Fires of Kiev Read online

  She propped her pillow and leaned her back against the headboard so she was sitting next to him. Her knee-jerk reaction was to argue. Joining the enemy’s side contradicted everything they came here to do. But Kostya’s knowledge of the components and the fail-safe changed everything. If Fire of Dawn needed his skills to launch the missile, he might just get close enough to sabatoge their plans. She folded her legs and shifted to her hip, staring at his profile—determined, heroic, and resolute.

  “Then I’m going with you.”

  “Absolutely not. There’s no way…”

  “Why not? Two of us will be better at scoping out the site than just one. Besides, we can cover for each other if we need to or call help for each other.”

  “Meri, this isn’t a double-O spy game where the heroes come out cocky and unharmed,” Kostya said, his eyes flashing. “Fire of Dawn are terrorists. They kill people to further their goals. They killed my parents. They killed people at EuroMaidan, and they are at war in the east.”

  “I can offer medical expertise that they’ll find very valuable if they are about to expand the war. I’ll probably be assigned somewhere near the action, and I can keep my ears open for information to help you.”

  “I will not put you in danger for this. This isn’t your fight,” he growled.

  “You’re right. This isn’t my fight. It’s our fight.” Meredith touched his cheek so he faced her. “Even if it weren’t about ideals I would die for, like freedom or democracy, I would risk doing this because this is your home, and it is the country where my heart resides.”

  She took the key hanging around her neck and held it with his hand in hers. “My heart has belonged to the Ukraine since the day we locked our love on the bridge in Kiev. It has been yours, and I am helpless against it.”

  Kostya studied her with his eyes, and Meredith saw flashes of fear in them as he looked at her. Silently he weighed the possibilities.” We would be safer together,” he conceded, “but I don’t have to like it, do I?” Raising his hand to the nape of her neck, he pulled her close to him.

  “No. No, you don’t,” she said, as he touched her lips with his. Falling into their pillows, they held each other until they slept.

  The next morning Kostya and Meredith loaded up the car and headed toward Poltava. They spent several minutes thanking the Melnyks and exchanging contact information, and assuring them that they would be all right. Olena had prepared a basket full of food and drinks for the road, and she teared up when Kostya and Meredith got in the car to leave. Serhiy made sure they knew they were welcome at any time, in any circumstances. Even though they’d only known each other a couple of days, they felt like close friends.

  For Meredith, driving on the E40 highway brought back memories of her misadventures five years ago. If she had stayed on the road, she wouldn’t have gotten lost, but she wouldn’t have met Kostya. The farmlands of the area looked very different in November with winter frost covering the stubble left from the harvest. The frozen ground seemed to be dead, yet the soil beneath would support and grow their lifeblood crops in just a few months. She thought that her relationship with Kostya was a lot like the farmland. For five years it appeared to be dead, but just as the spring awakens the seeds in the ground, their reunion germinated love again.

  The three-and-a-half-hour journey went quickly as they talked about their plans and what they needed to accomplish. As soon as they arrived in Poltava, they checked into a small apartment-style hotel with the owners living on site. The couple readily accepted Kostya’s cash for the room, and the wife gushed when Kostya told them it was their honeymoon.

  “Why did you tell them it was our honeymoon?” Meredith whispered as they walked them up the stairs to take them to the room.

  “First, they will give us plenty of privacy. Second, they won’t come running if they hear strange noises coming from the room.” Kostya grinned.

  Meredith blushed. “Hmm, not to mention, they won’t care if we keep strange hours. Good thinking.”

  The room was simple, but clean, and had an en suite bathroom. They thanked their hosts, who smiled at the door until it closed. Hearing their footsteps finally exit down the hallway, Meredith and Kostya laughed at their curiosity.

  “We need to call Will to check in,” Kostya said pulling the satellite phone out of his bag. “He needs to know how things are going.”

  “He’s not going to like our plan, you know,” she said, taking the satellite phone.

  “I don’t like this either, but it’s our best chance for success.” Kostya crossed his arms. “Come on. Telling him won’t be that bad.”

  Meredith grimaced and dialed the number. A few minutes later they were connected with Will in the TRUST offices.

  “I had to fight Ethan to get the phone.” He laughed. “Let me put you on speaker so all of us can be involved in the conversation.” There were a few clicks and then Will called out. “Are you there?”

  “Yeah, we’re here,” Meredith answered. “What’s new?”

  “I’ll go first,” Ethan called. “I’ve been trying to find out all I can about the Day of Dignity and Freedom. You know it’s a new holiday, and it’s controversial, but you may not know how big the expected turnout in Kiev is for the day. Thousands of demonstrators are expected, representing a gamut of different viewpoints. If I were planning to make a terrorist statement at an event, this would be it. There are a lot of people, not enough police and security, and lots of groups to blame if it goes wrong.”

  “Just judging from the amount of activity, Fire of Dawn is planning something, and during the demonstrations on November twenty-first seems like a likely time,” Meredith said.

  “If missiles target other cities around the world, November twenty-first would always be remembered. A true ‘date which will live in infamy’,” Kostya said. “It would give Fire of Dawn the notoriety they want.”

  “Then we’ve got to stop them,” Ethan said. “For the sake of the Ukraine and every nation that could become a target.”

  “Okay, I’m next,” Ben said. “I’ve dug into Petro Vlasenko’s background. Besides being the leader of Fire of Dawn, he also has some high-level friends in Moscow, including members of the Federal Assembly and the president himself. I think his rebel cause is less about doing what he believes in and more about getting a Russian foothold to start controlling the Ukraine.”

  “So Vlasenko helps the Russian Federation and the Russian leaders help Vlasenko,” Meredith said. “A case of ‘you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours’.”

  “And it doesn’t end there. The Russian Federation has designs to take pieces of the Ukraine oblast by oblast. It’s similar to the process Germany used prior to Munich to annex Austria and Czechoslovakia. In Crimea they showed his desire and capability to expand territory, and Russia funds rebel groups with weapons and supplies to fight for Novorossiya. Fire of Dawn is just the latest, and most extreme, of these groups.”

  “So I have to ask,” Will broke in. “Have you figured out a way inside the silo?”

  Meredith bit her lip and raised her eyebrow at Kostya, challenging him to answer the question.

  “I think we have. We’re going to join Fire of Dawn,” Kostya said.

  There was coughing on the other end of the line.

  “Excuse me?” Will choked out.

  “Did you say join them? Awesome,” Ethan approved.

  Ben waited a thoughtful moment. “Wait, it’s brilliant.”

  “You can’t think for a minute this is a good idea,” Will spouted off. “They’ll be in the middle of the danger.”

  “You sound like your sister when I first suggested the plan.” Kostya chuckled. “If I can convince them that I truly am benefitting from a relationship with them, they’ll let me in. They can’t afford not to.”

  “What makes you think they’ll overlook everything? You’ve taken their computer parts, destroyed others, gone to the U.S. government with information, and dodged their assassin. They have no rea
son to trust you,” Will ranted.

  “For one reason—they need me more than I need them. All the components aren’t working in the silo.”

  “How do you know that?” Ben asked.

  “If everything was working in the first silo, they would be preparing the second, third, or fourth silo. I know that was the plan, because I worked on four sets of everything in the lab. I destroyed three of the chips on the encoder boxes. They have secured four abandoned silo sites according to the satellite pictures, and I had four sets of coordinates for sites. If everything was going well on the first, they would have moved on.”

  “Even if they need you, you’re damaged goods. You’ve gone to the U.S. government. You’ve lost your parents at their hands,” Will argued.

  “So, we make it look like I was denied asylum and was deported back to the Ukraine. In the meantime, I send emails to my brothers suggesting I believe I got caught in the middle of a government conspiracy to rebuild weapons, and I need their help to return to the Ukraine for vindication. If the U.S. government didn’t believe me, which I’m sure we can make it look that way, I might seek vigilante justice. My parents’ death were a job by the corrupt Ukrainian government trying to force me to work for them. And if I, a disenchanted veteran of the Ukrainian Ground Forces, believe my country is on the wrong path to success, who is to say a group like Fire of Dawn wouldn’t meet my needs?”

  “What about Meredith? Where does she fit into all this?” Will asked.

  “My Ukrainian is good, but I will never pass for a native, so I can’t play that role,” Meredith explained. “I’m going to be an American socialite and doctor who fell in love and followed Kostya to the Ukraine.”

  Everyone was silent for a moment.

  “Fell in love?” Ethan finally said. “It’s a little cheesy, but it might work.”

  “It plays on the strong-man, weak-woman image Fire of Dawn promotes,” Ben added. “Besides, her medical training would be valuable. If she plays the subservient female with Kostya, but pulls her weight at the hospitals, she may be in a position to get some really good intelligence.”

  “I don’t like it,” Will said. “It is really risky.”

  “Is it riskier than a nuclear missile being launched with warheads that can hit ten different targets around the globe?” Ethan offered.

  “Will, it’s not any different than the work I’ve done in clinics before. I just have to be careful with what I say.” Meredith softened her voice. “It’s going to work.”

  “So how are you going to do this?” Will sighed.

  For the next several minutes Kostya outlined his plan, and points were fleshed out and TRUST’s role solidified. The first step would be locating where in Poltava Fire of Dawn was meeting. After that, Kostya and Meredith could attempt to join Fire of Dawn’s plans. By the time they hung up, all of them had a pretty good idea of what was going to happen. Meredith slid her arms around Kostya.

  “Are you sure about this? It’s a pretty scary plan. Espionage, nuclear bombs, assassins—it’s dangerous.”

  “Or pretty damn heroic,” Kostya said, taking a comic superhero stance. “I’ll save the world and be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.”

  “Hmm. And I guess you’ll be more powerful than a locomotive?” She kissed him, backing him up to the bed.

  “Of course,” he bragged.

  “And your spidey-sense will warn you of eminent danger?” She pulled at the hem of his shirt, bringing it over his head.

  “It’s true of superheroes.” His hands brushed against her sides, teasing her with his touch.

  “Then I don’t want you to be one.” Meredith pouted.

  “What? Why not?” he asked, amused. “Don’t you like my superhuman abilities?”

  “Believe me, I love all your special skills,” she whispered breathily. “Just not if you’re ‘faster than a speeding bullet’.” Meredith bit his neck playfully and wrapped her legs around his waist as he lifted her off the floor.

  “No chance. I’ve also got super stamina.” They laughed as they fell into the mattress, and Kostya spent the next few hours proving, and re-proving his superpowers.

  Chapter 29

  The meeting place of the Fire of Dawn leadership was supposed to be a closely held secret, but Meredith used a technique that reporters in Washington often used to find out where her father would turn up. She asked the staff.

  Early in the morning she climbed out of bed and dressed simply in jeans, a t-shirt and pulled her hair into a ponytail. She wandered down to the bottom-floor kitchen and restaurant of the apartments. Speaking the very provincial, familiar Ukrainian she often heard when treating patients in the clinics, she greeted the staff in the kitchen.

  A woman with an apron dusted with flour and white curly hair wiped her hands on a towel. She glanced around and approached Meredith like she was in charge.

  “Madam, we would be happy to serve you breakfast in the dining room,” she said, addressing Meredith formally.

  Meredith lowered her eyes. “I thank you, but I do not have the money to spend. I had hoped you might let me do some dishes to earn some coffee and a sweet roll for myself and my husband.” She put on her most pitiful look and hoped she looked desperate enough.

  “I suppose, if you are willing to do some work…” The woman tsked and tilted her head while assessing Meredith.

  “I’m not asking for charity, ma’am,” she answered.

  “No. No, you aren’t.” She quickly glanced around the kitchen. “There are some pots in the sink that need to be scrubbed by hand. If you finish all of them, I can let you have breakfast with the staff and give you a nice roll and coffee for your husband.”

  “I am so grateful,” Meredith said, taking her place by the sink.

  She scrubbed the pots, aware of conversations around her. After about a half-hour, the woman came to inspect her work. “These look very good. Go eat your breakfast with everyone, and I’ll make a bag for you to take.”

  “Thank you,” she said and went to sit in the large common room with the staff. As she expected, women who worked in the hotel and the restaurant were gathering around the table. There were a few women dressed in uniforms who served as maids or waitresses, and others who wore thick, white cloth aprons and scarves on their heads. She guessed these were the laundresses or back kitchen staff. They brought in bowls of oatmeal and fruit, along with sweet rolls and carafes of coffee and tea. As they served themselves, they talked and giggled, obviously familiar with each other’s company. Meredith was handed a plate, and she quietly listened to the friendly banter around the table as she ate with them. No one went out of their way to befriend her, which was fine because she didn’t want to be noticed too much.

  Meredith eavesdropped in while they gossiped and shared news about their lives—so and so was sick, and someone else was expecting. Meredith listened carefully, hoping they would talk about friends who worked elsewhere in the city, knowing that Fire of Dawn’s meeting would probably be big news for the help. She was starting to believe she might not hear anything when one of the girls said something.

  “Over at the Palazzo, they have a group of high rollers staying.”

  “They always get them there,” another girl whined. “Are they tippers?”

  “Ursula says they gave her a good tip after dinner last night. They’re having a big meeting today, and she’s working again,” the first girl continued. “She has to work all day and fetch them drinks and food and stuff.”

  “Who are they?” Meredith asked, trying to be unobtrusive.

  “I don’t know.” The girl continued chattering. “Ursula said they are some group who supports the fighting in the east, maybe with Novorossiya.”

  “I hope they’re not bringing the fighting around here,” an older woman said. “But if their meeting brings in more work, it’s money in my pocket.” Everyone chuckled and agreed.

  “Did your friend say how long they were staying?” Meredith asked, sure that sh
e had stumbled on some useful information.

  Some of the women eyed Meredith cautiously. Meredith silently winced, hoping she hadn’t seemed too curious. The girl hesitated then answered, “She didn’t say.”

  Too much attention. Back off.

  Meredith tried to look nonchalant as she took a sip of her coffee and waited for the women to resume their separate conversations around the table. After a few minutes, she turned to speak quietly to the girl who had told everyone about the other hotel. “My mother, she worked in Donetsk—at Petro Vlasenko’s house,” Meredith explained, “I thought the group he led might be here.” She smiled and added coyly, “He was very handsome.”

  The girl’s eyes shone with mischief, and she leaned in to share the rumor. “I know there is some business guy in charge, got his money from coal and mining, so I guess it could be him. Ursula did say he was attractive,” she confided.

  “You have a lucky friend.” Meredith giggled with her.

  Attention turned to other topics until the head woman came back and good-naturedly scolded them to get back to work. As the girls scrambled back to their jobs, the white-haired woman held up a brown bag and cup of coffee in a disposable cup to Meredith. She gave Meredith what seemed was a rare smile, and Meredith thanked her again and headed upstairs to let Kostya know what she had discovered. Although what she heard was rumor, Meredith was sure she had learned Fire of Dawn’s meeting place. Anxious to tell Kostya as soon as possible, she hurried past the glass double doors to the lobby on the way to the stairs. Meredith hummed as she passed, scanning the room to wave to their hosts. What she saw made her stomach turn.

  How did he find us?

  The blond man, the man who had taken her hostage at the hospital, was there, asking questions to their hosts. She ran to the side of the window where she could look in without being noticed. The lady pointed and nodded at a set of photographs, and the Assassin leaned across the counter listening.

  “Oh shit!” she muttered, dropping the coffee and roll, and tearing up the stairs to Kostya. She had forgotten the key, of course, so she insistently knocked on the door, trying not to wake their neighbors. Kostya opened the door, yawning and rubbing the back of his head, and Meredith slipped past him, shutting the door quickly.