We’d touch down in Moscow in less than an hour, the notification given to the airport tower simply another visitorchecking off a bucket list. Whereas the madam had visited the Russian city on several occasions, her recruitment efforts successful, no one would bother checking the manifest for passengers.
No one cared.
That’s the way of the Russian society. The fewer mouths to feed, the better.
Meanwhile, I was bringing precious cargo into my country. I honestly wasn’t certain how I felt about returning. Perhaps bittersweet. My rising from the dead would cause ripples throughout the country and beyond, possibly leading to a tidal wave.
Kirill had kept watch on the happenings after he’d provided a tip to the same reporter who’d been gifted a story on the family years before. I’d used manipulation of the media in my tactics many a time in the past. I’d known how successful my attempt was by the amount of scrambling done by the various crime syndicates.
Including my family.
While I had no intention of causing further harm, in truth, I couldn’t have the luxury of giving a shit.
“The word is out you survived. I don’t know how the reporter did it, but the article hit the international news last night around midnight.” Kirill’s eyes were twinkling.
“Your contacts work fast.”
He chuckled. “I pulled in every favor I had, including about information regarding Rafaela.”
There was a hitch in his voice that caused me to turn my head. “What did you find?”
“She wasn’t lying. Her trust account hasn’t been touched, although it still exists. She has a brother, although Demarco did his best to wipe the kid’s existence off the face of the earth. Dante fled Sicily, few sightings of him until about two years ago. Then he just disappeared.”
“And Rafaela?”
“She fled to France but must have gone into hiding. No credit cards. Her phone disconnected. There was no sign of her until she enrolled in online classes for the second semester. At this point, I don’t know why tracking where she was would matter.”
“She has a phone now.”
“She simply turned it back on. Same number.”
My little healer hadn’t been lying. She’d been hoping I’d return from the dead. “Anything else?”
“One thing. I had her phone tracked. Nothing special. Except for one number that has called once a month and has been for two years. Always under three minutes.”
“So as not to be traced. Where’s the number?”
“Someone tried to scramble the number. They did a good job. Had it not been for a buddy of mine who I owe more than a box of cigars to, I would never have figured it out. Here’s the number and the location.”
As he handed me a slip of paper, I took a deep breath, once again turning my attention toward her. She was awake, her eyelids heavy, but she’d discovered where I’d gone. “Thank you for theinformation. We’re going to make the call in five minutes. I want you to overhear what is said.”
“Yes, sir.”
“When we land, contact Sergei, our attorney. Have him meet me at my father’s house. With the will.”
Kirill whistled. “Will do. This should be an interesting day.”
“Yes, it will be.” And not in a good way. However, I was finished with the lies and uncertainty.
I moved toward the seat across from her, smiling as Golden’s tail thumped immediately. “You couldn’t sleep.”
“Not for long. I kept dreaming about you being in prison.”
“Don’t worry, my sweet. That won’t happen again.”
“I just can’t get over why someone would want that to happen. Granted, my godfather is a vengeful man. He doesn’t need a reason to do what he does.”
“And your father always followed his orders.”
