Nicoleta peeled the wrapping away carefully so she wouldn’t rip it. The shimmering red paper was gorgeous. When she finally reached the box it covered, Viktor had acted as if he’d fainted away from the long wait. She only smiled and continued at her own pace.
Opening the box she found a small platinum heart pendant on a bed of gray silk. “It’s beautiful.”
Viktor lifted it out of the box by the chain, allowing it to dangle from his fingers. “It’s a practical gift, solnishko. I’ve been discussing your situation with Devin and told him I wanted something you could wear that had a tracking chip in it.”
“You want to keep tabs on me?”
Viktor leaned over and kissed her briefly. “Not all the time, but I’m worried we haven’t heard any more from your stalker. I don’t want to upset you, but I have this feeling he isn’t done with you. I would have had this to you sooner, but we were having trouble finding the tech to go inside the heart.”
Nicoleta turned on the couch and lifted her hair so he could put it on her. “I’ve had the same feeling. From everything I’ve read about stalking and gaslighting, it doesn’t make sense for him to just stop or get distracted by something or someone else.”
Viktor secured the latch on the chain then leaned back on the couch pulling her with him. “I don’t think he’ll try to grab you, but my experience is these guys don’t stop and the moment we lower our guard that is when he will strike. I’d rather be safe than sorry.” He kissed her cheek.
Nicoleta looked at the delicate heart. There was no way to tell it was a tracking device. “You’re sure it works?”
Viktor scoffed
“Okay, silly question.”
“We sent Allison on a trip to New York wearing it. We were able to track her up to one hundred miles away. If, God forbid, he does come after you and manages to get you then we can follow.”
“As long as you know I’m gone before he gets more than a hundred miles away.”
“Even if that does happen, the tracking device uploads to one of the servers for BSI. We will have a trail to follow you.”
“That’s smart. Thank you, Viktor.” She kissed him slowly. “It’s still a beautiful pendant.” She let the pendant drop, hanging just above the cleavage of her breasts. “I imagine you are starv…”
Her words were cut off when Viktor grabbed her, throwing her to the floor and covering her with his own body. Her front door burst open and a man stood in her home holding a gun on them.
Nicoleta screamed. She screamed louder when she recognized the man standing in her home. “Joshua!”
Viktor saw red when he recognized the man who broke into Nicoleta’s home. “Steepleton! What the hell are you doing here?” Everything clicked into place for Viktor a heartbeat after he asked that question. “You sorry mother-fu…” he charged as he finished his curse. A long insulting slew of Russian rang in the air as he rushed the bastard who had been in countless meetings with Aleksandr Petrovich. Meetings Viktor wasn’t privy to sit in on.
He reached a few steps from having the man when his body went rigid, his jaws locked, and his vision went dim. He was out before he hit the floor. The last thing he heard was Nicoleta screaming.
Nicoleta ran for her bedroom. The one room in the house that had a lock and a phone. She needed to get help. Joshua Steepleton was one of Craig’s lackeys. He did the evil bastard’s bidding without thought, without remorse. She couldn’t let him get his hands on her. Not with Viktor being down.
She stumbled when she thought of Viktor. He’d known who Joshua was. He’d called him by name. Asked him what he was doing here. How had he known Joshua? Were they in on this together with Craig?
Tears blurred her eyes. She’d been fooled again. She’d been betrayed again. When would she ever learn?
“Got you, Lettie Toy.” He held one hand over her mouth while the other squeezed her breast. “I’ve missed you, Lettie.” He licked the side of her face.
Nicoleta was thrust into a flashback: Joshua on top of her, raping her as he licked her neck and caused her pain. Her stomach somersaulted. She choked on the bile rising in her throat. Her vision dimmed. Her body seized in fear and trained response.
She wouldn’t survive this again. She couldn’t take this betrayal, the cruelest of them all.
Viktor.
Viktor had broken her trust. Betrayed her.
Chapter 12
Viktor came too slowly. His body ached in ways it had never ached before. He still felt the electrical current from the taser that had hit him. His mind was slow to clear, but one name kept running through it.
Nicoleta.
He pushed himself off the floor, forcing the pain out of his mind. He had to get to Nicoleta before the bastard did. Once on his feet, he looked around the room. The house was eerily quiet. It almost seemed as if the air wasn’t moving.
“Oh God, No!” He stumbled to the couch where he’d laid his cell phone on the end table. He pulled up the app for Nicoleta’s necklace. It was nothing short of a miracle he’d given it to her tonight. He was having a hard time focusing but managed to see the green dot traveling away from him at a quick pace. Switching his phone from the app, he found Duncan’s number and called.
“Duncan. He took her.”
“What? Viktor? What’s wrong?”
“Joshua Steepleton took Nicoleta. I need help getting her back.”
“Where are you?”
“At the cottage.”
“I’ll call Devin. Do Not leave. Do you hear me? Stay put until we get there. We’ll get her back.”
“We have too. I recognized him. Said his name. She did too. God only knows what she’s thinking.”
“Don’t worry about that. You can explain once we get her home. I’m on my way now.” Duncan disconnected the call.
Viktor collapsed on the couch, partly due to the shock his system had just taken but also from the shock of the bastard taking her. “Please, Nica. Have faith, solnishko. I’m coming for you.” Silently he prayed God would protect her, not make her go through any more abuse. She’d had enough. How much could one person take?
He didn’t want to know the answer to that question. He only wanted her safe, at home with him and Amara. “Oh God, Amara.” Losing her mother again will drive her insane. Not again. Not Again!
Viktor looked at his phone as if it were a two headed snake. He shouldn’t. He couldn’t. But he had to. He’d do anything to get her back. He scrolled through his contacts to the ‘L’s’ until he found the entry for 474-4679 the numerical numbers on a phone that spelled Grigory. Without a moment’s thought, he pressed the entry then the phone icon.
“What’s happened?” Grigory answered on the second ring.
“They took Nicoleta Davis.”
“Goddamn it. Who?”
“Joshua Steepleton.”
“Craig Baxton has her then.”
“What!?!” Viktor stood as he shouted into the phone.
“Baxton is missing from the federal black site. I just received word an hour ago.”
“Why wasn’t Duncan informed?” Viktor began to pace.
“He’s on suspension, Viktor. They can’t inform him.”
“Then why wasn’t Nicoleta or Amara informed?”
“I don’t know. Maybe they were hoping to find him before they had to tell them had escaped.”
“Where? Where would they take her?”
“In Montana? They’d pick some place close. My bet is on Timber Falls. Feds, State and locals are banned from the area.”
“Thank you, Grigory.”
“I’ll send someone in to flush them out.”
“No. We are going to do this legally. I want that bastard to hang. Breaking out of a black site isn’t easy. They’ll revoke his protected status and put him in federal or state lockup. He’s finished once we have him in custody.” Viktor swallowed hard. “But have someone on standby just in case.”
“Are you coming back, Uncle?”
“No. My lif
e isn’t there anymore. It is here with my girls. I just need to get them all back here first. You’re doing fine, Grigory. The ECO is happy with the way things are.”
“I know they wanted Aleksandr gone, but you should have taken over not me.”
“It had to be this way. You know that. We all understood when I agreed to bring Aleksandr down that I would be out.”
“But you only wanted Tatiana free, not yourself.”
“At one time, perhaps I felt that way, but things change, Grigory. And so do people. I like my new life…I have to go. The cavalry is here.”
“Let me know if you ever want your seat, Uncle. It is rightfully yours, after all.”
Viktor didn’t answer. He disconnected the call, grabbed his coat and keys and rushed out the door. Surely not everyone was stupid enough to think the ECO would let him live if they hadn’t sanctioned his part of Aleksandr’s takedown.
It didn’t matter now, anyway. He liked his life. He had found he could operate within the bounds of the law just fine. He had Tia, and now Emily. Soon, God willing, he would have Nica back and Amara. The four of them would be under his protection. Meaning they would be under the protection of the ECO, even if no one but he knew it.
“Let’s go. I have her tracking beacon on my phone. Head east toward Timber Falls.”
“No one is allowed in there, Viktor,” Duncan spoke.
“No one official is allowed in there. Since we are not bringing state, local, or federal officials then we don’t have a problem. Once we have her back, we can hold Steepleton and that bastard Baxton until the law arrives.”
“Baxton? What does he have to do with this?” Devin asked as Viktor and Duncan slid into the backseat of his SUV. Cole sat in the front passenger seat.
“I wasn’t expecting you.”
“Your daughter has a ruthless side when it comes to people she loves.”
Viktor chuckled, barely. “It’s the warring Russian and Italian inside of her.”
“Really? I thought it was the two different but equally lethal Mob sides of her. Believe me, she was explicit in what she wanted done to whoever took the future grandmother of her daughter.”
All four men cringed at the thought. Tia was a sweetheart, but she hadn’t been called the Ice Queen for nothing. There was ruthlessness to his daughter that lay just beneath the surface of her sweetness. He was thankful it was a mostly suppressed.
“What are we walking into, Viktor? What is this about Baxton being out?” Duncan asked as he watched the glowing dot move farther away from them. “Speed up, Devin. The son of a bitch has to be doing a hundred.”
Devin reached the highway and pressed the accelerator to the floor.
“I called a friend. They let me know Baxton escaped earlier tonight. I didn’t get details on the escape. Steepleton burst in the front door and tased me. While I was out he took Nicoleta. He is a lackey of Baxton’s, and ran messages between him and Petrovich.”
“There are rumors he was one of Nicoleta’s tormentors while she was being held. Baxton often gave out rewards to those who were loyal to him.” Devin filled in some of the blanks as he drove through the night, racing to get to her. “I’m sorry, Viktor. I thought it best you knew.”
Viktor nodded. His anger was such that if he spoke there was no telling what would come out of his mouth. He wanted them all dead. That was a given. But he wanted a special death for those who had hurt his Nica. If they touched her again, he would see they received worse before death took them.”
Chapter 13
“Are you sure you want to go in there, Duncan?” Cole asked.
“Yes. Don’t ask me again. Amara would never forgive me if I didn’t go in after her mother. Besides, I’m not a Marshal anymore. Remember? They suspended me for doing the right thing.”
“They suspended you for harboring a fugitive, dumbass.” Devin piped in as he handed out weapons.
“That’s my future wife, numbnuts. I’d do it again if I had to.”
“Of that, I have no doubt.” Devin checked the clip before sliding it into the Sig556xi tactical carbine assault rifle. He handed it to Cole before pulling out the second one for himself. He let Duncan and Viktor choose their own weapons. “We need stealth and speed on this one. We’re going in blind so we need to be tight and on point. Shoot to maim not to kill. I’d like to only do ten to twenty years, not life for this.”
They all chuckled but were nodding their heads. Without law enforcement on their side, they would be held accountable for any dropped bodies.
“Who the hell is that?” Cole asked as headlights went out and a dark SUV pulled in close to them.
“That would be what is going to keep us from doing the ten to twenty.” He walked over to the SUV and waited for the door to open. A man in his sixties, with a gut that was leaning toward a beer belly, slid out of the driver’s seat.
“Evenin’ boys.” He whistled low. “Those are some nice looking toys. Planning on doing a little huntin’?”
“Marshal Thompson?” Devin cradled the Sig556xi in his arm as he reached out to shake the US Marshal’s hand.
“Devin. Cole. And we have a newcomer. US Marshal Adam Thompson…” His eyes adjusted to the moonlight, recognition sat in. “I’ll be a skinned doe’s ass. Viktor Domitrovich?” He leveled a censuring look on Duncan.
“Viktor Mitchel now, Marshal.”
“Okay, boys. Run along. We can sort this mess out after we get the lady back. Try not to kill anyone.” He took his cowboy hat off and wiped his brow with the back of his hand. “Too much paperwork associated with a killing.” His white teeth glowed in the night. “Oh, don’t stay in there too long, either. We still don’t have actual readings on the level of poisonous chemicals.”
Timber Falls had been a pretty little town until Craig Baxton’s oil company had started fracking near the community and poisoned everything. The entire town either fled or died. There was speculation Baxton had been using the lake in the center of the town as a dumping ground for his more fortunate victims, the ones who’d died. Baxton’s company had covered the fracking poisoning up and managed to work out a deal with all levels of government to keep everyone out while they cleaned up, which only gave them more time to remove any evidence against Baxton out of there.
Rustling could be heard in the thick forest to the right of their location. Viktor heard the call but didn’t immediately respond. He hadn’t known Duncan would call in the Marshal. It was too late now to attempt to hide what he’d done. Although he hadn’t counted on Grigory to get a team to him so quickly.
“You’re going to be pissed, McKinnon.”
Duncan groaned. “What have you done?”
“Called in a little help of my own.” He whistled the all clear for Grigory’s men. Levkin must have called them in while he was still on the phone with Viktor.
“Son of a bitch, Viktor?!”
Viktor shrugged. “I wasn’t going to let him hurt her. How was I supposed to know you would call in Thompson?”
“Because I’m a Marshal and I do things above board, maybe. Anyway, we needed the law here and he’s the only one besides Josh Culverton that I trust. Josh is handling some things in Sapphire Springs for us and we needed someone with federal pull here.”
“I always said you were a smart boy.”
Duncan flipped him off. “Don’t think because you’re bedding my future mother-in-law I’m going to cut you any slack. As a matter of fact, count on me not cutting you any slack from here on out.”
Duncan barely finished his warning when ten heavily armed men broke through the woods to the small clearing they were standing in outside the town of Timber Falls.
“What the hell is that?” Cole asked.
“Viktor’s idea of backup.”
Devin chuckled. “You know, if this wasn’t such a bad situation it would be funny. Letter of the law, Duncan McKinnon, rising star, although a tad tarnished at the moment, of the US Marshal Service soon to be father-in-law is in the ECO.�
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“Screw you, Devin.”
“Come on, Dunc. You have to see the irony here.’
“All I see is someone who shouldn’t be having any contact with the Russian Mob, calling in a favor with them. What the hell is up with that?” Duncan shook his head. They weren’t speaking loud, but Duncan lowered his voice further, “Viktor?”
“Hmm?” Viktor turned from shaking the newcomers’ hands.
“Stop calling Grigory. I still don’t know what deal you made with them, but you aren’t supposed to have any contact with the ECO.” He pointed two fingers at his own eyes before turning them to point at Viktor.
“I know, you see all.”
“You’re damn right I do. And I care about Nicoleta. I don’t want her dragged into anything that will get her hurt worse than she already has been.”
“Then we are on the same page, my friend.”
Duncan scoffed. Friend? They weren’t exactly friends. Duncan admired Viktor for doing the right thing, for seeing to his daughter’s protection. He was fairly confident with the right incentive Viktor would stay on the right side of the law. But, Duncan wasn’t a fool. Witness protection rarely worked, and what he had done for Viktor wasn’t even in the scope of Wit-Sec. He’d set up a high-ranking Russian Mob member in a small community because he liked Tia and thought she needed a chance to know her father. He really had lost his fucking edge.
Raised voices wafted from the single story building that once housed the local Sheriff’s office. The county seat was in Sapphire Springs, but several of the smaller towns had operated a two or three man office to handle local issues. With the way Montana was spread out, having one Sheriff’s Office per county didn’t make sense.
“You thought you had me? You are crazier than I thought. I allowed you to do those things to me, Craig, but only because you had my daughter. Amara is safe now. I can and will fight you this time.”
“Now, Lettie, there is no reason for you to fight.”
“Take me back home. Now.”
“You can’t go home. I have plans for us.”
Flawed Perfection: A Collection of Winter Wishes Page 34