Targeted Risk (R.I.S.C. Book 7)

by Anna Blakely

  “Who ordered the hit?” he demanded.

  “Who do you think?”

  Mike’s teeth ground together. “Volkov?”

  “The one and only.”

  Looking through the glass, he made sure the house was still quiet before asking, “Why would Alexandar put a hit out on his own daughter?” When Lopez didn’t answer right away, that churning in his gut became even more nauseating than before. “Ben?”

  “I’m here,” Lopez answered immediately. “Listen, what I’m about to tell you could get my ass fired.”

  “Then why are you telling me?”

  “Because you have a right to know what kind of woman you’re trying to protect before you put your ass on the line for her. More than you already have, anyway.”

  “The fuck does that mean?” Mike demanded of the other man. He didn’t know what the hell was going on, but he sure as shit was going to find out.

  The sound of Lopez sighing hit his ear. “She’s not the person you think she is.”

  “Pretty sure you’ve got that backwards.”

  “I’m serious, Mike. I’m not talking about something as simple as having an alias.”

  “Then what the hell are you talking about?”

  “Back when you were working that last case, you were adamant that Juliet didn’t know about her father’s business.”

  “And?”

  “She lied.”

  “Jesus, Ben.” Mike ran a hand through his hair. “It’s been two years. Volkov’s gonna die in prison, and so will Ivan. So why are you still hammering away at this shit?”

  “Alexandar’s out.”

  The bomb Ben had just dropped was like a kick to the balls. “What the hell do you mean he’s out?”

  “The son of a bitch was released yesterday afternoon.”

  Mike closed his eyes and tried not to focus on the time he’d spent trying to put those two behind bars. Swallowing down his rage, he bit out a sharp, “How?”

  “His lawyer started working on an appeal the second the guilty verdict came down. Gotta hand it to the persistent prick, he’s good. Really good. Found a loophole that set Alexandar free. Some sort of clerical error.”

  “What fucking clerical error would put a goddamn Russian mob skin trader back on the street?”

  “Don’t know, and at this point, it doesn’t matter. What does matter is whatever the mistake was, it was enough for the man to be granted a new trial. Not only that, he was also allowed bail. Which means—”

  “He’s walking around free and clear while he awaits the new trial,” Mike finished for him.

  He felt sick. As in ready to puke in his potted plants, sick.

  Barely controlling his shallowing breaths, he swallowed back the rush of nauseating bile and refocused on the conversation.

  “You said Juliet lied. About what, exactly?”

  “She knew all about her father’s business. Has ever since she was a teenager.”

  “You’re wrong.” Mike shook his head.” Juliet hates her father and her older brother. If she’d known what they were involved in, she would’ve put their assess away in a heartbeat.”

  “And she was going to...until Mikhail Volkov put a stop to it.”

  Mikhail? “What are you talking about?”

  “While Juliet was being held in protective custody, the agents assigned to her questioned her ad nauseum.”

  “She told me all that, already.”

  “Yes, but what I suspect she didn’t tell you was that those agents finally broke her down.”

  “Bullshit.” Juliet was one of the strongest woman Mike had ever met.

  “I still have the signed agreement, Mike. Juliet Volkov Farrow agreed to give a sworn statement against her father and brother. Said she could name names and even give us details of a few deals she’d witnessed involving their sex-trafficking business Alexandar had from one of his Vegas strip clubs.”

  “You’re lying.” The bastard had to be lying. Although...

  It would explain the cache of guns and knives Juliet had kept hidden around her house.

  “By itself, her testimony probably would’ve been circumstantial,” Lopez ignored the accusation and continued. “But combined with what Mikhail knew and the evidence you collected, the Federal case against both men was considered to be open and shut. Juliet was slated to testify the same day as Mikhail, but somehow Mikhail found out and put a stop to it. Said he’d retract his statement altogether and lie his ass off on the stand if the Feds forced his sister to testify.”

  The bile returned. “And they went for it?”

  “It was risky. Prosecutor wasn’t happy, to say the least. But she was confident she could still get a conviction on both men with the evidence they had from the investigation, plus Mikhail’s testimony. So the Feds made the deal and agreed to leave Juliet out of it.”

  “Jesus.” Mike ran a hand over his jaw.

  Back when they’d been together, he’d asked Juliet about her father’s business. Kept it casual so she wouldn’t suspect he’d been planted by the government.

  She’d looked him right in the eye and lied. Because she was ashamed? Embarrassed?

  Because she didn’t trust you.

  Apparently, she still didn’t.

  “Juliet said Mikhail committed suicide,” Mike muttered, forcing those thoughts away for now.

  “He did,” Lopez confirmed the story. “Stupid bastard ate his gun a few days after the trial.”

  “You know why?”

  “Our theory is to keep his father from sending someone after him in retaliation for his betrayal.”

  Mike hated that, after everything, that’s how Mikhail’s life had ended. But he couldn’t really blame the guy. A bullet to the head was faster and far more humane than what Volkov’s men would’ve done to him.”

  “Okay...” Mike processed everything the other man had said. “That all makes sense, but why go after Juliet now?”

  “Christ, man. You really have lost your touch, haven’t you?”

  “Ben,” Mike hissed.

  “Volkov knows Juliet had agreed to testify against him, Mike,” the other man blurted what should’ve been obvious. “He and Ivan both know.”

  The blood in his veins turned to ice. “How the hell did they find out?”

  “Obviously, there’s a leak somewhere. Not all that surprising, given how far Volkov’s pockets reach. Whether it’s in the CIA or FBI, I don’t know yet, but I won’t stop until I figure out who the traitorous bastard is and take them down.”

  Shit. A leak could mean bad news for all involved. “Think it could’ve been the agents Jules stayed with while she was under FBI protection? Or, what about that dipshit, Fuller? He seemed a little too eager the day he and his cronies dragged Jules from her house for questioning.”

  I’ll fucking kill him.

  “We’re looking into every possible angle,” Lopez assured him. “In the meantime, you need to talk to Juliet. Find out what she knows about her dad and brother, and who else she’s told.”

  A sense of dread fell like a lead ball in the pit of Mike’s stomach. Looking through the glass, he thought about the woman still sleeping in his bed. He’d been laying there, trying to figure out a way to tell her the truth, but now...

  “You want me to work her?”

  “I read the report from her break-in the other night,” Lopez informed him. “The good Samaritan who shot the intruder was listed as Jay Reynolds. That means, for reasons I don’t want to know anything about, you still haven’t told her the truth about who you really are.”

  I haven’t told her because I’m afraid she’ll never speak to me again. “So?”

  “So, your girlfriend never actually gave up any useable intel on her father. You have a past with this woman. Use it to figure out what she knows, and then bring her in so we can get a current statement. With Mikhail no longer in the picture, there won’t be anything standing in the way of her testifying, this time.”

  Fear worked its
way through him. “They’ll kill her, Ben.”

  “They’re going to try to do that no matter what. At least this way, Juliet has a chance to put her father away for good this time. Their attorney’s gonna push to suppress Mikhail’s testimony. Given the guy’s track record in court, he’ll probably get what he wants. Juliet Farrow is our last chance at making Alexandar pay for the awful things he’s done.”

  “No.” Mike shook his head. “I can’t ask her to put herself at risk like that.”

  “You have to, Mike. You need to work your magic with her and make her see reason.”

  “Now you’re not listening,” he ground out angrily. “Someone already tried to kill her once, Ben. Then they destroyed her place.”

  “A message.” The agent surmised. “They want her to know they’re not giving up, which is all the more reason for her to want to put those fuckers back behind bars.”

  Goddamnit. “I need another angle. Some way to take them down that doesn’t involve Juliet testifying.”

  “You have one in mind?”

  Mike squeezed his eyes shut, let out a controlled breath, and opened his eyes again. “Is the report on Jay Reynolds still in place?”

  “Of course, it is. We keep all alias backgrounds active as a precaution in case we need to use them again, later.”

  “So if someone were to run a background on Reynolds...”

  “They’d see exactly what we want them to see.”

  “Which is?”

  “Jay Reynolds was a known associate of the Volkov crew but ultimately served two years for his part in connection to a Detroit homicide that took place a few years prior. Why?” When Mike didn’t answer right away, Lopez cursed beneath his breath. “You’re thinking about going straight to Volkov yourself, aren’t you?”

  “Why not?” Mike shrugged. “He used to trust me.”

  “A lot of shit’s gone down since then. What makes you think he’ll see you now, after all this time?

  “I killed his man. I can use that as an excuse to meet with him. With any luck, Volkov will let something slip about what he has planned going forward.”

  “Are you even listening to yourself? That dipshit, Schreiber, tried taking out this guy’s daughter. Presumably under Volkov’s orders. Alexandar knows of your previous relationship with Juliet, and with you conveniently back in the picture, he’ll either think you’re working to build a case against him or that you’re there to extract revenge for what happened to Juliet. Either way, the bastard could easily put a bullet in your brain the second he sees you.”

  “Maybe. But I don’t think he will.”

  “What makes you so sure?”

  “I’m not his target.”

  As unbelievable as it seemed, Alexandar Volkov lived by a code. He didn’t mess with someone unless he had a good reason to. Up to now, Jay Reynolds had never given Volkov a reason to come after him.

  Lopez waited a beat before asking, “What’s Juliet gonna say when you tell her you went to meet with dear old daddy?”

  This next part of his plan would be the tricky. “She doesn’t need to know.”

  The other man barked out a short laugh. “How in Christ’s name do you plan on going to Vegas and back to confront her father without her knowing?”

  “Let me worry about that.”

  “What you should be worried about is getting as much intel from that woman as you can. We need names, Mike. People she’s talked to. People who were involved in whatever she witnessed back then. If she can give us that, then maybe...shit, I don’t know. Maybe she wouldn’t have to testify, after all.”

  “Either way, Volkov will end up tracing that shit back to his daughter, Ben. Don’t you get it? I’m the reason she’s in this mess to begin with.” Mike reminded the CIA agent. “If I hadn’t dragged her into my investigation two years ago, she never would’ve been put in the position to testify in the first place.”

  “You were just doing your job.”

  “Fuck the job, and fuck you. I’ll figure out some way to get to Volkov, but I’m not using Juliet to do it. Not again.”

  Never again.

  Another stretch of silence passed before Lopez spoke again. “You sure you want to put yourself back on Volkov’s radar?”

  “I’ll do what it takes to ensure Juliet’s safety.” Even if it meant putting himself in danger.

  “I don’t like it,” Lopez grumbled.

  “You don’t have to like it,” Mike snapped back. “You just have to make sure my cover is airtight.”

  “Damn it, Mike. This would be a lot better for you if you’d just—”

  “I’m not using her to get to her father, Ben.”

  Lopez blew out a breath. “Fine. Make contact with Volkov. I’ll have you covered on this end.”

  “Thanks.”

  “But Mike?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Watch your back, man.”

  It wasn’t his back he was worried about. “I’ll be in touch.”

  Not waiting for a response, Mike ended the call. He then shot off a group text to Jake and Derek.

  After giving his friends the condensed version of this newest development and what he needed from them, he headed back inside the house. Being careful not to wake her, Mike climbed into bed, sliding across the mattress until his body was flush with Juliet’s.

  Wrapping his arms around her tiny waist, he spent the rest of the night holding her close and praying that what he had planned would work. If it didn’t, he knew exactly how their story would end.

  I can’t let that happen. Not to her.

  No, this would work. It had to. Because for Mike, anything less than a happily ever after was out of the fucking question.

  Chapter 8

  Juliet woke to the sound of voices. Blinking the sleep from her eyes, she turned over and found Jay’s side of the bed empty. The sheets there cold.

  Slipping out from beneath the covers, she scooped a stretching Lydia into her arms and tip-toed to the closed door. Tucking her hair behind one ear, she pressed the left side of her head against the wood to try and listen to what was being said.

  Unfortunately, Jay and whoever he was talking with were being too quiet to make out any distinct words.

  It’s probably just a friend.

  Shaking off her suspicious nature, Juliet decided to take a shower before walking out to face the day. Hoping that whoever had stopped by would be gone by the time she was out, she took her time, letting the hot, steamy water work against her deliciously sore muscles.

  Flashes of memories from the night before played through her mind. Like every night since coming here, they’d made love as if there was no tomorrow.

  Rubbing the suds across her wet skin, Juliet closed her eyes and smiled. She pictured Jay’s hands on her. His lips and tongue. The way he played her body in a way no other man ever had.

  Another flash hit, and with it came a feeling of impending turmoil. She couldn’t quite decipher whether or not it was reality or a dream, but she suddenly recalled Jay snuggling up to her after coming back to bed.

  Did he actually leave the room in the middle of the night, or had she imagined it? And if he had, where had he gone?

  Pushing the strange feeling that something was wrong away, Juliet went about finishing her shower. By the time she was dressed, and her hair was blown dry, she’d convinced herself to stop looking for trouble where there was none.

  After all, she had enough to worry about without creating fictional problems.

  Though she could still hear three distinct voices, Juliet knew she couldn’t hide out forever. With that in mind, she forced back her hesitation in meeting new people and went in search of Jay. She found him standing in his living room with two men she’d never met before.

  They were both tall and, from what she could tell beneath their jeans and t-shirts, as fit and toned as Jay. One of the strangers had a head full of sandy blond hair that looked a bit unruly, friendly blue eyes, and a kind smile.

 
Standing next to the blond was the other man. He had dark hair, dark scruff, and eyes nearly as crystal as hers. Though they both held the same sort of serious—if not dangerous—demeanor Jay did, this guy emitted a totally different vibe than the blond.

  One that told her he was in charge.

  With all eyes on her, Jay crossed the room and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Morning, baby. How’d you sleep?”

  “O-okay...” She kept her suspicious gaze focused on the other two men.

  “It’s okay.” He smiled. “I work with them. This is Derek.” He pointed to the blond. “We sometimes call him ‘D’. And this is Jake.”

  “Nice to meet you,” Derek approached her with an outstretched hand and a friendly grin. His southern drawl was impossible to miss.

  With a healthy amount of trepidation, Juliet shook the man’s hand. “Likewise.”

  “Juliet.” Jake offered his hand, as well. There wasn’t so much as a hint of a smile in his eyes when he greeted her.

  “Jake.”

  She held her chin steady and gripped his hand the way her dad had taught her. Holding her gaze a second longer, the formidable man released his hold and stepped back.

  To Jay, Juliet asked the obvious question. “What’s going on?”

  Giving the other two men a stuttering glance, Jay shocked her when he said, “I have to go out of town. Just for the day.”

  “Out of town?” She frowned. “Why?”

  “It’s work stuff. No big deal. Jake’s gonna fly with me, but I’ll be back later tonight.”

  “With you? So...I’m staying here?”

  Jay’s expression turned apologetic. “Derek’s gonna hang out with you until I get back.”

  Juliet looked over at the blond.

  “Don’t worry, Juliet,” Derek spoke again. “Jake will bring your boy back in one piece.”

  One piece?

  She brought her eyes to Jay’s. “Can I talk to you a minute? Alone?”

  “Sure.” He offered her a smile. One Juliet was almost certain had been forced.

  Not bothering to make sure he was following her, Juliet turned and headed back down the hallway, to his bedroom. She’d barely made it inside when she heard the door snick closed behind her.