Page 51 of Poisoned Roses

“I’m listening.”

He leans forward. “It appears that she was close to Leonardo Raikin, inseparable even.”

His eyes flash and I prepare myself for the golden nugget of information that will unravel this mystery.

“It was supposed to be a secret because Rodion would have been appalled. He likes his dancers’ attention focused solely on the Bolshoi and not each other, so they kept it a secret.”

“But she’s much older.” I’m confused because Nadia must be ten years older than him and isn’t wearing well.

“Not in a sexual way, apparently. The dancer couldn’t place their relationship but said they were always huddled together speaking in corners as if they held a big secret that only they knew about.”

“And the missing dancers, you believe it was because of Leo and Nadia?”

Simeon nods. “It appears that Leo pays the dancer attention and then shuts it down. They are distressed and leave, never to return.”

“Or seen again?”

He shakes his head.

“I’ve asked around and heard a whisper that confirms my original suspicions.”

This time I lean forward and he hisses, “My source tells me that Nadia has an arrangement with a wealthy man who pays her a huge amount of money for a ballerina. One every year, it seems.”

“What proof is there?”

“I carried out my investigations and gained access to her computer where I found several accounts in the name of Maria Chechenko. On closer investigation, it appears that was her mother’s maiden name and I’m guessing her contact arranged for false documents, allowing her to gain access to it when she needs it. She has thirty million US dollars stashed inside those accounts. Five million dollars in each, transferred from an offshore untraceable account dated the week after the dancers ‘defected’ from the Bolshoi ballet.”

Now I know why Simeon is so invaluable to me. He could extract blood out of a stone and he has smashed this one wide open.

He adds. “The finger has thrown me a little because if it is Nadia, carrying on where Leo left off, why would she cut off her own finger?”

“If it’s hers, of course.”

He nods, a thoughtful gleam in his eye. “I’ll run some tests.”

“Simeon–” As he makes to leave, I stop him in his tracks.

“The damage to Leo’s legs. That doesn’t make sense to me.”

“I thought the same. When we threw him into the gutter, they were broken, but not irreparable. Bad enough to take away his career, but not his mobility.”

“The car?”

“It’s a possibility that he was hit by a driver as he crawled into the road.” Simeon shrugs.

“I’ll check that out, too. Consider it done.”

He leaves me with a thousand thoughts racing around in my head, and now I’m more determined than ever to protect Tia with everything I’ve got.

CHAPTER 28

TATIANA

It’s more like home in this apartment than my own, and I wonder about that. When Titus left me, I wallowed in the tub and attempted to cleanse away my dark thoughts along with the dirt. My first thought was to call Titus, and yet I hardly know him. I’m not sure why I trust him so much, but something deep within me tells me I can.

I am so worried about Nadia. She was likely taken when she left that night. Was she held, like Leo was intending to do to me? Was she tortured, abused, or worse?

I picture her kind face and weep tears for her soul. She is my only friend; a woman I trust more than any other. The one person I could vent to after a stressful day and she always had my back.

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