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Turning in his chair, he gave Ivan a black look. “Did he turn traitor on my son? Did he tell these Army Special Forces men where my son was at? Or did he kill Vlad himself?”
Shrugging, Ivan said gently, “I do not know, my friend. But I believe once we kidnap the woman, she will know. You will break her. She will talk.”
His fingers curved into a fist and Yerik’s eyes turned angry as he studied the photo. “Get Kazak’s file. I want to know where the bastard’s family is at in Ukraine. Run this down now, Ivan.”
“I already have,” Ivan responded quietly. He tapped another file and a document opened on screen. “Kazak has a sister named Kira. I sent your men in Moscow to Ukraine, to hunt her down. Their parents and their close relatives are dead. So are their uncles and aunts. Both sets of grandparents are dead. They all died during a Chechen rebel attack on their family farm years earlier. The only reason Kazak and his sister lived was that they were elsewhere when the attack happened…”
Rubbing his narrow chin, Yerik studied the document. “But they didn’t find this Kira? She just disappeared, too?”
“Yes.” Ivan placed his hand on Yerik’s tense shoulder. “I have men looking deeper into Russian military records on Kazak. We’re not done with this, we’ve just begun our search. Kira Kazak is nowhere to be found. We have NO idea where she is at.”
“But Kazak is with Sinclair!” Yerik yelled, slamming his fist on the desk. Breathing hard, he glared up at Ivan. “This makes NO sense unless Kazak was working WITH Sinclair! Why else would a drug running ex-Spetsnaz soldier be with an American ex-SEAL? You tell me, Ivan.”
Wringing his hands, Ivan murmured, “It does not look good. I agree with you.” Sweat popped out on his brow as Yerik’s breathing became uneven, his eyes black with rage as he stared across the room at his son’s picture.
“Sky Lambert is the key,” Yerik ground out, his nostrils flaring. “She will know. She is the easiest of all of them to capture.”
A little relief fled through Ivan. “That is true. I would not want to tangle with Kazak under these current circumstances. He is a traitor as far as everyone is concerned. I don’t believe he’s on our side any longer.”
“Sinclair would know who killed Vlad.”
“More than likely, yes. But he’s as dangerous, if not more so, than Kazak. Remember, Yerik, we want this extraction done as quietly as possible. Our motto is raise no ripples on the surface of our lake. We leave no footprints for this government to follow us.”
“Yes, yes, I know.” Yerik drummed his fingers impatiently on his desk, staring at his son. Vlad was incredibly proud and virile. He could see his mother in his face. He was glad Darya’s influence was there because Vlad had drawn women like bees to honey. They all had wanted his attention, wanted to marry him. Yerik’s heart twisted with grief. But his son had fallen helplessly in love with Sky. He’d become smitten with her from the moment she’d been taken into the Zimmerman household. And he never stopped loving her, wanting her as his wife, wanting her to be the mother of his many children. He’d turned the world upside down trying to find her.
“Our team is following them at a safe distance,” Ivan soothed him. “They know the players, now. We know their hangouts. All we need is one break, just one, and we can extract her.”
Nodding, Yerik muttered, “The sooner, the better. I want to know if that bastard Kazak is a turn coat. If he is…”
“Yerik, my friend, focus on the woman. She is the key. She will have all the answers you seek.”
Wiping his brow, Yerik growled, “This makes it imperative to break her quickly so she will give me the truth on who killed my son.” He turned slowly in his chair, glaring up at Ivan. “And if it turns out to be that bastard Kazak did it, I will have him caught and his skin stripped off his body an inch at a time. He will die a death even the Devil fears.”
CHAPTER 7
June 14
Sky sat withAbby and Lauren when the men came trooping back with a huge ice chest carried between them. It was five p.m. and the quiet of the condo suddenly amped up with booming male voices, laughter, and joking. It reminded Sky of warriors returning from a successful hunt.
Lauren was in one corner of the couch with her wineglass, Sky was tucked into the other corner of the couch, and Abby sat in a chair across from them. They all smiled at one another as the men came in like an assault wave. They were in swimsuits, naked from the waist up, and barefoot. Sky smiled when Cal entered first, opening the door wide for Alex and Joe, who were proudly carrying their booty in the ice chest. Every man had a cocky grin on his face.
“Obviously they were successful,” Lauren drawled, eyeing the triumphant grins on their collective faces. She avoided the hello smile Alex gave her.
Sky lifted her hand in greeting to Cal as he walked toward the kitchen.
“Hey,” Cal told them, “we got plenty of abalone for everyone.”
Sky saw the pride in his eyes. He looked gorgeous to her, his chest broad, shoulders thrown back with such natural pride, that wicked grin tugging at his mouth. “That’s good to hear. We won’t starve now,” Sky teased. Her heart swelled with love as he winked at her and took off for the kitchen.
Once the former SEALs were in the condo, Lauren unwound from her position on the couch and shut the door behind them. She saw them put the ice chest on the counter next to the sinks. Turning, she said, “I think those New York steaks are going to look really good to us…”
Abby grinned, her feet stretched out on the wooden coffee table. “I’ll try the abalone,” she said. “But if I don’t like it, I’m heading straight for your steaks, Lauren.”
“Hey,” Alex called, coming over and standing near the couch. “I caught these rock sea bass in case you ladies do not like abalone steaks.”
Sky saw he had three huge fish laying in some freezer paper between his hands. “What are those, Alex?” She saw the Ukrainian give her a boyish smile, excitement in his eyes.
He crouched down in front of her and canted the paper with the fish on them. “Well,” he told Sky, astutely making an effort not to connect with Lauren’s gaze, “I was worried that some of you may not have eaten abalone before. I asked Cal if he minded if I went spear fishing in the kelp beds for some fish in case any of you preferred these instead.”
