“I can help you.”
“The only thing I want you to do is to promise me you’re going to follow my orders. That’s the only way I can keep you safe.” In taking the time to brush my thumb across her bottom lip, pulling it open slightly, I could see her wrangling with her need to trust me versus the fear that had closed in on panic. “Come on. Try and relax.”
Her look of defiance gave me a feeling of normalcy even though nothing about the situation was anywhere close.
What the hell would I do from here? Take her with me? I closed the door, scanning the area before checking the vehicle to ensure the bastards hadn’t sabotaged the SUV or placed a bomb underneath. Then I moved toward their vehicle. They hadn’t bothered to lock the doors.
Inside was exactly what I’d expected. Whoever they’d been, their training had included how to keep their identification locked down in case they were captured. There was nothing inside toindicate who they were. There were no additional weapons, no extra magazines. Not even a drink in the cup holder.
I found the registration over the driver’s visor. A rental car. Sure, I could have the damn thing traced, but my guess was that a fake identity had been used. What was the point?
As I thought about the options, what few there were, I continued to come back to the same thing. I disabled it the only way I could in case there was another lurking in the forest, slicing two tires.
The time it would take to bring a plane full of the Prince soldiers to the area would heighten the danger. As soon as she was nestled safely inside, I pulled out my phone, dialing my brother.
“Alexander.”
“What the hell is wrong?” he asked with a tone indicating he’d sensed I was in danger.
“Let’s just say I won’t be finishing your mandate of healing in the lovely small town. Someone knew I was here. We have a mole.”
“Fuck. What happened?” There was a knowing hesitation in his voice as if he also had bad news to share. We’d never been able to lie to each other.
“We were jumped by several men. That’s not the half of it. I need to get the hell out of here.”
My brother whistled. “We? You mean the woman you’re fucking?”
“That wasn’t my intention. Things happen. It’s a long, complicated story that has a direct connection, even if she’s not directly involved. It’s been one hell of a day.”
“Gio told me everything about Danny Sebastian. There are one too many odd coincidences.”
“That’s why I think the timing is ripe. My guess is our pilot made a call and Danny was dispatched to handle the job. Only the kid isn’t a real killer and given his sister lives in town, he went against the Pakhan and tried to warn her. He ended up dead because of his family loyalty.”
I’d sensed Fleur trying to escape, preventing me from taking the time to examine his body. Now I regretted not doing so. The method of kill was almost always telling for an assassin. Heart. Head. How many bullets.
“What are you going to do with her now that you’ve claimed her?”
“I don’t know yet.”
I glanced into the passenger window. Who in the hell was she on the phone with? Goddamn it. I’d need to keep a leash on her. And take her phone away.
Alexander chuckled. “I think you already know. She’s coming with you.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. She has a life here. But she’s involved, Alex. I don’t know exactly all the details but she’s in danger.”
“Alright. I’ll contact our other pilot. It might take him some time to get there,” Alexander said.
“I can’t take that time. I have a feeling the three bastards I killed aren’t the only Russians in town. Can you do a deep dive on our pilot? If you piece the timing together, he’s the only person who had direct knowledge of where the fuck I was going quickly enough.”
“You don’t know that, but the few people who learned about your destination will be questioned. That I can assure you.”
Snorting, I headed toward the driver’s side. “I don’t pity what happens when you find the mole. I think the best thing to do at this point is to drive from Vermont back to New Orleans. I’ll take the back roads. I’m going to guess it will take four or five days.”
“That will mean accommodations are needed and there’s a complication in you doing that. One of our hackers managed to catch a brief conversation on the dark web before it was deleted. Then he checked the aftermath, confirming what he found.”
“Which is?”
“Your credit cards, bank card, etc. have been compromised. Now, they’re likely only waiting for notification of where you’ve used them. From everything I’ve learned, this has all the markings of something the Papovek family would do. While they’re flagged, it would be good to buy you some additional time so I don’t want to alert the banks.”
