Page 124 of Fire and Ice

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

The days that followed were bliss. Jack was the most attentive lover, both in and out of bed. Jack telling her that he loved her had stripped away the last of their inhibitions; now there was no guessing where their relationship was going. They were actually trying to make this work. But when Jack returned her AGS cell phone, the nagging thought that she had to keep some work secrets from him bothered her. At the same time, though, she knew he didn't have the right to know.

Hopefully he would understand. The topic had not come up.

During the first week of December, more than two weeks after the Reznikov incident, Maia received an anonymous text on her phone to meet around the corner of the apartment building. She had no doubt it was the contact for Alexsey Volynsky.

Pulling on a trench coat over her sweats, she hurried to the elevator and punched the key for the ground floor. She nodded to Tim, the bellman, and walked out into the chilly December air.

There was a bus stop at that corner, so Maia figured that was where the drop was going to be. She sat down and opened the paperback she had brought and started reading. Almost immediately someone sat down beside her. It was the same woman who had been at the convention.

"The number has changed. Good luck." She pushed a piece of paper towards Maia, who took it and inserted it in the pages of her book. As if on cue, a bus pulled up to the stop and the woman got on and disappeared.

"Welcome back, Maia," Viktor said when she called.

She hadn't communicated with him since the hospital, and he had not left her any messages on her phone either. He was giving her space and waiting for her to decide when to come back to work.

"Volynsky made contact again," Maia informed him. She filled him in on the first conversation that had taken place way back in Baltimore. Viktor listened without interrupting, but Maia knew he was irritated that she had not informed him of this development sooner.

"Early January, you say?" Viktor said finally. "Do you want to do this?"

"I don't know," Maia said, thinking of Jack. Shit, her relationship with him was starting to affect her willingness to do a job. "What do you think?"

"I won't lie, baby. This sounds very risky," Viktor admitted. "You'll be depending on people you've never worked with, and you won't have any of your own around. But the Volynsky name is the only one strong enough to overthrow the regime of Gavlik and that would strike a major blow to the Russian drug and prostitution ring."

"I'll do it. But this is the last time I'll take a job of this nature," Maia said.

"Understood," Viktor said softly. "What time do you want me to send the comm van?"

It was 11:45 pm. Unfortunately, this wasn't one of the nights Jack was working late. Maia was pretending to be interested in the evening news, but she knew there was no way she could sneak out of the apartment without Jack finding out.

"Babe, it's getting late," Jack came over to where she was sitting on the couch and kissed her on the head. He was wearing drawstring pajamas, was shirtless and she wanted nothing more than to cuddle in bed with him. "What's so interesting on the news, anyway?"

"Um, nothing," Maia said as she turned off the TV and stood up. Facing Jack with the couch between them seemed like a good idea at the moment.

"I need to get to the AGS comm van at midnight," Maia said as she walked towards the hall closet to grab her coat. She immediately felt the air in the room change. Jack's face had turned stony and his whole body grew taut with rising anger. She pretended that everything was normal and started to put on her sneakers.

"I thought we were through with this shit," Jack said roughly.

"Jack, I just..."

"Were you even going to mention this to me? Were you, Maia?" He was really pissed off now.

Maia looked at her watch and walked to the elevator.

"I have no time to discuss this. We'll talk later," Maia replied calmly.

In a flash, Jack was in front of her and gripping her shoulders.

Before he could say anything, she looked him directly in the eye. "You said you weren't going to interfere with my work. You know the risks. Don't make me regret us."

He let her go. The last thing Maia saw when the elevator doors slid close was his stricken face.

"I'm glad you're agreeing to do this," Volynsky said.

"So what do I do next?" Maia asked abruptly. She was still upset that her two worlds were colliding. It was so much simpler when she didn't have Jack in her life.

"I'll forward your travel papers to the AGS headquarters. Someone will pick you up at the Moscow airport. Your contact now will be Erik Costa. He will fill you in on the plans before and after you get here."

---