Lennox studied the Belarusian. “Before tonight, I would have said no way he knows but with the way Bogdan is looking at us right now, I’m not sure what to think.”
By the time Green was done, Vera was sobbing uncontrollably. Roselyn helped get Vera inside and up the stairs while Sofia followed with Katrina and a teary-eyed Beverly. Lennox felt his heart breaking for all of them.
Lennox was terrified too. He was merely doing a better job of hiding it.
He’d been keeping a tight lid on his emotions from the moment Keller had driven away with Talia and Maria but on the inside, his stomach was churning like crazy. If they were right and Keller had taken Maria as some kind of leverage over her father, then Talia was essentially extra baggage. If Lennox was being honest with himself—and he wasn’t in the mood forthat level of honesty—he feared the worst. But he determinedly forced himself to stop thinking along that path.
Talia was okay. She had to be. He refused to imagine any other possibility.
Bogdan and McDaniel continued talking to Green for a little while longer before Bogdan’s cell rang and he stepped aside to answer it. Green said something to McDaniel, who nodded then went into the house and upstairs, probably to check on his wife and daughter. As soon as Bogdan was off the phone, Green left, saying something about being in touch.
The moment Green and the rest of the cops left, Bogdan walked over to Lennox, Colt, and Darwin. “We need to talk,” he said. “Follow me.”
Bogdan led them inside and straight to his office, closing the door before turning to face them.
“How much do you already know?” he asked Lennox without preemption.
Lennox didn’t answer at first, not sure how much he should reveal. But then he remembered how much Bogdan cared for his family and that he’d do anything for them. That much was obvious when they’d escaped Belarus. Keller must know that too. That was why he kidnapped Maria in the first place.
That alone was probably enough reason to be honest with Bogdan about what they knew about Keller. But there was also the fact that Bogdan knew more about Keller and what the hell he was doing in town than Lennox and his fellow SEALs ever would. They’d need his help if they were going to find Talia and Maria.
They needed Bogdan to trust them, so he’d tell them everything. Which meant they’d have to tell him everything too.
“We ran into a group of international terrorists in Brazil a couple weeks ago,” Lennox finally said, watching from the corner of his eye that both Colt and Darwin looked surprisedthat he’d reveal that kind of information. “This group has been hitting targets all over the globe for months and Keller was the one leading them.”
Bogdan nodded, apparently not surprised by the fact that the man he was involved with was an international terrorist. Which suggested he already knew.
“It didn’t take long to figure out that Keller was the man who chased Talia the other night,” Lennox added. “And that he was involved with Anna’s disappearance. We also know that you, Dayton McDaniel, John Fredrickson, and half a dozen other powerful people in San Diego are involved with Keller.”
Bogdan did look shocked now, caught off guard by how much they knew. Lennox wondered what he’d say if he knew a good portion of their intel had come from Maria.
“We’re assuming Keller wants you for your criminal contacts around the world,” Lennox continued. He needed to get Bogdan talking, instead of doing all of it himself. “The same way he probably wants Fredrickson for his shipping fleet and McDaniel for his bio-tech resources. But what we don’t know is what he wants you to bring to the San Diego docks and why it’s so important to him that he’d risk coming onto your property to kidnap Talia and Maria.”
Bogdan’s eyes narrowed, angry Lennox had implied that it was his fault they’d been kidnapped—even if there was a grain of truth to it. He half expected Bogdan to throw them the hell out, but the man’s shoulders only slumped. Sighing, he walked over to his desk and sat down.
“You know much more than I expected,” Bogdan said, his gaze going to each of them. “Is the Navy formally involved in this, or just the three of you?”
Lennox glanced at Colt and Darwin, unsure if he should answer that question—at least truthfully. What if Bogdan wanted to know so he knew how many loose ends to deal with?But at a pair of shrugs and nods from Colt and Darwin, he turned back to Bogdan with a shake of his head.
“No, the Navy doesn’t know anything about this. It’s just us and a few of our Teammates.”
Bogdan nodded and closed his eyes for a long moment as if trying to collect his thoughts and steady his nerves.
“I was first approached by Keller’s people a little over a month ago,” Bogdan finally said after he took a long, deep breath. “It was a very casual meeting, the men stating they had an interest in doing some business with some people I knew in eastern Europe. But I’ve been in the game long enough to recognize when I’m being groomed for something bigger and declined further involvement.”
“I assume they didn’t take no for an answer?” Lennox asked.
“No, they didn’t,” Bogdan said. “A week later, they were back, with Keller this time. In between, I learned that Dayton McDaniel and a few other members of our social circle had also been approached by these people with offers to form a business relationship with a group named Sentinel. Keller was much more forceful in his negotiations than the others had been. He wanted my overseas contacts, and he wanted me to coordinate all operations here in San Diego. He had no problem implying that my refusal would almost certainly have a negative impact on the long-term health of my family and me.”
Even knowing how violent Keller was, Lennox was still shocked the man would so blatantly threaten someone he wanted something from.
“I considered going to the police or the FBI, but a few days after meeting with Keller, I received a visit from Elliot Boyd,” Bogdan continued.
Lennox immediately recognized the name, even if he hadn’t expected to hear it anytime soon. “Boyd? Wasn’t that the nameof the CIA field agent in charge of your relocation here in San Diego? What the hell does he have to do with any of this?”
Bogdan sat back in his chair with a frown. “It turns out the CIA has been aware of Sentinel for some time. And when Keller approached me and the others with his offer to work for them, Boyd was sent to convey the Agency’s desire that I accept that offer. In fact, Boyd made sure to pass along that my family’s continued residence in this countrydependedon my cooperation.”
“Well, that was a crappy thing for them to do,” Darwin muttered. “But so typical for our friends at the CIA.”
