasili’s woman the way they would have killed yours. And Vasili watched, knowing that a word from him would have stopped them. He’s had to live with that, and there have been times when I think he would rather have died on the border. But this is a war, and Grilda knew the dangers as well as Vasili.”
“What?”
The boy shrugged and dropped the gun onto the seat beside him. “He told me to help you, that you were good people. He sent his special love to you, miss. His wife did not like that one bit, I tell you.” He turned back to start the car. “I am sorry I had to hold the gun on you, but I wanted to make sure you were worth risking my life for. I don’t take anyone’s word, not even my brother’s.”
“Leopold, what the hell are you talking about?” Randall’s cool distance had vanished. “Is Vasili alive?”