by Leslie North
She couldn’t give in to the exhaustion, any more than she could give up her quest for revenge. She had the next three days off, and with the information she’d obtained the last few nights, she knew she was very close to reaching a breakthrough on this case. She just needed to stay focused and alert. Gorgeous distractions such as Greg Walker would have to wait.
Chapter 5
Grigori watched the young woman hurry across the road and quickly disappear behind the wheel of a blue Honda Accord. When the car pulled out onto the road seconds later and disappeared, he shook his head and looked at Dennis. “Where’s she going? She probably needs to have herself looked at.”
Dennis grinned at the concern he could see the big man was trying to conceal. “Don’t worry about Desi. She can take care of herself.”
Grigori raised an eyebrow at that assessment, not sure if he believed it. She had been bleeding, and the back of her head had to be hurting something fierce, but she’d taken off so fast, he hadn’t had a chance to see if she needed further assistance. You have other things to worry about. Forget about the girl and find a way to get Leonid!
He took one last glance down the street and sighed. “Well, I guess you’re right. Now. Who’s Ivan?”
Dennis screwed his face up and started shaking his head. “You don’t want to go messing around with the likes of him. I keep telling Desi that as well. That dude is bad news.”
“Why’s she interested in him?” Grigori asked, knowing the old man knew more than he was telling.
“That’s not my story to tell.”
Grigori measured the man, then nodded. He admired loyalty above all else, and the old man was loyal to Desi. He wouldn’t force the issue. At least, not right now. Smiling, he nodded once. “Dennis, it was a pleasure to meet you. See ya around.”
“Sure, sure. I’m here every day. Stop by and see me again some time.”
Grigori gave the man another brief smile, then shook his head as he realized he still hadn’t assuaged his hunger. Deciding to forego the diner a second time, he headed back to the hotel and his vehicle. He’d find a drive-through restaurant and deal with his hunger, and then he was going hunting.
According to the information Stefan had given him, the Ryndin brothers were using a variety of small businesses to mask their operations. Stefan’s info had also included pictures of the two men and several known associates that were currently thought to be working in the Pinellas Park area. Grigori didn’t want to venture into St. Petersburg unless he had to.
As one of the world’s leading Torpedoes, his name and his image were well-known in organizational circles. The fewer people in Florida who knew of his arrival, the easier it would be for him to get the information he came looking for. Men feared him, and once they knew who he was, they either went into hiding or gathered supporters and tried to take him out in an effort to prove they weren’t afraid. Stupid. They should be afraid of him.
Grigori had spent the better part of the last twelve years enforcing for various Bratva around the world. Operating mainly in Europe, he had on occasion ventured into the United States, and even once or twice into South America.
A year ago, he’d been asked to take care of a small leak in the jungles of Colombia, and he had learned firsthand how tightly bound Leonid was with the drug cartels. The groups had gone looking for new merchandise to sell, wanting to expand their wealth, and not having come up with any new drugs, they had taken to selling what was readily available—women.
Grigori had done a lot in his life he wasn’t proud of, but the sights that had greeted him in the jungle had turned even his stomach. He’d taken the lot of them out without even batting an eye or being asked to. He’d gladly slit the throats of the men keeping the women captive, then ensured that the proper personnel were given the necessary information to arrive onsite and provide the cleanup and rescue of the women. Anonymously, of course.
There had been eight women held at that particular camp, and after disposing of their capturers’ bodies, he’d left the jungle and returned to Brussels, mentally scarred far worse than any other injury that had been done to his body over the years. Even now, he could see the battered and bruised bodies of the women as they’d been when he burst through the small hut’s door, weapons ready and willing to accomplish his mission.
He hadn’t been expecting to see women barely able to stand, let alone with any energy left to fight. They’d started wailing as he’d come through the door, and even now the sound of a woman crying sent shivers up his back.
Steeling his spine, he pulled his hectic emotions and thoughts back together. He would deal with the Ryndin brothers for killing Katya’s parents, and then he would see what trails led back to Leonid. If there was a way to take the man down without starting an all-out war, he’d gladly do so. The man was a blight on society and a disgrace to every other member of the Russian organizations. Grigori knew that other groups dabbled in prostitution and the skin trades, but what he’d witnessed in South America was beyond tolerable.
Shaking his head as he pulled up to a stop light, he withdrew the small map Stefan had included in the packet of information he’d left. There seemed to be a circular pattern to the placement of the businesses currently being used by the Ryndin brothers. Grigori looked at each location, smiling when he found what he was looking for. Bingo!
Plugging the address into his phone’s GPS, he turned the vehicle around and headed in the opposite direction. If the Ryndin brothers were helping Leonid, they had to be receiving their merchandise in large quantities, but without drawing unwarranted attention to themselves. Only one business on his map provided that kind of opportunity—a small marine and RV shop about ten minutes away that had direct access to the water.
Grigori quickly located the small shop and was pleased to see numerous opportunities to conceal himself and his vehicle nearby. He chose to park the Humvee to the side of the business property, giving him a clear view of the back storage yard and marine dock.
Grabbing his bag from the backseat, he pulled out his camera and began to take a series of photographs. There was a large ship docked in the water next to the dock, but it didn’t appear that anyone was at work yet. The bay doors on the building were closed up tight and there didn’t appear to be any movement around the building or the ship.
Grigori grabbed the takeout bag from the passenger seat and quickly ate the breakfast sandwich, then sipped on his coffee. Thirty minutes later, he watched as the bay doors began to roll up, and several men exited the building on forklifts. They approached the ship, which was also beginning to show signs of life. The onboard crane began lifting large crates from the cargo hold of the ship and setting them down on the dock. The forklifts then picked them up and delivered them inside the building. This process went on for several hours, and Grigori counted close to thirty crates by the time they were finished.
The bay doors were closed shortly after the last crate was delivered inside the building, and the building grounds went quiet once again. Several hours later, Grigori watched a series of black SUVs arrive at the business. They pulled into the far bay where the door was opened and, twenty minutes later, pulled back out, allowing room for the next vehicle to repeat the process.
Eight SUVs in all drove into the building and then out again minutes later. Once they were all loaded, they all left the facility at the same time, and Grigori was amazed at how sophisticated the operation was.
He wasn’t sure what was in the crates that had been unloaded, but the ship in the marina was registered to a South American businessman hailing from Colombia, so he assumed the crates had contained this week’s shipment of drugs. The SUVs would be used to deliver smaller portions of the larger shipment to distribution centers around the city.
When the SUVs pulled out, he followed the last one at a discreet distance, making note of where and when the vehicles pulled out of line and headed into town. Each location matched up with one of the businesses Stefan had marked on the map.
The lights inside the front of the business never came on, so Grigori assumed that whatever business was being conducted was being done in the warehouse portion of the building. The closed sign was hanging in the front window, and he looked around at the other businesses, puzzled at seeing them similarly closed up.
Glancing at his watch, he realized that he’d spent most of the day watching things unfold down by the docks. It was almost 4:30 p.m., but that also created a new question. Why were businesses closing so early in the middle of the week? It was Wednesday. Not a holiday. Yet all of the businesses were closed.
Grigori looked up and down the street and realized that rather than a bustling city street, his was the only vehicle on the road. He pulled over, alarm bells ringing in his head at how deserted the street was for this time of day. Molly’s Diner was closed, but that was the only business that should actually be closed. Molly’s was only open for breakfast and lunch and closed each day at two o’clock. Dennis was no longer in front of the diner either.
As he sat in the Humvee trying to figure out what his next move should be, the arrival of two vehicles caught his attention. Both vehicles were dark sedans, and as they pulled to a stop, he realized they appeared to be unmarked police cars.
Four men got out of the two vehicles and approached the dry cleaner. After ringing the bell, they waited for only a minute before the door was opened to them. Grigori was thankful for the dark glass of the Humvee, providing him cover and a chance to observe their actions unnoticed.
After forty minutes, the four men exited the building, several large packages under each of their arms. They deposited their packages in the trunks of the vehicles and exchanged a few words before they got in their vehicles and drove off.
Grigori didn’t see the blue Honda sitting down the block a ways until it pulled out onto the street and began to follow the two dark sedans. Grigori raised his brows and his curses echoed in the silence of the vehicle as he recognized a familiar woman behind the wheel of the car. What in the world does she think she’s doing?
Chapter 6
Grigori watched as Desi drove her vehicle down the street, carefully following the dark sedans from a discreet distance. The likelihood that she was remaining off the radar was slim, given the fact that there were no other vehicles in the area currently being operated.
Grigori started up the Humvee, did an abrupt U-turn in the middle of the road, and headed after her. He didn’t worry about trying to conceal his presence; instead, he flashed his headlights at her, trying to draw her attention and get her to pull over.
Desi saw the large black vehicle coming up behind her and panicked. After leaving the area earlier in the morning, she’d returned to her home in Clearwater, grabbed a shower, some ice for her face, and two aspirin, and fallen into bed for a few hours of much needed sleep.
She’d felt so much better when she awakened at two o’clock. She’d quickly made a sandwich and then headed back to Pinellas Park. She had been shocked as she’d entered the downtown area to see two detective cars from the Clearwater Police Department also in the area.
She’d pulled over and watched as they’d stopped in front of Ivan’s shop, gone inside, and exited carrying packages. What?! She’d been stunned to see them carrying what she assumed were drugs as they exited the building. She’d been hoping that maybe they’d gotten a lead and were planning a bust, but instead, what she’d just witnessed had destroyed any faith she still had in her coworkers and those of her deceased father and brother.
Tears streamed down her face as she followed them away from Ivan’s shop. She wasn’t sure what she was going to do once she caught up to them, but she couldn’t just let what she’d witnessed go. No way! No how! If they were buying drugs from Ivan, then they had much to account for.
But first, she had to get rid of the vehicle following her. It was obvious the driver intended for her to pull over, but that would be suicide. She watched as the big vehicle flashed its lights at her, drawing even closer, and she pushed on the accelerator, anxious to get away from this newest threat. Had she been rash in following the detectives and missed one of Ivan’s thugs waiting in the shadows? She was supposed to follow Ivan tonight. God, this is so messed up!
Desi took a hard right, flooring her small vehicle and heading back towards the freeway. She could follow up with the detectives at a later time. Right now, it was imperative that she avoid being stopped by whomever was following her. Her identity had been kept hidden thus far, and in order to continue gathering intel on Ivan and whomever he worked for, she needed it to remain so.
She approached the freeway, seeing the traffic thicken, and recklessly darted onto the fast moving road, changing lanes right in front of a semitruck as the driver blared his horn in warning.
She darted in and out of traffic, pleased to see the black Humvee stuck in traffic and unable to move forward. She used the commercial trucks to help camouflage her movements on the highway, making sure she was hidden from view by one of them as she exited the freeway several miles up ahead.
Once she reached the end of the exit ramp, she pulled behind a business and watched for several minutes, relieved when she didn’t see the black Humvee follow her off the freeway. That was close! Damn! Now Ivan’s going to know someone’s watching him.
She sat in her car for a few more minutes, then started back towards Pinellas Park and her usual hiding place behind Molly’s Diner. Ivan’s normal routine indicated that a meeting would be taking place later this evening, and she was determined to get pictures of license plates this time around. Hopefully, whoever had been following her would assume she’d gone for the night.
Last month, the meeting had taken place but she had been unable to gather much information about those attending. She had managed to convince Seth, a coworker who was responsible for helping put together surveillance kits for the detectives, to lend her a high-powered camera and microphone setup. He hadn’t asked what she needed it for, and she hadn’t offered. Seth was old enough to be her grandfather and had been a friend of her father’s for as far back as she could remember.
She figured he knew she was investigating things on her own and had merely smiled at his whispered, “Be careful, Desi,” when she picked the gear up before her shift yesterday. She had been tracking Ivan’s movements for over a month now, and tonight was the night she hoped to gather enough evidence to reopen the case and finally get some justice for her family’s destruction.
*****
Grigori cursed as he realized he’d lost the young woman’s vehicle on the busy freeway. Where did she learn to drive like that? He cringed as his mind replayed the numerous times she’d changed lanes, almost clipping car bumpers and twice causing vehicles behind her to slam on their brakes. The woman was a menace on the road and shouldn’t have a license to drive!
He followed the highway a few more miles, then exited and did a U-turn, re-entering the highway going the opposite direction. By following her, he’d been unable to follow the dark sedans, losing the only lead he’d managed to find today.
Cursing, he hit the button on his phone that would connect the audio in the vehicle wirelessly and allow him to make calls hands free. He instructed his phone to dial Nikolai and waited while the call was connected.
“Grigori?”
“Yeah, it’s me. I had a few minutes and thought I’d check in.”
“I didn’t figure I’d hear from you for a few more days. Are things going well, then, in Florida?”
Are things going well in Florida? Well, I guess that depends upon one’s definition of what could be considered going well. “Stefan gave me some goo
d leads. I did manage to piece together the power play that’s going on down here. Are you ready?”
“Yes,” Nikolai answered, his voice going terse and hard.
“The Ryndin brothers mean anything to you?”
Nikolai’s curse had Grigori grinning. “I can hear the answer for myself. Well, they are running the St. Petersburg group, and my guess is the other groups told them to go away. So they aligned themselves with Leonid. Or at least they’re trying to endear themselves to him.”
“Leonid is running the Ogalla operation still? I was so hoping someone had managed to take him out by now.”
“You and me both.” Grigori rolled his eyes at the question he should have known was coming next.
“What other information do you have on Leonid? What I hear in your voice is more than just a job; it sounds personal.”
Grigori sighed, then explained, “Remember when I e-mailed you I was headed to South America?”
“That was over a year ago. Did something happen down there you haven’t shared?”
“You could say that. First though, answer a question for me.”
“Ask away. If I can answer it, I will.”
Grigori chose his words carefully as he tried to ask what was on his mind. “How does someone like me get out of this business without dying first?”
Nikolai was taken aback and stunned speechless for several heartbeats. Finally, he cleared his throat. “You want out?”
“Nikolai, do you know I’ve never had a serious relationship? My work precludes getting too close to anyone, and the most I’ve been able to justify in my mind was a weekend sex-a-thon.”
“What’s this all about? Are you trying to tell me you…?”