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“What do we do? How the fuck do we find her and find him?”
“We’re working on it. It might take some time, but he had to have had help in this obviously, and that means someone knows his plan and where he’s headed. We’ll find her. Everyone is going to work on this together,” Viktor told him.
* * * *
Conway, the Chief of Police, kept them abreast of what was going on. Star was grateful that the camaraderie from being soldiers got them a shitload of help tracking the van and trying to find Malayna before Vlladim could hurt her. They were all doing what they could. Everyone was offering help, even retired Special Forces soldiers were on board for whatever was needed. Even Gunny, a Texas Ranger, offered assistance.
He got off the phone with Dylan, one of his men who called him earlier indicating that Cruz and Larc
ovian were helping to sabotage Nicolai’s businesses, and that Cruz was helping Vlladim. It killed him inside to think that Malayna was hurt and that the man who had been abusing her, holding her against her will and made it clear to her that he wanted her for himself, now had her in his possession.
He worried about Krane, who was beating himself over the head about letting her walk down the hallway alone to speak with Ellington, who didn’t even know what was going on until he opened the door and saw that Malayna was gone. A glance up the hallway and there was Krane looking concerned and hurrying toward him. They knew something was wrong. Star heard the gunshot and then people scream.
He ran as did the others and it was too late. Krane was shot and the van was speeding away.
He ran his fingers through his hair and paced the hallway. He needed to be smart here. Nicolai was fuming and trying to deal with things in Chicago and worried about Malayna. He looked up to see Dubkova and Murin there. He had placed them in the front of the venue where they could watch the people come and go and keep an eye on things. He should have had them shadow Malayna. Hell, he should have been by her side, but they were trying to give her space and let her be independent and in control of her new profession. Everyone was talking about her work, both the photography and the paintings. He had to get her back. They were nothing without her.
How could this happen? They let their guards down. Forgot who they were and what type of world they came from. They were bringing her into this world. She accepted that, and they failed in protecting her.
“What do we do next? We have to make every effort to weed these assholes who helped Vlladim out,” Border said to him. Lucca was there, too. Star had been thinking about what needed to be done.
“Vlladim is slick, but he’s also on the run. He had to have had help in taking her, we know that. Now we have to figure out where he’s taking her.”
“Out of the country?” Border asked and looked sick with fear.
“No, too difficult for him to do. He won’t want to risk going far. He’s not stupid. There was never any indication that he was even in Chicago but it’s obvious he was. So he can fly but she won’t go anywhere willingly and with no papers, and now the police putting out her picture and the news she was abducted? No, he has to lay low and if I were him I would remain somewhere in Texas. Even traveling by vehicle would be risky.”
“Gunny has a picture of Malayna and also we gave him a picture of Vlladim to send out to all the police departments. That will make him not want to travel, too,” Lucca said to them.
He looked at Dubkova and Murin. He nodded to them and they both approached.
“We need someone we can trust to handle an important situation in Chicago. I would love to go, but leaving here, not knowing if Malayna is being held somewhere, is not an option. We want you to get back to Chicago. Meet up with Nicolai’s guys and pick up Larcovian and Cruz.” Star pointed at them. “You do whatever is necessary to get information on where Vlladim is taking Malayna. Concrete provable information and you don’t let them get away with less.”
“Once they tell us, what should we do with them?” Murin asked, looking angry and pissed off. Both men adored Malayna. They would do anything for her and probably felt responsible for her abduction, too.
“Let Nicolai decide. Call us as soon as you have something.”
They nodded and then headed out.
* * * *
The van stopped and she knew they finally pulled off on the side of a road. She lifted up and the one guy who’d hit her shoved her down. They waited there for what seemed like a long time. They were getting antsy, especially the driver. “He isn’t coming. That dick bullshitted us and now we’re going to take the fall for an abduction charge. This was supposed to be an easy cash deal,” the driver said.
“It is. He’ll be here any minute,” the other guy stated and she hoped that they were wrong. That the reason the person wasn’t coming was because her men stopped them and were on their way to get her. She thought about Krane and prayed he was alive and well. She wanted to scream at them for shooting him. The one who struck her did it and she wished she could get his gun. She thought about the training her men had given her and how good they thought she was. Turned out she wasn’t so good. She couldn’t even escape being held at gunpoint or fighting off these men. They did shoot Krane and she was scared out of her mind.
“There,” the driver said and the headlights of another car appeared.
“He’s getting out. A big fucking guy, too. This better be worth it,” the driver said.
“Come on, get out with me and we can hand her over together then take the money and get the fuck out of here.” He lifted her up as he slid the door open and then she heard his friend get out of the driver’s side.
The guy paused. He pulled on her ring finger, tearing the heirloom ring from it.
“No. Give that back,” she said to him and he gripped her throat then ripped off the necklace she wore, scratching her skin. She grabbed her throat. “You’ll pay for that,” she told him.
“No, I won’t. This is security in case this operation gets fucked up.” He put the jewelry into his pocket and she wanted to cry, she was so angry. That was her engagement ring, an heirloom. The necklace was the first gift from her men before they even told her they loved her. A tear spilled from her eye.
“Then we can get rid of the van,” he whispered to himself, already planning his next move that would take him out of this situation. He did his job and would get paid for it.
