by Lori Ryan
He didn’t want to think about it. Diya wanted Logan to pay. He was sure she wouldn’t simply walk away from this if Sam didn’t play her game.
Chad entered the office, with Jennie behind him.
“One of my contacts just called,” Chad said. “They found her car.”
Logan was on his feet in a heartbeat. Billy stood and came to his side.
“It’s parked a few blocks from here, but there’s nothing but closed businesses where she parked it. I suspect she parked it and walked somewhere from there. That, or caught a ride, I guess. I’m not sure who could be helping her. Jennie has been reaching out to everyone Sam communicates with online who’s in the area. No one has heard from her. Or if they have they aren’t admitting it.”
Logan uttered a curse and went to the window.
“Where was the car?”
Chad gave him the cross streets, but the location didn’t seem to mean anything. At least, there wasn’t any significance that Logan could see.
He tried to rub the grating sensation from the back of his neck, but it was no use. The tension he was holding in his neck muscles was too great at this point. He needed to move, to feel like he was doing more than simply sitting and waiting for word from her.
He turned back to Chad. “I want to see her car. Did they leave it where it is or is it being towed?”
“It’s still there. With no real foul play yet, they can’t do much. It was really just a favor, them watching for it and calling us. My friend did take a look in it, but he didn’t find anything.”
Logan snapped Billy’s leash to his collar. “I can’t just sit here. Let’s go check it out. See if she left any clues. Any signs at all.”
Chapter 34
Sam sat back and looked at the clock. It was time. After the twins left, she’d eaten a quick breakfast from room service, and now had everything in place.
All she needed to do now was the one thing she knew would tip PriorOfTheOri and Diya off.
She sat in front of her computer and pulled up her parents’ retirement account. With one last deep breath, she moved the money. She siphoned all of it out of her parents’ account and put it into a safe account that PriorOfTheOri wouldn’t be able to immediately locate and drain. There would be tax penalties, but Sam had more than enough money to make up for that and then some. She’d make sure they didn’t come out of this harmed in any way.
She just hoped her parents didn’t have a heart attack when they saw the money was missing. She would need to call them as soon as possible and let them know what was going on and that she had their money protected; but for now, she had a different phone call to handle.
She sent an email to PriorOfTheOri with the phone number of her new burner phone. Check my parents’ account, then get this number to Diya. She’s going to want to hear what I have to say. Oh, and check your own accounts while you’re at it, PriorOfTheOri. I really expected better of you.
Sam hadn’t been able to resist herself. He’d left himself too open to attack. She knew it was cockiness. The guy just thought too freaking much of himself and he underestimated her. By a long shot. She had emptied his accounts. Right after she had sent everything she’d gathered on him and Diya and all of their illegal activity to her contacts at the FBI.
The phone rang moments later.
“What the hell do you think you’re playing at, Samantha?” Diya’s voice sounded deadly over the phone but Sam stayed calm. The woman had no idea who she was dealing with. Sam had gone up against some of the worst criminals the world had seen. When she’d first started working with the FBI, she’d been frightened out of her mind and intimidated, but she had agents at her back. She gained a hell of a lot more confidence over the years. If Diya thought she could force Sam’s hand like this, she was dead wrong.
“I’m not playing at anything, Diya. In fact, I’m through playing your game. I win. The FBI has all your information. All of the information on your criminal activity, your father’s criminal activity, every bit of information in those files your father kept. You really shouldn’t have computerized it. It’s now in the hands of the FBI,” Sam said.
Diya started to speak, but Sam cut her off. “Did your research about me tell you that I studied languages for a time? Your father chose very interesting names for all of you. Did you know that?”
Diya’s voice turned deadly and Sam could swear she heard her grinding her teeth together through the phone. “Don’t you dare to talk about my father.”
Sam laughed. “No, really this is fascinating. Well, to me, at least. Maybe not to you. Nikolai Bogolomov had a way with names. Bogolomov itself is interesting. From the Slavic Bogolom, or God, usually given to a pious man. That’s a laugh, isn’t it? A pious man who kills innocent people? That’s rich.”
The tension through the phone line was thick as Diya seethed with hate and anger, but Sam kept going. She was angry with Diya for what she’d done. She wanted to vent.
“Of course, he named his eldest son Nikolai after himself. That makes sense. It demonstrated the importance of the first-born son. Kolya was his favorite, wasn’t he?” Sam knew using Diya’s father’s pet name for his son would taunt Diya.
“And, Vadik. His second son. Vadik means ruler. Such a strong name for his second boy. Clearly, he meant for both his boys to have a role in the family empire.”
Sam didn’t stop. She plowed on without letting Diya interrupt. “
Your name is the one that interests me the most. Have you ever looked up its meaning? Diya is short for Klavdiya, isn’t it? Klavdiya ... feeble woman. Did you know that? Your father named you feeble woman and shipped you off to schools in Europe where he didn’t have to deal with you. That is the man you’re so hell bent on avenging, Diya. That is what the man thought of you.”
“I will kill you, Samantha Page.” Diya’s voice vibrated, anger rolling through the phone line. “I will kill you and then I will kill Logan Stone.”
Sam laughed. “No you won’t. You’ll be too busy running. What do you think is going to happen when all of those people your dad kept files and information on end up with agents knocking on their doors or trapping them into making an appearance based on code words they’d once used with your father? They’ll know right away it was you. You’ll have a bullseye on you before you know what hit you. If you’re lucky, the FBI will get to you before one of your father’s old buddies does.”
Sam closed her computer and continued. “So, here’s your shot Diya. Run like hell. Get away while you can. You messed with the wrong woman and you got bit, but if you’re smart and fast, you can still get away before it’s too late.”
Sam hung up the phone. She didn’t care where Diya went as long as she got far away from Sam and all her loved ones. She knew criminals. They were into self-preservation at all costs. When the shit hit the fan, they bugged out fast, caring only for their own survival and their own freedom.
Chapter 35
Sam sent a quick message to her parents telling them not to worry about their missing money and made one more phone call before she left the hotel room. She picked up the trash from her snacks and tossed the wrappers in the garbage can as the phone rang. She picked up her laptop and slipped it into the backpack she carried it in, and then shoved her feet into her shoes.
“Sam!” came Logan’s voice, harried and out of breath through the phone and she felt a pang of guilt. She knew he had to be hurting and worried, but she had needed to be sure he wouldn’t be in danger as she handled this threat from Diya. Logan had put enough on the line for her. Hell, he’d almost gone to prison for her.
“Yeah, it’s me, baby. It’s all over. I’m on my way home,” she said.
“What’s over? Tell me what the hell happened. Did Diya come after you?”
Sam stopped. She hadn’t wanted him to know it was Diya. He would blame himself, and she didn’t want him having any more guilt in his life to deal with. He was dealing with enough right now, but he’d figured it out. Of course he had.
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“Yes,” she told him, “but, I took care of it. She’ll be too busy running now to come after either of us anymore. The FBI just received a ton of evidence documenting every illegal thing she’s done and everything her father did before her. And, there was also information her father collected—”
Logan cut her off and Sam heard Chad’s voice in the background as well. Apparently he’d heard enough of what she said to chime in, but Logan had enough to say for the two of them.
“Sam, she won’t stop. Diya isn’t stable and she’s hell-bent on vengeance. She thinks I’m responsible for killing her entire family. She won’t stop until she sees me hurting as badly as she is. Where are you, Sam? Tell me where you are and I’ll come get you and keep you safe. Then, we’ll take care of Diya together.”
She looked around the hotel room one last time and put her coat on before lifting her backpack again and slinging it back over one shoulder. She shut the door to her room and walked down the hall.
She glanced at the elevators but knew the phone connection would probably go out if she took one, so she opted for the stairs. She had only been on the third floor, so two flights down wouldn’t kill her.
“Sam! Tell me where you are!” came Logan’s voice more urgently.
She shook her head. “I’m fine, Logan. I’m just down the street from work, at the Benedicta Hotel. Are you at the office? I’ll be down there soon. I left my car—”
“Stay there!” He sounded more and more upset and she could hear him and Chad start to move.
Great, knowing them, they were running down here to come to her rescue. Sam rolled her eyes, but smiled. He loved her. And she loved him. She got it. He wanted to protect her, to do this for her, but it was important that he realize he didn’t need to come to her rescue all the time.
She might not be able to fend off armed gunmen on her own, but Diya had leveled the playing field when she’d come after Sam with a computer and fabricated threats. On that playing field, Sam could not only hold her own, she could kick some serious ass.
Logan hit the ground running hard as he yelled into the phone for Sam to stay put. To stay inside the hotel, with the door to her room locked. Chad was behind him, running flat out as well, Billy keeping up with the men with ease.
She was only a block away, but it was a long city block and they had no way of knowing if Diya was anywhere nearby or not. He hadn’t even taken the time to ask Sam if she had confronted Diya yet, but he wasn’t going to wait to find out. He wouldn’t feel calm again until he knew Sam was safely out of the line of Diya’s fire.
Diya might have been kept largely out of the family business and her father’s criminal empire, but the fact remained, a madman raised her. He taught her she was above the law. And that family mattered, more than anything. Diya would seek revenge at all cost. She would seek vengeance above all else. Above money. Above self-preservation. That was the one factor Sam couldn’t foresee with Diya.
The world slowed to a crawl as he pumped his legs to reach the hotel, to reach Sam and get her to safety. He saw her the moment she stepped from the revolving glass doors at the front of the hotel.
She looked out at the street as if looking for him, then turned his way and laughed as she saw him running toward her. She shook her head, and he felt like he was running through a fog, through molasses to try to reach her. He couldn’t get to her fast enough.
And then he saw Diya. She came from behind Sam and walked toward her, hatred etched into her face. Anger burning through every part of her being. Logan screamed at Sam to duck, but she only looked at him with confusion on her face. He could almost see her expression morph from confusion to understanding to fear and disbelief as it dawned on her that he was waving to her to duck.
Diya raised her arm, the weapon in her hand apparent. Logan had drawn his weapon several steps back, but Sam was between him and Diya. She ran toward Logan as though she might outrun what was about to happen, but she went no more than a step. Then her body pitched forward violently. He reached for her as she fell, hearing the report of the gun shots Diya had fired. Sam fell into his arms as he raised his gun and fired off three rounds. Diya fell.
Chad stood over them as Logan bent to Sam. He could hear her gasping for air and he ran his hands over her. Where was she hit? Where had Diya gotten her?
Then Logan realized, she was wearing the coat Kelly got her. If the bullets hit her in her torso, she was protected. His eyes scanned her. He felt her back, the backs of her legs. No blood. She was gulping for air.
“I know it hurts, Sam. Try to slow your breathing. Feels like you were hit with a sledgehammer, doesn’t it?” he asked as he used his tone to try to soothe her. He knew what it felt like to take a bullet through a vest and he figured she’d taken at least one, if not more. Diya had gotten four shots off, so Sam might have been hit multiple times. They wouldn’t know until they examined her coat for damage.
“Just keep breathing. It hurts like hell, and you’ll be sore and bruised, but you’re alive. You’re all right.”
She looked up at him with eyes rounded in fear and he wanted to make everything all right for her. He held her close, but made sure his arms didn’t pull too tightly. He didn’t want to hurt her any more.
But hell, his heart hurt, just ached at the thought that he might have lost her. He kept running his fingers over her face and telling her she was safe. He had her. He would protect her.
Chapter 36
Yoshi watched as the killer took the last of his family from him. Anguish filled him as he watched Diya’s body fall, but it quickly changed to anger. This man, this American mudak, had taken everything from him and Diya. Everything they loved. Everything that mattered.
Rage filled Yoshi just as the despair of what had happened hit him. He was alone now. There was no one left. No one to call his own. No one who would love him and stand by him as his family had always done.
He should have stopped her. He should have been the one to go. Diya had told him to wait for her. Had told him to stay in the car. He knew what she planned to do and he should have stopped her and gone himself.
He should have been the one to make the sacrifice. She and her family had sacrificed so much for him. They loved him and took him in when he’d been all alone in the world after his parents had died. Uncle Nikolai had loved him as one of his own, had raised him alongside Diya as her brother. And, he let them both down.
Yoshi put the car in drive and closed his eyes for a moment. Saying a prayer. He whispered to Diya, to his father and mother, his uncle and aunt, to the beautiful young boys he’d known as brothers. He whispered to all of them that he would make amends. That he would make it right and then he would join them, soon.
He opened his eyes, seeing nothing around him. Seeing none of the screaming people, watching Diya’s body as she went to heaven. Seeing nothing but the American and his woman lying on the sidewalk. She was alive.
As Diya lay dead before him, the American’s whore was talking to him. She was nodding as if telling him she was okay. The sight outraged Yoshi. He hit the gas and pressed down to the floor, as hard as he could. The car shot up over the curb but he kept the pedal pressed all the way down.
The tires shrieked and people screamed as they passed in blurs by his window. Then the American and his whore were in his sights. Dead center in his windshield. He closed his eyes and locked his leg down on the gas pedal. His mouth formed words over and over.
Words of love and family and coming home. Words begging forgiveness for his failures. Words to his parents and his cousins and his aunt and uncle. He spoke them again and again until all the noise around him ceased and the world went black.
Sam looked up at Logan and tried to speak, but her back burned and her chest ached. What had happened? Was she shot? Did the coat work or was she bleeding all over the place? She couldn’t tell. She felt numb.
He kept saying she was okay, but was he simply saying that to try to keep her calm until an ambulance arrived or
was she really all right? Confusion swamped her and chaos seemed to be breaking out around them.
It was Diya. Oh, God, Sam had been so foolish. So naïve. She thought she could handle everything on her own.
“Logan!” Chad’s warning bark came at the same time that Sam heard even more shouting from people on the street. The squeal of tires and Logan’s big body as he shoved her. Nothing made any sense.
She saw Chad’s face gripped in horror. That look on his face scared her. Then Sam felt nothing but slicing pain through the back of her head and the world washed away at the edges. The world washed away and blackness took its place. Cold, empty blackness.
Chapter 37
“Logan?” Sam tried to push the word through her lips but everything seemed foggy and thick. She wasn’t sure if she was opening her mouth and speaking or if she was only calling for Logan in her mind.
“Do you know your name? Can you tell me who you are?” Sam didn’t know who was speaking to her.
“Can you tell me where you are? Do you know where you are?”
“On the count of three.” Another voice she didn’t know. Then a three count and her body rolled to one side.
“And, roll.” She was rolled the other way. She tried to move, but felt straps clamp down on her arms. She couldn’t move her head. And then she felt the pain and a wave of nausea rolled through her belly.
“Turn her.” The voice came out clipped. Businesslike. They rolled her again just as she vomited. Then she heard Logan.
“Is she all right?”
I’m throwing up in front of Logan. That’s attractive.
“Answer me! Is she all right?” His voice was a command not a question.