“She’s an unknown variable. There is nothing about her in our research.” Luke didn’t like unknowns. It could be dangerous for them.
“That’s why I came in to see if I’d overlooked something about her.”
“There isn’t anything,” Luke growled, leaning back in his chair, his hands interlocking behind his head. “I’m liking this mission less and less. Too many unknowns. Jack can’t get close enough to the mansion to get surveillance. That place has high-tech security. Around the clock guards. You’ll be going in blind and without backup.”
“Are you going to pull me?” Greg wasn’t ready to be pulled. Not when he was about to get inside the mansion. He wasn’t worried about backup. With as many guards as Maxim had, he’d be dead before backup could get to him anyway, and he’d never risk his teammates to save his ass.
“I should.” Luke glanced down at the ever-growing stack of paperwork on his desk then back at Greg. “We have another mission we should be planning for. We have a lot to do without adding this mess.” It wasn’t that Luke was insensitive to what had happened to the people found in the desert. They saw all sorts of horrors in their line of work. It was more about trying to justify why they should be stepping in instead of letting local police handle it.
“Normally I would agree, but these people are selling drugs right there in the middle of the club for anyone to see, and no one is stopping them. This needs to get shut down now. Besides, that mission is still a few weeks away.” He had plenty of time to do both.
“I’m worried about safety first and foremost. I can’t guarantee your protection if things go sideways,” Luke reminded him as if trying to get Greg to back down on his own, but it wasn’t happening. He was completing this mission.
Greg threw himself into the seat across from Luke’s desk. “Fuck that, Luke. There’s never a guarantee. We knew that even before we ended up in this job. It’s not like our recruiter ever guaranteed our safety when we signed on the dotted line. Life’s never certain. It’s a risk and one I’m willing to take for this mission.”
“For the mission or for her?” Luke gave him a pointed look. “I saw the footage. You’re attracted to her. You went outside to go after her.”
“To see if she was meeting with someone,” Greg explained, though even he didn’t believe his excuse. “Don’t worry about me; I’m focused on the mission.”
“Women have a way of distracting from the mission.”
“Speaking from experience?” Greg chuckled, referring to Shay.
“I am, so I would know.”
Shay had stumbled into Luke’s life. He’d tried passing her off to the police, but they had been compromised. He’d ended up keeping her with him, and they’d fallen in love. Luke had become more focused on her than shutting down the trafficking, and she’d ended up getting stolen from his house. Now he had twice the security he’d had before so it didn’t happen again. That and a reinforced front door.
Greg was attracted to Zoe, but he had no intention of pursuing anything romantic with her. Luke had nothing to worry about in that department.
“You have nothing to worry about.”
Luke sighed as he sat forward, his hands resting on top of his desk. “My advice then is to keep your head down and get the evidence we need so we can prep more for the next mission. Also, see what you can do about getting another man inside. I’d like to have more than one pair of eyes on that place.” Luke turned back to his paperwork, effectively dismissing him.
Chapter 5
Greg pulled up the long stone-paver driveway to the closed wooden gate. Tall bushes ran along the ten-foot high fence line, not giving a hint of the house that lay behind or any surprises for anyone that succeeded in getting over it.
Two sets of guards stood on either side of the drive with side arms displayed. One guard held the leash to a German shepherd dog. All the guards wore sunglasses and black suits. They were all large in stature. If things ended in a scuffle, Greg would be hard pressed to come out of this alive.
He stopped short of the gate and rolled down the window before placing both hands on the steering wheel so they could see he wasn’t reaching for a weapon.
A guard bent down so his head was even with the window. His hair was slicked back into a ponytail. “Can I help you?” His voice was deep and authoritative.
“Logan Parker to see Mr. Maxim Sokolov.”
The guard stood up and talked into a mic attached to his jacket collar. Then he nodded and took a step back. The gate slid open. “Proceed up to the house. They are waiting for you.”
“Thanks.” Greg eased up the drive, trying not to gawk at the grounds. There were tall trees and lush green grass as far as the eye could see. Guards with more dogs roamed the property.
Greg came around a bend and the trees opened up to reveal the mansion. Manicured bushes were stationed along the drive. A three-tier water fountain was in the middle of the drive. It had three sets of shells with a cherub on top. The base was over four feet wide.
The house itself was two stories tall. It was painted off-white with a tiled roof. A long staircase ran from the front door to the driveway; it was narrow at the top of the stairs and expanded as it reached the drive. The front double doors were open, and a man stood at the top of the stairs waiting for him. Someone he recognized.
Greg parked just past the door entrance and double-timed it up the stairs. “Aleksei,” Greg greeted, shocked the kid was the one who awaited him. Unlike the other guards, Aleksei wore a grey t-shirt and blue jeans with black Chucks.
“Hi, come on in.” He waved him on to follow him.
Greg’s eyes traveled around the room as he stepped over the threshold. A large crystal chandelier hung over the center of the room suspended thirty feet in the air. A grand staircase was to his right that led to the second floor. More pillars ran along the structure from the first and second floor. There were two closed doors to his left then a hallway. Straight ahead was open to sliding glass doors. A dining room and wet bar were to his right on the other side of the stairs.
