Sergi turned his head slowly to stare at him.“And just how far do you think I would get with that woman if I did such a thing?She would shut down and refuse to speak to me ever again.Then she would slip from the hotel again and never come back, then we would lose the cooperation we have right now with everyone outside these walls.”Shaking his head he looked at Nikoli and said, “I will not do that again.”
Nikoli finally nodded his head.He didn’t say anything though.
Sergi looked at Felix and said, “Find out who this guy is and find me a photo of him.I need to see his face.”
Felix nodded and turned back to his computer.Just then, Serenity and Nicky joined them.
Serenity handed him some papers.“This is what we found so far.It isn’t much but there isn’t much out there.It’s like he doesn’t want to be seen or identified.He’s just a name with no face.”
Sergi took the papers and looked at her.“And what do you think?”
Serenity paused and studied him before she asked, “You want my opinion?”
Sergi nodded.“Yes, I do.”
Serenity looked at Nicky and at his nod she said, “I think we’re chasing a name, not an actual person.”
Nikoli looked puzzled.“What does that mean?”
“I think...” She took a deep breath and said, “...that we’re chasing a shadow.Yes, there is a man with the name Pablo Sinclair out there somewhere in the world but he’s not here.And he’s not anywhere close to New York City.Whoever is behind this scheme is not Pablo.”
Sergi stared at her then asked, “Then who are we looking for?”
Serenity shrugged.“I’m not sure yet but I won’t stop looking until I find him.”Shaking her head she admitted, “There is just something off about this guy.I can’t say for sure but I don’t think his name is Pablo.And I can’t find anyone with that name in anything I’ve found relating to Artemy or Anton.And what is so damned important about Artemy being free?That’s what doesn’t make sense here.Artemy went to prison for a heinous crime, what else did he have going on in his life back then?And why would anyone need him out of prison at this particular moment in time?”
Sergi nodded.“Great question.I hadn’t looked at it like that.Find out who is hiding behind this wall of secrecy.As this doesn’t bode well for us if we do not.This madman has already tried twice to bring us down, maybe the third time, he’ll get lucky.”
“Net...”Nikoli growled.“The Bratva is smarter than some loser.We will squash him like a bug.”
“Except we need to find him first.”Nicky shook his head.
Sergi nodded at Nicky and Serenity.“Find the man hiding in the shadows under a false name.The one behind the curtain.We can then grind him down into the mud.”
Serenity just stared at him before she breathed deeply then exhaled.“We’re working on it.And I think this has more to do with Artemy, not Anton.That is what my gut is telling me.”
“Then you need to dig into what Artemy has been doing and find out what this is really all about,” Sergi insisted.“If Artemy made yet another deal we need to know all it entails while he’s still in custody.He and Anton aren’t going anywhere.”
Serenity nodded.“It might help though if we knew what we were looking at.”
Sergi thought for a moment then nodded, “ Later today, I can reach out to Pippy again and see if he knows anything.Right now, we need more information.I think we need to shake up Artemy and Anton.Maybe this could do both.”He nodded at Serenity.“Find us something we can use, please.”
Serenity gave him a nod then went back to work.
Sergi searched the security room then spotted her.
Briar was hunched down, sitting in a corner of the room.She wasn’t saying much but she had been watching all of them.
He studied her then he walked over to her corner.He squatted down beside her and asked softly, “Are you alright?”
Briar nodded.
