Blue took a seat in the chair, which was closest to the fireplace. Niko probably liked feeling the warmth from the fire. Being a Thermal had its perks, but it was impractical to drain the battery for hours at a time when there was a perfectly warm fire nearby.
When Christian walked in, I figured it was safe to start asking questions.
“Who was the dead person in the elevator?” I asked, snuggling against Christian when he sat down to my right.
Gem’s head poked out of her blanket fortress. “Borislav.”
“Holy shit. He was there?”
She brushed a tendril of hair away from her eyes. “Ugh! What a complete nightmare. Claude and I spent hours photographing every crate, box, trunk, and bag. We documented the contents. Not every specific item, but you get the gist. All we had left to check was this stand-alone building in the garage. More like a shed. We open the door, and behold! There’s a Vampire waiting for us in the dark.”
My eyebrows rose. “He was in there the whole time? Did Ronald lie to us?” I looked at Christian, who seemed equally perplexed.
“Ronald didn’t know he was in there,” Claude answered, leaning back on his hands. “Borislav didn’t trust Lenore wasn’t up to something, so he charmed Ronald for the key. He had full access to come and go without anyone’s knowledge. I presume that’s where he decided to stay until he felt comfortable about their arrangement.”
I gave Gem a sideways glance. “I think I can guess what happened with the elevator blowing up.”
Gem smiled blithely.
“We didn’t have time to hunt for impalement wood,” Claude continued. “The scoundrel was close to the lever that shut off the lights. We had to comply.”
“He thoughthewas in charge.” Gem let sparks dance on her fingertips before stuffing her hands beneath the blanket again. “He sent fake messages out on our phones. He planned on calling in his men and moving his things out, but I just knew he wasn’t going to set us free. I did what I had to.”
Claude leaned forward and dusted off his palms. “He destroyed our phones so we couldn’t call for help. Good thing he sent those messages, or we might still be down there.”
“All those photos,” Gem said glumly, resting her head on my shoulder. “We wasted hours of work.” Then she snapped her head up, her eyes bright with excitement. “But I tried on the jewels, and you should have seen all the books! Oh, Viktor. Do you think we could at least keep the books to look at? There was so much history.”
He nodded. “I will let you parse through them, and you can document the contents for each one. I will decide if any should be turned over to the authorities.”
“I take it you found the mother lode,” Wyatt said, waltzing in with a pint of ice cream and a spoon. Some of the ice cream had dripped onto his lucky Pac-Man shirt. He sat on the left armrest of the sofa. “What was down there?”
“Whatwasn’tdown there?” Claude asked rhetorically. “Jewels, paintings, vases, tons of books, swords, gold bars, coins, silver, antique cars, carvings made from jade or ivory—”
“There’s also this beautiful jade dragon,” Gem said glumly, shielding half her face behind the blanket. “It’s so pretty.”
“Of course,” Viktor said. “And it will go with everything else. We received our reward. These items are not ours to keep.”
“What do you plan to do with it all?” Shepherd asked.
“Probably donate it to an auction house,” Wyatt said, rolling his eyes before shoveling vanilla ice cream into his mouth.
“Nyet.”
I thought of the property next door. I hadn’t checked to see if Houdini had other secret rooms, but it was large enough for several trunks and anything of particular value. “I know a place we can securely store a few things.”
Wyatt licked a giant spoonful of vanilla. “And where’s that, Miss Moneybags?”
“I own some property nearby. Unless Viktor has other plans, I’m guessing he might not want to leave everything down there with a hole in the elevator. Anyhow, sorry to interrupt.”
Viktor lifted his glass of vodka. “Your father did good work. We will go tomorrow to clear out body parts and document everything again before sealing it up. It is an isolated location and will work for now. Wyatt will set up security alarms to alert us if anyone is on the premises. When we are ready to move everything to trucks, we will take off the elevator doors. They are damaged and will not operate. Your father assured us the elevator would still work if the doors are removed.” Viktor sipped his drink. “An old friend who was there many years ago when we assassinated most of the oligarchs now works for the higher authority in New York. I will anonymously give him the location.”
“How will he know what it’s in relation to?” Niko asked.
Viktor swirled the remaining drink in his glass. “I will put hand from freezer in box and hire a messenger to anonymously deliver. He will see the tattoo and know. Even though he will not know of my involvement, I trust him. If he suspects, he will still say nothing.”
“How can you be certain?” Niko asked.
“Our group forged an unbreakable alliance and vowed one day to find these men. Since Ronald owns the property, Wyatt is working to erase all history of ownership. Once Christian wipes the human’s memories, he will no longer be a threat. I want everything erased,” he said to Christian. “All memories of his adult life removed. Replace with whatever you think will stick, but I do not want to take any chances. He is a trusted human who has worked with Breed, so it is important that he does not recognize anyone.”
