“Know how to cook so no Tennessee or Auburn alum could try and win us over through our stomachs.”
“You’re kidding?” She folded her arms and did her best to keep from smiling.
“Am I?” He leaned closer to her, catching a whiff of the lavender shampoo from the hotel he’d smelled during that brief hug in the garage. Their first hug in a garage of all places. “We take football and food very seriously down here in Bama.”
“I can see that.” Her fingers splayed across her collarbone as her gaze moved from his chest to his face. “I really should get cleaned up before dinner, which I assume you’ll be making?”
“And if I win you over through your stomach?” he asked, the question tumbling from his lips.
“I don’t think anyone is that good of a cook.”
He tipped his hat. “That another challenge?”
“I figured you’d say that. Know you so well already.”
He dipped his head, their faces much closer. “Why do I get the feeling you’re not betting against me to lose?”
Chapter Fifteen
Ana slipped into the en suite with her travel bag and set it on the counter. She flipped on the shower and fished through the bag for one of the disposable phones she’d packed.
Door shut and locked. Water running. Check. Check. Check.
She closed her eyes, pulling to mind the number she’d committed to memory and then released a shaky breath. A breath on which floated a boatload of guilt, that is if guilt were able to manifest itself in a tangible form. She opened her eyes when the call connected and announced, “Hi, it’s me.”
“It’s about time.” He was quiet and restrained, which Ana had come to know meant he was reining himself in to keep from yelling. She assumed he’d tried to get to the second Volkov source in Miami and had discovered the man was under Federal protection. “We cannot get our man out of Florida. He is too heavily guarded. This is the second target you have failed to deliver as proof of your loyalty.”
“I shouldn’t have to prove my loyalty given who I am, and don’t forget, I reached out to your organization first,” she reminded him, doing her best to keep her tone confident and sharp. “I’m trying to help.”
“I still don’t trust you. You may be working with any number of my enemies. Or setting me up with the FBI.” The man had lived outside of Russia for so long his accent was more Jersey than anything else.
“I can assure you I am not. I want vengeance for what happened to my parents. Why do you think I joined the FBI? I needed access to their resources. Their case files.”
“And they hired you despite knowing the identity of your parents?” He’d asked this the first time she’d spoken to him. Was he trying to catch her in a lie?
“I was sixteen when my parents died. As far as management is concerned, my history toughened me up and gives me an edge over my colleagues,” she answered, shifting away from the door, hoping the walls were well-made and thick enough to prevent A.J. from overhearing. “You have to understand, I had no idea there were any living Volkovs until the FBI acquired two of your people and turned them as sources.”
“Where were you earlier?” he asked, seemingly satisfied with her answer. “My cousin says you were not at the meet today.”
“I had to leave D.C. to follow a lead,” she rushed out. “But we learned who got to Katya. Ivan Smirnoff, The Huntsman, is in the U.S. The FBI believes your people hired him.”
“This is not true,” he said coolly. “And there is no way Ivan would take a job for the SVR either.”
“Unless the SVR contracted someone else to hire him?” she proposed. “To put distance between themselves and the hit, especially because they are still not certain whether or not you have the key. They may be testing you. Or setting you up to draw the attention of the FBI.” Anything was possible at this point. “But I did find who we’ve been looking for.” Those words would buy her the time she needed and so much more. “I need you to trust me. Give me until Friday night, and I promise you’ll be one step closer to having what you need.”
“If you’re wrong . . .” He left the unfinished threat hanging in the air. Ana was well aware his fierce tone was designed to scare