Page 83 of The Primary Pest
“Rafe King suffers from erotomania. In addition to two prior arrests for stalking”—Zhenya’s grim expression didn’t hide howangry he was—“he was wanted in connection with an unrelated hate crime. He will be spending a long time in prison.”
“Prison’s too good for him.” Violet growled the words.
“The rest,” Zhenya continued, “if we can believe Dmytro and Bartosz, was Peter’s doing, along with Chet.” He pulled a chair up and sat next to Ajax’s dad. “He deliberately hid Rafe’s connection from me so I would put a detail on Ajax and send him to the safe house. I don’t mind telling you, I never saw that coming. Peter was one of my original hires. We worked together for years. I was so certain of Peter, I’d have trusted him with my life.”
“Money makes people do all kinds of awful things.” Violet spoke as though she’d seen a lot of them firsthand. “He’s garbage.”
“We had no idea we were fighting a war on two fronts.” Zhenya lowered his gaze. “Peter used Ajax’s threatening letters to drive him straight into a trap.”
Jackson said, “It wasn’t your fault.”
“Nevertheless, I wouldn’t forgive myself if anything—”
“But it didn’t.” Jackson’s voice stayed gentle. “You got our boy back.”
Ajax smiled. Bedside manner was Dad’s A game. It was a shame he spent most of his time in a research lab because he rarely got to use it.
“Your man Dmytro put the tracker in Ajax’s watch. Bartosz found them in the middle of nowhere. I’d say that’s a job well done.”
“Dmytro had a blade in his boot, or I’d still be duct-taped to the railing.” Ajax shivered. “The boat went down so fast. One minute she was there, and the next…”
“It’s horrible when you find out you can’t trust one of your own.” Zhenya glanced away.
“You were so bright and brave, little man.” Violet put a comforting hand on Ajax’s arm. “You kept Dmytro alive until you were rescued. You’re a hero, my darling.”
“Mom.”Ajax flushed.
“You saved the day in the end.” Jackson tried to hide his tears. “You were amazing.”
“It’s okay, Dad.” Jackson Fairchild was one of the strongest people he knew, and if he cried, that meant something. He’d seen a thousand tragedies in the course of his career. His heart, soft though it might be, was his strength, his empathy a mighty weapon.
Jackson Fairchild believed in miracles. He had the courage to live with the constant pain of failure and still work tirelessly for a cure. And Violet Jackson always said Ajax was just like him. Maybe that’s what Ajax had to offer a man like Dmytro. Maybe the possibility of Dmytro and him being a couple wasn’t nearly as far-fetched as it seemed.
Ajax hid a smile.
“What was that just now?” Violet asked.
“Nothing.”
“You were smiling.” She was never going to let something like that go.
He glanced at the machines as if he knew what all the numbers meant. “I was just thinking about Dmytro.”
Jackson sat back. “So, it’s like that, is it?”
“Like what?” Had his voice cracked?
“Oh, Ajax. Listen.”Shoot.That was the face his mother wore when she fired somebody, told them their pension was gone, and called security to escort them out of the building. “Baby.”
Uh-oh.
“You’ve been through an extremely traumatic experience,” she offered sweetly. “And it’s only natural that you should form a bond with Dmytro since you worked so hard together to solveyour problems and stay alive. That was like a team-building exercise. Or a war.”
“One or the other.” Ajax stifled an inappropriate laugh.
“Where do you take your colleagues for team building?” asked Zhenya.
“Oh, there’s a marvelous survival training camp in Costa Rica, you would—”
