“I have fourteen guests who have been here for longer than a week,” Greg said, snagging their attention. “Six females. What did you say her name was?”
“Rave.”
“I have one named Gina and another named Rava. A Natasha and a Rebecca. What about Helen or Joy?”
Rave, Rava. Might be her. Could be Natasha, too. “Let’s start with Natasha and Rava. Can you pull up surveillance? I need a visual,” he said to Greg.
After a few moments, Greg said, “Natasha leaves every morning around eight and returns to her room by ten.” He spun the monitor around and Sin ruled her out. She looked nothing like the woman in the video.
“That’s not her. Check Rava.”
Greg reviewed the surveillance. “Most nights, around eleven, she heads to the bar.” Again, he swung the monitor toward them. A buxom blonde sauntered into the bar.
Sin asked Greg to replay it. “That could be her. What do you think, Evangeline?”
“Looks promising. Does she go into the bar alone?” she asked.
After tapping out a few keystrokes, Greg confirmed she drank alone.
“Is anyone registered with her?” Sin asked.
“No.”
“When is she scheduled to check out?” Sin asked.
Greg turned back to the screen. “I don’t see a date. Wait, there’s a note. She’s leaving the day after tomorrow, on the third.”
“That’s her. Evangeline and I will be back tonight. I’m going to need a small salon so we can get her confession on tape. Once that happens, I’ll escort her out.”
“No cops, please,” Greg said.
“Understood.” Sin extended his hand. “Thanks for your help.”
AT TEN FORTY, Sin waited on a sofa in the upscale hotel lobby. From his vantage point, he could see the elevators and the main entrance. At the other end of the building, Evangeline and Sanchez sipped iced teas at a table in the bar. All three were wired and ready. News anchor Alexandra Wilde and her cameraman, Gavin Aviato, waited in a small salon down the hall.
While Sin should have been afraid that Uncle Charlie could strike at any time, he wasn’t. During the day, he faced his demons head on. It was at night that his past got the best of him.
The necessary calls had been made. The only missing player was the woman who’d wreaked havoc with Evangeline’s life.
According to Sanchez, Rava Suknova’s real name was Nadya Osinov. Reliable sources said she’d been sent to the U.S. to gather top-secret intel from Birdie Caraway. Back in September, the FBI had placed her on a watch list, but hadn’t brought her in for questioning.
Eleven o’clock came and went. Eleven fifteen ticked by, but at eleven twenty, the elevator doors opened and Rava sashayed through the lobby. Her bright blonde hair was stacked on her head and her suggestive wiggle caught the eye of everyone she passed. Only Sin was nonplussed.
He followed her into the bar where a smattering of guests chatted quietly in the cozy room. When his gaze locked with Evangeline’s, determination fueled him forward. He would do whatever necessary to put her life back on track.
As Sin eased down on a barstool beside Rava, she glanced over. “Hello, handsome.” Her thick Russian accent caught his ear.
He waited an extra beat before swiveling toward her. “Good evening.”
Sitting tall, she arched her back, and shot him a provocative smile. He wasn’t interested in her tits, but he glanced down in search of the mole Eckert had pointed out. When he spotted it, he smiled. We’re one step closer.
“I’m having night cap.” Rava reached up to re-pin her hair, revealing more of her already visible breasts. He didn’t give her the satisfaction of ogling them. “Join me.”
“I can do that,” he replied.
The bartender delivered her drink and Sin ordered a club soda.
“Nothing stronger for you?” Rava asked.
“No.”
She tossed back the shot glass, then scanned his face. “I’m Rava. What’s your name?”
He leaned close. “I’m the devil.”
She smirked. “Come for my soul?”
“You don’t have one,” he murmured. “I’m here to make you a proposition.”
Her smile dropped and her eyes narrowed. “Get lost. I’m not hooker.”
The bartender delivered his club soda.
“Relax, Rava. Sex with you is the last thing I want.”
She grunted. “What? What is it you want?”
“Your taped confession that you blackmailed Birdie Caraway to obtain government secrets.”
“I don’t know what you talk about.” Though her voice remained steady, he caught the flash of fear in her eyes.
He pulled out his phone, started the sex video and let it run for several seconds before pausing it. “That’s you having sex with him.”
“You are crazy. She has dark hair. I’m light.”
“She has a mole on her breast, right where yours is.”
Rava covered her chest with her hand. “So what if it is me? There’s no crime in having little fun.”
“But it is a crime to blackmail him for classified information.” He drank down half the glass of water. “I’m giving you one chance to agree to a full confession.”
“Why should I?”
“To help yourself.”
“How? He’s in trouble,” Rava said, crossing her legs.
“You confess your sins and I’ll see to it that you’re taken somewhere safe where your comrades can’t get to you. You’ll live a life of leisure. If you don’t, you’ll spend your last hour on this planet with the devil, begging for a second chance you won’t get.” He finished the water. “What’s it gonna be?”
She glanced at her purse, sitting on the bar.
After snatching her bag, Sin pulled out his Glock and pointed it at her gut. “Make a decision. You have three seconds.”
“Is this fucking game to you?”
He growled. “Everything is a game, but this is one you can’t win.”
She glared at him, her beady eyes filled with anger. “I’ll do it.”
“Tell me what you’re going to say.”
“I blackmail him. We need to know which spies your government watch. What secrets get leaked.”
He dropped cash on the bar and rose, but waited for Evangeline and Sanchez before storing his Glock.
“Who are these women?” Rava asked as Sanchez took her by the arm.
“Protection, so I don’t kill you.”
Rava yanked her arm away. “Don’t touch me.”
They entered the small salon where Alexandra and Gavin waited. The room had been lit, the camera was set up in front of one of two chairs.
“Pat her down,” he said to Sanchez. “Check her purse,” he said, tossing it to Evangeline.
Evangeline lifted out a small handgun and handed it to him. “You won’t be needing this,” he said to Rava.
“She’s clean,” Sanchez replied, after checking her for weapons.
When Sin placed handcuffs around her wrist, she tried pulling away. “What the hell are these for?”
He locked them into place and glared at her. “Sit.”