Page 93 of Marked By the Devil

“I just want to find out if he was the target at that meeting,” Adrik said. “If he was the intended kill.”

I narrowed my eyes. “What, a hit on him and Smithson?” It no longer seemed relevant to say that a hit was placed on Wren, because it was clear it would’ve had to have been a hit on the man who sent her there.

“I would imagine them wanting to cancel each other out,” Alexei said. “Both of them getting in over their heads.”

“Maybe with both of them getting in over their heads with Gregori,” I added.

“Maybe,” Alexei said as we arrived. I drove, but I indicated for Adrik to wait in the backseat. The guard riding shotgun could sit with him while Alexei and I scoped the apartment building.

We headed out and started scanning the area. Rico had asked for Adrik to meet him in the VIP lounge area at the top. At a first glance of it as we strode toward the building, I figured it’d be way too fucking easy to have someone pushed over the edge. If he was worried about a sniper finding him, even in broad daylight, that was a pretty stupid place to choose.

I lowered my gaze to the concrete parking lot where part of the rooftop lounge area would overlook.

Alexei dipped his chin, looking out over the rim of his sunglasses, as if he was thinking the same thing.

“Well, no one’s splattered to death over there now,” I quipped.

“No, not at the moment,” he agreed.

The doorman seemed too scared not to let us in and we headed up to check out that rooftop area. No one was there when the doors slid open. A pool sparkled under the harsh sunlight. Chairs and loungers were vacant. The mellow background noise of music streamed from speakers.

We ambled around the room, finding nothing and no one.

“What the fuck?” I shoved my hands in my pockets.

“Maybe he changed his mind,” Alexei guessed.

I shrugged. We’d come out first to scope out the area for a threat, but Rico should’ve been up here waiting for us, even with his own security.

“What about that?” I pointed at a pot that seemed to have been knocked over. A small bit of dirt streaked out on the stamped, paved surface. The line of it suggested the plant had been hit but someone caught it before it fully smashed down to end up as broken bits of a pot. On the wall near that corner, a smear of red was glistening in the sunlight.

Alexei walked over and inspected it. “Someone was bleeding over here.”

“Rico Johnson?” I wondered aloud.

“Fuck if I know.” He leaned over the railing as I did. No bodies lay out on the pavement. “I doubt the security team would let us check the surveillance up here.”

I nodded. “Probably not. But hey, it’s not our problem. It’s his.”

We agreed that there wasn’t anything else to check out. No one was waiting to ambush us—or Adrik.

We spent a couple more minutes looking at the adjacent buildings, checking for a sniper waiting on another rooftop or behind a window.

“I’m not liking this,” I said

“Me neither. It could be a setup.” Alexei led the way down to the car.

Adrik raised his brows at our summary of what we found. Then he rolled his eyes. “Flaky sonofabitch. Let’s go talk to Kirill then and see what the hell they’ll say about putting a hit on Rico Johnson.”

We weren’t on unfriendly terms with them to the point that they couldn’t manage a civil conversation with us, but when we reached the office building where Kirill Konstantin could be found, his guards acted like we were spawn of the devil.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” one demanded, puffing his chest out and trying to look down his nose at me and Alexei. “Showing up here, unannounced?” He looked at his partner. “You hear about these Volkov motherfuckers coming by?”

The other burly man, shorter and stockier, shook his head and grunted. “No. I don’t know about any visits. Mr. Konstantin isn’t exactly interested in anything you’d have to say.” He leaned over to see past me, and I followed suit to block him from viewing the car Adrik waited in. The windows were tinted, but that didn’t matter.

“Get lost,” the first guard said.

Gladly.