Chapter 7 — FRIDAY — Making plans
Roxanne Lopez was contemplative as she watched the purple-white smoke twist off the end of Jennifer Finney's cigarette. The brunette had told her she'd given up smoking a while ago, following her divorce, but after last night's events she needed a comfort blanket.
Roxie understood why. A long time ago, she'd been like Jenn...
She still found it difficult to believe that Jade had manipulated Jenn in such a way. She'd always thought of the African model as her friend, but she was seeing her in a different light. And the ramifications were weighing heavily on her. It had to be Nikky Volkov who had put Jade up to this and there could only be one reason why.
He knew that Jenn was an undercover cop.
How? The Russian had connections everywhere. Was there anything he didn't know? That thought scared the shit out of her.
It was probably Volkov who had been behind the threesome with Jade. Anything else was too much of a coincidence. She just hadn't yet worked out why. To drive a wedge between her and Jack? It almost had. And it could end their relationship if Jack ever found Volkov had coerced her into sucking his cock. Would she never learn?
But that wasn't her immediate concern. She was worried for Jenn. What was Volkov up to? Was he trying to compromise her, and the Met, make an example of her? Or was he simply trying to coerce her into becoming one of his escorts? It could be either of those things.
Thank God for Jack's intervention. No wonder she loved her boyfriend so much. Jenn might need a comfort blanket but she didn't. Who needed one when she had her own hero to look out for her?
He had still been asleep, face down, when she'd left their room this morning. He hadn't even stirred when she'd showered and dressed. She'd headed straight to Jenn's room and invited her down to breakfast. It would give them a chance to chat things through, woman to woman. She reasoned that the brunette probably needed that.
"It feels like I've been out of my depth ever since I set foot in Dubai," Jenn suddenly mumbled, when they were seated. "And last night proved exactly why."
They paused as a waitress came over and took their order. Roxanne asked for a round of mimosas and a fruit parfait. Jenn requested the same.
"Don't beat yourself up," Roxie told her when they were alone again. "I've been around men like Nikky Volkov long enough to know how manipulative they can be. Besides, I'm the one that left you with Jade. I'm going to have it out with her when I see her. What she did was horrible, but I'm sure that Nikky was behind it."
Jenn nodded slowly.
"I've been thinking about that all night. You think he knows I'm a cop?"
"No doubt about it."
"But how? Did I give myself away?"
Roxanne gave an ironic laugh.
"I doubt that, Jenn. Nikky has people everywhere. He probably even has contacts inside the Met. Jack said that sort of thing was rife when he worked there, and I know that Dominic DeVere did. We never ever got to the bottom of that. I'd say that someone tipped him off and last night was an attempt to compromise you."
"He very nearly did," Jenn hoarsely whispered. "Jade got me to take a hit from an opium pipe and after that I just couldn't think straight. Then she showed me one of the bedrooms from some sort of viewing room. Nikky Volkov was there with Michelle Park."
"Michelle!" Roxie exclaimed, her eyebrows knitting. "That's unusual. I didn't think she was in the inner circle."
Jenn shrugged her shoulders.
"I don't know," she said. "The effect of the opium had hit me by then. And watching the two of them in bed ... well, it just got to me, you know?"
Roxanne nodded her understanding.
"Believe me, I know," she sympathetically agreed. "I've been in those situations before, Jenn, and more than once..."
She left the statement hanging. Sometimes it was difficult to believe exactly what she had got up to in those days. At the time, it had all seemed so normal. She'd fallen in with Dominic DeVere almost by accident and had soon become his favourite girl. After that, he'd saved her for important assignments.
She'd even felt special at times...
"You always seem so strong," Jenn said, reaching out and stroking Roxanne's hand. "I wish I had been. But it was difficult to think straight and I kept telling myself I didn't want to blow my cover. I'm supposed to be a model, after all. Jade made it all seem so natural."
"She's very good at that," Roxie said, pulling a face.
They fell silent when their waitress returned with their order, each preoccupied for a moment with their own thoughts.
"She's your friend?" Jenn asked, when they were alone again.
"Some friend," the redhead answered through gritted teeth. "I thought she was. You know, Jack's always been suspicious about the modelling world and I've kept telling myself it's because he doesn't fully understand it. But maybe he's right. There's corruption everywhere."
"He's a good man," Jenn said, with a warm smile. She squeezed Roxanne's fingers. "It's rare to find a real man's man, but with a tender side, too. My ex-husband was a bastard, pure and simple."
"I'm sorry," the redhead empathised, "and you're right about Jack. He's the best thing that's ever happened to me. He saved my life and he captured my heart. I just wish I'd been able to show him the good things associated with the fashion world. His experiences have been the opposite. And here we are again..."
She shot Jenn a melancholy look. But then she smiled.
"And yet," she said softly, "I'd never have met Jack were it not for the DeVere mess. He saved me in more ways than one. I'm a very lucky girl."
"I agree," Jenn said warmly, and they both laughed.
*
The assassin stood in front of the rectangular mirror in the small bathroom, his palms face down on the cool counter beside the sink. He stared at his reflection, seeing the brooding need in his dark eyes. The scar on his face was new, a relic of his last desperate fight for life.
His heart was palpitating from the pill he'd just taken. He had a busy day planned and would need to be at the top of his game.
For a moment, the smooth cream walls of the bathroom closed in on him and he shook his head to clear the feeling before turning on the cold water tap. Filling his hands with water, he checked his reflection once more before splashing it on his face.
That felt better.
The woman he'd picked up last night lay on the bed in the adjacent bedroom, her empty eyes staring up at the ceiling. He hadn't intended to kill her, but when she'd found his gun and began to ask questions, he'd had no choice. Today was too important to take chances.
He would leave her body there when he left the hotel. Like yesterday, he'd exit surreptitiously without paying. He'd got the whore to book the room in her name and no-one had seen him when he'd entered. They wouldn't even know he existed.
He glanced at his reflection again. The sullen face staring back at him looked a little scruffy. Maybe it was just that he needed a shave? He'd have to smarten himself up before he left the room; put on one of the shirts he'd stolen from the upmarket gentleman outfitters he'd visited yesterday. Dubai was full of well groomed men and the last thing he could afford was to look out of place.
He would contact Volkov later tonight. No, make that tomorrow morning. Give him time to think overnight.
Once the trap had been set...
The Russian would be shocked when he heard the news, wondering what was going on. The bastard wouldn't have a clue. He'd let him stew on it until morning and then make the call.
Once Volkov realised who he was dealing with, the multi-millionaire would have no alternative other than to pay the money he demanded.
*
"Am I interrupting anything?"
Both women looked up to find Jack Palmer smiling at them.
He had been alarmed when he'd woken up to find Roxie gone, but then he'd put in a call to Jenn's room. When she hadn't answered, he'd put two and two together and headed down to the breakfast area.
"Of course not, sweetheart," Roxanne said, grinning back at him. Her white knight had finally pulled himself out of bed. "Please join us."
He took the vacant chair next to his girlfriend, kissing her soft lips before glancing at Jenn.
"How are you feeling?" he asked, checking out the side of her face. The redness had almost gone, although there was still a little swelling there from Habib's blow last night. "Sore?"
"A little," she replied. "But what about you? You look kinda rough."
They all laughed. One side of Palmer's face had several abrasions from the fight, and the bandage wrapped around his swollen hand was tinged with blood.
"All in a day's work," he quipped, deflecting the attention.
"He has marks all over his body," Roxie explained, smiling lovingly at him.
She traced her index finger along the downward scar that ran across the side of his neck.
"You see that one?" she asked Jenn. "He got that one when he was a kid. He told me about it the first time we met."
"You asked me about it," he corrected, smiling warmly at her. Not for the first time, he reminded himself how lucky he was to have her as his girlfriend. "You wanted to know if I'd won the fight."
"And you proudly told me that you had," she countered.
Jenn smiled at them as she listened to the exchange. The warmth in Roxanne's voice spoke volumes, every bit as much as the twinkle in her eyes. These two were very definitely in love. She wondered if their love life was every bit as cosmopolitan as Jade had hinted, but doubted it. It had to be just another attempt to put her off guard.
"I told you it added a little character," Roxie continued, her green eyes digging into his. "And then I said that I liked men with character."
"That's just as well," Palmer joked, touching a particularly nasty wound on his cheek. Habib must have been wearing a ring. "I have a feeling that I might have added even more character to my looks."
He glanced at Jenn, more comfortable with turning to business mode than talking about himself.
"Has anyone been in touch with you after last night?" he asked. "Jade, Volkov, anyone?"
She shook her head. "Nope. I haven't heard a thing. I was telling Roxie how stupid I felt. When Sandra—"
