Dominic's voice cuts through on the shared channel. "Boss, we've got the app running. Tracking signal clear on our end."
"How long till water?" I ask, calculating angles and distance in my head.
"Seven minutes at current speed," Dominic replies, weaving through traffic with lethal precision.
Viktor's voice joins in. "We're approaching from the north side. Can cut them off at the marina entrance if you don't reach them first."
The dot slows at the edge of the harbor, pauses momentarily, then continues toward the private docking slips.
"Kirill isn't leaving Providence," I say.
Alexei takes a sharp right, tires screaming as we cut through a side street. The harbor glitters ahead, boats bobbing like toys. Time presses against my skin like a blade.
The camellia tracker continues to blink on the screen, a digital heartbeat that's all I have left of Fee.
"Viktor, Dominic. When we converge, Fee comes first, every time. Get her out, then secure Kirill. I need him alive."
I load a fresh magazine, the metal cool against my fingers. The car swerves around a corner, but my hands remain steady.
The rage inside me wants to say: Destroy him. Tear him apart. Make him scream.
But he doesn't get to die a fast death.
"Immobilize him. Break whatever you need to, but he stays alive. If anyone puts a bullet in his head before I get my hands on him, it better be because he was about to harm Fee."
She told me she loved me, and I'm going to make sure she hears me say it back.
Lorenzo's voice cuts in, sharp with fury. "We're four minutes out. My men are positioned along the eastern perimeter. I have a warehouse ready for these fuckers."
The dot on my phone stops moving right where the marina parking lot meets the concrete dock.
"Cut the lights," I order.
Alexei kills the headlights, and we glide into the far end of the marina lot, engine purring softly. The evening darkness embraces us, a familiar ally under the overcast, moonless sky.
My boots hit the pavement without sound. Tonight, I'll be the ghost that hunts Kirill Belov until his last breath.
I scan the marina. Moonlight catches on water between rows of expensive boats, creating silver pathways through darkness. Perfect hunting ground.
"Split," I mouth to Alexei, pointing left while I take right.
He disappears between vessels, a shadow melting into shadows. I move parallel, using the hulls of luxury yachts as cover.
A flash of movement ahead, two men. One carrying Fee.
My finger caresses the trigger. I navigate closer, keeping low behind a row of sailing vessels. The men pause at a sleek motorboat, its engines already humming.
Fee hangs on his arms, drugged unconscious. Her head lolls against Kirill's shoulder, hair spilling like feathers in the wind.
I press my back against fiberglass, circling to close distance. They're loading her onto the boat now.
A whisper of movement to my right. I pivot, weapon ready, but then a familiar scent hits me. Bergamot and antiseptic.
"Ruslan."
He materializes between two vessels; he's dressed in black tactical gear with a leather medical bag slung across his chest. Two weapons cases are in his hands.
"I found your ghost's boat. Southeast corner." His ice-blue eyes flick to where Kirill is securing Fee. "He's not leaving with her."
