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I throw her fetch toy across the lawn, then check my phone. Without Casey knowing, her phone is sharing its location with mine. I can see that she’s at a movie theater in the Marina. I get confirmation from my guy, who’s still tailing her.
“Yes,” I reply. I’m actually looking forward to it.
“We’ve hacked into Callaghan’s video calling app. He had calls with Pakistan and North Korea last night. The auction is moving forward. People are interested, but they are also hesitant because they’ve never heard of this Callaghan before.”
“And because of that, they won’t offer top dollar. We could see if he’d be willing to cut a deal with us. I could sell the asset for four or five times what he can get.”
“After we get the girl, no?”
“Of course.”
“I don’t want to give thatsvoloch’one fucking dollar.”
“The money doesn’t bother me. Pay him, don’t pay him. As long as he ends up dead.”
“But not an easy death, yes? We shoot his family while he watches.”
I don’t respond. I’m not one for gratuitous or extraneous deaths. There are members in the triad who are like Andrian, but I prefer not to involve innocents when possible. But a statement needs to be made. You don’t steal my shit and get away with it.
But is Casey an innocent? It doesn’t seem like she’s involved with her dad’s line of work, but I don’t know that for certain. If she’s involved by more than association, then she’s part of the enemy. But if she’s not, how do I feel about killing her?
There are other ways to make Callaghan feel the pain. Killing Casey isn’t the only option. If I want, I can get Andrian to see that. He and I are usually on the same page, even if we don’t start out that way. In our days working the streets of Blagoveshchensk as teenagers, we were always in sync.
We met when I was getting the shit beat out of me by a couple of Russian boys when I refused to hand over the cheap electronics I had brought over from Heihe to sell in Russia. Andrian and his friend, Puskin, intervened. Because I was good at acquiring the goods in Heihe, Andrian proposed a partnership. At one point, Puskin wanted a bigger cut—out of my half. Andrian kicked Puskin out of the partnership, so it became the two of us for a few years.
“We can discuss what’s necessary later,” I tell Andrian as Athena returns with her stick toy and drops it at my feet. I pick it up and throw it again. I’m still surprised that Athena accepted Casey as quickly as she did. Usually, Athena is guarded and skeptical of strangers. And she remains wary of some people, including Andrian, whom I consider my best friend.
After hanging up with Andrian, I call Casey, even though I know she’s in the movie. The call goes straight to voicemail, so her phone must be off. Again, I shake my head. She didn’t follow my instructions about keeping her phone on. There will be a price to pay for that, on top of her punishment for disobeying me about not going anywhere.
I toy with what manner of consequence I could impose. More bastinado. Hours of orgasm denial. A heavy whipping with the single tail.
All of the above.
Athena nudges me. Lost in thought, I didn’t notice she had already brought back her stick for me to throw again. I pick it up and notice it’s time to get her a new fetch toy yet again.
But her ears perk up. She’s heard something. She barks, announcing Andy’s approach.
“Vu will be the third guy if you want him,” Andy tells me, “though his kid’s supposed to visit this week.”
Vu’s divorced, and his young son lives with the mother in Fresno.
“No,” I say. “He should see his kid. Let’s go with Antonne.”
“So it’ll be your two bodyguards, Antonne and Tao, plus Jay.”
Jay is the specialist in kidnapping I brought in. With me as the fourth, Casey should get a decent gangbang.
“Unless you want in on the fun?” I ask.
“I’ll hold the fort for you here, boss, and meet up with you later.”
I nod and toss the stick for Athena while I review what will happen after I kidnap Casey. The plan is to take her to a cabin the triad owns in Nevada County near the quieter side of Lake Tahoe. Once she’s safely in my hands, I’ll inform Callaghan that we have his daughter. Any attempt to unload the asset will mean she dies. We’ll know then how much Liam loves his daughter.
If he doesn’t negotiate, we’ll look to retrieve the laptop in other ways. Andy is feeling out whether or not anyone on Liam’s payroll can be bribed into shedding light on where the laptop might be stashed. It may or may not be in the Callaghan residence at the moment. We also have plans to break into the home of Scott Magee, whom we’ve identified as Callaghan’s right-hand man, and see if the asset is there. Either way, we take Magee and get him to tell us what he knows. Andrian wanted to execute the break-in last night, but I didn’t want to tip our hand to Callaghan until I had Casey.
After I’m done playing with Athena, I head back inside my house. The cat Casey and I discovered on our first “non-date” has been watching us warily from the patio door. She follows Athena.
I check on Casey’s whereabout. Though her phone is off, my guy texts that she left the movie theater. He informs me when she is back home. Shortly thereafter, her phone comes back online. I video call her from my office. When she picks up, I see that she’s in her bedroom.
