“Oh, don’t sweat it, I get that sometimes as well. Continue,” Sara says whilst waving her hand.
“My father’s offices in Italy and Switzerland aren’t only offices, he keeps his most prized possessions there.”
“Money? Jewelry? Art?” I ask her. She looks at me with a sinister smile while taking a drag. Fuck, I love her like this.
“Information about his clients, employees, and dirt on everyone. He kept some of the files at home, but the main stuff was there.”
Fucking bingo.
A sharp breath leaves my body, something resembling a laugh, my whole body going tight with electric satisfaction.
Lana isn't stopping sharing valuable information, that’s why nobody dares to interrupt her. “I didn’t tell you all of this before because thinking about him made me physically ill. And I didn’t know if I could trust any of you.”
“You know what?” Adam begins. “I respect that. For all you know, we could have been working for your father.”
“Exactly! But I do trust every single person on this patio, and Hana, of course.” Lana blends in and fits into this team like a glove. She is not only incredibly smart, but they all love her. We all thank her for that vital piece of information, but her expression turns sour.
“What is it?” My hopefulness evaporated the second I looked at Lana. She relaxes her face, trying to appear fearless, but I know her. Lana is fucking afraid.
We all sit back down again, and our ears are perked up. “My father retaliates, as I said, but he won’t come to Sarajevo to kill everybody right here. He is going to operate from one of his offices.”
“Why?” I ask her.
“He lost his turf, Sarajevo. You all have home-ground advantage—contacts, safe houses, allies. He knows he’d walk straight into enemy territory. Look, he already lost the restaurant.” The way she explains it makes it all click into place. Bosnia’s legal and security systems are unpredictable for foreign criminals like him. One wrong move and he risks being detained or monitored.
Italy has easy access to ports and European transport routes, and Switzerland is a financial haven, offering offshore accounts, clean money-laundering routes, and discreet banking. He won’t come to Sarajevo because that’s the one place where he’s not the predator anymore—he’s prey. Lana’s presence here, under my team’s protection, neutralizes his power. He can’t control the environment, can’t pull strings, and can’t strike without exposing himself.
Now we are finally gaining on him.
Time to strike the beast and bring him back home.
“Team, I have a plan. Listen up.” They all do. “Adam and Sara, go to Italy. Josh, Oliver, go to Switzerland. He might be hiding out there, and whoever finds him first, brings him back here.”
“What will you do to him?” Lana asks me.
“I will finish him.” She sighs like she can’t believe what I’m telling her. Where is this hesitation coming from? Lana senses my confusion and gives me a tight smile.
“What is it?” I ask her.
“Nothing. It’s just all so surreal.” Deep down, I know that Lana still loves her father. She is tied to the memories she had with him, to the man she knew. Not the man he has become.
“We’ll get him, don’t worry. I’ll stay here with you.”
“Okay. When will everybody leave?” I look around and not at the four members of my team. They all stand up and grab their coats.
“We’ll leave now. Calabria is a fifteen-hour drive, and the same goes for Saint-Gingolph,” Sara tells her. Before they leave, they linger for a moment to talk to me so that we can iron out the details.
“If it’s not a problem for you all, I’m going to lie down. This has all been very exhausting for me.” My little hummingbird does look worn-out, and I don’t blame her. It doesn’t matter how much our parents hurt us, they remain our parents.
“Don’t worry. We’ll see you two in about three days. Get some rest,” Oliver tells her, and he hugs her. Lana goes upstairs, and I lay out the plan.
Time is of the essence now, we can’t have Leon striking again.
“We don’t know where he is, exactly, that’s why you need to investigate if he’s truly there. Once you establish him, make your move. I don’t give a fuck if it’s messy or silent, I want him here.”
“Copy that, M. Don’t worry, we will catch this bastard,” the team assures me. They are off to do whatever they need to, and I sit back down on a chair inside. I hold my head between my legs because all this quick planning could blow up in our faces. It also makes one demon surge back up in me.
I haven’t been honest with Lana or my team. I have a dark secret I have been holding on to for a couple of years now. I left one murder scene untouched—no cleanup, no call-off sign, nothing. My team knows that I killed a man before the eyes of a puppy, but I lied.
