LEDGER
Alexi is screaming.
The sound rips through the warehouse, high and raw. He’s seventeen, strapped to a chair in the middle of this hellhole, and Viktor Kozlov stands behind him with a knife.
“Your father thinks he’s untouchable,” Viktor says, pressing the blade to my son’s throat. “Let’s see how untouchable he feels when I send you back in pieces.”
Alexi’s face is swollen, and blood is dripping from cuts on his arms. They’ve had him for three days, and every hour that passed felt like drowning.
I move through Viktor’s men like they’re made of paper. Bullets, fists, breaking bones. I don’t stop until I reach my boy.
Viktor tries to run. He makes it to the door before I put a bullet in his knee.
The screaming starts then. His screaming, not Alexi’s.
I drag Viktor outside while Silas cuts Alexi free. The boy is sobbing, and I need to go to him, but first I need to finish this.
Viktor begs. They always beg.
I shoot him in the head and set his body on fire. Watch it burn until there’s nothing left but ash and bone.
When I get back inside, Alexi throws himself at me, shaking and broken. “Dad. Dad, I knew you’d come.”
“I’ll always come for you,” I tell him.
But even as I hold him, Viktor’s brother Dmitri is watching from the shadows, swearing an oath I don’t hear until it’s too late?—
I wake up gasping.
The sheets are soaked through with sweat. My heart pounds like I’ve been running, and for a moment I’m still in that warehouse, still smelling burning flesh.
Then I remember. Vegas. The wedding. Savannah.
I reach across the bed.
Empty. Cold.
I sit up fast, scanning the suite. The bathroom light is off. No sound from the living room.
“Savannah?”
Silence answers me.
I check every room, already knowing what I’ll find. She’s gone. The only proof she was ever here is the marriage certificate on the nightstand and the wedding ring sitting next to it.
I grab my phone and call Pedro.
“Sir?” he answers immediately. It’s barely 9:00 AM.
“Did you see a woman leave? Dark hair, white dress.”
“Yes, sir. She got into a cab about five minutes ago.”
My grip on the phone tightens. “And you didn’t think to stop her?”
“I—” He hesitates. “I didn’t realize I was supposed to, sir. She seemed in a hurry, and I thought?—”
“You thought wrong.” My voice drops to something cold and precise. “Get every man we have on this. I want her found. Check every hotel, every airport, every cab company. Find out where that driver took her.”
