The heat of the morning, the heaviness in the air, gives way to rain in the early afternoon. It is, after all, just the end of the monsoon season in Goa.
Jude is pensive. After a burst of excited chatter, he grows silent, stares at his empty plate. Kala stands across from him on the kitchen island, watches his expressive face carefully. She leans on the wood top with hands folded to keep them from tapping. He's spent the morning answering her questions, responding to Wolfgang's comments.
They answer his own as best they can, especially after Jude meets two members of his cluster during their discussion: a refugee in Turkey - his visitor of the morning - and a police inspector in England.
The visit from the refugee jars him: She is his first connection, and he describes her to his guests even as the woman asks him who he's speaking to. His tell-tale stillness reveals that he is momentarily transported to wherever she is, but he returns quickly, still speaking to the woman, unaware he does so in Arabic.
He doesn't expect the rush of her emotions: confusion, fear, wariness. He also feels her hunger, so he invites her to eat. She tastes the salmon with deliberate bites, smiles at the sweetness of the fresh watermelon juice.
Their connection is abruptly broken when someone speaks to the woman.
In contrast, the visit from the inspector, which happens nearly an hour later, is quick, abrupt, as if there was some discussion over the morning coffee about India, Goa specifically, that draws Jude to their station. The inspector looks at Jude in surprise, finishes his comment, and their connection is broken. There is a residual feeling of alarm from the Englishman.
After a morning spent confronted by the reality of a new life, encountering strangers that will be an integral part of it, Jude is drained; his mind suddenly struck by everything he's been told, everything he's seen.
He shakes his head: "I need to think," he says quietly. "I'll be back."
Kala watches him in concern. "Where are you going?" she asks, trying not to sound worried, aware she is being intrusive.
Jude smiles brightly at her as he gets up from the stool he'd been sitting on. He leans forward to meet her gaze, although his face is so close that she moves back a little. She's pretty sure they can both feel Wolfgang's displeasure. Jude murmurs simply: "The beach."
Kala says nothing, although her brows arch in surprise. The rain is coming down vigorously, rattling the windows.
Jude throws Wolfgang an enigmatic look as he leaves the kitchen, the front door closing firmly behind him.
Kala's brows furrow. She wonders if she should follow him; whether she could have done more to assure Jude. But the one thing that might - telling him that Riley is a sensate - is not information Kala can disclose. She bites her lower lip, finally moves back against the kitchen counter to stand next to Wolfgang.
"Give him time," he says roughly. And she lifts a brow, eyeing him suspiciously because she knows Wolfgang is jealous: It is her hands that physically touch Jude's face, her body that leaned in for an embrace last night. That she was driven by Riley's reaction to Jude is a distinction he doesn't bother with. Kala purses her lips, disturbed, but is reminded of something else more important about this morning. She turns to face Wolfgang fully.
"Why did Yeruslan call earlier?" she asks. "Is everything alright back home? Did BPO return?"
Wolfgang lets out a short breath, a different kind of tension knots around him as he nods.
"They did, but your family is fine." He gives a faint smile. "Your father called the police; Felix caught Matheson's men in your room." The Tatar had given a colorful description of Felix in action, surprising the men as they came creeping into the upstairs bedroom. The image of Felix brandishing his wolf's head cane like a club, smashing the heavy handle straight into one man's head while connecting with his fist to another, calls to mind the days when Wolfgang and Felix were boys: For Wolfgang, fighting was always about survival, brutal and messy. But for Felix, fighting involved a flare for the dramatic: soliloquies uttered from the Conan movie.
There'd been no need to use guns: It had all happened very quickly, while everyone else was tending to a breakfast crowd, just as Felix had thought. When the police arrive, Sanyam identifies the men and reports who they came with the previous night, guaranteeing that Matheson will spend at least part of the day answering questions from a senior inspector.
Kala gives a sigh of relief, but doesn't miss Wolfgang's pause. "What else did Yeruslan say?" she asks.
He clenches his jaw in the way he has before delivering uncertain news. Kala's hand reaches to sooth it almost instinctively.
"I may have to do another job," he says. He pauses, amends his statement: "I will do another job."
Her hand stills. "Another safe?" she asks.
Wolfgang shrugs, but his body language is wary. "Maybe more," he admits.
"More?" she repeats blankly. "I'm not sure what that means."
He shakes his head, but Kala's eyes grow wide with blooming suspicion. He's quick to reassure her: "No. Not to hurt anyone. I'm not sure they trust me enough to ask." His mouth twists a little in a humorless smile. The Tatar had been blunt, letting him know that Viktor and his people had been tempted, knowing the spectacular results of Wolfgang's last, personal hit, but deemed him too sloppy and unreliable: He's more valuable as a boxman.
"Then what kind of job?" Kala presses. She doesn't say so, but they both know that for Bratva, he's good for only two things: Cracking the uncrackable and fighting.
Wolfgang gives a quick exhale. "Viktor and his father have talked to their client, and they've proposed to act first, and quickly, to benefit him and stop BPO, maybe permanently, although there are no guarantees."
"And how do they intend to do that?"
"By exposing BPO's connection to Bratva." Wolfgang fixes her with a wry smile: "Showing its government backers that what they pay for also support notorious Russian mobsters. BPO won't survive the scrutiny."
Nomi and Amanita had long ago confirmed that BPO was funded by several governments because of its purportedly beneficial research and contribution to the human genome project. Whether the governments know the extent of BPO's experimentation is a point of debate among the Cluster: Will had wanted to expose BPO through some vaguely-conceived (and naive, scoffed Nomi) charges and complaints filed with American federal agencies and maybe leak the info to newspapers. They know Will is working through contacts to tie Whispers and BPO to Angela's disappearance; Riley had mentioned some progress the other day.
But Viktor's plan... It's irrelevant whether each government is fully aware of BPO's methods or intentions: No government wants to look like they're being used and manipulated by a notorious criminal organization with rumored ties to a single, superpower government.
BPO's funding would be summarily shut down.
Kala's breath quickens. I will do another job. "What do they want you to do?" she asks softly.
"Get more papers," Wolfgang says. "Actually, grab materials that implicate BPO's involvement with vor, pushing DMT; 'insurance' someone had saved. Just in case."
"And where are these?" Kala asks.
"St. Petersburg." Wolfgang gives her a wry smile. "They're finalizing plans, coordinating with the client." He shrugs, but there's tension coursing through him. "This," he says somberly, smiling a little thinking of Steiner's words, "would be 'epic'. The client would have political opponents removed in the fall-out, and Viktor and his father would have much to gain in taking over. And on top of that, we get rid of BPO."
"Fucking brilliant." Nomi gives an approving nod from the seat Jude had vacated. "Cutting off the money will buy us time to get our shit together, if BPO survives."
"Will it stop Whispers?" Kala looks over at Nomi. "What if he just takes his research and goes elsewhere?"
"He won't." Wolfgang fixes Kala with a steady look that makes her feel a little ill. "He won't live to do so."
"And what if BPO survives the scrutiny?" Sun sits calmly on the stool beside Nomi. In the women's prison, she is in solitary again; they all notice her hands, folded together, knuckles raw. Sun looks at Wolfgang: "You should probably suggest your people find Brouchard. He has connections within BPO; that's evident in his ability to collect their information. And he is directly tied to the flow of money and drugs with the Bogdanows, and the Bogdanows are linked to other vor. Brouchard can link them all to BPO." She looks over at Kala. "I feel certain that some of those papers left behind in Amsterdam will show more evidence. It's a shame we didn't think to take pictures of those, as well."
A collective approval ripples through the rest of the Cluster; they can feel it in the other 3 that aren't present. But Kala looks at Sun and understands something else. "What do you think will happen to the companies that collaborate with Brouchard? To Rajan's company?" she asks her.
Sun looks at her steadily, tilts her head and shrugs. "It's difficult to say," she says. "But if it provided drugs to Bratva, even if it is to counteract the DMT, I'm not sure the company can survive the scandal."
Kala gives a faint huff of protest. "But it's a small division only. And they've not been around long enough to have discovered anything, let alone made any profit."
Sun's mouth twists in a mocking smile. "Haven't they?" she asks. And Kala remembers the "By Product" list and the ports of call and the cryptic reference to Mumbai and financial statements with coded entries that they don't fully understand. Does she truly know?
Kala's thoughts turn to her officemates, the people employed by Rasal Pharmaceuticals, to the Rasals themselves. To Rajan.
She knows and understands that it can't matter: BPO must be stopped, not just for her Cluster, but for all the others who will be hunted - born or unborn. But she can't help feeling guilt.
"How do they intend to expose BPO, once the documents or spreadsheets or whatever you are being asked to retrieve, come into the client's hands?" Kala pushes aside her feelings and concentrates on Wolfgang's answers.
"I may have mentioned the client is with Foreign Intelligence?" Wolfgang smirks. "His people are everywhere. They'll report the discovery that BPO is working with Bratva as an intelligence leak. They'll have that proof in hand. Once I get it to them."
"Why you?" Kala asks. "Viktor has others."
"Yes." Wolfgang's smirk slips a little. "But where I'll be sent, his men are known. I'm not."
"So you can be disavowed if you're caught." Sun's expression loses its stoicism. Kala looks quickly at Wolfgang. The thought had not occurred to her.
"If you're killed-"
"Viktor will bring you all together under his protection so the loss isn't unbearable. Just like the client." He smiles a little at Kala. "You'll survive. I know you will come up with something to help, Schatz."
There's a ringing in Kala's ear, a rush of blood as she hears what Wolfgang is saying but her mind can't seem to grasp his words. "Why won't Brouchard be enough?" she asks. "Sun is right. He can link everything together. You don't need to retrieve more proof."
"He can link BPO to Sergei, but he won't be enough." Wolfgang smiles at her softly, knowing she won't like his answer. "I would be sent to the home of a prominent vor who is connected to the client's opponent. Whatever I'm getting is enough to bring them both down along with BPO."
She's already shaking her head, a sick sense of deja vu crowding out all other thoughts and emotions. Nomi and Sun look just as horrified as she feels.
"If you don't do this they'll just find someone else, right?" Nomi asks. "It's not as if you're the only one capable of breaking in and taking what's needed."
"True." Wolfgang had argued the point to Yeruslan as well. "But it would take them time to find someone who can do this that they can trust that's also unknown to other vor. They can only try this once. If it fails, they won't have another opportunity. There will be too much suspicion on them."
"You can't go." Kala shakes her head vigorously, her tone emphatic. "We can do this without them. We can take Brouchard's information."
But she can already feel he's made up his mind.
"Wolfgang." Kala doesn't know when she started crying, when her vision grew blurry from tears. But she's gathered in his arms, sobbing into his shoulder before she even forms another thought. He's chuckling a little as he rubs her back. "Schatz, I'm not dead yet."
But it doesn't matter. She feels a superstitious dread settle in her soul. And she thinks if he goes, he's not coming back.
A/N: I can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel! Thank you for reading, and as always, reviews are much MUCH appreciated!
