"Working on it. My people are pulling surveillance footage, tracking vehicles."
"Work faster."
"I'm doing what I can, Rodion. These things take—"
"She's pregnant." The words ripped out of me before I could stop them. "Keira is pregnant with my child. So whatever you're doing, do it faster."
Silence on the other end. Then: "Give me fifteen minutes."
I hung up and stared out the window at the city rushing past. We'd crossed into Manhattan, heading north, following the only lead we had—that the van had been seen heading toward the George Washington Bridge.
Out of the city. They were taking her out of the city.
"Rodion." Yegor's voice cut through my spiraling thoughts. "We need a plan."
"The plan is simple. We find them. We kill them. We bring her home."
"And if they're using her as leverage? If they try to negotiate?"
"There is no negotiation." I turned to face him, and I saw something shift in his expression—a flicker of something that might have been fear. "Anyone who touches my wife dies. Anyone who helped them dies. Anyone who even thought about hurting her dies. That's the plan."
He nodded slowly. "Understood."
My phone rang again. Kirill.
"Talk to me."
"We found them. Or rather, we found where they're likely going." I heard him typing rapidly. "The Petrovics own property in Westchester County—an old estate they acquired through a shell company three years ago. It's been mostly abandoned, but satellite shows recent activity. Vehicles, heat signatures, the works."
"Send me the location."
"Already done. It's about forty-five minutes north of the city, near the Hudson. Isolated, heavily wooded. The main house is a manor—old money, built in the twenties. Multiple entry points, but also multiple vantage points for guards."
"How many men?"
"Hard to say. Satellite shows at least ten heat signatures, but there could be more inside. The building's old—stone walls play havoc with thermal imaging."
I pulled up the coordinates on my phone. The estate sat at the end of a long private drive, surrounded by forest onthree sides and the river on the fourth. Defensible. Isolated. The perfect place to hold someone without being disturbed.
"Rodion." Kirill's voice dropped lower. "If they know you're coming, they'll use her as a shield. You need to be smart about this."
"I'm always smart."
"You're never smart when it comes to people you care about. That's why Demyan's always been pakhan, and you've always been the one who runs New York from a distance." A pause. "Don't let your feelings get her killed."
I wanted to argue. Wanted to tell him that my feelings were exactly what would keep her alive—that the depth of what I felt for Keira was what made me dangerous, not weak.
But I didn't have time for arguments. Every minute I spent talking was another minute she was in their hands.
"Just keep tracking them," I said. "Let me know if anything changes."
I hung up and turned to Yegor. "Westchester. An estate near the river. That's where they've taken her."
"How many men do we have?"
"Twelve. Plus, whatever backup I can call in."
"Against at least ten, possibly more, in a fortified position." Yegor's jaw tightened. "Those aren't great odds."
