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CHAPTER22
Aleksander
I’m going to break Damien’s fucking nose. I promise him and myself as I get into the back of the car.
Going through the tracker information, I bring up the map. Sergei is in the driver’s seat. “What the fuck is going on?”
Sergei sighs. “Damien killed Congressman Right. He went to that fundraiser at Right’s house last night. Got busy with someone in a room and fell asleep. When he woke up he walked in on Right raping the someone he took to bed. The woman said she was trying to sneak out, Right caught her and tried to stick his three inches in her. Damian admitted he didn’t think, just pulled his gun and shot him. Right, the woman, and Damien were the only ones in the house at least. The woman is already on a plane to her family with fifty grand and no memory of this happening. But we have a problem, there is no degree of separation between Damien, Right, the woman, and cameras. Cameras we can’t get into.”
“Why the hell hasn’t anyone called Valdez to see if his girl can get into the system?” I’m pissed at Damien, even if I would have done the same thing.
“Valdez is the one who created the system. Right was one of his clients. No one wants to contact Valdez in case this makes him an enemy. Damien wants your wife to hack into the system,” Sergei admits.
It’s not just his nose I’m going to break. I wondered why the text said to bring Phoenix. Since the code before that was a shit is fucked warning, there was no way I was going to bring Phoenix. Phoenix is not going to touch any of the shit we do or be touched by it. I didn’t even consider it.
I spot cameras along the front of the property before we even turn down the long drive. Shit, there is a line of cameras along the front of the house and drive.
Four of our men are outside the house, pacing around two of our vehicles. The front door opens before I exit the car. Milos appears stressed. He meets me. “Why didn’t you bring your wife?”
“Because this shit won’t get close to her.” I raise an eyebrow, daring him to argue. I see his chest expand. I shake my head before he can open his mouth. “There is always another way. Pretend she doesn’t exist because as far as Bratva business goes, Phoenix doesn’t.”
His jaw goes tight. “She can do it from the condo. No one has to know it’s her. We contain this to family alone. Whether you like it or not, she is now a part of this family.”
Fucking hell. I consider the negatives of Phoenix hacking from the condo versus the negatives of contacting Valdez.
My phone rings, I almost ignore it but Milos nods at me to check it. I do. “Valdez.”
He swears and nods at me to answer.
“Yes?” I answer.
“Mr. Levin, there is an issue in regards to your wife that you need to be aware of.”
Ice water flows down my spine. “What about my wife?”
“We identified a threat to her. She hacked her way into a ring that grabs women off cruises. Since she did it through the FBI system which is about as secure as a henhouse guarded by a fox, they tracked it back to her. There are people out for her. In the past we’ve been able to stop them before they get to her; this time we’re not able to get past the firewall to find the threat.” He’s apologetic.
“What the fuck do you mean in the past? And what the fuck are you talking about? Someone is on their way for her?” Christ, I can’t fucking breathe. Milos takes the phone from me and hits speaker.
“She’s stumbled into it before. We were able to squash people from getting close to her. Anyone who is really good will set tripwires to alert them someone is in their system. This time we only caught the email to their boss warning she is now a Levin and questioning if they should proceed. Which means he previously received instruction to eliminate her. They locked down their system. Everything is likely offline from here on out. It’s new enough they have her location as your condo in the Hancock. Considering how dirty this bastard has been in the past, we have to go with the assumption someone is on their way.”
Milos grabs my shoulder to steady me. “Valdez, this is Milos. When did you discover the threat? How much time do you think we have?”
“Six hours ago, once we realized we weren’t going to find anything further, I thought it best to let you know. No idea, sir. These men are violent and make their living in Southeast Asia. Them blowing up Chicago and escaping repercussions makes this highly likely. If it were my woman she’d be in a concrete bunker from now until they were dead.”
I don’t give a fuck if it angers Milos. I need this resolved so I can get to my woman. “Thank you for calling. We have an issue. Damien was at Congressman Right’s home last night. He woke up to find the congressman raping a woman. The congressman is dead. We’re cleaning up the situation now. Cleanup means clearing the recordings we see your company has installed and maintained.”
There isn’t a pause before Valdez responds. “We can handle that for you. How early do you need us to back up to?”
Milos relays the time as I fight the urge to take the phone to track Phoenix, even though I know she’s home safe in the condo with David outside the door.
I’m nudged by Milos. He asks me in Russian if I want backup from Valdez to protect Phoenix. I shake my head. Taking the phone from him, I hang up and get into the tracker information. “What the fuck? She’s moving away from the condo.”
“Call David,” Milos orders. “I’ll be right back.”
I call David. No answer. Sonofabitch. I’m at least twenty minutes away with no traffic. Sunday afternoon on a beautiful day in Chicago, the streets are going to be packed. I call my head of security at the building and send him the tracker information for Phoenix. I tell them to get into the tracking information, order him to find Phoenix’s location, and get there now. Hold David, he’s mine to kill.
Milos is back. “Did he answer?”
