The Mistress(26)
“I don’t owe you explanations. Get back to the tender immediately, or I’ll have them carry you out of the store.” With a shocked look, she thanked the woman for showing her the fur coats, and left the shop. She noticed that the guards were walking unusually close to her, and the first officer was directly in front of her. Clearly something was happening, but she had no idea what.
She got into the tender at the quai a few minutes later, and there were four security guards waiting for her. The boat was heavier in the water, and lower. She was soaking wet when she walked up the swaying ladder to reach the deck. There were security men lined up along the rail, and five of them followed her inside. It looked like their full complement was out, and there were four more with Vladimir when she found him in his office. He was on the phone and hung up as soon as she walked in, dripping water on a priceless Persian carpet. He nodded, and the security guards left the room.
“What’s going on?” she asked as she tried to kiss him, and he brushed her off. He seemed distracted and upset.
He hesitated for a moment and then looked at her. There was something rock hard in his eyes, and a fury she had seen there only once or twice, but never directed at her. And she could see now that he wasn’t angry at her, but at someone else.
“I’m not going to tell you a lot about it. But I made a very large deal in Moscow in the last week. It has to do with a segment of the mineral industry, and very important territory was awarded to me by the president of Russia. There were three contenders for the land I was allowed to buy. Myself, and two others. I was awarded the land and the mineral rights fairly, and paid a very large sum of money for it. The two men who were in competition with me were murdered this morning, along with their female companions, and one with his oldest son who was in the business with him. And there was an assassination attempt on the president half an hour ago. Whoever is unhappy about this deal means business. We believe we know who it is. It looks like random acts of terrorism, but I think it’s more specific than that. You’re in danger, Natasha, because of me.” He said it clearly and simply and didn’t beat around the bush. He had never explained as much about his business as he just had. “We have a protective system here on the boat, and all the weapons and guards we need to keep us safe, but I don’t want you outdoors at the moment, anywhere on deck, or going ashore. And as soon as the wind dies down, we’ll pull up anchor and go somewhere else. But right now, I want you to do exactly as I say. I don’t want you to get killed.” She didn’t like the sound of the situation, and she looked frightened as she listened. She had never seen him look so intense. “Do you understand?”
“Yes, I do,” she said softly. She had never before felt at risk. Whatever business he engaged in, it had nothing to do with her. This time, it did. If the female companions of the other two men had been assassinated, they would be gunning for her too. For the very first time, she knew that her life was in danger because of him.
“I want you out of sight for the next few days. We’re moving to an inside cabin, so there will be no portholes where they can see you. But the electronic devices our enemies use are so sophisticated that they can find you just about anywhere. Hopefully, the Russian intelligence services will find them soon.” His eyes were icier than she had ever seen them, and she could tell that he meant business. She wondered if he was frightened too. But he looked angry more than afraid.
For the next few days, they remained confined in an inside cabin, and moved around the boat very little. There were two bodyguards with them inside the room, several lining the halls, and a full commando team on deck. The helicopters were being protected, and she overheard that their missile system had been armed, and all the guards were carrying machine guns. She felt as though they had been transported to a war zone, and it was terrifying knowing that she was a target too.
She was very quiet as she sat in the cabin reading, and glanced over at Vladimir occasionally. He was in constant contact with Russian intelligence and antiterrorist details, and finally after three days, he got a call at four in the morning. Vladimir said very little, and listened, and then spoke in Russian. His questions and responses were curt, but Natasha understood what it meant.
“How many?…Do you think that’s all of them?…The answer to that is simple…kill them. Now. Don’t wait.” He listened again for several minutes, agreed with whoever he was talking to, and hung up. Natasha didn’t dare ask him any questions, and in the dim light of their night lamp, Vladimir looked murderous as he lay in bed and thought about it. And then Natasha fell asleep. In the morning, the wind had finally died down, and she could feel that they were moving.
“Where are we going?” she asked Vladimir when he came back into the room. He had gotten up while she was asleep, and had been awake for hours. He looked more peaceful than he had the night before. But Natasha couldn’t get the conversation she’d heard out of her head. He had given the order to have someone killed, probably the people who were after them, but it was upsetting nonetheless. She had never seen this side of him before.
“Back to Corsica, to stay out of the way for a little while, until everything calms down. The problem is over,” he said quietly, “as of an hour ago, but it’s always good to be sure. And after this we might go to Croatia, Turkey, or Greece. But we might not have to.” He smiled at her then and seemed more like the man she knew, not the frightening stranger she had seen in the past few days. “No shopping for a while. I want you to stay on the boat.” She nodded and went to put on white jeans and a T-shirt and one of the uniform windbreakers the female crew wore on the boat, with the insignia of Princess Marina. It had been a terrifying few days, while Natasha prayed that neither of them would be killed. It brought home to her just how high the stakes were in his new deal, and she wondered if a threat like this was likely to happen again, but she didn’t dare ask him. She didn’t want to upset him further.