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31
Ian
Around the room, there was nothing but the sounds of my men getting ready. Bulletproof vests being put on. Ammo counted out. Guns being loaded. There was a knock on the door, and all heads turned toward it. I held up a hand and reached into the holster at the small of my back. Removing my Glock, I moved slowly towards the front door, peeking into the hole and then flicking open the locks with a deft hand.
Wolf slid inside, shutting the door quickly behind him. “Nathanial Boyko.” Striding across the room to the dining room table loaded down with Archer’s computer shit, he slapped a file down and turned, crossing his arms over his chest. “That’s the man you’re looking for. His ledger is long, and it’s bloody. He’s a hitman. Hired approximately six months ago.”
“He’s playing the long game?” Jensen asked, frowning.
I could understand his confusion. Hitmen didn’t usually take so long to complete their task.
“That’s the thing; no, I don’t think so,” Wolf answered. “After the initial hire, he hasn’t spoken to Perelli.”
“That’s not uncommon,” Archer pointed out. “The more contact they have, the higher their risk of exposure. It would be more unusual for them to keep in regular contact.”
Wolf lifted his head and gave me a look. “I have a feeling your girlfriend has attracted herself a new kind of stalker,” he said slowly. “The boy’s got some interesting experiences in his past. He’s from Chernihiv, Ukraine and from what I could find, he’s got an addictive personality. His drug of choice is women.” He turned and lifted the file’s cover, pulling out several photographs. “These are Boyko’s most recentgirlfriends,” Wolf said, emphasizing the last word with a sneer to make it clear he didn’t consider these women girlfriends at all. No, more than likely they’d been his last victims. I strode across the room, reaching the table at the same time as Jensen and Archer. We peered over the images, seeing a range of young women.
“What do you know,” I said coldly, “he has a type.” Every single fucking woman looked like Mare. The man liked soft looking women, shapely but with an air of innocence. Mare certainly had that—though she was anything but innocent when she was with us. This wasn’t good news … unless it was.
“Wait,” I said, “if Boyko’s obsessed with her—if he’s not playing a hitman’s game, then that means she’s likely alive.”
“The same can’t be said for the waitress,” Archer said, rounding the table as his computer dinged. He glanced over the screen, his eyes crinkling at the corners as he frowned at what he read there. “Her forensic files were inconclusive—they have no fingerprints. No DNA. He’s a professional.”
“How did she die?” Jensen asked.
“Strangulation.”
“Did Diablo get anything else?” I demanded, veering away from that topic. It wouldn’t do to start thinking about all of the ways our girl might die. We weren’t going to let that happen.
“Diablo?” Wolf’s head swiveled. “Who the fuck is that?”
“Hacker friend of Archer’s—he owed Arch a few favors.”
“He sounds like a punk naming himself Diablo,” Wolf muttered.
Across the table, Archer’s lips quirked as he typed. “He didn’t actually give himself that name,” he replied. “He wiped out a Mexican cartel a few years ago with just a few keystrokes—information brokering is the name of his business—and ever since then, well, let’s just say he’s gotten a reputation.”
“A reputation?” Wolf scoffed. “The boy probably does nothing more than sit in his mama’s basement playing games he doesn’t even understand on the dark web. I don’t understand all that hacking shit.”
Archer lifted a brow. “Well, this hacker has a location for us. The media wasn’t allowed to disclose where Charlotte was found, but the police files have to. And…” His eyes went blurry as he gazed at the screen. “Holy shit…”
“What?” I strode around the table, my eyes searching the screen. “What is it?”
“She was found at Brutello’s. She was … it was right after Mare was taken. It was definitely the same guy. Where the fuck would he hold a girl like that for that long? He had her a few days.”
“Well, stalkers are known to keep to areas of familiarity. The body dump at Brutello’s, being a regular at the restaurant when she was working, the library. It’d be somewhere close to where Mare spent most of her time.” Archer listed the information on stalkers quickly, reading it from some article off the screen.
I thought back, frowning as my brain worked overtime, but it wasn’t me who put the pieces together. It was Jensen.
“The house,” he said, catching our attention.
“What do you mean?” I demanded.
“It’s the most central location for Mare. Also, her landlords were supposed to collect rent again a couple of days ago,” he said the words as if just realizing. “They never came, and they’veneverbeen late on collection.”
“They have been rather quiet lately,” Archer said, his brow furrowing. “Maybe they’re out of town?”
“No,” I said, already knowing what had happened. “They’re deep in debt—that’s the whole reason they started renting out their basement. There’s no way they’d have the money to go on a vacation. They have been quiet lately, probably because they're dead.” I looked up and met the gazes of my men. “Finish suiting up, we’re going to get our girl.” Jensen and Archer nodded and immediately jumped into action. I turned to Wolf and leveled him with a serious look. “I need another favor, brother,” I said.
Wolf nodded. “It’ll cost you. As much as I hate to admit it, I might have need for a hacker since I can’t understand that shit.”
I nodded. “I’ll take the cost. I need you to do something for me. We’re going to get our girl, but you … you’re going to get everything ready for her father.”
Wolf grinned, knowing exactly what I meant. He clapped me on the shoulder. “Consider it done.”
