Their dinner date had been almost a week ago. They’d talked and texted during that time, and she’d told him she was meeting Cynthia for lunch today. She’d also talked about wanting to see her therapist again. He wasn’t sure if she’d made an appointment yet, but he was happy to hear her making positive changes.
Whatever, or whoever had encouraged Steff to take these steps, he was grateful to them. He’d been worried his confession would’ve changed things, even though after he’d told her of his involvement in her rescue, she assured him that she was fine. There had still been the chance that, given time to think things over, she could change her mind about spending time with him.
Steff hadn’t, but it was still always in the back of his mind.
“You okay?”
Jag looked up to find Irish standing by his desk. The former Delta was intense, but also one hell of an operative. He didn’t come out on missions much anymore, but when he did, Jag loved having him have their backs. “Yeah, fine.”
“You sure? You looked like you had the weight of the world on your shoulders. Want to talk about it?”
If anyone knew how bad shit could get, it was Irish. His wife was the daughter of a former Mexican Cartel leader. She hadn’t known about her connection until a couple of years ago, when everything had gone down and Irish had been kidnapped by her uncle in the hope that she would return to the Ramirez family fold.
They’d taken him out, and Isaac, who’d been deep undercover in the cartel, had been badly injured.
It had ended well, but recently the past had come back to hit Isaac hard, and again, he’d almost lost his life. It was lucky that his partner was a doctor, and she’d insisted on being with them when they’d gone to rescue him.
Now, a Russian mobster with major ties to human trafficking was back on their radar. Looking for revenge for believing that they’d fucked up his supply chain. Not once, but twice.
Isaac may have been the target, but that didn’t mean that they were all safe from Viktor Koznovic.
“Fuck.” The expletive exploded out of him. “Why didn’t I see it?”
Irish grabbed a nearby chair and sat so he was eye to eye with Jag. “Didn’t see what?”
“That no one is safe. Not until we can get rid of Viktor Koznovic.”
Irish’s jaw tensed, and Jag knew he was thinking about Cass. “I know. It’s been on my mind since the asshole took Isaac.”
The coffee Jag had consumed curdled in his stomach. “Steff. She’s not safe.”
“What do you mean?”
“If Viktor is pissed about his avenues of taking women being cut off, it’s not good. Didn’t Isaac say that this was the second time his actions had affected Viktor’s business? That was themain reason he took Isaac, to make him pay. The fact that Isaac is still alive would be an open wound for Viktor. He could decide to make his point a different way. Would he decide to go after the people we rescued from the tipoff we got from Isaac while he was with the cartel? The group that included Steff and Cynthia?”
Saying the words out loud didn’t make Jag feel any better about the road his thoughts were going down.
“It’s possible, but it would mean that everyone who’d been taken had been a premeditated target, and I don’t think he works that way. Most assholes like him choose people they know no one will go looking for. Like runaways. Homeless people.”
Irish was right, they were generally the victims most traffickers wanted, because, as he said, they were easy to get. “But Steff and Cynthia weren’t like every other person they took,” Jag argued. “They were aimed at specifically. To send a message to the paper Teresa worked at to stop her from delving further into Gomez’s businesses.”
“Maybe, but I doubt Viktor would give a fuck about getting revenge for a dead man. He wouldn’t know that Gomez specifically asked for Steff and Cynthia to be taken. Don’t forget, Gomez also arranged for two other colleagues of Teresa’s to get hurt too.”
Was Irish brushing his concerns off?
Jag didn’t think so, but it felt a little like he was.
“So, you’re saying I’m making a situation worse than it needs to be?” Jag attempted to keep his anger under control, but he was having a hard time.
“No, not at all. What I was trying to do, and not succeeding, was to say that Steff and Cynthia wouldn’t be on Viktor’s radar. All he and Gomez had was an agreement that Gomez would provide Viktor with some–I hate to use this word–stock and would get paid handsomely for them from the Russian. At the end of the day, they’re not people to Viktor, but a product.”
When Irish explained it that way, Jag had to concede he made good points. “I suppose you’re right.”
“We can still go to Ox with your thoughts. I know Cass says that Viktor has gone underground since he took Isaac. She’s been keeping an eye on the dark web for any chatter. The threat will always be there from Viktor, but if he did his homework, he’d know our connection to the FBI, and he wouldn’t want to bring the Feds sniffing at his door.”
“Isaac will never be able to relax.” Jag felt for the man. He was starting a new life with the woman he loved, but there would always be a dark cloud hanging over his head.
“Maybe not, but Cass made sure he always has a tracker on him and so does Marie. It’s not ideal, but both of them are determined not to let Viktor ruin their lives.”
