“He’s a lawyer for the Bratva.Handles their legitimate business dealings.”
He swiped to another photo, then handed the phone back to me.This one showed Victor climbing into an SUV, Covell seeming to scan his surroundings before joining them.
“Do we know who was in the car?”
Blake took his phone from me again, pulling up yet another photo before returning it to me.This one was a darkened image of a man sitting in a black SUV.
“Nikolai Volkov.Obshchak of the Miami Bratva.”
“So Victor gets pulled out of a public event to talk to the Obshchak, then mere hours later, a low-level Bratva soldier attempts to abduct his wife?”
“Looks that way,” Blake confirmed.
This wasn’t exactly earth-shattering.I’d known the Bratva was somehow involved in this after Salvatore confirmed as much.
But one question continued to nag at me.
“Why?”
“I’m still looking into Victor’s connection to the Bratva.If there’s something to find, I’ll find it.He did have his publicist issue a statement late last night.”
“What was that?”
“Something to the effect that he’s stepping back from public appearances to focus on finding his wife.”
“I bet he is.”I snorted a humorless laugh.
“He left his estate on Star Island after midnight in a bit of a hurry,” Blake continued.“I tried tracking his cell, but it looks like he turned it off.I have people checking his houses, his hotels, every property with his name on it.Every place he’s ever visited.He won’t hide forever.”
I’d expected him to disappear, especially after the threats I’d made last night.Maybe I’d acted a bit rash when I threatened him.But I couldn’t help it.Not after confirming he’d put a price on Ariana’s head.Not after learning everything he’d put her through.He needed to know his carefully built house of cards was about to fall.
And I was the one who’d make sure it happened.
“He did make one phone call before going off-grid,” Blake added after a few seconds.
“To whom?”
“Dr.Wilson Schaffer.”
I perked up at the name I knew quite well.The doctor overseeing Ariana’s mother’s care.
I feared Victor might use Ariana’s mother to retaliate against her…or me.So I’d asked Blake to put together a team to pull Daphne out of her care facility and bring her here.Learning Victor had called the doctor after our conversation solidified I’d done the right thing.
“Any idea what they discussed?”
“No, but I can pay him a visit.”
I’d known Blake long enough to know a “visit” wouldn’t entail a cup of tea and cakes.It would end with the doctor bleeding out and begging for his life.
And if he’d done anything to hurt Ariana’s mother, I wanted to be the one to make him bleed.
“Let’s hold off for now.See what we can find out about him.”
“You think there’s something off.Don’t you?”
I released a long exhale.“I don’t know.But I want to be sure.I’m not taking any chances.Not anymore.Not after everything that’s happened with Ariana.Everything I’ve learned.”
I could feel Blake’s careful gaze studying me in the silence before he remarked, “You care about her, don’t you?”
