Page 80 of Bonded in Death

“That’s correct.”

“During the Urbans.”

“During the Urbans—and before—I was a dancer, at first in Kyiv. I’d left my home, and Summerset. We were very young, madly in love, as you are when you’re very young. But I left to dance, and he stayed. So I danced, and it was my life. I believed it had to be. I met Liev, worked with him. And we loved, we married, and had two children. They were my life, though I went back to the dance. I found a balance.

“You understand.”

“Yes.”

“And the war spread, and it took him from me. I was asked to use what fame I had amassed, the entrée I had to people and places, to gather information.”

“For MI6.”

“Yes. Initially as an asset, then as an operative.”

“Who recruited you?”

“I can’t answer you.”

She said it smoothly, sipped her tea. Then set down her cup.

“I can tell you I accepted—anger and grief can be advantages. I trained, and I worked, and I danced. I accepted an assignment to work with the Underground. And in turn, I recruited Summerset. He’d come to London to study medicine, and was working as a medic. He had skills, useful skills, and I could trust him with my life. We weren’t what you would call partners, but colleagues.”

“And Conrad Potter?”

“A police officer, who’d come into that from military intelligence. He passed all the screenings.” Now, as grief showed for the first time, Ivanna squeezed her eyes closed. “What did we miss? How and why did we miss it? I can’t say for certain. If he had help on the inside, all of our resources never found it.

“I looked,” Ivanna continued as Eve let her set her own pace. “Alice was dear to me, to all of us, as was Leroy. But Alice was so dear to me especially. I looked. He was, I believe, what we call a lone wolf. None of us saw through him, and that is my biggest regret.”

She leaned forward. “I trusted him. I trusted him with my life more than once. We all did. We didn’t see what was in front of us. I thought him cagey, but this was an advantage. I knew him to be ruthless, but the times called for ruthlessness.”

She stopped, shook her head. “But he had no loyalty, and no family. If Alice hadn’t given her life, he would have gotten away. I have no doubt he’d have killed Harry. It would provide more cover. And then, caught, tried, he never broke. Never said the name of anyone who might have helped him.”

“Because there wasn’t anyone,” Eve concluded. “Or no one of any importance.”

Ivanna nodded. “Yes. He had no one. I can’t fathom who he persuadedto kill Gio. I can’t fathom who would wait so long, and years after Potter’s death, to kill again.”

“I have that answer. Conrad Potter isn’t dead. He killed Rossi himself, and he plans to do the same with all of you.”

“That’s not…” Holding up both hands, Ivanna sat back. The delicacy of her went steely.

“I’ve lost a step, haven’t I? More than one, I see now. Retired, living my quiet life. Of course, of course. He had no one.”

The steel stayed in place as she looked at Eve.

“He’d need someone inside the prison. A doctor.”

“That’s right.”

“The warden.”

“I don’t think so. That comes across, and clearly, as carelessness. The doctor’s in the wind, and has been. Old ID wiped, so he’s got a new one. A good one. We’re on it.”

“I still have contacts and can—”

“If we don’t find him in the next… eighteen hours, I’ll give you the green on that. But not until. He won’t know where to find Potter. He can only confirm what I’m already sure of. And pay for it.”

“No, he won’t know where to find Shark. Still alive,” she murmured, “and Gio isn’t.”

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