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Chapter one
Kai
“It’sbyinvitationonly,”I tell Andrian Plotnikov, who unleashes a string of Russian oaths, all of which I’m familiar with because Andrian curses as often as the sun shines out here in California and because I learned my fair share of Russian growing up in the conurbation of Heihe and Blagoveshchensk.
Sitting at my desk, I watch as my dog, Athena, plays with the stray cat I picked up the other night. I’m amazed at how the two seem to have hit it off almost instantly, not unlike Andrian and I when we first met on the streets of Blagoveshchensk as teens.
“Yebat’ yego v rot! Yebat’ yego v rot!” Andrian repeats. “When is this auction?”
“Could be as early as ten days,” I reply. “Callaghan knows he has to unload the asset fast before we get to him.”
Ten days is not a long time but doable for us to retrieve the laptop containing coding for HITDS, High Impact Tactical Droid System, highly classified artificial intelligence from SVATR, a Silicon Valley tech company that has contracts with the Department of Defense to develop the latest state-of-the-art military equipment.
It was smart of Liam Callaghan, a small time Irish mafia boss, to auction off SVATR’s system to a limited number of people, even if it meant he might not get as much money in the end because, like Andrian said, we’re gunning for him. I was the one who had orchestrated the heist. HITDS is mine to sell, not Callaghan’s.
“We should be certain about the auction date,” Andrian says. “If my contact in Syria hears anything, I will let you know. I leave Moscow in a few days, hope sooner. Then we beat shit out of this Liam Callaghan.”
“We get the laptop back first,” I remind him.
“Da, da.You said you wanted to consider all options. Did you decide? Are we going to kidnap the asshole’s daughter?”
I hesitate. Last night I had thought to scrap my plan to use Casey to force Callaghan to give up the laptop. But that was before I learned this morning that Callaghan might auction the laptop in only a week and a half.
“Why not kidnap whole family?” Andrian asks.
“The son is in Ireland. Too risky in unfamiliar territory,” I answer. “We could take the wife, though I’m not sure how much Callaghan cares about her. My intel shows he’s had a number of women on the side.”
“Too bad. I would love to see his face when we kill his family in front of him. So, we take only the daughter?”
I don’t answer right away. Something about it doesn’t sit right with me, though the daughter is the logical best choice. From what I’ve heard, Liam wants to merge the Callaghans with another mafia family, the Bradys, through marriage. The heir to the latter is a young man named Kenton, who graduated from Notre Dame two years ahead of Casey. Only, Casey isn’t too interested in Kenton.
Because she’s interested in me.
I can see it in her eyes. Same way I see it in other women’s eyes. Even the most artful women can’t hide it.
“The daughter should be relatively easy to kidnap,” I say.Almost too easy.
“Khorosho.Text me when it’s done.”
“I will.”
“But wait until I get back to US before contacting Callaghan. I want to see his face when we threaten to kill his offspring.”
“I’ll wait to initiate negotiations.”
“Spasibo. I have news also. I think our leak, it might be Evgeni.”
I shake my head. “Too bad. I liked Evgeni.”
“Yeah, but he talks too much, you know? Especially with the whores. He was in Boston visiting his brother and went to a brothel run by Callaghan’s cousin.”
“What are you going to do about it?”
“If I had patience, I would try the Chineselingchi,” Andrian says, referring to the death by a thousand cuts dating back to before the Song dynasty.“I like what your triaddid last year to a traitor.”
A close-knit organization built mostly on blood ties, theJing San Triaddoes not take lightly to betrayers, one of whom “disappeared” last year, though photos of his dismembered body parts continue to show up.
“I would like to have such a warning,” Andrian muses aloud, “to anyone who thinks of fucking me.”
