“Can you shut your eyes for me?”
She obediently shut her eyes.
“Keep them shut, doll. I’ll be right back.”
I shut the door and turned to face the carnage beside the vehicle. Maksim was kneeling beside one of the bodies. He looked up at me and then shook his head.
Anton, I noticed, had blood running down his arm. “You’ve been hit.”
“Grazed.” He shrugged.
Maksim dispassionately pulled off the perpetrators’ balaclava masks.
The three of us studied the faces of the dead men. They were all Volkov.
Maksim and I exchanged a long look. And then without speaking, he walked with me, away from the group, so we could speak in private.
“This is bad, boss.”
That was an understatement. The retaliation against us wouldn’t be pretty. “I know.”
“Do you think this has to do with how we stole our stolen goods back?”
It was exactly why they had escalated. “Probably.”
“Do you want me to call in a cleanup crew?”
This was that weird gray line where I buried evidence instead of saving it. “Yes, I want this and that abandoned vehicle buried deep.”
He nodded and started barking orders.
Anton was leaning against the car. His arm was wrapped, but the bandage was bright red.
“How’s the arm?”
“Just a scratch.”
“Get the doc to look at that, and then you clock out.”
He looked concerned. “I thought we were supposed to pick up Bandit?”
Damn. I’d forgotten about Mila’s convict dog. I looked back at the vehicle. “She’s not in any shape to go anywhere.”
He looked upset. “I did the best I could.”
I stepped toward Anton and grasped his shoulder. “You saved my wife’s life and you got shot in the process. No one could have done a better job. I’m in your debt.”
He nodded quietly. “Thanks, boss.”
I looked over at Maksim. “Can you call Oleg and ask him to come to the house as soon as possible? Send two additional men over as well.”
I was no longer taking chances with Mila’s safety.
“You got it, boss.”
Mila didn’t saya damn word when I drove her home. She was numb, a bit catatonic, as she stared out the window.
I was driving beside her, and every chance I got, I looked over at her and squeezed her hand.
