Switched

by O'Connell, Anne

  Brad found himself speechless. Agares had only sent him the emails last night. “He’s dead?”

  Agent Brocco nodded. “Evidently your girlfriend’s ex didn’t want to leave any loose ends. He already has three guys out here looking for her with orders to bring her back to Los Angeles, by force if need be. Evidently she stole some money from him. He’s not happy about it.”

  A whirl of thoughts raced through his mind. Between not being able to imagine Kali stealing money to wondering if she was safe with Amy his racing mind finally stopped on one question. “How did you find me so quickly?”

  “We stopped at Agares’ office and found all your information there. Now we need to know where Ms. Stanton is.”

  “She’s with her friend and they’re moving some things out of her apartment into my place.” A queasy feeling started in his gut. This couldn’t be good.

  “We should probably find her immediately. Now luckily we have a guy inside Kolknov’s crew cooperating with us - for now. We have no way of knowing if this guy is going to back out at the last minute. Your girlfriend could be that key we need to finally catch Kolknov.” Brocco’s expression remained even and detached.

  “You can’t possibly mean you want to use Kali as bait…” he lifted an eyebrow. He wasn’t stupid. As an ex-soldier he knew all too well how a situation like that could turn out.

  “We’d use an agent, but that won’t work. She’s known to one of the men and your PI showed her picture around so the others know what she looks like.”

  Brad could tell Brocco was holding back. That wasn’t the whole plan. “Okay, let me call her.” Numb, he picked up the phone and dialed Kali’s cell phone. He breathed an audible sigh of relief when she answered. “Kal, it’s me. Where are you and Amy right now?”

  Kali seemed to be back to her usual cheery self. “We’re sitting in your house having some early evening coffee before unloading the car. Why? Don’t tell me you need Amy. I need her more.”

  He heard Amy giggle in the background. “Do me a favor and stay there. In the house and lock the doors.”

  Kali grew suddenly silent on the other end of the phone. “What’s wrong?” she finally asked.

  “Just trust me and stay there, okay? I’ll be there in a few. I’m closing the store. Today just wasn’t the day to open.”

  After she agreed and they said their goodbyes, he hung up. “Let’s go.”

  Brocco nodded. “Lead the way.”

  Brad closed By the Book and soon found himself driving toward home followed by the black sedan.

  They arrived at Brad’s less than twenty minutes later and he led them into the house, greeted by a cautious Kali and a suspicious Amy. Without word they all made their way into the dining room and Brad motioned them to sit. He took a chair and beckoned Kali to sit beside him.

  Brocco and Salazar both sat across from them at the dining room table. After assuring Kali they were both FBI by allowing her to inspect their IDs, she seemed more relaxed. Amy sat at one end of the table.

  It was Brocco who spoke first. "So, Ms. Stanton, you understand that Victor Kolknov is after you?”

  She nodded.

  “Good. I don’t want there to be any secrets here. You know he’s after you, we know he’s after you. Here's what we want to do. We want to create a controlled situation where Richard..."

  Kali interrupted, "Richard Vogt?"

  Brocco nodded. "You know him?"

  "He was a friend. He and Misha were close," she said, her eyes distant.

  "We want to create a controlled situation where Richard leads his guys in to, presumably, kidnap you. We strategically shoot Richard and hope the other two will run off to call Victor. Tell him what happened. We convince them Richard is dead and you're now property of Alexi Amelin," Brocco paused.

  Brad's eyes were wide. "So wait, you want to use my girlfriend as bait and there are going to be guns involved? And who the fuck is Alexi Amelin?"

  "We're dealing with the Russian mafia Mr. Hudak. Not the boy scouts. You, of all people, with your military background, should understand this. We'll put her in a bullet-proof vest. The point of this little operation is to lure Victor out here to Massachusetts, get him on attempted kidnapping, or at least conspiracy to abduct Laura, and get him behind bars. At least for a few years. That way we get him off the street while he's being indicted on other charges. We're hoping with him in jail, more witnesses will come forward and help out in other cases we’re trying to make against him. With Richard Vogt's written and recorded testimony, we hope to put him in witness protection and have Victor think he's a dead man. We will need Laura to bait him, and then testify. Then, if necessary, we can stage her death and put her in witness protection, too."

  “And Alexi whatever?” Brad asked, annoyed that the agent wasn’t answering his questions as quickly or as directly as he wanted.

  Brocco gave Kali a long look and drew in a deep breath. “Alexi is head of a rival Russian gang out here in this neck of the woods. He and Victor have an old rivalry.”

  Brad leaned back in his chair, taken aback by Brocco's revelation that they'd already looked into him. Nothing got past these guys. More upsetting was the revelation that they wanted to use Kali in conjunction with the name of another crime boss to help lure Kali’s ex. They weren't playing it safe. If he knew anything from the deserts of Iraq, if a person started dropping names, eventually that information was going to get the attention of the person whose name was dropped. This was an all or nothing campaign to get Victor Kolknov behind bars. "If you plan on using Kali as bait," he said, refusing to call her Laura, "Then I have to be involved, too. I'm not letting her do this without me."

  He felt Kali squeeze his hand under the table. She still didn't say anything.

  Amy sat quietly at the end of the table looking back and forth from the agents to Brad and Kali. She looked terrified.

  All eyes turned on Kali.

  "So what do you think about all of this?" Brad asked. Brocco and Salazar had big plans, certainly, and yet no one had really asked Kali how she felt about it. "You can keep running or you can help get this guy. If you don't want to, you don't have to."

  Brocco gave him a look of protest.

  Brad shook his head, "Don't act like she doesn't have a choice. She does."

  "True, we can't force you to do anything you don't want to do, Laura." Brocco gave her an expectant look.

  Finally, Kali drew in a visible breath and said, "I'll do it. I trust Richard and if Brad is going to be there, too..."

  "We need to get Mr. Hudak cleared first before we can make that kind of promise."

  Kali shrugged. "Then I can't promise I'll help you."

  A slow smile spread over Brad's lips. That was the Kali he knew. "Guess you guys need to get on the phone and see if I'm allowed to be present to make sure you don't accidentally kill my girlfriend. You can't put a bullet proof vest on her head."

  Brocco gave Salazar a nod. "Call it in; see what the higher ups think."

  Salazar stood and made his way into the living room with his cell phone.

  He heard the agent's low voice in the other room.

  "I realize this isn't easy for you Laura. Did you know we've been looking for you for a long time now?" Brocco asked Kali.

  She bit her lip and looked down at her hand. "I should have guessed."

  "Several years back we investigated another car bomb, like with Agares," he motioned to Brad. "There was a witness in a shop along that street, an old guy, working late. He said he saw someone fitting Victor's description and said he saw a woman with him. The description matched you back when your hair color was dark blonde, but then you disappeared and we couldn't find you. To be honest, we were waiting for someone to report you missing. Thought you were dead.”

  Kali looked at Brad, "Who's Agares?"

  "The private detective I hired," Brad said. There was no way to proudly say that. Not only because he'd done it behind Kali's back, but also because, for a stupid petty need
to know more, Brad had unknowingly sent the poor man to his death. He cringed when he realized Eric didn’t even know his friend was dead yet.

  "Victor killed him, too?" Her jaw dropped a little. She shook her head. "I'm not surprised."

  "Ms. Stanton, you didn't really answer my question," Brocco said.

  She frowned at him. "You didn't ask a question. You just described the night I saw Victor slit a guy's throat, shove him into a car, and bomb it. There's a reason I ran off, Agent Brocco. Not only was I being sexually abused by the man, but he was, is, a complete psychopath. Not to mention I stole some of his money."

  It didn’t go unnoticed to Brad that Brocco had already known about the money she stole from her ex, but the agent didn’t mention to her that he already knew. Evidently their inside guy had given the agents a lot of information and probably knew most of what Kali was telling them anyway. They just needed to hear it from her.

  Brocco's eyes widened a little. "You saw him slit the man's throat?"

  "It was kind of hard to miss. He did it right behind the car." She was still frowning. "Am I going to get busted for stealing Victor's money?"

  The agent shook his head. "I imagine you had good reason."

  "I did. I needed cash to start a new life. A new life doesn't come cheap," she said with a hint of malice in her voice.

  Brocco seemed lost in thought. "We always wondered how that guy was killed. Would you be willing to testify as a witness in that case?"

  She shrugged. "If I do does Victor send his gang of idiots after me? Do I have to spend the rest of my life fearing for my life?"

  "There's always witness protection," Brocco said.

  With a visible gulp, Kali crossed her arms over her chest. “I’d have to think about it.”

  Brad cocked his head to one side. "Amy, could you get Kali some water?"

  Amy got up and went into the kitchen.

  He leaned over the table to Brocco. "What if she gives testimony on tape and camera and a written affidavit and then, like you mentioned earlier, we fake her death, too? She can change her name again and disappear again right here. It might be easier than witness protection, especially since she doesn't have family. Victor doesn't know who I am. He’ll think her boyfriend is Alexi Amelin."

  The agent nodded. "That might be enough."

  “But I have to admit I’m not comfortable with the whole Alexi angle. You know, it’s a small world…” he hadn’t even finished his sentence when Salazar wandered back into the room.

  He didn’t bother politely interrupting, he just did. “Jackson said if we got a signed affidavit that he agreed to put himself in harm’s way, he could go in armed. He does have a current valid concealed carry permit.”

  Brad forced himself to appear unaffected by how much they knew. They’d really done some serious research into him. He nodded, “Good. Now back to Alexi…”

  “Alexi is currently at his vacation house up in Saratoga. He won’t be around to hear anything,” Brocco assured him.

  He didn’t believe that for a minute. “He likes betting the horses, huh?”

  “Men like Alexi don’t just bet on the ponies, they own them,” Salazar quipped.

  “Oh goodie. Anything else we should know?” Brad forced a smile.

  Kali gave him a strange look.

  Brocco shook his head. “That’s the plan.”

  ***

  "How bad is this going to hurt?" Richard put on the bullet proof vest, surprised at how light it actually was.

  Agent Brocco shrugged, "It will knock you on your ass and knock the wind out of you. Falling on your ass is what hurts though. The fake blood packets attached to the outside of the vest should be enough to convince your buddies that you've been hit and you're not going to make it. We expect them to scramble and call Victor. If you leave your phone in the car, we’re hoping one of them will grab it and find the contact information for Alexi. Then we wait for them to contact us."

  "I don't know if this is going to work..." he started.

  "If I know Victor Kolknov, and I think I do, he'll fall for it. Making him think Ms. Stanton fell for a rival crime boss should be easy if you stick to the plan and don't bail on me. Are we going to have a problem?" Brocco asked, putting his hand on Richard's shoulder.

  Richard shook his head. He knew Victor and Alexi Amelin were rivals. They had once been friends, but about six months before Laura disappeared, there was a dispute between Victor and Alexi. They parted as bitter enemies. Brocco was right though. It probably would lure Victor here, but on the flipside of that if Alexi found out his name was being used as bait it could open a whole new can of worms and Richard didn’t like that idea. That was a fire fight Richard didn't want to find himself, or Laura, in the middle of. "It's dangerous," he started.

  Brocco cut him off. "I know. I know you're taking a big risk doing this and if we put you in jail you're as good as dead. That's why we offered you witness protection. We also know we're risking Laura's life and her boyfriend’s..."

  It was Richard's turn to interrupt. "Laura's boyfriend?"

  "Yeah. He refused to allow us to use her as bait unless he was involved somehow. The only reason we're allowing it is because he's an ex-Marine. Special ops. A real bad-ass evidently," Brocco explained. “According to his military records anyway. And don’t worry about Alexi. He’s out of town.”

  "Couldn't you guys have used an agent in place of Laura?" he asked hopefully. “She’s an old friend, you know? I saw how Victor was toward her…”

  "We considered it, but as I explained earlier, if we want to lure Victor out, we need the real Laura Stanton. You said yourself your guys have seen a picture of her courtesy the PI, Ted Agares." Brocco shrugged and turned toward his partner. "Now Lou is going to shoot you, right side of the chest so make sure your chest is open for a shot. It will bruise."

  Richard looked at Agent Salazar warily, then back at Brocco. "I thought you said it wouldn't hurt?"

  "You're a big guy, you can take it. It only hurts a little, and Lou’s a good shot."

  "What if he misses?"

  Agent Salazar laughed. "I won't."

  Brocco chuckled and shook his head. "You just do what you need to do. Call Victor and tell him he's not going to like it, but Laura is Alexi's bitch now."

  "And if he asks about the PI? Alexi would have never sent a PI..." It was a nitpick, but one that Victor was sure to spot.

  "Tell him you think the PI might have been working for the Feds to nab Alexi."

  "You have an answer for everything." Richard shook his head. The more real it all became, the more nervous he felt. The muscle under his left eye twitched.

  "You should get going. Your entourage will be missing you soon." Brocco tossed him a carton of Winston's. "Don't forget the smokes you went out for and your phone."

  Catching the carton, he set it on the counter and finished putting his shirt on over the vest. Then pulled his jacket on over that, checking to make sure no one could tell he was wearing the vest in the mirror on the wall next to him before he went. He had his own room at the hotel so the other guys wouldn't see him take it off or put it back on tomorrow. When he was sure he was covered, he grabbed the carton, took his phone from the female agent who held it out to him, and headed toward the door.

  "Don't flake out on me Rich," Brocco called after him.

  Richard shook his head and left the back of the storefront by the side door and found himself back in the ally among the dumpsters and drizzling rain. It had been twilight when he got there and now it was dark. Clutching the carton of cigarettes to him, he walked back down the street back toward the hotel. He paused to look at his phone which had been programmed to show calls and texts to a contact simply known as Joe in MA. Obviously Joe was Brocco, Richard recognized the number. He browsed the text messages quickly to make sure he had the story straight.

  Frank and Jason, his two henchmen, were both standing outside smoking when he reached the front of the hotel. You couldn't smoke anywhere
anymore.

  "Christ man," Frank said. He was the shorter of the two and wore his dark hair slicked back with far too much gel. The reality was that Frank looked like he worked for the Italian mafia, not the Russians. He wore a black jacket, a black t-shirt, a pair of jeans and pair of black boots. "Where'd you go to get the smokes? Fuckin' other side of town?"

  "Corner store," Richard said, motioning behind him, then added in a cautious tone, "I was so long because I stopped to take a call. I think we have a problem."

  Both men looked at him, waiting.

  "Alexi Amelin," he said matter-of-fact. Crossing his arms over his chest he was painfully aware of the bullet proof vest under his black button down shirt and black coat. He hoped it didn’t show.

  His statement was met with a blank stare from Frank and a disgusted look from Jason.

  "Who the fuck is that?" Frank finally asked.

  "Only one of Kolknov's arch enemies if there is such a thing. Good thing they're on opposite sides of the country or they'd have killed each other by now," Jason said, shaking his head. Jason dressed like Richard in black dress pants, black button down shirts, and black boots. Though his shoulder length blond hair was unruly alongside Richard’s crew cut.

  Richard nodded. If either of these guys was destined to give him any problems it would be Jason. Jason was the only one who knew almost as much about Kolknov as Richard did, though Richard still had seniority. He’d have to be careful if he wanted to keep them from knowing he was working with the feds to bring Victor down.

  Sure enough, Jason had questions and still appeared to be disgusted at their lack of information after ransacking Agares’ office late that afternoon. When they got there it was suspiciously empty and the one club they’d visited after that offered no clues either. “How do you know?”

  “When I was waiting in line to get the smokes I got a call from a guy I know who’s into the scene out here. He told me he knew Laura, but she hasn’t been at any of the clubs in a couple of years. Evidently her new boyfriend is Alexi Amelin and he doesn’t do the club scene. Not his thing.”