Eventually she ran out of words, and when she did, she felt both empty and lighter, as if by talking she had expunged some of the negative emotions. Really great sex could probably have done that too, if they hadn’t been interrupted.
“Thank you for telling me,” Nikolett murmured. “And I’m so sorry for what you suffered.”
Annalise nodded, her throat a little tight.
“I wish I could leave it at that…” Nikolett’s face twisted with regret, but only for a moment. “However, since I now understand the dead body and bomb scene, I need to know more about this serial killer. And,” she looked at Jakob, “why I wasn’t informed of the possibility of there being a killer in my territory.”
Annalise winced. She’d never been in a position to play inter-territory politics, but she knew that what they’d done was a major breach of etiquette, if not officially against any rules.
Wishing she had case files to hand out the way she’d had at the restaurant with the fleet admiral, Annalise started to explain. She carefully omitted where she’d gotten the original list of potential victims, and why she was working on this case when active profiling was no longer what she did.
Given the way Nikolett exchanged the occasional glance with Vadisk, the vagueness and omissions didn’t go unnoticed.
When she was done walking them through the profile, Nikolett stood. “Very well. I have further questions, but rather than ask them now, I’ll save it until the meeting.”
“What meeting?” Walt asked.
“The meeting you’re going to attend in Budapest.” Nikolett looked at each of them in turn. “You’re coming with me, back to Hungary headquarters.”
Jakob kept his arm on the small of Annalise’s back as they entered the modest three-story building. Admiral Varda’s headquarters were tucked away on a side street in the heart of Budapest, in a quaint neighborhood that boasted cafes, bakeries, flower shops, and boutiques.
There was no sign on the building and nothing of interest to draw the attention of passersby.
Nikolett pointed at Vadisk. “Please take them up. I will find Dimitri and have him join us in Nyx’s office.”
Vadisk led the way, gesturing to a set of stairs. “The admiral and vice admiral have offices on the second floor.”
Vadisk had flown the three of them and Nikolett to Budapest in his helicopter. Mercifully, prior to the trip, Nikolett had given them enough time to shower, change into clean clothing, and pack.
Walt carried Annalise’s bag containing her printouts of the case files. Their luggage was apparently on its way to a nearby hotel, where they would be staying while they were guests of the Hungary admiral.
Jakob figured they might be “guests” until the admiral was satisfied. That could take a while if they couldn’t find a way to answer Nikolett’s questions without betraying Eric.
None of them spoke as Vadisk led them up the stairs, then down a wide corridor. They passed several open doors, revealing a couple of conference rooms and what looked like a break room, complete with a refrigerator, microwave, coffeepot, table, and chairs. Vadisk paused outside that room.
“Would you like some coffee or perhaps a bottle of water?” he asked.
“No, thank you,” Annalise said as Jakob and Walt shook their heads.
Vadisk continued down the hall, stopping in front of a closed door. He knocked.
“Belép,” a female voice called out.
They all stepped inside and Jakob took in the slight blonde woman sitting behind the desk. The office was large, with three big windows that let in lots of natural light. In addition to the desk, there was a rectangular table with six leather chairs off to one side and a huge, fully loaded bookshelf against one wall.
The woman rose and regarded them coolly. “Hello, I’m Nyx Kata.” Jakob noticed the long white scar that bisected her cheek from eye to jaw. He’d heard the story about how she’d nearly lost her life at the hands of a brutal killer, Petro’s other pet serial killer, Ciril.
Vadisk introduced each of them in turn. “Vice Admiral, allow me to present Dr. Annalise Fischer, Ritter Jakob Bauer, and Dr. Walt Hayden from America.”
“I’ve had the pleasure of meeting your sister, Sylvia,” Nyx said to Walt. “Her husband Hugo and I are close friends. I’m quite a fan of her poetry.”
Walt grinned. “Sylvia is the best of us and incredibly talented,” he said sincerely, though Jakob found it hard to believe anyone could be better than Walt.
Before they could say more, the door opened and Nikolett entered with two men, the first of whom held his hand out to Annalise.
“I’m happy to make your acquaintance, Dr. Fischer. It is good to see you safe and sound after your ordeal yesterday.”
Jakob recognized the man’s voice from the car phone. “Dimitri. I want to thank you for your help.”
“Dimitri,” Walt said, shaking the man’s hand. “Nice to have a face to go with the voice.”
Annalise looked at Jakob curiously, so he explained. “Dimitri was instrumental in helping us find you.”
She smiled at Dimitri. “Thank you, truly, and please, call me Annalise.”
Dimitri nodded his head.
“And this,” Nyx said, pointing to the other man, “is my husband, Grigoris Violaris.”
Grigoris shook Jakob’s and Walt’s hands.
Jakob cleared his throat and forced himself to say something rather than make do with the silent nod. “It is good to meet you, chorbajis.”
Grigoris smiled. “I’m neither janissary nor chorbajis any longer, but thank you.”
The upheaval in Hungary had affected not only that territory, but others. When Nikolett pulled Nyx in to be vice admiral, Grigoris had come with her, relinquishing his position as leader of the janissaries—the Ottoman territory knights. Security minister Dimitri and his trinity, which included the former leader of the Spartan Guard, Mateo, had moved here from England. Petro had left Hungary in shambles, and Nikolett had pulled in the best to help her revive the territory.
“You need medical attention,” Nyx said, turning to Annalise and Walt. “I’ve had a portable X-ray machine set up in one of the conference rooms down the hall.”
“Thank you,” Walt said. “I’m fairly sure she’s okay, but based on the bruise, there could be a stable closed fracture to the humerus.” He gestured to her arm, which was in a simple sling they’d bought at a pharmacy on the way to the helicopter.
Nyx studied Annalise’s face. “Are you in pain?”
“Oh no,” Annalise interjected. “I’m fine. Walt has given me medicine for the pain and I’m certain nothing is broken.”
Nikolett gestured toward the long table. “Good, because I’d like to begin. However, if you find yourself in pain, we can get you enough drugs to allow you to function.”
Grigoris shook his head and walked up to his wife, placing a hand on her back. Being in the same room as Nyx and Nikolett was giving Jakob the twitchy feeling he got when in the presence of powerful, dangerous people. Vadisk and Dimitri weren’t exactly non-threatening, but they were more of a physical threat.
Now, as in the hotel, Vadisk took his place beside the closed door to Nyx’s office, while the rest of them claimed chairs at the table. Jakob didn’t like having Vadisk doing a job he would prefer to be doing himself, but he had no authority here. Another thing that was making him twitchy.