Savage Recruit (Ryan Savage Thriller Series Book 8)

by Jack Hardin

  Florin did not see her board with anyone. She appeared to be alone. Smiling to himself, he picked his way through the crowd and entered the salon. She was at the bar, her back to him. Florin took a moment to allow his gaze to linger on the long curve of her leg, displayed as it was by the long slit in the side of her dress.

  He started toward her but was stopped by a man whose name he had forgotten and who proceeded to pitch him a new investment opportunity in the green energy sector. “Yes,” Florin said absently, not taking his eyes off the lady. “Let me catch you later this evening, We can speak then.” Not waiting for a reply, he moved off. By the time he made it to the most beautiful item on his boat, she was sipping a dirty martini.

  He stepped beside her, motioned to the bartender for a drink, and quietly cleared his throat. “Hello,” he said. “I do not believe we have met.”

  She chuckled softly, took a long sip from her glass, and turned toward him.

  Florin’s smile faltered, then faded altogether. He stumbled over his words. “What—how—?”

  “Go on.”

  He tried forcing a smile, but it wouldn’t come. The best he could offer was a stupidly blank expression. “It—it has been a long time. What—what are you doing here?”

  “You mean, why am I no longer locked in a room at Vasilly’s house? Why am I even still alive?”

  The smile came now, smooth and self assured. Inside his chest, however, Florin’s heart was thumping like a broken jackhammer. “Kathleen, what are you talking about?”

  “Cut the crap, Florin.”

  The bartender placed a drink on the bar in front of him. He ignored it.

  “It was a brilliant plan,” Kathleen said. “It really was. But it failed.” She drained her drink and turned fully to face him. “You’re going away for a very long time. You can say goodbye to this yacht, your money—everything. My free time will now be spent writing emails to the Department of Justice, making sure that you get the entire book.”

  Florin’s forehead was glistening with sweat now. He opened his mouth to speak, but she stopped him.

  “Turn around, Florin.”

  “What?”

  “Turn around,” she ordered.

  He smirked. “What, are you going to arrest me? Please.”

  “Turn around,” an accented voice growled behind him.

  Florin whipped around to see Simon Luganov standing before him.

  “I don’t believe we’ve met,” Luganov said. “Allow me to introduce myself.” He brought up a hand and slapped Florin hard across the face. The sound of flesh slapping flesh filled the entire salon. The guests froze and set their worried expressions on their host. Luganov leaned in and hissed in Florin’s ear. “That was for killing my dog, you bastard.”

  As Florin stood there with his cheek burning, Kathleen behind him and an angry Luganov in front of him, it occurred to him why Mikhail had decided not to come. Somehow, he had gotten word that the plan had fallen apart. Florin huffed to himself. Mikhail had saved his own tail and hadn’t even bothered to warn him.

  Luganov’s eyes bore down. “You will never get into my brain. No one will. What I know will die with me. It is exactly because of people like you that I defected in the first place.” He shook his head angrily. “I need a drink.” He walked off, and Florin turned back to Kathleen.

  “Vasilly gave you up,” she said. “The game is over.”

  Florin swallowed hard. He hadn’t seen this coming. Not at all. And now that he was here, he felt naked, exposed, and words would not come.

  A tall man with intelligent, icy blue eyes stepped up beside Kathleen. He, like everyone else, was wearing a tuxedo. He gave Florin a polite nod. “Mr. Gronozav, I am Agent Ryan Savage with Homeland Security.” He motioned behind Florin. “And that there is Captain Piero Romano with the Naples police department. He is going to arrest you and then transfer you into U.S. custody.” He clapped a hand on Florin’s shoulder. “Smile. You’re going to America.”

  Florin did not have a chance to respond before strong hands grabbed his wrists and he felt cold steel clamp down around them.

  It was a good plan, he thought. But when he looked into Kathleen's face as they led him away, he suddenly was no longer sure.

  Every eye in the place watched with a mixture of concern and intrigue as the police shepherded Florin Gronozav across the deck and down the passerelle. No one seemed to know how to proceed; even the quartet had stopped playing.

  I stepped out of the salon and crossed the deck to the top of the passerelle. Boomer’s team came and stood beside me, five men in tuxedos forming a wall of defense against an easy exit of the yacht.

  I lifted a hand and raised my voice. “Excuse me. If I could have your attention. Florin Gronozav has just been arrested on multiple counts of kidnapping and extortion, among many other things. Being that you all are here as investors in a business that had these crimes at their center, I’m going to need to ask you to leave your names with us as you leave. Police officers are waiting at the dock to get them from you on your way out.”

  From the other side of the deck, someone splashed into the water. Beside me, Boomer chuckled.

  “On it,” Teapot said and ran across the deck, vaulted over the railing, and cannon balled into the water.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  It took almost an hour to clear the boat, but the guests, the crew, food service, the quartet, and bartenders were finally all gone. Just the seven of us stood together on the entertainment deck: me, Kathleen, Luganov, and the Delta crew.

  Boomer excused himself and made his way to the salon, coming back a minute later with a bottle of vodka and an armful of glasses. He passed the glasses around and filled each glass. Once everybody was armed with a drink, he lifted his. “To Kathleen, Zoe, and to you, Mr. Luganov. We’re all very glad you’re safe.”

  We toasted and tipped back our glasses.

  I had something to say as well. “None of us would be here without our Army’s finest. It was a distinct honor to serve with you all. You treated me as one of your own. I’ll never forget it.”

  Boomer nodded. “The honor was all ours, Savage. I mean that.”

  Luganov took another sip of his drink and cleared his throat. “This has been a very hard day for me. I was forced from my home. My dog was shot. I can never go back to the place where I thought I would spend the rest of my days. I am thankful to know that there are people like all of you who spend your lives working to stop men like Florin Gronozav.”

  “I’m sorry you won’t be able to go back to Austria,” Granger said.

  “Thank you.”

  “Why did you set up shop in Austria?” Boomer asked. “Usually people just want to go straight to the promised land.”

  “I suppose I will now,” he said, albeit without much enthusiasm. “I didn’t defect to America because I love the peace and serenity of the Austrian Alps. They always held a certain charm for me.”

  “Well, I’ll throw in my two cents for Georgia,” Boomer said. “You want mountains, they got some mountains. You want baseball, they’ve got baseball.”

  Kathleen nodded for me to follow her to the bow. “Ryan, thank you.”

  “You know you don’t need to thank me.”

  “I know I don’t. But I want to. I’m lucky to have you on the team.”

  “You really had me worried for a time there,” I said.

  “Me too.” She looked away. “I never thought I would have given up–”

  “Don’t do that, Kathleen. You made the right choice. I know. Luganov knows it. Nobody is blaming you for what you did. Least of all him.”

  She nodded absently, then stepped in and hugged me. “I’m going to go call Zoe.” She brought her phone out of her clutch and went up the steps to the second entertainment deck.

  As I made my way back to the guys, someone stepped onto the deck behind them. “Bahar,” I said. “You made it.”

  “Did I miss the party?”

  “You missed the f
irst one, but the second one is in full swing. Come on. I’ll introduce you to everyone.”

  He hesitated.

  “Something wrong?”

  “No. Not at all. But can we talk? Just for a moment. I don’t want to talk shop with everyone. I’m sure they want to relax.”

  “Sure. What’s on your mind?”

  “Earlier today, I was researching Mr. Gronozav’s dealings, as well as his closest business associates. One of them is Mikhail Ivanov. Have you heard of him?

  “I can’t say that I have. Why?”

  “Because from everything I can see, he has been busy planning an attack against the United States. And Ryan, whatever it is, it’s going to happen very soon.”

  Ryan returns soon in Savage Blood.

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