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“Where do you get your hands on one of those?”
“Secret of the trade,” I tell her with a grin. When we stop at a light, I punch Mila Ward’s address into my phone’s GPS. “We’re about 15 minutes away.”
“That guy back there—”
“There were two of them,” I tell her. “The other one is probably still unconscious and locked in a closet on the train.”
“Oh.” She’s studying me closely. “They must’ve been after the Tantium Force.”
“Most likely. I wonder if Mila Ward has any idea what her father invented and that a lot of people are trying to get their hands on it?”
“She’s about to find out,” Lake murmurs.
It doesn’t take long before we arrive at the address Ryan provided for Mila Ward. It’s a small house in the middle of the picturesque country with only a couple of neighbors nearby. Slightly remote, very peaceful and, according to Ryan’s intel, she lives here by herself. As I pull up in front, I get the feeling that Mila Ward keeps to herself and enjoys her solitude. After popping the top and getting out, I extend a hand to Lake and help her climb out. Then we walk up to the door and I knock.
When no one answers, I knock harder. A minute later, when there’s still no answer, a strange feeling fills my gut. A feeling I never ignore. It’s saved my ass more than once when I was on a mission.
“She’s not home,” Lake says.
Hmm.I’m not so sure about that. “Wait here,” I say and step off the small front porch. I circle around the house and peer into the nearest window. The place is trashed. With a curse, I stalk toward the back door, reaching for a set of lockpicking tools in one of my cargo pockets.
I try the handle first and it opens.Shit.Not good. At the sound of someone approaching, I turn to see Lake hustling around the corner.
“I said stay put,” I remind her in a no-nonsense voice.
“I looked in the window. The place is a mess! Like somebody ransacked it!”
“I know.” I pull my Glock from the holster at my back.
“Do you think they’re still here?” she asks, brown eyes going wide.
“Shh,” I hiss. “Stay here while I clear the bottom floor.”
Pistol close to my body, I move inside, staying low, and sweep the entire first floor. The place is a disaster, every drawer open and its contents spilled all over the floor. Furniture upended, pillows and cushions slashed to ribbons, and fragile items smashed to smithereens.
“Dash?”
I glance over my shoulder and see Lake standing just inside the threshold. “What?”
Lake points over her shoulder and I spot a neighbor in the backyard next door. He’s watching us and it’s likely he might be able to provide us with intel.
As though reading my mind, Lake asks, “Should we talk to him? He might know what happened or where Mila is.”
Clever girl.“Good idea,” I say, slipping my Glock back in its holster. We walk back out and flag the neighbor down. When I ask about Mila and if he knows where she might be, he shakes his head, eyes darting around and feet shifting.
“Did you see anyone stop by recently?” Lake asks him. “Anyone who looked suspicious or maybe a visitor you’ve never seen before?”
I bite back a smile as my little preschool teacher takes over the interrogation. It’s damn sexy. And since she’s asking all of the right questions, I let her keep going, occasionally adding one of my own as I take in the body language of the man, hoping it will give us something to latch onto and possibly produce a useful lead.
Lucky for us, Mila’s neighbor is extremely talkative and full of information. We find out that he witnessed a break-in while Mila was out. He also tells us the men had Russian accents. Because he thought they might be Bratva, he was too scared to call the police. A couple of days after that, more men came and took Mila with them.
Once we have all the information we can get, we thank him and head back over to the car.
“Should we search the house and look for clues?” Lake asks.
Damn, she’s adorable.I have a feeling that she watches a lot of crime shows. “I’d say it’s safe to assume they were looking for the Tantium Force or its formulation. So either they found what they wanted or it wasn’t there in the first place. Chances are the Russians have it.”
“Who do you think kidnapped her?”
