Page 86 of Lord of Justice

There's a fist wrapped around my heart and it's tightening. "Footage. Call Kolya, get every fucking person in his department on this." I don't recognize my voice. "Her security- are any of them alive?"

"Melina still has a pulse, the paramedics reported. Av might make it. The rest are gone."

"The SUV's security cameras should have some exterior footage, pull it. How long ago did this happen?" I'm running my hand through my hair, over and over.

"It's unknown," Trofim says heavily. "They were found by a jogger who called 911. That was twenty minutes ago."

Nikandr's looking at his phone. "The alarm went out to all the senior management. Kolya's team located the street cameras around the park. Two SUVs pulled out thirty-five minutes ago. The good news is, the transmitters embedded in their arms are working. They're tracking them now."

"Oh, thank god!" Caroline puts a hand over mouth.

"What have I done?" I whisper it, hoping it won't sound as horrific, spoken out loud. It's worse. "This is my fault. Iris wouldn't have been out there if I hadn't done this to her."

Nikandr kisses Caroline and she cups his face, whispering tenderly. It makes me ache. Will Iris ever look at me the same way again?

"Let's go." He's pulling on my arm. "Come on, brother. Let's go get your wife."

The paralysis disappears as we head toward Morozov Global. That's good. What Iris needs now is analytical and focused. That's what I'll be for her.

"What's the latest?" I put Kolya on Facetime and Nikandr leans in closer.

"We thought we had a lock," he says, rubbing his forehead distractedly. "The trackers' signal paused at one location for fifteen minutes, and then they moved again. Unfortunately, they split up. Rose's tracker is going south on I-95, it's heading through New Jersey. Iris's is on I-80 heading west."

A cold fist grips my heart. "Do you have a fix on the location where their trackers paused for those fifteen minutes?"

He rattles off an address. "It's an area filled with industrial facilities and outlet stores. Very little residential. According to what I found…" He's tapping madly on his keyboard, his face intent. "It's an abandoned strip mall. It was taken over by a real estate development company - Python Investments - two years ago. According to the city permits office, they were going to renovate it into mixed-use housing and retail."

Kolya sends me a screenshot, it's an older development, most of the windows are barred, maybe an attempt to discourage break-ins. I catch something on the corner of the building. "Look at the roof line. Their security cameras seem rather sophisticated for a strip mall under renovation."

His eyebrows rise as he runs through the building plans. "This is too thorough. Some of the office buildings downtown don't have this kind of coverage."

"They don't want visitors," I nod. "We'll need two teams, one following each signal. Kolya, do you have drones that can track them without being detected?"

A good book often leads to another.

Browse a few more stories atLokepub.

I've offended him."Of course,"he huffs before he remembers who he's talking to. "I mean, yes, Sir."

"Prep a chopper big enough to carry twenty men. We'll hit the primary location first. Iris and Rose may not be there, but someone is."

"I'll handle the guards," Nikandr says, looking distinctly relieved to have something productive to do. He pulls out his gun, checking the ammoclip. "I'm going to call in for advanced firepower." He nudges me gently with his shoulder. "We'll get them back."

This insistent touching of his… I try to raise a haughty brow. But I can't. "I'm glad you're here. Thank you."

He smiles. "Always."

Kolya's already on the helipad, waiting for us with an assistant. They're both hunched over their precious laptops, waiting for the guards to load the last of the weaponry

"Let's talk fast before the pilot starts the rotors," Kolya says. He can't look at me. He tries, then his gaze darts away. "Okay, I have two working theories," he says, taking a deep breath. "The first theory is that they've separated the girls, it makes sense, it makes us split forces searching for them. It also makes Rose and Iris even more terrified, not having each other as backup. If these assholes know anything about them, they're aware that it's the worst thing they could do to the twins." He flinches just slightly as I stare at him.

I clear my throat, trying to sound calm. "That makes sense."

"The second theory…" he hesitates. "Is that abductors found and removed the trackers."

My fist clenches, my knuckles bulging and white. "That is a strong possibility." I force myself to answer him over the storm shrieking through my brain. "If they know they're dealing with a Bratva family, they would know a tracker is almost a given."

The image of someone tearing the tiny electronic device out of my wife's arm is making me almost blind with fury.