True Justice

by Morgan Kelley

  The Elizabeth Blackhawk show.

  It was time he informed his friend about what he’d done regarding the other siblings that Ethan had found. Dimitri needed to know sooner rather than later.

  “I need to tell you something.”

  That had his attention—not the noodles he was being fed. He didn’t like the sound of that.

  “What?” he asked. “Is Kat okay? Has something happened to her too?”

  His voice wavered, and Greyson needed to put the man at ease. Hopefully, this would heal a part of him. Greyson crossed his fingers and hoped.

  “Nothing happened to her. She’s fine, but you need to know something that’s come up. I had to make a decision because you were MIA,” he stated. “Now that you’re back, I can stop it, but I was trying to do the right thing.”

  Oh, that sounded bad.

  Dimitri began feeling sick.

  “What’s happened?”

  “Your father…he had more kids. We have confirmation from the CIA and Ethan Blackhawk.”

  He stopped chewing.

  His face said it all.

  “Will they be trying to kill me next?” he asked. “Will it keep going? I’m like a cat with nine lives, but I’m down to my final one, Greyson. Please tell me they aren’t coming for Kat and myself.”

  He patted his leg.

  “I doubt that they will. One is here in the US, and she’s in her early twenties. She has a job, and she’s not on the government’s radar for being a killer.”

  He waited.

  Well, that didn’t sound like a bad life, and for that, he was grateful, but why was Greyson hesitating?

  “And?”

  “The second one was sold off in Romania. She was sold by the woman your father raped.”

  His heart skipped.

  He really hated that word. As much as he loathed his life, he’d never hurt a woman. He’d never force anyone to pleasure him.

  That another child had been born of that vile act…

  It made him ill.

  How could it not?

  Dimitri pictured Natasha all over again. He pictured her dirty, chained to that radiator, and starving to death. It turned his stomach. He almost vomited.

  “And?” he asked.

  “I have her coming here to the US. She’s coming to Vegas.”

  It suddenly reminded him that Sam was nowhere to be seen. The child he’d adopted and was responsible for wasn’t there with him.

  Sam, the child he abandoned.

  Sam, the child he swore to raise.

  Sam, his son.

  “Where’s my son?” he asked, struggling to get up. He fell off the edge of the bed and Emma rushed to help him.

  “I’m naked, Emma. Don’t!”

  She didn’t care.

  She didn’t stop.

  “I held you in a tub full of water, Dimitri. I’ve seen your freaking dick. You’re going to tear your stitches if you struggle. They are pushing the limits as it is. Then you’re going to the hospital if I have to drive you myself!”

  He stopped fighting.

  “Naked in the tub, huh?” Greyson stated.

  Well, that explained where her clothes were.

  “Did my brother take pictures? I’m sure he tried,” Greyson teased.

  Dimitri ignored his question. He had other things to worry about at that point.

  His son.

  GOD!

  His son.

  “Sam! Where’s Sam? He’ll come for him if he finds out about him. He’ll hurt him. Where is my son?”

  She held him against her, and Greyson tossed him his phone.

  “Call him.”

  With shaking fingers, he dialed the phone he’d given him to stay in contact. His heart was thumping that he’d forgotten about the boy, putting his selfish revenge first.

  This was one more reason why he didn’t deserve him. He didn’t deserve his son.

  Immediately, Sam answered his phone.

  “Dad! Are you back from your mission?” the boy asked. “Uncle Grey said you had to do something top-secret. Are you okay?”

  “I was shot, Sam,” he said, moving the phone to show him his shoulder. “Other than that, I’m alive and well.”

  He reacted like any other eight-year-old boy.

  “That’s fucking cool!”

  Dimitri sighed.

  “Sam, watch the language,” he stated. “You don’t talk like that in front of a lady. Emma is right here. Apologize.”

  Sam pouted.

  “I’m sorry, babe. I didn’t know you were there. It’s freaking cool.”

  She laughed.

  “That’s okay, Sam.”

  Dimitri focused on the boy, and he looked healthy and well. Apparently, the family had been taking care of him.

  “You don’t have to worry about me, Sam. I’m good. I miss you. I wanted to see if you were okay. Where are you?”

  The camera on his phone panned the room.

  “We are at the hotel having room service. I’m eating steak and some waterbug for dinner with Kat and the gunkles, Dante and Steele.”

  “What’s a gunkle?” Dimitri asked Greyson. He knew the water bug was a lobster. He could see it on the plate.

  “Gay uncle. Dante taught him it. We are all horrified as you can tell,” he said, laughing.

  Dimitri calmed down.

  Sam was safe.

  The family had wrapped itself around his child, too, even in his absence, and he was protected. He loved them even more for that, and that alone.

  They’d had his back.

  “Can I come home?” Sam asked. “I want to see you, Dad. I miss you.”

  His heart skipped.

  “Yeah, tomorrow, okay? I miss you, too, son. I love you, Sam. Be good for the gunkles. Kiss your sister for me,” he said, meaning Kat. That’s what Sam called her. To him, she wasn’t an aunt, but a sibling.

  It was sweet.

  “Do you want to talk to her…?”

  He shook his head.

  Dimitri wasn’t ready to face her yet.

  He couldn’t.

  Then he’d have to tell her he was sorry that he’d failed her too. Dimitri had always promised to keep them safe.

  He’d failed.

  “Okay, Dad. I’ll bring you a water bug,” he said, holding up his lobster and waving it.

  He laughed.

  “I love you, Sam.”

  “I love you, Dad. Don’t get shot anymore. Uncle Grey will keep you safe. He promised when I talked to him earlier.”

  God!

  Of course Greyson manned up and was covering his ass for him when he’d slipped.

  The boy hung up.

  “Thank you,” he said. “You made sure he was safe when I couldn’t. I can’t thank you enough for that.”

  “You’re my brother. Of course I’m going to take care of your child. Would you not do that for me?”

  He looked at Emma’s midsection.

  “I’d die for your child.”

  Then they were clear.

  He would die for Sam too.

  “About the other child?” Greyson asked. “What do you want me to do?” He already knew what he’d say, but this had to be Dimitri’s choice.

  “I’ll take her,” Emma stated. “How old is she?” she asked, still holding Dimitri, but pulling the sheet over his lower body.

  “No one really knows. She’s between Sam’s age and twelve. She’s never had a birthday, and there are no records. She was sold off as a baby.”

  “Why do you want her?” Dimitri asked Emma.

  “Because she’s your sibling. She’s part you, and I happen to think you’re an amazing person. With some love, she will be too.”

  He kissed her.

  It was soft, gentle, and on the lips.

  Greyson cleared his throat.

  “That erection had better be for me,” he stated, pointing at the sheet.

  “Hardly. Why lie?” he teased.

  Greyson laughed.

&nbs
p; There was the man he loved—his best friend and brother. He was back.

  “You’re a lucky man,” he said, smiling.

  Oh, Croft was well aware.

  Dimitri went with his gut.

  “I’ll take the child. Bring her here. This time, I’ll do it right. I will raise her to know a big, insane, volatile family that will drive her insane—but she will have that love and everything I can give her.”

  “Then you can’t go after Viktor for revenge,” Greyson stated. “Sam and this child will need you.”

  He was aware.

  Maybe that was one more reason WHY he was taking her. He didn’t want to slip into that darkness. He’d been living in the light the last year with the Crofts, and he liked it.

  Here, he had a family.

  People he loved.

  There, he had nothing but death.

  Dimitri wanted love.

  He wanted life.

  “I won’t go after him. I’ll let you handle this with the Blackhawks. I don’t buy for a minute that you’re sitting around and letting them do the work.”

  Oh, he was right. Tomorrow, he’d be out again, interviewing a few Feds.

  Oh.

  The.

  Irony.

  Croft laughed and grabbed a pair of sweats from the man’s neatly folded drawer.

  “Emma, close your eyes and humor me,” Greyson said as he helped Dimitri stand and let him lean on him as he pulled on his sweats.

  “Is there anyone who hasn’t seen my dick today?” he asked, sighing.

  “Poppy.”

  “Emma,” he warned, as Greyson helped lower him down to the bed. He knew that could never go anywhere. Poppy Wayne had saved him out of obligation.

  No one could really love him like that. He was a hot mess, and women, good women, ran from that.

  Hell.

  Bad women, like Marissa, ran from it too.

  The tablet beeped.

  “Oh, it’s time for the second thing we had to discuss,” he said, as he hit the button.

  Dimitri watched.

  “Why does it look like there are commandos going into a building?” he asked. “What are we watching?”

  “That’s Elizabeth Blackhawk. While you were out getting shot and cuddling up to a cop, the FBI, who you don’t trust, found Viktor Marchenko’s hideout.”

  He stared at him.

  “What?”

  “We found him. I told you we’d take you on as a client, and we’re closing that case now. They’re going in to capture him, and in her world, that means to kill him.”

  Well, holy shit!

  A lot had happened while he was on that mountain for one day.

  A whole lot.

  * * * G R E Y S O N C R O F T * * *

  Viktor Marchenko’s

  Hide Away

  She was all jazzed up and ready to go. All she needed was the go-ahead from her husband when the feed went live for Greyson Croft. She inserted the ear com, and she fist-bumped her partner in crime.

  Ivan was by her side, and he, too, was ready to go.

  It was time to take out a crazy.

  “Elizabeth, you’re live. Make the move,” Ethan said, as her body cam replayed everything that they were facing.

  Her walk toward the building.

  Them getting ready at the door.

  When she turned, her camera showed Wilcox and Heath behind her, watching her flank.

  Beside her, Ivan was wearing night vision over one eye, helping him navigate once they went in.

  Wilcox also had the same monocle over his eye. They were going to be their partner’s night eyes.

  They didn’t know what was waiting for them.

  The only thing that would have made this better was the ability for them to see inside the building. Only, it was concrete and steel, and they didn’t have time to call up a heat scope that could penetrate the materials.

  So, they were going in blind.

  As bats.

  At the door, she had the number memorized.

  “Wilcox and Heath, go left. We will go right,” she said. All they knew about the building was that there were three floors, and it had once been a business with storage above it.

  That they were able to get on the internet.

  Oh, and that a Masters Victor owned it.

  What a cute name for a cuckoo. He flipped the initials, and he made up a stupid name.

  Well, she had it now, and they would search for anything else with that name. They had his number.

  Literally.

  “Let’s roll,” she said, punching in the nine-digit number, hoping that Gamble didn’t screw it up. If an alarm went off, they were screwed.

  The light went green, and there was a beep.

  “We are going in.”

  “Be careful, Elizabeth,” Ethan said, holding his breath. Elan and Gamble were in the van, and they were all watching from the monitors inside.

  “On it, boss man. See you in a few.”

  She headed in, her gun scanning as she used a red laser scope to do any checks as she wandered into the building.

  She was loaded down with enough firepower to make a Marine giddy. She knew since Ivan was pretty damn happy to look like he was going into a war zone.

  You could take the man out of the Marines, but you couldn’t take the Marine out of the man.

  Clearly.

  “Stop,” he said, seeing something in his night vision. There was their first booby trap.

  “What?” she asked, seeing nothing but shadows. If the lights went on all the sudden, half their team would be blinded—she didn’t want to be that half.

  “There’s a trip wire.”

  Ethan watched in trepidation.

  “Heath and Wilcox, we have one tripwire. Be ready,” Ivan stated. “You likely have one too.”

  “Copy,” answered Heath.

  Slowly, Elizabeth and Ivan navigated past it by stepping over it. They didn’t want to set it off or disable it. Who knew what it had been set to do?

  “Keep going,” he said, doing what he did in the Marines. He was there to keep his team safe, and he’d done it so many times before.

  They cleared the bottom level and it was fairly easy. There was nothing really down there but cobwebs and traps. Clearly, he didn’t live down there.

  “Heath and Wilcox,” she called over the com.

  “Copy.”

  “Search this floor for any hidey-holes. He might have some things hidden. We’re going up.”

  “On it, boss lady.”

  Elizabeth and Ivan kept going, and just as she rounded a corner, Ivan shouted.

  “DOWN.”

  She dropped to her knees and held her breath.

  “Tripwire at neck level,” he said. “It’s razor wire. It would have severed your carotid.”

  Oh, she was aware.

  They both went low, and Ivan positioned himself beside her. She was fast on the trigger, and he was good at spotting things that could kill them. They both had excellent skills for this shitty situation.

  “Clear,” he stated.

  They’d made it to the stairs.

  Finally.

  “NOW, we’re going up,” she said. “I don’t think he uses this floor, and that’s why it’s booby-trapped,” she admitted.

  That was a good possibility.

  “Watch your back,” Ethan stated over the com.

  “I can go in,” Gamble said. “I can cover their backs,” he offered.

  Ethan shook his head.

  “They are all Marines, and she’s good at this kind of thing,” he stated. “Just keep watching for anything you might see out of place.”

  It was clear she didn’t want him in there, and Ethan would respect that. He was privy to Gamble Holloway’s past, and he trusted him.

  But this was his wife’s operation. He’d respect that.

  They focused on Elizabeth.

  Inside, they headed up the stairs, and Ivan inspected each and every one before he’d let
her put her foot down. There were clues if there was a bomb.

  Moved nails.

  Scratches.

  Crooked stair boards.

  He’d seen it all, and he wasn’t going to let this blow up in their faces.

  Literally.

  “We’re clear,” Ivan said, aware that his partner’s life was in his hands. If she went, he was a goner too. They were walking so close they’d both be killed.

  “Second floor,” she said, moving through the shadows. It was a little lighter up here, and that was likely from the windows. There was some tint on the lower level, likely to keep people from peeking in. From the outside, it was abandoned.

  On the inside, she could smell his cologne.

  He’d been there.

  That bastard had been there.

  They began moving around, making sure that there was no one waiting to jump out at them and kill them.

  Killers liked to do shit like that.

  All.

  The.

  Damn.

  Time.

  When Ivan stopped her again, he realized it was just a squeaky floorboard, and not something that was going to blow up and kill them.

  “We’re good. Continue,” he said.

  Elizabeth was using the moonlight to make sure there was nothing ready to strike. She was scanning back and forth so she’d see anything headed for them.

  This floor appeared abandoned too.

  “Anything?” she asked.

  “Nada,” he stated.

  As she went to head into the one space, he grabbed her by the back of the cargo pants.

  “Camera,” he whispered. “Two o’clock.”

  She saw it.

  Elizabeth pointed her laser light on it, and she pulled the trigger. The silencer on her sidearm didn’t make a sound, but the camera made a pop sound when the bullet shattered its glass.

  “Tex, good shot,” he muttered, leading her toward the next section.

  That’s when they saw it.

  Another one.

  “He’s more protective of this floor,” she stated. “His personal space will be upstairs. He’s got alarms and booby traps downstairs. Cameras on this floor. It gives him time to prepare.”

  Ethan agreed.

  He was still holding his breath.

  “Be careful,” he said, watching the four sets of cameras that were recording everything.

  “On it, big sexy eagle,” she teased, using the code name that security used for him.