Page 26 of Deadly Charade

“When you were gone, Ivan returned to the living room, and we were alone for a brief moment. Alex and Sophia stepped out to discuss with the chef the dessert and drink pairings. Ivan whispered to me that he didn’t kill the security guard. I’m not sure I believe him. He said, ‘I’m on your side. We’re after the same thing.’ And then you came back and he slipped me this.” Kira opened her hand and showed Bryce the card.

The front of the white business card stated the name and address of a mechanic.

“‘Young Mechanic,’” she read. “With an address in Riley, West Virginia.”

Bryce went to the kitchen and came back with a ziplock plastic bag. She placed the card in the bag, and Bryce turned it over to examine it. “Your prints will be on this, but our team can run it for Ivan’s. Look what’s on the back.”

“What?”

“‘Follow the rabbits,’” he read.

Kira sucked in a breath. “I don’t know what to make of this. Ivan knows my name, but did he tell Alex and Sophia our true identities?”

Bryce squinted at the writing. “Is it possible he’s Russian intelligence? As in, he’s undercover too? Because I would think he’d already sell us out if he had any loyalties to the Dominiks.”

The theory sounded absurd, but this case had thrown them for a few loops already.

She snapped a few pictures of the evidence and texted it to Everly. “It’s plausible. Everly can research both this mechanic and Ivan Sokolov. She might get a hit on the name without fingerprints.” She headed to the kitchen and made a pot of coffee. “I guess we wait for Turner to decide if our covers are blown.” It was going to be a long night. She dished out two bowls of Moose Tracks and placed one in front of Bryce, who sat at the dining room table with his laptop open.

“You never even asked me if I wanted any,” Bryce said, taking a bite of the ice cream. “Did you see how much food I ate? It was good. Let’s hope they didn’t poison us, because I ate every bite.”

“The Dominiks’ Michelin-Star chef is to die for.” She put on her best snobby accent, and Bryce laughed. “But we need the sugar and caffeine combination to unlock our superpowers to put this puzzle together. Your turn. What did you find out?”

She grabbed her notebook and sat next to Bryce at the table.

He didn’t answer right away but sipped his coffee. “I took some pictures of the office and I got busted.”

“Busted?” Great. Both of them now had compromised identities. What a way to start an undercover operation. “How?”

“I heard Ivan and Alex come upstairs. The only place to hide was behind the door, and it worked. Until I exited and got caught by Natalia. I don’t think she saw me exit the office, but I was definitely not where I was supposed to be.”

Kira scrunched up her nose. “Not good. Do you think she’ll rat you out that you were wandering around?”

He shook his head. “I don’t know, but she watched us walk down the sidewalk to our house. Odd and definitely gave me a bad vibe.” He sighed. “I feel like I came up empty-handed, except I did record Ivan and Alex arguing in Russian. I was behind the door, so I’m hoping it came through.”

He cued up the recording. Kira leaned in to listen. The muffled sound might make it hard to hear, but she’d give it her best shot. She flipped to a blank page in her notebook and jotted notes.

Bryce watched her work.

“Can you play it again?” she asked. When the recording ended for the second time, she looked up. “Apparently Ivan invited himself to dinner, which Alex wasn’t too keen on. He also didn’t like Ivan’s dinner discussion—tells Ivan to tone it down. Alex then lights into Ivan about paying him way too much for no results, and Ivan claims he needs more time. That he’s getting closer.”

Bryce ran a hand through his hair. “So, basically nothing specific other than to indicate that they’re searching for something and there’s a lot of money involved.”

“It gets more interesting. Ivan recommends us as candidates for the auction. So, our intel is right that Alex is involved in the illegal smuggling ring.”

“It also means Sophia and Alex bought our covers. Until Ivan or Natalia gives them reason to question it.”

Kira clicked her ballpoint pen a few times. “Who’s Isaac?”

Bryce drummed his fingers on the table. “I’m not sure. Another lead to follow.”

Kira studied the man, noting his smooth good looks once more. She really needed to get past that. But the truth was, she liked watching him. But more than that, she found she liked him. In the span of a few days, she’d gone from a lonely desk job to having a partner who had her back. Someone she could bounce ideas off and dig into the case details with.

And she liked that too. Apparently she was liking a lot of things related to Bryce.

Agent Kaup came into the dining room. “Turner’s ready when you are.”

“Thanks. We’ll set up for the video call at the table,” Kira said. Agent Hudson joined them, taking a seat.