Page 131 of Close Pursuit

“Is Dawn going to be all right?” Katie asked in quick concern.

“Her mother’s placenta caught most of the heavy metals. The levels in Dawn’s blood are well within safe limits. She should suffer no ill effects from having been born in the Karshan Valley.”

Katie let out a big sigh of relief.

“Who was on the roof of the warehouse, and what was all that shooting about?” she demanded suddenly.

“Russian Special Forces troops,” Alex answered.

Her jaw sagged. “Are you serious?”

Alex nodded. “Natasha reported to her Russian mob bosses that she had you in custody and subsequently lost you. They sent her over to the Cartwheel Casino to get you back. She was pissed when her guys got shot up by DeMecci’s crew. He and his boys had been looking for an excuse to take out the Russian mob, who’ve been moving in on their turf in Atlantic City for a while. With me so far?”

She nodded.

“Natasha was pissed enough at the Russian mob bosses that she snatched you herself and ran when it all went to hell in the casino. She didn’t count on me, though. I gave her name and phone number to the FBI. They called her and tracked her down using her phone signal.”

“How in the hell did Spetznatz troops get on the roof, then?” Katie demanded.

Alex frowned. “Someone in Natasha’s organization likely spies for Sergei Shishani’s organization and told him Natasha had you and where you were being held. My guess is Shishani called his contact within the Russian military. It then ran up the chain of command to Shermayev, who activated a team of his guys to grab Dawn and cover his tracks. He wouldn’t have wanted anyone to find out what he’s been up to in the Karshan Valley or that he’s been funneling uranium to Iran.”

Katie processed all that for a minute. “So, the Spetznatz team got there first. They got onto the roof of the warehouse and were, what? Preparing to go in and grab Dawn when the FBI showed up?”

Alex grinned. “Must’ve been a nasty shock to them.” He continued more seriously, “Realizing they were surrounded and dead anyway, they went ahead with carrying out their orders and launched an attack on the warehouse.”

Katie shuddered with memory of how terrifying it had been sitting in the middle of that horrific firefight and the bloodbath to follow.

Alex said soberly, “As soon as we realized who they were and what they were doing, I called my father.”

“Oh, Alex,” she said softly. She reached across the table to lay her hand on top of his. “I’m so sorry it came to that.”

Her heart expanded, though, at the thought that he’d been willing to call his father over her and Dawn. He must really care about the two of them.

He shrugged. “I did everything in my power to save you.” He paused for a moment as if to collect himself and then forged on with his story. “My father agreed to go over Shermayev’s head and pull strings. He got the Spetznatz team ordered to stand down.”

Katie nodded. “Then André Fortinay came in, got the samples from Dawn, and you all delayed Natasha until the results were back.”

He filled in the remaining details quickly. “The President of the Unites States confronted the Russian Prime Minister with the evidence from Dawn’s blood. The Kremlin had no choice but to disavow Shermayev and call off its dogs. The U.S. agreed to let the Spetznatz team go in peace and keep everything that came after the casino shooting out of the news.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah. Wow.”

Silence fell between them. Into it, Katie asked quietly, “Where does that leave us?”

Alex looked up at her sharply. Questioningly. He visibly steeled himself and then said, “When you two were in that warehouse, and I didn’t know if you were dead or alive, it felt like my life was over. I realized you twoaremy life.”

“What are you saying?” she breathed.

“I love you. I want—no, I need—to be with you. You and Dawn.”

It was as if everything that had come before had been washed away. Her whole life started anew in that instant. “You’re sure?” she asked in a small voice.

“I’m sure,” he replied ruefully. He lifted his gaze from the tabletop to look at her candidly. “Is there any chance you might learn to feel the same way about me someday?”

“No,” she answered. As his whole being started to shut down she added quickly, “I don’t have to learn to feel anything. I already love you.”

He surged to his feet, staring down at her in shock. “Truly?”

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