Page 102 of Close Pursuit

Without Alex there to hover over her and insist she stay on the couch, Katie paced the living room nervously. It felt like some sort of terrible net was closing in around her and Alex and Dawn. She couldn’t see it, but the trap was about to spring. She knew it deep down in her gut.

Her head spun with the events of the past week. From the moment they’d left that tent in Zaghastan, somebody had been dogging their steps. What was so danged special about the Karshan Valley?

Or was it Dawn? Did this have to do with her mysterious, unidentified father? Katie picked up the list of names again. She crossed Ian off the list as a possible suspect in the mayhem.

Not only was he the kind of man who would own up to fathering a child and would do right by the mother, he’d also been stabbed and badly injured for the past week. He wasn’t responsible for the car chases or assault on her.

Reluctantly, she thought back to the attack in the parking garage. It had been so dark, and the guy had come at her so fast. She’d barely had time to defend herself, let alone register details. The man had been taller than her. Heavier in build than Alex. Strong. She would never forget the feel of that rock hard fist slamming into her face. He’d been brutal and efficient. A professional thug, then.

FSB? CIA? Or…she glanced down at the list and the cluster of Slavic names Alex had determined were all associated with one another and had likely traveled to Zaghastan as a single group…maybe her attacker this morning was in the Chechen mob?

That girl…Dawn’s mother…had denied being raped. Which meant she’d been seduced. The father had to have been in the valley for a while to pull that off. She called Uncle Charlie’s phone number.

“Hey, Katie-kins,” he answered jovially. “Have you got good news for me?”

“Working on it. You know that list of names you sent me?”

“The guest list for the party? Of course.”

What? Oh.Crap. This wasn’t a secure line. “Exactly,” she replied cheerfully. “Can you get me arrival and departure dates to go with it so I can make sure everyone’s got rides?”

“Of course.”

“Like…now?”

“No problem. I’ll have my secretary send them over, kiddo.”

She severely doubted Uncle Charlie was ever that perky for real at work. He must think her cell phone was not only unsecure but being monitored by someone unfriendly. And hewasCIA. What enemy of the CIA had the power, the reach, to tap her phone?—

--The question had only to enter her mind for her to know the answer. The FSB. More specifically, Roman Koronov. Alex was convinced his father would come after her and Dawn to force Alex to work for him. And hey, it had worked. Alex was prepared to steal sensitive information from his own employer for Roman.

She commenced pacing again, but after about three laps of the spacious condo, her phone beeped an incoming e-mail. The days and months in the list Charlie had forwarded her were all followed by this year’s date. But she got the point. She ignored the year and focused on the days and months instead.

Only the four Chechen names on her list and Ian had been in the Karshan Valley for more than a few days last year. In fact, the four Chechens had been there for the entire four-month window of time in question.

Alex thought Shishani was the leader of the bunch and the other three were probably his bodyguard flunkies. Doubtful a flunkie would get enough time off to romance a local girl. More likely, Shishani had been the seducer.

Call her selfish, but she wasn’t about to contact a mob boss to ask him if he’d like to take custody of his baby daughter. What the guy didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him. She would ask Alex to help her do whatever it took to adopt Dawn, and she’d raise the child, herself.

Her nervousness transformed into impatience for Alex to get home so she could tell him what she’d decided and enlist his legal help. Her cell phone rang and she snatched it up eagerly, hopeful that it was him.

“Hello?” she said quickly.

“Katie? Is that you?”

Sister Mary Harris. “Yes, Sister, it’s me. Is everything okay with Dawn?”

“She’s perfectly fine, dear. But there’s been a break-in at the orphanage. It appears the thief got scared away when the alarms went off. I thought you and Alex ought to know.”

Katie’s blood literally ran cold. “Uhh, thanks. I’ll be right over.”

“That’s not necessary. The police are here and the thief didn’t get anything. He just broke a window.”

“Nonetheless. I’m on my way.”

Katie ended the call, grabbed her car keys and screeched to a stop at Alex’s front door. Crap. Would she get shot or electrocuted or something if she tried to leave? She threw the door open, ducking as she did so. Nada. Cautiously, she stepped out into the hall. So far so good. Worried about just how far Alex’s paranoia might extend, she bypassed the elevator and raced down the stairs, instead.

Dusk was falling as she climbed into her rental car and headed into the mess that was rush hour in D.C. She had no idea whether or not she was followed. There was no way to navigate the traffic chaos, and watch her rearview mirror, and actually spot anyone in the tangle of vehicles around her.

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