“And unless whatever Garin is planning is his final move.” I clench my jaw until it hurts.
Amalie. My son. My unborn child.
Garin has them all.
“Max is delivering them,” Kyle says. “And you don’t need me to tell you that whatever he’s got in mind, it’s bad. Even if he doesn’t plan on hurting them, he might be in the process of shipping them out of the city.”
“Then we have to move—now.”
“Right.”
A beat of silence passes. As much as I hate to admit it, we’re at a standstill.Then one of the analysts perks up.
“Got something. It’s a hit on Max’s phone. It’d been powered down, but he turned it on briefly, then off again. Ping was near the old river warehouses, east end.”
“That is Garin’s territory,” I say.
Kyle nods grimly. “I’ll get a task force ready.”
“No.”
He looks at me sharply. “Roman?—”
“You will move officially. By the book. Do what you need to have Garin and his men in cuffs.”
“And you?” Kyle asks.
“I will move faster.”
He wants to argue. But there’s a greater loyalty for him at play here, and he’s smart enough to know which of us can get to Amalie faster.
“Just bring them back alive. We’ll provide backup as soon as we can.”
“I will.”
CHAPTER 48
AMALIE
“Where are we going, exactly? You said you were taking us to Roman.”
Sasha’s out cold next to me. I’m glad he’s sleeping instead of feeling the fear I am.
Max’s eyes are fixed on the road. “I am, I’m just waiting for the call. Man, he’s going to be happy to see you guys.”
The car hums softly, heat running, windows fogged at the edges. I keep thinking about Andrei, about how mad he must be at himself right now for letting us slip away. I feel guilty for lying to him.
“I’m telling you, Am. You have no idea what you walked into.”
“At the museum?”
“No, with this Barinov guy.” His voice is low, like he’s about to let me in on some dark truth. “You know what he’s about, right? That he’s not some normal billionaire. He’s involved with the freaking mafia.”
“Bratva.”
“Huh?”
“Bratva. It’s Russian.”
