Chapter 8 - Midnight Among the Winter Roses
Dmitri read the message twice.
Then he put Vera’s phone on the table.
“Clever.”
“That isn’t a denial,” Vera said.
“No.”
Nikolai stood near the fireplace.
“Tell her.”
Dmitri looked at him.
“You sure?”
“She deserves the truth.”
Vera noticed the change immediately.
Two days ago Nikolai would have decided what she deserved without asking.
Now he was choosing transparency.
Progress.
Dmitri sat.
“Seven years ago, I worked for Helian.”
Vera stared at him.
“What?”
“Not willingly for long.”
Nikolai remained silent.
Dmitri continued.
“I handled logistics. I discovered they were using humanitarian freight companies to hide illegal shipments. I wanted out.”
“And Prague?”
“I gave Nikolai records during a meeting there.”
“You betrayed Helian.”
“I prefer ‘developed professional standards.’”
Vera did not smile.
“They know?”
“Eventually.”
“And Nikolai protected you.”
“Yes.”
“So the message is trying to make us distrust you.”
“Probably.”
“Probably?”
Dmitri sighed.
“There is one thing I never told Nikolai.”
Nikolai’s eyes narrowed.
“Now would be an excellent time.”
Dmitri leaned forward.
“Anton Voss’s kidnapping was authorized through the same logistics division I later worked for.”
Silence swallowed the room.
Nikolai’s expression emptied.
“You knew?”
“Not when I joined.”
“When did you learn?”
“Prague.”
Seven years.
Vera watched something painful move across Nikolai’s face.
“You knew for seven years.”
“I knew the division existed. I didn’t know which individuals ordered Anton’s death.”
“You should have told me.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Because you would have hunted every person connected to it until there was nothing left of you.”
Nikolai turned away.
Vera could feel years of friendship cracking.
Dmitri stood.
“I was wrong to hide it.”
Nikolai did not answer.
“Nikolai.”
“Leave.”
Dmitri’s face tightened.
Then he nodded and walked out.
Vera waited several minutes.
“You’re angry.”
“I am deciding how angry.”
“He did what you did to me.”
Nikolai looked at her.
She continued.
“He decided information would hurt you, so he withheld it.”
“That is different.”
“Is it?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
Nikolai opened his mouth.
Closed it.
Vera raised an eyebrow.
“I dislike this conversation.”
“I’m enjoying it.”
He gave her a dark look.
“Good. That means I’m right.”
She left him there.
At midnight she found Dmitri in the greenhouse.
He stood beside the roses, holding a flask.
“You hiding?”
“No.”
“Bad liar.”
“Apparently this estate is full of critics.”
Vera leaned against the bench.
“Nikolai will forgive you.”
“He should not.”
“That isn’t your choice.”
Dmitri looked at her.
“You’ve been spending too much time with him.”
“Unfortunately.”
“Does he know you say unfortunately while looking pleased?”
Vera frowned.
“I am not pleased.”
“Of course.”
She ignored him.
“What else happened in Prague?”
Dmitri’s expression changed.
“There was a name.”
“What name?”
“I never confirmed it.”
“Try me.”
“Adrian Helian.”
Vera knew the surname.
“Family?”
“Nephew of the founder. At the time he was twenty-eight. Ambitious. Patient.”
“Still alive?”
“Yes.”
“Running the group?”
“Not officially.”
“Meaning yes.”
Dmitri nodded.
“He believes Nikolai stole something from him.”
“The shipping contracts?”
“No.”
“What?”
“Power.”
The greenhouse lights suddenly flickered.
Vera froze.
Once.
Twice.
Then darkness.
Dmitri reached for his radio.
Static.
“Vera, stay here.”
“Absolutely not.”
Emergency lights activated.
Dim red illumination filled the greenhouse.
From outside came the distant sound of an alarm.
Then Nikolai appeared through the door.
He had crossed the courtyard in seconds.
“Vera.”
“I’m fine.”
He checked her as if requiring visual proof.
“What happened?” Dmitri asked.
“Power failure.”
“Accident?”
“No.”
Nikolai looked toward the northern windows.
“Someone cut the external line.”
A guard called from outside.
They had found something attached to the electrical box.
A white rose.
Winter roses did not grow outside the greenhouse.
Someone had taken it from inside.
Again.
But this time Vera remembered something.
That afternoon she had pruned only one bed.
White roses.
She walked toward it.
One stem had been cut with a blade.
Not pruning shears.
A knife.
Beside the plant, hidden beneath leaves, was a small microphone.
Someone had been listening to conversations inside the greenhouse.
Possibly for days.
Vera looked toward Dmitri.
Then Nikolai.
Every secret they had discussed.
Every argument.
Every admission.
The enemy may have heard all of it.
Nikolai picked up the device.
His expression went deadly calm.
“They wanted us suspicious of one another.”
Vera nodded.
“So stop giving them what they want.”
His eyes shifted toward Dmitri.
Years of betrayal and friendship stood between the two men.
Finally Nikolai said, “You should have told me.”
Dmitri nodded.
“I know.”
“We discuss it later.”
“That means I’m not fired?”
“It means I need someone competent tonight.”
Dmitri smiled slightly.
Then a sound came from the greenhouse roof.
All three looked up.
Footsteps.
May you like
Someone was above them.
Moving toward Vera’s cottage.
