Vanity, Vengeance And A Weekend In Vegas Part 14

CHAPTER 13.

"Being with a man who is protective and caring is kind of like owning a gun. It gives you a sense of security...right up until it's unexpectedly used against you and shoots a hole through your heart."

--Death Of The Party "YOU WERE GOING TO SET ME UP FOR MURDER!" I repeated.

"I didn't know you then."

"Oh, and you know me now?"

Outside the wind blew hard enough to sway the small trees that were against the house. As Alex considered my question I could hear the gentle thump of their branches against the walls.

Alex put his gla.s.s down carefully on a coaster. I wondered if he was gay. He had to be, right? Otherwise there would be a line of women waiting for their turn with the I-use-a-coaster guy who shopped at Marc Jacobs and stocked up on the good vodka.

"I know that you're impulsive," he said slowly. "I know that you're pa.s.sionate about the people you care about and protective of them even when they don't seem to deserve it. I know that you're brave to the point of being foolish at times. I know that you're scared but are very good at hiding it and you don't let fear get in your way. I know that despite your impulsivity you don't panic in a crisis. I know that there's enough money in your bank account that you can write a $250 check without thinking about it. I know that you're a size four, shop at Victoria Secret and are wearing a black lacy bra. So yes, I'd say that I know you."

"So you did look through my underwear drawer."

Alex looked surprised and then laughed long and hard. "I also know that it's hard to get anything by you. You remember what's been said and are always looking for contradictions."

"Uh-huh. Stop looking at my bra."

"I'll make an effort."

Okay, so maybe he wasn't gay. "You said the mob was playing on Anatoly's emotions?"

Alex nodded and sipped his drink. "They made him believe you were here...well you were here so that made it an easy sell. Luckily for the mob you registered at the Encore under your friend Dena's name. When Anatoly checked to find out which hotel you were staying at the only one that had your name on file was mine. He came here to rescue you...and then was distracted by a blonde."

"That blonde told him she could take him to my room."

"He could have found it without her."

I set my mouth in a thin line. I sensed that Alex might be trying to turn me against Anatoly. Considering what had happened earlier today that shouldn't have been a tough task, but knowing that someone else wanted me to turn on him made me hate Anatoly less not more.

"Why is the mob after him."

"When Anatoly came to the States it was with the understanding that he would only be doing a few jobs for the mafia. But certain people in power liked him...Natasha liked him a lot."

"Is she a person of power?" I asked, rejecting the bait.

"Her father, Vadim Ignatov, is and that matters in this world. So they kept trying to pull him in further and further. Anatoly wasn't very resistant at first but eventually I guess it got to be too much for him."

"How could anyone turn down the opportunity to sell heroin to school children and kill people?" I asked.

Alex tensed. For the first time that night it seemed I had hit a nerve. "Everyone should walk away from that. Eventually, if I can, I'll walk away from this G.o.d d.a.m.ned hotel. But the money and power the mafia can offer..." Alex shook his head, "it's hard for some people to resist. They just can't see past it, even when their lives are at stake."

"Was Anatoly's life at stake?"

"No," he said after a long pause. "But he knew he wanted out. It was a.s.sumed that was why he got on so well with the new guy."

"What new guy?"

"Daniil," Alex answered, his voice growing colder. "There's some disagreement as to who originally introduced Daniil to the Ignatovs, it was either Anatoly or Kenya--"

"Kenya?" I was going to have a hard time remembering all these names.

"Like the country. It's not an uncommon Russian name. It means, innocent." Again, Alex fell silent as his expression became distant.

"Sooo, Kenya-like-the-country," I pressed, "he liked Daniil too?"

"Yes, Daniil was capable, eager and seemed to be ready and willing to take Anatoly's place in the organization. Again, Anatoly had already gotten a promise from Vadim that he would be allowed to walk away. Daniil just made it a little easier for Vadim to keep that promise."

"The promise of freedom," I said for clarification.

"Yes," Alex's mouth curved into a smile that could almost be construed as sarcastic. His fingers drummed against the deep brown leather of the armrest.

"So Anatoly found himself a replacement, what's the big deal?"

"Oh it wouldn't have been a big deal at all...if his replacement hadn't been an undercover FBI agent."

"Oh...s.h.i.+t."

"Yep, you pretty much summed the situation up right there. Oh s.h.i.+t."

"But Anatoly didn't know!" I stammered. "He couldn't have!" And why couldn't he have? A little voice in my head asked. Anatoly didn't have the same visceral reaction that I had to the police, which was odd because of the two of us he was the only one with a hardcore criminal past. Why would someone who used to work for the Russian mafia feel comfortable talking to the cops unless he already knew that he had some kind of pa.s.s...the kind of pa.s.s you might get for helping the FBI get information?

"There are a lot of people in the...organization, who don't think he did know. It's a matter for debate."

"What about Kenya? You said he might have been the one to introduce Daniil to the mafia. What does he have to say about all this?"

Alex s.h.i.+fted his weight so that he was looking into the fire. "Kenya's dead."

"Oh." I swallowed hard, "because of the FBI agent?"

"In a way, yes. Daniil went to Kenya's house. There was a gas leak that coincidentally led to an explosion at that very moment. It looked better for the mafia to lose one of their own at the same time the agent lost his life. Not that it fooled anyone but they weren't able to make an arrest and there's been no admission of guilt, not even to the rest of us affiliated with the organization. It was just...one of those things."

For a few minutes we sat in silence, listening to the wind's fruitless attempts to push itself inside and the fire crackle and flicker as it struggled to stay alive. I still had a lot of questions but the enormity of what I had just been told...well it was going to take me a bit to wrap my arms around it. And there was still a lot about this that didn't fit.

"Why are they being so...so Dr. Evil about this?"

Alex raised his eyebrows, clearly confused by the question.

"If they want Anatoly dead why haven't they just shot him? Why the elaborate ruse to get him to the hotel? Why not just keep it simple instead of staging this...this James Bond parody."

"Well for one thing, killing Anatoly in the hotel would have been simple. The hotel is tightly controlled by people they can trust-"

"You."

"And a few others," Alex conceded. "That makes getting rid of the body and altering security tape footage exceptionally easy. A drive by shooting in San Francisco would have been messy. Messy crimes usually end with someone doing jail time."

"How about a gas leak?"

Alex smiled humorlessly. "We can't have too many of those, can we? It might make the just-an-accident argument go from unbelievable to prosecutable."

"So that's the only reason?"

"No." Alex put his gla.s.s down and leaned forward. "Anatoly is a cautious man."

"You said that."

"Cautious men take out insurance policies."

The evidence Anatoly was talking about. The reason they had taken my computer. I knew, in the most general sense, what Alex was talking about but letting on that I knew would mean admitting to seeing Anatoly. So instead I threw my arms up in feigned frustration. "You know I'm not wearing a wire so if we can manage to leave the metaphors at the door that would be great."

"He made copies of certain records," Alex explained. "Transactions of the Ignatov family."

"Records that they don't want the Feds to see."

"It would be bad if the Feds saw them." He took a sip of his drink again and if I didn't know better I'd say he was hiding a smile. "It would be worse," he continued, "If certain...business partners saw them. That's the problem with criminal organizations, you have to do business with other criminal organizations. And if you're dishonest in your business dealings, as criminals so frequently are, you can get yourself in a lot of trouble."

Now I really was confused. What organization on earth could intimidate the Russian mafia? Maybe another Russian mafia group? After all, there had to be lots of Russian mafia crime families, right? It wasn't a chain like The Gap where there were lots of little stores but only one corporate headquarters that called all the shots. It had to be more like a franchise....a really dangerous messed up franchise. Like, worse than 7-11 and KFC combined.

"How do we know that Anatoly even has any records? Even if he had them once he could have destroyed them ages ago."

"He wouldn't do that because-"

"Because he's a cautious man."

Alex smiled and tapped the side of his nose with his index finger. "When he realized he might be in trouble he let it be known that he does have those records and that he's willing to use them."

"He could be bluffing. This is Vegas, after all."

"You think?" Alex asked, with what appeared to be legitimate curiosity. "In that case if the Ignatovs just kill him-"

"Or maybe he's holding a full flush," I added quickly. "Hard to tell."

"It always is with a good poker player. If he does have the evidence then the question is where's it stashed?"

"Beats me."

Alex studied me. "When I met you last night it was clear that you still cared about this guy. If you know where this information is you should get it because in the not too distant future you may need to trade it for his life."

The mafia would do a trade? That didn't sound likely. I glanced up at the clock. I had been here for too long. In a moment Mary Ann would call and when I didn't answer she'd call the police.

"I gotta go." I got to my feet and put the MacBook back in its case.

"Look, things are sketchy right now. You're welcome to stay here."

I laughed as I slung the carrying case over my shoulder. "Yeah, um, I'm gonna pa.s.s. But really, thanks for the offer." I picked up my purse and walked out into the foyer where I immediately spotted the bag with my clothes and my phones on the key table.

"You'll be safe here."

"Bye-bye Alex." I collected the rest of my things and walked briskly toward the door, my heels clinking against the hardwood floor.

"Sophie, wait.

I turned. "What?"

"If I'm wrong about your wanting to reconcile with Anatoly and you're looking for someone to...distract you--"

"f.u.c.k you."

Alex smiled. "I was rather hoping you would after I bought you Marc Jacobs."

I held out the strap of my tank top for his examination. "It's Marc for Marc Jacobs. No one gets f.u.c.ked for bridge-wear!" I whirled around but as I opened the door he reached over and closed it again. Keeping my eyes glued to the door, I growled, "I swear to G.o.d if you try to lock me in here-"

"Take my jacket."

I turned slightly to see that he had taken off his blazer and was offering it to me.

"Why would I want to do that?"

"Because otherwise you can see your bra through your s.h.i.+rt."

I thought about that for a moment and then pulled out my dirty messed up red tank from the shopping bag and put it over the tank I was already wearing. "There, problem solved. Keep the jacket."

"I'll call you a cab to take you back to the hotel." He said as I started to open the door again.

"I got it, thanks."

"One more thing?"

"Alex, I really have to go!"

He held up a hand, requesting one last moment. I watched impatiently as he went across the room and unlocked the drawer of a console by the stairs.

As he pulled a gun out I found myself really wis.h.i.+ng I hadn't waited.

"Listen," I whispered, trying desperately to think of a way out of this.

Alex simply put his fingers to his lips. He moved across the room. I hadn't noticed how graceful he was before. He should have been a dancer not a killer. It was probably a little late to suggest a career change, though.

He took my hand so that my palm was facing up. I held my breath not sure what his next move was going to be. Slowly, carefully, he put the gun in my hand.

"This one's a little smaller than the one you tried to steal but it should be enough to keep the bad guys at bay. Protect yourself." I stared down at the gun and watched as my fingers instinctively closed around the handle.

"Put it in your purse," he instructed. "Concealed weapons are legal in Vegas and if you have it in your hand there's a good chance the cab won't stop."