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“Okay, while he’s looking at that, let’s discuss who’s going to meet Ayaz Polat and his family.” Kostya looked around the room. “Nolan, you’re going since you’re our medic in case something goes wrong, then I want Landon and me. Jase, Jonas, and Mateo, you’re going back to the meetings. Ryker and Linc, that leaves you two here with Gideon to act on whatever information Jase gives you.”

“How are we going to handle the Polat family?” Landon asked. “Are we picking them up from the airport, or are we waiting for them at their house?”

“I’ve arranged for two more vehicles to be delivered here to the hotel for our use. I’m going to follow them from the airport,” Kostya said, “but Landon, you and Nolan are going to be waiting for them inside their house. That will do two things. It will one, make sure that no Kraken personnel are there, and two, it will allow us to take the father by surprise.”

Nolan and Landon nodded.

“I’ll be coming in right behind them.”

“Got it,” Landon answered.

“Everybody knows how they’re going to handle the Enerji meeting, but we need to bring Dermott into the fold regarding Leila. He’s going to need to call over to the CEO before the meeting so that she doesn’t arrive as a surprise.” Kostya looked over at Gideon. “Where is he?”

“I didn’t invite him to this little soiree.”

Kostya paused. Ryker could see his wheels turning. “I can see why. Now that we have a game plan, wake his ass up and invite him over so we can introduce him to Leila. I want him to call the CEO this morning.”

“Are all of you fresh for your assignments?”

Everybody nodded.

Ryker felt the adrenaline pumping through his veins. He knew that Jase was going to end up with stellar information from Damla Akbas, and he couldn’t wait to go after it. He glanced over at Linc, and he could see he was vibrating with energy too.

“Gideon, give Landon and Nolan the address to Ayaz Polat’s house so they can get started. Ryker and Linc, I want the two of you familiarizing yourself with Mirzabey. My gut is telling me that we’re going to find the Princeton boys near there.”

“Got it.”

Ryker and Linc headed out of the suite just as Dermott was coming in.

“What’s going on?” he asked them.

“Talk to the lieutenant,” Linc said.

“Ryker?” Dermott persisted. “What’s up?”

“Dude, talk to Kostya.”

As soon as Linc and Ryker were out in the hall, they looked at one another. “Dumber than a box of rocks,” Ryker said.

Linc nodded.

12

“You owe me twenty bucks,” Ryker said.

“How in the fuck did you know that was a pistachio tree?” Linc bitched as he squinted at the satellite image again.

“Because I went out and picked pistachios with three of my brothers for a week at a cousin’s farm.”

“I thought all you did was surf.”

“California supplies most of the fruit and nuts for all of America, you dufus. By the way, it wasn’t fun, and my cousin didn’t pay us, which really sucked. She needed help, so we just pitched in. I was an asshole at fifteen, at this age I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”

Linc was looking down at his phone. “Batman has a huge pistachio market. Aw hell, if they’re trying to figure out what farm by the top of crop they’re growing over in Mirzabey, we might be shit out of luck. Here in Batman it looks like wheat, barley, and pistachios.”

“Well, at least we will know if we’re looking for farms with or without trees,” Ryker said.

“There is that.”