I shake my head.“I’m sure he could, but I’ve asked him before and he hasn’t been helpful.”
“He’s the one involved!”he shouts.
Now this takes me back a bit.Because I’ve known Sean a long time, and though I’ve never liked the man, I’ve never thought he would stoop low enough to work with the Russians.Or get involved in sex trafficking.Though I guess I shouldn’t be surprised; Duhon has always operated further outside the law than the rest of us.
“Is Dom working for Duhon?”I ask, jumping to the first conclusion that comes to mind.
“No,” Mikhail growls.“But Duhon is the one who connected him to our people.”
“Our people?”I ask.
When Mikhail doesn’t answer, I press down on the knife, putting more pressure on his eye, and he screams.
“I thought you said you weren’t involved.”
“I don’t have personal involvement!”he shouts.“But I know the men who do.”
“Well now we’re getting somewhere.My associate mentioned a Russian man staying at Dominick Landry’s house.There for a party.Do you know who that is?”
This time he doesn’t bother to lie.He opens his eyes to look at me, blood from his eyelid running down his face like tears.“Boris Volkov.The best assassin in our group, and the man who speaks for the boss.He’s been staying at Dominick’s house for the last week.Keeping an eye on things.”
“What things?”I ask, worried that I already know the answer.
Because a week is an awfully specific length of time.And it happens to coincide with how long Brooks has been in town flashing that bright red head around and making trouble for her father’s organization.
“Redheaded things,” he mutters.“Things that Dominick lets get away with too much.”
His statement is so close to my thoughts that I almost gouge his eye out in surprise, and he shrieks.I pull back quickly, but slam him against the wall once more.
“What does that mean?”
He grins at me like he’s clocked the panic and desperation in my voice, and knows exactly what it means.“It means that he brought his daughter home to train her in the business.But she’s not to be trusted.And the men who’ve put money into this operation aren’t willing to let her stay alive.”
I don’t wait for anything else.Daniel and I run for the car at the same time, our feet hammering on the wet pavement as the skies open up above us.I don’t know about Daniel, but I’m thinking several things at once.
The Russians are in the house.They know who Brooks is and don’t like her.Dom tried to sell Brooks once, and then did sell her to me, but only for a night.
I gave her back.
And now that looks like the stupidest mistake I’ve ever made.
Because I’ve been worried that her father might kill her or sell her again, but I’ve been barking up the wrong tree.Yes, Dom might be dangerous, but he’s also an arrogant, mostly lazy idiot.
The Russian in his house, on the other hand...
I’ve never met a Russian who didn’t mean business.And if they’ve decided they’re going to take Brooks out...
I just hope she’s smart enough to realize she’s in danger and lay low.At least keep her big mouth shut.
And dear Lucifer, try for one night to not draw any attention to herself.
Brooks
Iget to the top of the main floor and through the door with several thoughts in my mind.
First, I need to figure out what I’m going to do an dhow the fuck to do it.Because this just got a whole lot more complicated than I’d expected.I thought things were bad with hundreds of girls in need of rescuing, and hundreds more across the globe to find.A father to stop and a trafficking ring to undermine.But I didn’t have a fucking clue.Because now I also have a girl being kept on her own in the basement, for a rainy day–whatever that means–and my own brother guarding her like his life depends on it.In a room equipped with cameras, which is going to make it a lot harder to get them both out of there.
And yet I have to.
