Taylor snorted, and Max curled his lips in to keep from smiling.
"You are right, my child." Alexei's face turned steely. "She has been using that research vessel to create a neurotoxin."
"If she's already creating a weapon, why steal the schematics?" Taylor asked.
"She doesn't just want to cause chaos; she wants to start a war between the US and Russia."
Kam fisted his fingers. "We won't let her do that."
Taylor trailed her hand down his arm. He relaxed his grip and allowed her hand to slip into his. "So, she wants the schematics for herself?"
Alexei grunted. "Svetlana said that the Russian government sent people to stop the trade from happening." Taylor winced next to him. He shared that sentiment.
"They wanted the schematics as much as she did," Max spat.
The pieces started clicking in his head. One by one, they lined up, and the picture they painted turned Kam's stomach. "Ian wasn't after land rights, they wanted to be able make their own chips to put in bombs or UAVs or any other weapon of mass destruction."
Alexei nodded.
Kam looked at Taylor. "If there's going to be a war, then someone will have to supply everything needed for the weapons."
CHAPTER 13
"If Dasha has figured out a way to weaponize a neurotoxin, this won't just start a war, it could change the trajectory of history with so many innocents killed in the process." Amelia took a sip of her coffee as if what she said didn't have Taylor wanting to call SAC Hollands and tell him everything. Her freedom wasn't worth the lives of mass amounts of people.
The wind rattled the front windows. Taylor peered outside as dark clouds rolled off the sea, consuming the light. She could not let Dasha get away with this.
"We need to call SAC Hollands." Taylor kept her eyes on the storm. She might not be able to stop the one charging towards them, but she'd do everything she could to stop the one careening towards innocent lives.
Kam rested his hand on her shoulder, but it was Nalani that spoke first. "We'll call him when we have a plan to take down Dasha. Dad, did you record that phone call you had?"
"You know I always record my calls." At Alexei's statement, Taylor turned towards the group.
"Good. It may not stand in court, but it'll be good enough for them to not arrest Taylor." Nalani's words were meant to be a comfort, but Taylor wanted to run out of here and run straight atwhatever Dasha had planned. "What is the one thing that Dasha wants that she doesn't have right now?"
"Ian." Kam made a face as if even considering setting Ian free made him sick. Taylor couldn't agree more. Ian deserved to be behind bars for a long time.
"Hear me out." Nalani held up her hands. "We need to lure Dasha out of wherever she's hiding right now. Kam, do you still remember the coordinates she gave you?"
"Sure, but there is no way we are breaking Ian out of prison." Kam's tone left no room for argument.
"What about Novgorod?" Amelia leaned on the doorframe to the kitchen as if she had no care in the world, but there was a lethality to her. If Taylor didn't know that Amelia was on their side, she'd be concerned.
"What happened in Novgorod?" Nalani asked and Taylor winced. Novgorod was when her whole life changed.
Kam was shaking his head. "It won't work."
"What won't work? Someone fill in the blanks." Nalani crossed her arms and stared at Amelia, then at Kam.
"That's where…" Kam's hand on her arm stopped Taylor.
"I've got this." Kam took a deep breath. "Novgorod is where I lost my life. At least, the life I knew."
Taylor snaked her arm around Kam, careful not to injure him more. She wasn't sure how much of the story he would share, but she knew the mental cost it took to share any of it.
Her touch gave him courage as Kam looked from her to Amelia then settled on Nalani. "My team and I were tasked with transporting a Russian mob defector."
"Gregor," Nalani whispered. Kam nodded.
