Chapter 7 - THE TRANSLATOR
Talia woke tied to a chair.
A single bulb hung above her.
Vasily Orlov sat across from her eating an apple.
Of course he was.
“You really need a new hobby,” she whispered.
He smiled.
“You're brave.”
“No. I'm irritated.”
“You sound like your father.”
Her anger sharpened.
“You didn't know him.”
“I knew him very well.”
“You murdered him.”
“I ordered his death.”
Talia swallowed.
Orlov leaned forward.
“Would you like to know who carried it out?”
She refused to answer.
He smiled.
“Carlo Marchetti.”
Talia stared at him.
“No.”
“Not intentionally.”
Orlov enjoyed every second.
“I told Carlo that Patrick had betrayed him. I gave Patrick the opposite story. Two frightened men. One road. One car with damaged brakes.”
“You're lying.”
“Am I?”
Talia's heart pounded.
“Carlo discovered the truth afterward. That was why he planned to testify.”
“And you killed him too.”
“No.”
Orlov's smile faded.
“That one was Nico.”
Talia stopped breathing.
“No.”
“He was trying to frighten his father. Young men with guns often misunderstand how permanent fear can become.”
Talia remembered Elena saying Nico had told someone.
Had she been protecting him from something worse?
The door opened.
Nico entered.
He looked terrible.
“Leave us.”
Orlov laughed.
“You don't give orders anymore.”
Nico pulled a gun.
Orlov's smile disappeared.
“I said leave us.”
Orlov stood.
Two guards followed him out.
Nico approached Talia and cut her restraints.
She rubbed her wrists.
“Did you kill your father?”
Nico froze.
That answered enough.
“It was an accident.”
Talia stared.
“I wanted him to stop treating me like a child. Orlov gave me a gun. I confronted Dad outside the church.”
His voice broke.
“He reached for me. I fired.”
Talia felt sick.
“Lucian doesn't know.”
“No.”
“Your mother does.”
Nico closed his eyes.
“She found the gun.”
“And protected you.”
“Yes.”
“Eleven years.”
Nico looked away.
“I've spent eleven years trying to become worth what she sacrificed.”
“By working with Orlov?”
“I thought I could control him.”
“You can't.”
“I know.”
Talia stood.
“Then help me.”
He looked at her.
“The ledger?”
“Yes.”
Nico handed her several photographed pages.
“I copied them before Orlov took it.”
Talia examined the symbols.
Her father's encryption.
She could read pieces immediately.
Names emerged.
Judges.
Police officers.
Shipping executives.
Politicians.
Then she found Marco Bellini.
Beside his name was not the symbol for purchased.
It was the symbol for infiltrated.
Talia stared.
“Marco isn't working for Orlov.”
“What?”
“He's investigating him.”
“For who?”
She decoded another mark.
“Federal task force.”
Nico laughed bitterly.
“Lucian's most trusted lieutenant is a federal agent.”
“Apparently.”
Another line caught her attention.
NICO MARCHETTI.
Beside his name was a different symbol.
Not asset.
Not ally.
Liability.
Orlov had never trusted Nico.
“He's going to kill you.”
Nico stared at the page.
Talia continued decoding.
Then she found a shipment scheduled for dawn.
Pier Seventeen.
Weapons.
Enough evidence to destroy Orlov's entire network.
Nico looked at her.
“We need to get this to Marco.”
The door opened.
Orlov stood there.
“You should.”
Nico raised his gun.
Nothing happened.
Orlov smiled.
“You didn't think I'd leave it loaded?”
His guards seized Nico.
Talia backed away.
Orlov approached her.
“Translate the final page.”
“No.”
He struck the table beside her.
“Translate it.”
“No.”
A gun pressed against Nico's head.
Orlov sighed.
“I have tolerated your intelligence because it amused me.”
Talia looked at Nico.
Then at the page.
She began translating.
But not accurately.
She changed the pier number.
Changed the time.
Changed the access code.
Orlov watched.
“You're certain?”
Talia met his eyes.
“In your own dialect?”
Then she repeated the false instructions flawlessly in the Petersburg speech of his childhood.
His pride made the decision for him.
He believed her.
Orlov ordered his men out.
When the door closed, Nico whispered, “You lied.”
“Yes.”
“Where is the actual shipment?”
“Pier Eleven.”
“What time?”
“Six.”
Nico looked at the clock.
5:21.
“We won't make it.”
A tremendous crash came from outside.
Gunfire followed.
Orlov shouted.
Talia heard another voice.
Lucian.
Nico smiled weakly.
“Your boyfriend's here.”
“He is not my boyfriend.”
The door burst open.
Lucian entered with Marco.
Lucian saw Talia.
Everything in his face changed.
He crossed the room and pulled her against him.
For one stunned second, Talia did not move.
Then she held him.
His heart hammered against her cheek.
“You're alive.”
“So are you.”
He pulled back and looked over her face.
“Did they hurt you?”
“No.”
Nico stood quietly behind them.
Lucian saw him.
The warmth vanished.
Nico lowered his eyes.
“I know where the shipment is.”
Lucian said nothing.
“I can help.”
“You've helped enough.”
Talia touched Lucian's arm.
“Pier Eleven. Six o'clock.”
Marco checked his watch.
“We have thirty-two minutes.”
Lucian looked at Nico.
Then at Talia.
“Let's finish it.”
As they ran outside, Talia caught Lucian's hand.
He stopped.
“What?”
“There is something else.”
“What?”
She looked toward Nico.
Something Lucian still did not know.
Something that could destroy what remained of his family.
“After the pier.”
Lucian studied her face.
“What aren't you telling me?”
Sirens screamed in the distance.
May you like
Talia tightened her fingers around his.
“The truth about your father.”
