“Do I have a choice?” Pushing back from his desk, he waves his hand at his computer. “Go for it.”
Once I have the drive ready, I touch his arm. “Zion died for this. I need you to promise me you won’t show this to anyone without talking to me first.”
Dax groans. “Jesus, Wren. I know betrayal better than anyone in this office, including you. So get to the point and tell me what’s on the fucking drive.”
Shame heats my cheeks. Dax spent fifteen months in a Taliban prison. Beaten, tortured, and interrogated for information he refused to give up because someone didn’t do their job. “I’m sorry, boss. I…didn’t think.”
“You’re allowed a couple of those. Especially when you’re mourning. But this better be damn good.” He leans back in his chair as I double-click the video, and a blond giant with tattoos covering his forearms sits at a desk with his hands folded in front of him.
“Hello, Zion,” the man says, his Russian accent thick. “You were expecting someone else, I think. I will fix that.” On screen, the man snaps his fingers, and a second man, larger, meaner, drags a woman into the frame. She’s crying, her face bruised and bloodied, her eyes swollen so badly, she can barely see.
“Wren?” Dax asks. “What is this?”
“Just…listen. I’ll explain when it’s over.” I can’t stand seeing it again, but Zion left it for me so I could help. So I could fixhis mistakes, and so I clench my hands into fists and wait for the brute on screen to continue.
“Elena paid dearly for helping you,” the man says, and the woman whimpers as he grabs her chin and squeezes—hard. “Take her away, Misha.”
The other goon drags the woman from the room, and she calls out, “Kolya, please baby. I love you. Do not do this—” A door slams, and the blond behemoth on screen smiles.
“I am going to find you, Zion. I own your pitiful existence. You have one chance. Come back to me. Pledge your loyalty. If you burn your passport in front of me, pass my…initiation test, I might let Elena stay. Otherwise…” The blond Russian shrugs. “Maybe I let her make me some money.”
The video cuts out, and I yank the USB drive from Dax’s computer. There’s so much more I want to show him, but I need assurances. Or…at least…I need him to believe me. I lean forward, my hands braced on his desk. “That was Nikolay—Kolya—Yegorovich. He runs theNevsky Bratva. One of the largest drug cartels in Western Russia. He’s the man who stopped Zion from calling me for almost two years. The woman…her name is Elena. And I think…I think Zion loved her.”
Dax rubs the back of his neck as he sighs. “Wren, I don’t know where the hell you got this, but what do you expect me to do about it? I’m not up to speed on the big cartels in Russia, but if this guy is who you say he is, only the Russian authorities are going to be able to take him down—if they even want to—and there wasn’t anything on that video they could use to do it. Hell, he probably has half of the city officials in his pocket as it is. And you have no proofhe’sthe one who kept Zion away from you for two years. I know Z is—was—your brother. And he was a good kid. But heroin can make devils out of angels.”
I sputter, the words tumbling over one another and catching in my throat as my anxiety edges towards panic. “He was m-more than a g-good kid. Z…he was smart. Too smart for his own good. HeknewKolya might come after him, and he made sure if he died…he wanted me to find this.”
“Explain.”
Forcing myself to calm down, I blow out a breath and start at the beginning. “Z’s favorite book wasHarry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.”
* * *
Forty-five minutes later,I realize how ridiculous my story sounds. To his credit, Dax listened to every word. Or…pretended to. But now, as I beg him for the resources to fulfill Z’s last promise—a week off, Ford, and Trevor, hope withers away. My brother was brilliant. But even after the drugs, after escaping the Russian mafia, after getting clean…he was still so naive. And I’m afraid…I am too.
Dax slides a hip on the edge of his desk and offers me his hands. When our fingers link, he holds on tight as his voice softens. “Wren, I hired you because you’re the best hacker on the east coast. And in three years, you’ve saved more people than I can count. Including almost every member of this team at least once. I know you wanted to save your brother too. And you tried. Over and over again. But he made the choice to shoot up again. You read the police report. No evidence of foul play.”
“But he promised…” I hate the whiny edge to my voice, and as I hear my words, I shake my head. “I know how stupid that sounds. But he never would have broken a promise to me. Not apromise.”
As Dax sighs, I know I’ve lost. And the glimmer of hope that maybe I could do one last thing for my baby brother dies.
“Firefly! Stop. You’re walking too fast!”
The echoes of his voice haunt me. I always stopped. Always waited. Always helped. Always smiled at his silly nickname for me.
Pushing to my feet, I trip on the chair in my haste to reach the door and slam my shoulder into the wood. “Dammit. I…I need to go. I’m sorry, Dax. I…didn’t mean to waste your morning. I’ll let you know when I’m ready to come back to work. A couple days. Maybe three. I…I’m sorry.”
And before I can lose myself to a full-blown panic attack, I run.
4
Ryker
Awoman sprints around the corner and crashes into me before I can get out of the way. Wrapping my arms around her as her legs buckle, I look into a pair of pale green eyes wild with panic. “Whoa. You okay?”
“L-let g-go.”
“Take a deep breath for me, sweetheart.” I don’t know where the term of endearment comes from, but she looks like she needs to hear it. “I won’t hurt you.”
