by Beth Abbott
“Ok, so, do we know anything about how she’s going to exact her revenge?” JT asked. “Or when?”
“When she calmed down yesterday, she told Jesus that she would be going after Gregor herself, and wanted some of his men to accompany her.” Mike confirmed. “Since then, I’m guessing our guy has had his hands full, as he hasn’t been able to get a report out.”
“How often does he report in?” Tuck asked.
“As often as he can.” Mike shrugged. “If nothing big is going down, he just checks in once a day with a text message to say he’s alive. It literally might be a letter ‘A’, and nothing more. If something is happening, he tries to get us updates whenever it’s safe for him to do so.”
“What can we expect if she comes after Gregor?” Tuck frowned. “Is she the sort to send her men to deal with this, or come herself?”
Mike smiled in a way that Tuck thought sinister, and not at all reassuring.
“She’ll come herself, without a doubt.” Mike confirmed. “She may bring an army with her if she feels the need, but she’s going to want to deal with Gregor personally. And she’ll do it sooner rather than later. Lucky Vega isn’t known for her patience. Unfortunately, our guy is unlikely to travel, even if Jesus goes with her, as he has jobs that he’s responsible for when Jesus is away. So, we might get word about when they leave, but that’s as far as it goes.”
“We’re going to have to let Gregor know what he’s up against.” Candy looked at Tuck with concern. “He may need to move Tulli and her sisters somewhere safer.”
“What can we do to help you?” Brian Nichol asked.
“I’m not sure yet.” Tuck frowned. “It all depends on what plan Vega comes up with. I know there are rules about what you can be involved in on US soil, but do you think you can have some men on standby, just in case she starts a war?”
Nichol turned to Kip and grinned.
“The men are always looking for new ways to train the teams. I’m sure we could come up with something that will give us a reason to post a team near Gregor’s location.”
“What about the other agencies?” Cole asked. “The DEA have got their agent inside, but the rest of us are completely out of the loop.”
“Once we know that Luciana is headed for the border, we’ll need a multi-agency taskforce to keep track of her.” Mike explained. “She’s not actually wanted for anything on US soil at the moment, so our best plan is to let her enter the country, and arrest her in the act, so to speak. There’s no point stopping her coming into the country, as she’d just resort to plan B and send someone to do the dirty work for her. That could be anybody, and would be much harder to stop.”
Tuck looked at the DEA agent with due regard. The guy knew what he was talking about.
“Ok, well, if my team goes about protecting Gregor and his house-guests and family, I’ll leave the agencies to monitor Ms Vega’s movements.” Tuck nodded.
“If someone would like to get hold of her current location, and the cell-phone numbers of Lucky and a few of her people, I can work on tracking them electronically.” Hannah confirmed. “At least we have good satellite coverage here in the good old US of A.”
Tuck smiled at her.
“Sacha, my assistant has put together packs of contact details for everyone.” He explained to the assembled agents. “If nothing has happened by tomorrow morning, could I ask that each agency send a representative and we’ll reconvene at ten o’clock?”
The various agents nodded their heads in agreement.
“I’ll be in Washington in the morning, but Kip can attend and keep me informed.” The General agreed.
“Then can I thank you all for coming in today. I think, one way or another, we’re all going to be working together over the next few days to protect Gregor Diminov, and get Lucky Vega out of our hair.”
Tuck watched the team he had assembled stand and take their leave, until only the Alpha-Stalwart members were left.
“I’ll arrange to send half a dozen people with Sophia and Alex.” He saw the relief on Candy’s face. “And if possible, I think we should get the Mazur sisters out of Gregor’s house. Maybe bring them over to ours?”
Candy nodded.
“I think that’s a good plan. Sara can keep an eye on them at our place as easily as at Gregor’s.” She agreed. “Should we have Gregor to stay as well?”
“I don’t know if that will work.” Tuck shook his head. “He needs to stay at his house where it’ll be easier to lure Vega in.”
“That’s a dangerous plan.” JT frowned. “Necessary, I think, but risky, nonetheless.”
“We need to get over there as soon as possible to get a head start on moving non-essential people out of his house.” Candy warned.
“We’ll head over now.”
Tuck stood and walked to the door.
How was it every time they had a victory, something always happened to fuck it up?
Chapter 16 – Gregor
Gregor sat in the office with Yuri and Kris, and stared at the garden through the French doors.
The rabbits were making an appearance again, and Tulli and Lara were standing quietly on the patio, watching the furry monsters darting around the lawn.
The pleasure the two women were taking from such a simple sight had him smiling.
“Do you know how many times those damned rabbits have set off the security alarms at night?” Kris asked him.
“No.” Gregor shrugged. “But I wouldn’t care if it was every night, as at least it’s keeping the security team from falling asleep on the job.”
“Gregor, they’re highly trained, former military personnel.” Yuri sighed. “They’re not the sort of security that falls asleep on the job.”
“They are, however, the sort of guys who would enjoy a nice rabbit stew.” Kris grinned. “Now I think about it, I’m partial to a good…”
“There will be no rabbit stew eaten on these premises, nor will any harm come to the rabbits on my lawn.” Gregor insisted. “Sophia knows every last one of them, so if one goes missing, I’ll never hear the end of it.”
Kris snorted.
“That girl has you wrapped around her finger, y’know.” Kris pointed out. “Has had since she was old enough to demand what she wanted.”
Gregor smiled.
“She had me at her first gummy smile.” He admitted. “But considering who her parents were, and that money has never been in short supply, I’d say her ‘demands’ have been few, and rarely anything for herself.”
“True.” Yuri agreed. “And I do have to say that your ways of giving her what she wanted were often ingenious. Sponsoring a homeless shelter and an animal pound was a good way to keep Sophia happy.”
Gregor glanced at Yuri and chuckled.
“It was either that or have my home open to every stray animal or homeless person Sophia laid eyes on.” Gregor acknowledged. “I either had to make sure they were taken care of, or answer to Sophia’s wrath. I preferred not to have a house full of mangy pets.”
“It seems Sophia got her love of helping strays from her father, then.” Tulli’s voice came from the door. “She came by her empathy honestly.”
Gregor’s head spun around to see Tulli and Lara standing inside the French doors.
“Tulli, that’s…”
“That’s something my sisters and I are truly grateful for.” Thankfully she was smiling at him.
The sound of the office door opening interrupted any further conversation, and Dmitri showed Tuck, Candy, and JT into the room.
“I hope we’re not interrupting anything?” Tuck smiled at the ladies.
“Not at all.” Tulli replied easily. “Lara and I have just been watching the rabbits play, and enjoying the tranquillity of Gregor’s beautiful home.”
“Then, I hate that we have to spoil that for you.” Tuck frowned. “We’ve just finished our meeting with the agencies and wanted to let you know what the position is.”
“Come in and take a seat.”
Gregor waved them in and sat back down, while Tulli took a seat next to him with her sister on the other side.
“Ok, well, first of all, there’s absolutely no update regarding the whereabouts of Castille’s daughter.” Tuck reassured them. “This morning’s meeting has just been about making contact with the right people and getting all the players on side.”
“Players?” Lara looked confused. “You make it sound like a game.”
Candy smiled at Lara.
“It almost is a game. A war-game.” She said ruefully. “The people we’ve been meeting with this morning are from the various law enforcement agencies that have an interest in cartel activities, plus some of Ryan’s Marine contacts. We want to make sure that when Luciana Vega comes looking for Gregor, we’re watching her every movement along the way.”
“Do you know for certain that she’s coming here?” Tulli glanced up at Gregor. “That she’s coming after you.”
“I think it’s almost certain.” Tuck explained. “She wants someone to blame for her father’s death, and Gregor’s is the name she’s been given. She’s not interested in digging any deeper to find out who pulled the trigger. She just wants a high-profile target, and he’s perfect. Not only will she get her revenge, but she’ll cement her place in the cartel as an effective and ruthless capo, or leader.”
“How soon will she come?” Lara asked, glancing between Tuck and Gregor.
“We don’t know anything for certain, yet.” Tuck shrugged. “All we know for certain is that she knows her father is dead, and she’s gunning for revenge. There is a DEA agent planted in her organisation, and he’s the one feeding information back. But although he’s in quite a high position in the cartel, he’s not one of her own lieutenants. He’ll find out what’s going on, as he works for her brother-in-law, but the detail may take a few hours to filter out to him.”
“We think Luciana will want to come here herself.” Candy explained. “That means quite a bit of planning, because they’re going to want to keep it as low key as possible. It’s doubtful that she’ll fly, as there are too many checks done at the airports these days. More likely she’ll come over the border on one of the trucks they use to ship the legitimate goods they trade in.”
“So, that means she won’t be here for a couple of days, right?” Kris asked. “That gives us plenty of time to get you out of the way, and plant a decoy in your place.”
He stared hard at Gregor, until Gregor couldn’t help but smile.
“You know that’s not what’s going to happen.” He shook his head, knowing that Kris was just trying to protect him. “I’m not hiding from this. Nor am I going to put someone else in my place and have them in danger. I’ll stay exactly where I am, and let them come to me.”
“What about the sisters? What about Marcy?” Yuri asked, pointedly. “Do you intend to keep them here as well?”
Shit!
Gregor had expected this question all along, but he’d hoped when it came, a solution would present itself at the same time.
“Marcy can take the rest of the week off. I’m sure we can manage to feed ourselves until this is over.” Gregor nodded. “As for Tulli, Lara and Mischa…”
“We were actually hoping they would come and stay with us for a few days, just until this was resolved.” Candy smiled. “Most of the Alpha Company side of the family have returned to the UK, so that’s freed up some bedrooms. JT’s still with us, and Danny and Hannah are going to stay with us as well. Plus, Sara and Marcus live just down the road, so Sara will be close by to look after Mischa.”
Tulli glanced up at Gregor, and his heart nearly broke. She looked like she wanted to cry but was holding things together by a thread.
“What do you think? Is it absolutely necessary?” She asked quietly.
NO! Gregor wanted to shout.
“It’s probably a good idea.” He admitted. “At least, as soon as we know she’s on her way. We don’t want to move Mischa unnecessarily, right? She’s settled in here so well.”
Gregor glanced at Tuck, silently begging the man to agree.
“We probably won’t need to do anything today.” Tuck agreed. “But it would probably be a good idea to be ready to move tomorrow, just in case.”
“We can do that.” Gregor nodded. “Thank you both for the offer.”
“Like I explained before… it looks like we’re going to have a family connection, what with Sophia and Alex making cow-eyes at each other all the time.” Candy smiled. “Family looks out for each other.”
“If you’ll excuse me, I’ll go and sit with Mischa for a while.” Lara smiled nervously. “Marcy has been with her for the last hour.”
“We’ll get out of your way, as well.” Tuck stood up. “I want to set up my home office as a base of operations over the next few days. We could get word that something’s going down at any time of day or night. Hannah’s going to need access to her beloved satellites, so it makes sense to be able to do everything from the house.”
“Is there anything we can do to help?” Kris asked. “If the sisters are staying with you, do you want us to accompany them, for added security?”
“No, but thanks for the offer. We have enough security to keep them safe.” Tuck explained. “I think your best bet is turning this place into a fortress. When she arrives, Luciana isn’t going to come unarmed.”
Gregor acknowledged the truth of Tuck’s assessment.
“I’ll show you out.” He walked his guests to the door, and waved them off, with Kris and Yuri standing beside him.
“Get your men organised, and let them know what to expect.” He growled. “I want nobody on guard that’s not trained for the job.”
He watched his two oldest friends turn and head towards the security gate, and closed the door behind them.
As he walked into his office, Gregor noticed that Tulli was still sitting on the sofa.
He approached her and as she glanced up at him, he could see the worry in her face.
He took the seat next to her, but turned, so he could look straight at her.
“I’m sorry you have to go to Tuck’s place.” Gregor whispered. “The rational part of my brain knows that it’s the safest place for you to be, but still… I’ve been enjoying the time we’ve spent together and the chance to get to know you.”
“Come with us?” Tulli took his hand and held it tightly. “You don’t have to stay here. Let them come and find an empty house.”
Gregor smiled.
“The point is to get this over with. If Luciana comes here and finds an empty house, she’ll either target my offices, or wait until I’m no longer prepared for her arrival, and pounce when I’ve got my defences down.” He explained. “Once you’ve gone, and we know she’s on her way, I’ll make myself visible to anybody she’s got scouting out the area, and then make a show of coming back here. It’ll hopefully get her where we want her.”
“What if you get hurt? Or… worse?” Tulli’s eyes filled with tears. “I don’t think I could stand it.”
Gregor reached up and cupped her cheek, wiping a tear away gently with his thumb.
“I promise to be very careful, and do everything I can not to come to any harm.” He assured her.
He stared down into her cloudy grey eyes, desperate to take the worry away.
“You promise?”
Gregor couldn’t resist the temptation any longer, and leant down to touch his lips gently to hers.
Tulli was soft and warm, and when her lips opened on a half sigh, half sob, Gregor wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer.
As he deepened the kiss, he felt her hands clutching his shirt front, crushed between them.
He explored her mouth with his tongue, his hands running up and down the length of her back.
Again, his conscience was trying to tell him he shouldn’t be doing this, but he was doing his damnedest to shut the voice up.
When he eventually pulled back, Tulli’s eyes were dark and full of emotion, and her lips w
ere red from his kiss.
“Please don’t apologise for that one.” She whispered, staring at him, imploring him with her eyes not to regret the kiss.
He smiled, reaching to push a stray lock of hair behind her ear.
“Would a ‘thank-you’ be more appropriate?” He asked, enjoying the smile it brought to her lips.
“Ok, then.” Her eyes lit with mischief. “Thank you.”
Gregor snorted a laugh.
“I actually meant for me to thank you, not the other way around.” He pointed out.
“Technically, you kissed me when I really wanted you to, so I think it should be me who does the thanking.” She explained.
Gregor stared at her in surprise.
“You wanted me to kiss you?” He asked.
“I’ve wanted you to do that ever since the first one.” Tulli’s cheeks started to pink. “And I’ll probably want you to do it again. Quite soon.”
Gregor couldn’t have been more shocked if she’d slapped him.
“Ok.” He murmured. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
“I’d better check on Mischa.” Tulli edged back with some reluctance.
Gregor stood up, giving her a hand to rise.
“I’ll probably sit with her for an hour or so, but I’ll come down to join you for lunch if that’s Ok?” She offered.
Gregor couldn’t help but grin.
“That sounds like an excellent plan.” He nodded.
“Good.” Tulli stepped away from him, taking a few paces towards the door. “Because I may be ready for another kiss by then.”
Chapter 17 – Tulli
Tulli retreated to the bedroom she’d shared with her sisters for the last two evenings, relieved to find that harmony reigned.
Lara sat in the big overstuffed armchair, reading a book, and Mischa was curled up comfortably on the bed, and it sounded as though she was humming to herself.
Lara glanced up and smiled.
“Joel was singing songs to her this morning, and it seems one or two of them have struck a chord with Mischa. She just keeps humming them over and over. It’s a bit like a broken record.”