His Christmas Assignment

by Lisa Childs

“That’s why I hired you—or Payne Protection—to protect Tori,” Chekov continued. “I figured someone was after me and would use everyone close to me to get to me.”

  “So no one had any reason to want to kill Alexander Polinsky?”

  “There was no reason,” Viktor maintained, “no reason for him to die.”

  And now Garek had no doubts—not even a niggling one. Viktor Chekov had not killed his right-hand man. Fear clenched his heart as he realized who had. He hadn’t wanted to consider it, but it was the only thing—she was the only person who made sense.

  “Where’s Candace?” he asked.

  The man stared at him—as if he’d lost his mind. “Candace?”

  “The female bodyguard you hired to protect Tori,” he reminded him.

  “She’s protecting Tori,” Viktor said—his voice full of condescension and then confusion.

  She was protecting Tori. But who was protecting her?

  Had she realized yet who the real killer was? Because Garek had just figured it out, and he hoped it wasn’t too late to stop Tori Chekov from killing again. From killing the woman he loved…

  Chapter 22

  Logan pressed a quick kiss to her lips before he hurried out of their home. He wasn’t going alone into the danger; he never did. He would meet his brothers. Parker and Cooper would back him up.

  Would they be too late to save the others, though?

  Stacy shivered.

  “Close the door,” Milek told her. But he didn’t leave with the others. Instead of waiting for her to do it, he pulled it shut himself—with him inside with her. “It’s freezing out there.”

  But it wasn’t the cold that had chilled her. It was why he had come to their home—what he had told them.

  She had expected him to leave with the others—even though he was hurt. Blood had crusted in his hair, turning the light blond strands dark and rusty colored. She lifted her hand to reach out to him but then she pulled it back—certain he would reject her, he would leave if she tried to get too close. He was like an injured animal—too hurt and mistrustful to let anyone close enough to help him.

  “I can have Penny watch the baby,” she said, “and I can bring you to the hospital.” But she was already certain he wouldn’t accept her help. “Or Penny can take you…”

  “One of the FBI agents checked me out at Chekov’s…once they found me.”

  Before Milek had shown up, Logan had taken a call from his half brother. From his end of the conversation and the worry in his voice, she’d thought she had lost her immediate family. That both her brothers had died. Then the doorbell had rung, and Logan had opened it to a pale and wounded Milek.

  According to what Nicholas Rus had told Logan, some FBI agents had found Milek in the snow quite a distance from his vehicle—as if he’d been crawling toward the gates of the estate—determined to help his older brother. But he’d given up on Garek and had come to her.

  And he hadn’t left yet.

  “Do you think he’s dead?” she asked. Not that Stacy expected him to tell her the truth. She had kept the truth from him for years. He didn’t owe her any honesty; he didn’t owe her anything.

  He shook his head and grimaced, the movement no doubt causing him pain. “I’m not as worried about Garek as I am Candace.”

  “She disappeared?”

  He nodded and grimaced again. “Right under the noses of Rus’s backup agents.” His voice was gruff with disgust and frustration. “They never even saw her leave the party.”

  “Then she’ll be close to the club,” Stacy said. “They’ll find her.” They had to find her.

  But Milek said nothing now. He offered no false assurances—because they would be false. When he finally spoke again, it was with brutal honesty. “I think they’ll find her too late.”

  Too late to save her…

  She shivered again—with concern and dread and regret. Just that afternoon Garek had come to see her at the jewelry store she owned, and he had bought one of her favorite pieces—something he had long admired. She’d wanted to just give it to him, but he had insisted on buying it. He hadn’t confirmed anything, but she had guessed why he’d wanted it.

  “I shouldn’t have dragged her into this,” she said. “I shouldn’t have talked to her about Garek.” Especially since she had been wrong. “I shouldn’t have doubted him…” She had told Garek all that, and he’d acted as though he’d forgiven her—but it had been before tonight.

  Before Candace had gone missing…

  “I doubted him, too,” Milek admitted, and now his grimace was of guilt instead of pain. “I wondered if he’d gone back to that life.”

  He had, but not for the reasons she had thought. He’d gone back to bring a man to justice. She had apologized to him earlier, but it wasn’t enough. It would never be enough if Candace didn’t survive—like Milek obviously feared.

  Pain squeezed her heart, and she murmured, “He’s going to hate me.” She glanced at Milek. “Like you hate me…”

  She turned away to spare him her tears. But strong arms wrapped around her. Logan was gone; it was Milek, holding her. Offering comfort…

  “I don’t hate you,” he assured her. “I could never hate you. And neither could Garek.”

  But Stacy hated herself—for interfering in their lives, for costing Milek his happiness and maybe costing Garek his. Candace had to survive. At least one of her brothers needed to be able to spend the rest of his life with the love of his life.

  *

  Blood trickled over Candace’s skin, trailing down to drip onto the floor behind her. The plastic cut deep into her wrists, but she ignored the pain and continued to work at freeing herself.

  It was her only chance to escape. But she couldn’t just free herself. She had to distract Tori, so the woman would lower the weapon she’d trained on her—because one twitch of her finger and she would blow a hole through Candace.

  She already had a hole in her heart—an aching fear Garek had been hurt. How would Chekov react if he’d caught Garek in his safe?

  Would he kill him?

  Tori thought so and appeared to relish the horrible thought.

  “Did you ever really love him?” Candace asked.

  “Alexander?” Tori tilted her head as if considering the question. Then she emitted a lustful sigh. “He was so handsome and sexy. Maybe even more so than Garek.”

  Candace snorted now.

  And Tori laughed. “You really love him.” She pursed her lips with mock pity and added, “Loved him…”

  Pain stabbed Candace’s heart, and she gasped. Then she shook her head. “I refuse to believe he’s dead.” And that was why she fought with the zip ties, and finally the plastic gave a little. She could almost free herself. “Your father has a soft spot for Garek…”

  Probably the only soft spot Viktor Chekov had—beyond his daughter.

  “He won’t kill him,” Candace said, but she was assuring herself.

  Tori shrugged. “It doesn’t matter either way. You’re not going to be together—because you will be dead.” Her finger moved near the trigger, and she pointed the gun toward Candace’s heart.

  “Why kill me?” Candace asked. “What do I have to do with anything?”

  Tori sighed but it was ragged with frustration. “You’re smart. You must know why.”

  Candace shrugged, which helped her work the zip tie over her palms. A little farther was all she needed to free herself.

  “You’re jealous of Garek’s feelings for me?” she asked. “You want me out of your way?”

  Tori laughed. “Oh, please… I want Garek out of my way. I thought using you to distract him would get Daddy to fire him, at least…”

  “I don’t understand,” Candace said. “Why did you go to Special Agent Rus? Why did you claim your father killed a man you killed?”

  Tori uttered a patronizing chuckle. “I thought it was obvious. I want my father out of the way.”

  Candace had seen her love for him. “It�
�s not obvious at all. If you wanted that, you would have tried to kill him instead of me.”

  “I don’t want him dead,” she said. “I just want him in prison.”

  “Are you afraid of him? Has he hurt you?”

  “He’s been holding me back,” Tori said, “assuming because I’m a girl all I can do is play on my phone and shop.” She snorted. “I wanted to be his right-hand man. But he chose Alexander over me.”

  “That’s why you killed him.” She was almost free.

  Tori nodded. “Of course. He was in my way.”

  “Garek wasn’t in your way.”

  “I didn’t think he would be,” Tori said. “I thought he’d changed. That he would help me bring Daddy down. But nothing was happening—except him and Daddy getting closer. And my father was still running everything.”

  Realization dawned. “And you want to…”

  Tori smiled. “I will. If Daddy went to prison, I would be his go-between—or so everyone would think. I would be the one visiting him and carrying out his orders…”

  “You think he would trust you—after you testified against him?”

  “I won’t need to testify now,” Tori said. “I will only need to plant this weapon on Daddy. It will have killed so many people by then—including you. It will be easy to convict him. He’ll never get out of prison.”

  “Garek won’t believe it,” Candace said.

  Tori smirked. “If he survives Daddy…”

  “You said yourself that your father has a soft spot for Garek,” she said. “He won’t hurt him. And Garek will figure out what you’ve done—you’re responsible for all the killings.”

  Tori smiled and acknowledged, “If you hadn’t distracted him like you have, he probably would have already figured out the truth.”

  She was right. Candace knew Garek would have—had he not been worried about her. He knew all these people and he would have put together the pieces of Tori Chekov’s twisted jigsaw puzzle of deception and greed. But she’d gotten in his way.

  “And after you die, he’s going to be too distraught to figure out anything.” Tori sighed. “And he’s going to need me to console him.”

  He would be upset. And he would blame himself.

  She raised the gun. “Don’t worry, Candace, I’ll take care of him for you.”

  Outrage coursed through Candace. She didn’t want this woman touching Garek, trying to get close to him. She wanted this woman nowhere near him. So she ignored the pain as she forced the zip tie over her palms and down her fingers. But before she could move, shots rang out—reverberating off the walls of the basement.

  She tensed, waiting for the pain as bullets tore through her.

  *

  Garek’s heart hammered frantically inside his chest. The big man, who had been standing beside Tori like a trained ape, dropped his gun as he fell to the floor. But Tori held hers as she stood over Candace’s prone body. Ignoring the pain in his leg, he hurried down the steps.

  “And this is why my father shouldn’t be in charge anymore,” Tori murmured. “I can’t believe, after catching you in his vault, he would let you live.” She made the annoying tsking sound. “He’s gotten too soft. Too soft to lead the family any longer.”

  “All this…” Garek gestured around at the basement, hoping to distract her—to draw her attention and her gun barrel—away from Candace.

  He couldn’t tell if she had been hit, if she was lying there bleeding. He wouldn’t let himself look at her for fear he would bring Tori’s focus back to her.

  “You’ve done all this,” he continued, “because you want to take over the family?”

  “It’s my birthright,” Tori said bitterly. “Not yours. Not Alexander’s.”

  “That’s why you killed him?”

  “Daddy was grooming him to take over,” she said. “Alexander is not family. I am Daddy’s only real family.” Her mother had died during childbirth, so it had always been just her and her father. But Viktor had always called the men who worked for him family.

  Garek nodded in agreement. “That’s true. You are.”

  She swung her gun barrel toward him now. “You’re not family either,” she said. “But Daddy always treated you like you were.”

  “He used me to steal for him,” Garek said. “That’s not how you treat family.”

  “He let you work for him,” Tori said with bitter resentment.

  “He let me go to prison for him,” he said. “That’s the risk, when you do what we do. I had no choice, Tori—not with the way I was raised. I had to steal. That’s all your father knows, too. But he wanted a better life for you. He didn’t want you to have to do what he and I have done.”

  She shook her head, and now there wasn’t just greed and resentment in her dark eyes—there was madness. “He didn’t think I could handle it. He thinks I’m some weak female.” She swung her gun back toward Candace.

  He should have shot her when he’d had the chance—when she had been pointing that gun at him. He wouldn’t have cared if she’d shot him. He didn’t want her shooting Candace. Again?

  The woman he loved lay unmoving on the concrete floor. And there was blood—behind her. Had she been shot in the back? How else would Tori have gotten the jump on her, though?

  Or had he done it? Had one of the bullets he’d fired at Tori’s cohort ricocheted off the concrete walls and struck the woman he loved?

  Fear and panic threatened to overwhelm him, but he fought those feelings back. He had to focus.

  “He didn’t think she was a weak female, though,” Tori said. “He respected her. He should see her now.” She snorted disparagingly. Then she turned back to Garek, peering at him over her shoulder while her gun remained trained on Candace. “You should have seen him earlier—he was all over her on the dance floor.”

  She wanted him to react—to act like a jealous fool. All he could manage was a gasp, but that wasn’t over what she’d said. It was over Candace’s sudden movement.

  She leaped up from the floor and grabbed for the gun. Her hands locked around the barrel, but Tori’s finger was too close to the trigger. She fired.

  Again and again. The sound and shots reverberated off the walls.

  The agents above had to hear the gunfire. But Garek had convinced them to stay away. He’d promised he could handle Tori.

  And he’d thought he could. But he had never known the woman at all. Not like he knew Candace…

  She was strong. But not strong enough to fight off an armed Tori. He jumped into the fray, wrapping his arms around Tori from behind—lifting her off her feet.

  The gun clicked as the cartridge emptied. And Tori dropped it to the floor. Her body shook as sobs racked her.

  “Are you okay?” he asked Candace—all his concern and fear for her.

  She panted for breath but nodded. “I’m fine. I didn’t get hit.”

  He wanted to reach for her, wanted to pull her into his arms and make sure she was really all right.

  The same longing was in Candace’s brilliant blue eyes. “And you?” she asked. “Chekov didn’t hurt you?”

  Garek shook his head. “No. He even told me where she had probably taken you.”

  If Chekov hadn’t revealed the club had a basement, Garek doubted they would have found her—at least not in time. After Candace’s murder, Tori would have had her goon dump the body somewhere it would have been found without a search warrant having to be obtained. And she would have wanted Candace’s body to be found. She would have wanted Garek to suffer. And she would have wanted to implicate her father as the killer—like she’d been framing him all along.

  Tori’s body stilled as the tears abruptly stopped. “Daddy knows?”

  “Yeah,” Garek said. “He knows.”

  “Where is he?” she asked, and her voice cracked with madness.

  How had Garek never noticed it? He’d always thought she was spoiled and unhappy. He hadn’t realized her problems were so much deeper than that. But he suspected
her father had known.

  “Isn’t he proud of me?” she asked. “Doesn’t he know now he was wrong about me—that he’s always been wrong about me?”

  Garek didn’t know what to say—didn’t know what she wanted to hear, or if she would hear him at all in her current state. But before he could think of any words, she moved—striking out at him with her elbow and her foot. She followed the maneuver Candace had perfected and apparently taught her. She stomped on his foot and jammed her elbow into his ribs and the back of her head into his chin.

  He lost his grip—for just a moment. But before he or Candace could reach for her again, she had dropped onto the ground. She didn’t pick up the gun she’d dropped; she picked up the gun her sidekick had dropped.

  Garek couldn’t remember if the gun was empty or not. Had the man fired all his shots at him when he’d come through the door at the top of the stairs?

  Candace shook her head, as if silently answering his unspoken question. They were so connected she must have read his mind. And the fear on her face answered his question.

  There were bullets left. They both dove for Tori and the gun just as she began to fire it.

  Chapter 23

  The hospital waiting room overflowed with people and voices. Paynes. FBI special agents. Kozminskis. It was loud and crowded; it was chaos.

  And usually it would have made Nicholas Rus very uncomfortable. He wasn’t used to chaos—to family. But he realized now he’d always had one. He’d had a family in the Bureau with the fellow agents who had become good friends. Now he had another family: the Paynes.

  He had expected them to be furious with him—for what he’d done, for the lives he’d risked when he’d gotten Garek involved in his investigation of Viktor Chekov. But Penny had hugged him. Stacy Kozminski-Payne had hugged him, too, and murmured, “Thank you.”

  “For what?” he’d asked.

  She hadn’t replied. She’d only rejoined her brother Milek, who’d slid his arm around her.

  Had Milek told her what Nicholas had had no business revealing? He cursed himself for his admission. But he had come to care about his family—about all of his family, which included the Kozminskis. And Milek’s pain over his loss had affected Nicholas the most.