Wrath's Storm: A Masters' Admiralty Novel by Mari Carr (desktop ebook reader .txt) 📕

some time on our hands, so we just thought we’d take on all of Europe’s bad guys,” Walt said cheerfully.

Nikolett snorted out a surprised laugh, covering her mouth with her hand. “You lead a dangerous life, Dr. Fischer.”

“I assure you I don’t mean to,” Annalise said.

“Let us approach this logically.” Nikolett set down her coffee cup with a click. “Walk me through what happened yesterday.”

Annalise opened her mouth, but stopped, suddenly overwhelmed.

Walt, still seated beside her, put his hand on her thigh and squeezed gently. Then he began the story, starting with the fire alarm, and ending with Jakob’s agony and Vadisk’s arrival. By the time he was done, she was ready, backing up to describe what had happened to her once she’d been pulled from the crowd. She hadn’t really spoken about what had happened to her in that caravan. She hadn’t needed to, or wanted to, because the bruises and marks told the story. Yet, once she started talking, and as long as she kept her attention on Nikolett, she was able to disclose everything.

Her calculated and unethical manipulation.

The raw fear and rage she’d had to keep at bay.

The first fruitless escape attempt.

How she’d played along with, and into, his delusions.

How she’d been willingly and intentionally submissive in a bid to buy time.

What it had felt like when she hadn’t been able to pretend, those moments when he’d hurt her.

The fear and horror of the bomb going off, not knowing if they’d survived.

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