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ASH
LATER ON SUNDAY - SPIRALLING
After leaving Gracie to read her book, I’d run into Miki on my way to find Romi, and he remarked at my whistling. I hadn’t even realised I’d been doing that.
“You seem happy,” he said.
“Kissing a beautiful woman would do that to you,” I told him. Especially when that woman was Gracie.
I couldn’t help the smile that played on my face as I thought of her while Romi and I drove back into London to meet with Sean and Juana. I was hoping they had some useful information for us so we could get a plan together, finally putting an end to the Malia Boys and Broxy’s threat.
As we approached the rendezvous point, I found that I really wanted to get this whole thing out of the way, not just the meeting but the whole situation. I wanted it to end as quickly as possible so that I could focus my attention on wooing Gracie. I felt bereft of her company already and had only been away from her for about an hour.
I grinned. I couldn’t wait to get back. I felt physically better today. I wasn’t in as much pain with my ribs, and my face wasn’t swollen any more. I was determined to continue exploring the delights Gracie had to offer again tonight.
Of course, I’d need to brief Miki on whatever information we got and probably spend some time discussing a plan of action before I could see her again. I huffed at the thought. The quicker this meeting was over and a plan formed, the better.
We parked and headed to the meeting on foot.
“Hey, Ash. I’m glad you are okay,” Juana said when we arrived.
“Thanks,” I replied before she continued.
“Sorry, it took me so long to get back to you. Siri has been keeping an eye on everybody since those idiots jeopardised his plans by kidnapping you. It took me until now to sneak out,” Juana said.
“No problem. What have you got for us?” I asked.
She bit her lip and glanced at Sean, who I noticed looked uncomfortable. Warning bells went off in my head.
“Some information you’re really not going to like,” she told me, shifting on her feet anxiously.
“Maybe we should get Miki and Marko on the phone first and tell everyone together?” Sean said.
I felt myself wanting to spiral. Shit, I could tell by the look in his eyes this had something to do with the incident. I didn’t know how, but I could tell.
“Just spit it out, no matter what it is,” I said through gritted teeth.
Sean took hold of Juana’s hand in support. Yep, there was definitely something going on there.
She glanced at him, then took a deep breath.
“What happened with Krissa was initially random, as we were all led to believe, but then Siri became involved.”
“What the fuck?!” Romi said, resting a hand on my shoulder in support.
Jesus, I knew it! I couldn’t breathe. I took a few deep breaths to steady myself. I couldn’t let myself spiral.
“What do you know?” I said in a low voice. I was barely in control but forced myself to keep it together. This was important. I needed to know what had happened.
“I better start at the beginning. Yesterday, Siri had a secret meeting; I expected it to be about the attacks on your family, so I followed him. It turned out to be that big-shot criminal lawyer dude, the one who defended Lev Petrov. I heard him tell Siri that Petrov was getting released early after making a deal to rat out somebody he had been sharing a cell with.”
“That fucker!” I shouted.
“Yeah,” she agreed, “Anyway, he said he would be out in a few days and would be getting picked up by some undercover agents from the National Crime Agency to be taken into witness protection. The lawyer dude told Siri to make sure that didn’t happen and to get rid of him instead, as his boss didn’t need him anymore and he was a liability.”
That made me pause.
“Why would he, and whoever his boss is, want his client dead?” I asked.
