“So you plan to sacrifice my asset to gain Esguerra’s trust?” Novak asked, frowning, and I nodded, explaining that once I’m in, it won’t be all that difficult to get within grabbing distance of Nora—and once I have her as my hostage, I’ll have leverage over Esguerra.
He’ll give up his life to save her.
“My men will be waiting just outside the compound, so once I have Nora and the baby, I’ll disable the perimeter defenses myself and use the confusion of Esguerra’s death to make our escape,” I told Novak. “It won’t be easy, but it’s the only chance we’ve got.”
The pasta sauce is finally ready, so as we sit down to eat dinner, I relay the same plan to the guys.
“No fucking way,” Anton says when I’m done. “Hostages or not, you’re not going to walk out of that compound alive. You’re talking about a suicide mission.”
“Not necessarily,” Yan says softly, winding his fork in the pasta. His green eyes hold a strange gleam. “Esguerra has a weakness now: his wife and daughter. And we’re going to use it. Isn’t that right?”
“Yes, exactly,” I say and remind myself to keep an eye on Yan during this mission.
With everything so precariously balanced, the slightest unforeseen element—like one of my own double-crossing me—could bring it all crashing down.
30
Peter
The response from Lucas Kent comes almost immediately. He’s willing to meet with me, which is the first step to getting near Esguerra.
He proposes his wife’s new restaurant in London as a potential meeting place. It’s not exactly neutral ground, but I agree. I know what he’s thinking: that this might be a ploy to lure him out, so I could punish him and his wife for fucking up with Sara.
Under other circumstances, he wouldn’t have been wrong. The image of my ptichka in that hospital, her delicate face pale and bruised, still features in my nightmares. Someday, Kent will pay for letting her escape and crash, but for now, I need him.
He’s my best shot at reaching out to Esguerra.
Of course, if he turned me down, I had a backup plan. I know Nora Esguerra’s email, having communicated in the past with her about my list. However, Esguerra is not exactly rational about his tiny wife and might take it the wrong way if I contact her after all these years.
It’s better to go through Kent—Esguerra might be more willing to listen in that case.
Kent’s wife, the beautiful Yulia, is nowhere in sight as I enter the stylish restaurant and make my way to a booth in the corner, where Kent’s blond head is visible above the partition.
He stands up to greet me, his hard face wary as he extends his hand. “Sokolov.”
I shake his hand, squeezing his fingers with slightly too much force. “Kent.”
His eyes narrow, but he releases my hand without retaliating. “I didn’t expect to hear from you again,” he says as we take a seat and open the menus. “How is your Sara these days?”
“Who? Oh, that.” I catch the waiter and tell him to bring me an unopened Guinness bottle with an opener on the side. Kent requests a cup of Earl Grey for himself. I wait for the waiter to leave before telling Kent, “I have no idea how she is. I let her go last year and haven’t seen her since.”
His eyebrows rise. “Really?”
I shrug. “What can I say? It was time.”
“Right.” He doesn’t seem to believe me, but he turns his attention to the menu and scans it before looking up to ask, “Do you know what you want?”
“I’m not hungry, thanks.” Given what happened with Sara and what I’m about to tell him, I no longer trust Kent or the food in his wife’s restaurant.
His mouth curls in a dry smile. “I see.” Closing the menu, he waits for the waiter to set our drinks on the table and then says, “Why do you want to meet Esguerra? He still hasn’t forgiven you for the incident with Nora, you know.”
“Yes, I’m aware.” I used his wife as bait, letting her get kidnapped in order to find out where a terrorist group was holding him at the time. Back then, I knew he’d be pissed about Nora’s involvement, but his rage didn’t really make sense to me—after all, it was the only way to save his life.
Now, however, I understand his reaction better. If anyone endangered Sara like that, I wouldn’t care about the reasoning behind it.
My life for hers would never be a fair trade.
“I had a very lucrative offer come my way,” I tell Kent, opening my Guinness. “As a result, I’ve come into possession of some information Esguerra might appreciate.”
Kent frowns and picks up his cup of tea. “Oh? And what information is that?”
“There’s a traitor in his compound,” I say and take a large swig as Kent’s frown deepens. “A traitor who’s supposed to aid me in my assignment.”