The Property of a Lady - Elizabeth Adler [24]
“That was extremely careless of the auctioneer,” Cal said quietly.
She shrugged. “His mistake—my lucky break.”
Her heart sank as he stared silently down at his untouched coffee. Oh, God, he wasn’t going to go for it … she had blown it….
“I’m just trying to figure out what else I’d get in return for my information,” he said at last.
Her eyes widened in shock. It wasn’t the first time she had been propositioned, but she hadn’t expected it from a man like Cal.
“Don’t get me wrong,” he said with a smile. “I meant how we might mutually help each other. Careerwise.”
“Anything,” she agreed breathlessly, “anything I can do to help you….”
Cal realized he was being handed a golden opportunity on a plate. Solovsky was interested in Genie, and he needed to know where the Russians were at. She surely knew how to use those beautiful blue eyes, and it wouldn’t be the first time a woman had been used to find out information.
“Okay, Genie Reese,” he said finally. “You tell me who bought the emerald, and I promise you the scoop.”
“How do I know I can trust you?” she asked cautiously.
He held up his hand, “Scout’s honor,” he said with a grin.
“The emerald was bought by a dealer in Düsseldorf. His name is Markheim.”
“Did the ledger say who he was acting for?”
She shook her head. “Just Markheim.”
Cal frowned. It wasn’t the name he needed but it was a lead, and he hoped that was more than the Russian had.
He said, “Okay, Reese, put away your notebook and pen, and you’d better not have a tape recorder either, because what I’m going to tell you is for your ears only—until the White House gives the word.” Her eyes widened in astonishment as he added, “This is a matter of national security. And I’m warning you now that I’m only telling you because I’m going to ask for your help.”
“Of course, anything,” she agreed eagerly.
“After the revolution,” he said, “Russia was broke. The great nations disapproved of the new regime and its actions and refused financial aid. The new Soviet Union had no money to fund agriculture so people were starving, they had no money to finance industry so there were no products to sell. The revolutionaries had confiscated all the bank accounts and property of the noble classes they had just eliminated, and were busy selling off Russia’s priceless heritage of paintings, jewels, and antiquities for a fraction of their real worth. They knew about the Ivanoff billions sitting in the Swiss banks, and they did everything they could to get their hands on them, but of course, without a document signed by an Ivanoff giving them the right, they came up against the brick wall of the Swiss banking system. No Ivanoff signature—no billions.
“The Secret Police, the forerunner of the KGB, were known as the Cheka. They still believed that some members of the Ivanoff family had escaped. Only one body had ever been found, that of Princess Anouska, though eyewitness reports also confirmed the death of Prince Misha. They searched Russia for the missing Ivanoffs, the grandmother, the six-year-old boy and his little sister, and then combed Europe, the U.S., even South America. Though they never found them, the KGB have never closed that file.
“All these years the Ivanoffs have been like a thorn in Russia’s side. The family represented everything they hated, and they couldn’t even get their hands on their money. They think that whoever is now selling the emerald—and we are pretty sure it is the Ivanoff emerald—must be a member of the Ivanoff family. They mean to find that ‘Lady’—the last Ivanoff—and get her signature to the document. And then the money is finally theirs.”
Genie said, awed, “Then it is true. There really are billions of dollars.”
“Billions. But whoever the ‘Lady’ is, she has never tried to claim them because she was too frightened. She still believed the old threats that if the Russians ever traced her, they would kill her. I can only