"But it'll take too long." I hand the tablet back. "He could move her before we get there. He could—" I don't finish the sentence.
Could hurt her. Could kill her. Could do anything.
What the fuck is he even planning? Alexei doesn't want Sera and neither do the feds.
"We need to narrow it down," Luc says. "Think. Where would Gabriel go? What places mean something to him?"
I want to answer. Want to have some insight into Gabriel Romano's pathetic, desperate mind.
But I don't.
I barely know the man. I've spent months hunting him, but I don't understand him. Don't know his habits. His patterns. His safe places.
And I don't know Sera well enough either. Not the Sera who existed before me. The one who had a life in this city. Friends. Routines. Places she felt safe.
"I don't know," I admit. The words taste like failure.
Footsteps behind us. I turn to see Alexei approaching with two of his men.
"Any news?" he asks.
"Nothing useful. Six hundred possible locations. No way to narrow it down."
"I have news about Artem." Alexei's voice is grim. "He's in SoHo. A townhouse near Spring Street. My source confirms he's been there since yesterday."
SoHo. Fuckers.
"Where in SoHo?" I ask slowly.
Alexei checks his phone. "Near West Broadway and Prince. Why?"
"Because that's where Sera lived." The pieces are clicking together. "Before me. She had an apartment above a bookshop. Antiquarian Rare Books. She worked there. Lived there."
Luc's eyes widen. "You think Gabriel took her back there?"
"It's empty. She doesn't have it anymore. But it's familiar to him. He knows the area. Knows the building." I'm already moving toward the elevator. "And he thinks we won't look there. Why would we? It's not connected to me. Not connected to the family."
"A bookshop?" Luc sounds skeptical. "That's where you think he's holding a hostage?"
"It's where I'd go if I were desperate and needed somewhere no one would think to look." I press the elevator button. "Alexei, take your men to the Artem location. If he's there, end him."
"And if your wife is there too?"
"She won't be. Gabriel has her. I'm sure of it." The elevator opens. I step inside. "But if I'm wrong, if Artem does have her, you call me immediately. Understand?"
"Understood." Alexei is already moving, barking orders to his men in Russian.
The elevator starts to descend. Luc is beside me, phone already out.
"I'm sending teams to the bookshop," he says. "We'll have the entire block surrounded in ten minutes."
"No." My voice is sharp. "Just us. Small team. If Gabriel sees a convoy, he'll panic. He'll do something stupid."
"Adrian, if he has mercenaries?—"
"He doesn't. Not anymore. Artem wouldn't stay at the scene. If what Alexei says is true, he wanted to draw that fucker out. He got paid, and now, he can play cat and mouse with his enemy. It's just Gabriel now. Desperate. Cornered. Dangerous." The elevator hits the ground floor. "We go in quiet. We get Sera out. Then we kill him."
Luc doesn't argue. Just nods.
