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The silence stretched to the edges of discomfort before she answered. “Couldn’t sleep.”
Another awkward beat passed. Tai busied himself doctoring his coffee while Graham cleared his throat. “I was thinking we could start the hunt for this Zhezhnov character by...”
Tai tuned out his friend’s words, watching Tenaya closely. Her mouth flattened at the mention of her stalker’s name, but otherwise she seemed determined to shut her father out.
Before Graham could finish outlining his plan, Paige rushed in. She didn’t have to say a word. The shadows in her eyes and the hard set to her pretty mouth said it all.
“What’s up?” Tai asked.
“We’ve got trouble.” She gestured at Tenaya. “My intel sources came through. I got some ping backs on your stalker.”
Tenaya gripped the edge of the table. “Can’t be any worse than what we already know. The man’s a psychotic killer with connections to a Russian gang.”
Paige puffed up her cheeks. “Whelp, it actually is. Worse, I mean. Zhezhnov’s not just attached to the Red Hand. He pretty much is the gang. In SoCal, anyway. He’s basically the head cheese.”
Tenaya shook her head, as if she’d just come up for air. “But he’s in real estate. His sister runs one of his holding companies. I saw the contracts––”
“You’re not wrong,” Paige said. “Real estate’s a side gig.”
“And cover,” Tai added.
Bridger and Fenn drifted in the front door, both slick with sweat from a workout.
“What’s up?” Fenn asked, toweling his face.
Graham wrapped his arms over his chest. “Paige is filling us in on our target. Looks like he’s way more connected than we thought.”
“I just heard back from my contact in the NSA. Zhezhnov is the top Red Hand Commander on the West Coast.”
Graham’s face paled. Tai figured he must look about the same. Seriously way bad news here.
Bridger froze, water bottle halfway to his lips. “So now we’re going up against a small army.”
Graham shot his daughter a look. “Not so small.”
“And certainly not under-funded,” Fenn added. “Or outfitted. Any armament available to the Russian Army, they’ll have. Plus, whatever they can buy from your local neighborhood international arms dealer.”
The more they talked, the more Tenaya seemed to withdraw inside herself. Tai ached to go to her, but she seemed locked in her own world.
Graham gently covered her hand with his own. “It’s okay, sweetheart. We need to know what we’re up against. Don’t stress, though. These guys have been up against worse. I should know. I trained them.”
Tenaya recoiled, slipping her hand out from under her father’s.
Watching their painful interaction, Tai tamped down a flare of anger at her continual coldness. He would never understand how she could reject someone as admirable as Gunny.
She threaded her fingers together, clamping down until her knuckles whitened. “What does this mean going forward?”
“It makes the objective harder.” Tai jumped in.
“Say Zhezhnov’s connection to the Red Hand gave the guy ten superpower points,” Paige explained. “Now we gotta plan that he’s got a hundred.”
A small groan escaped Tenaya’s lips. “So you’re saying I can kiss my old life goodbye.”
Graham clenched his fists, clearly stopping himself from trying to offer more unwanted comfort. “That’s not what we’re saying. But I’m not going to lie. This new intel means that we’ll be facing bigger obstacles.”
“He’s already in hiding,” Paige pointed out. “Finding him’s just going to be…more complicated.”
“And more dangerous,” Tai added, locking gazes with Graham.
