Mafia Hitman's Daring Lover (The Karzhov Crime Family Series Book 2) (4 page)

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 good 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…?”

“I’m not trying to tell you anything. It was a question.”
I want what you have with Katya.
That thought had been rolling around in his brain since he’d left Vegas.

Nikolai nodded his head, looking up as a sleepy Katya appeared in his office door. Gesturing for her to come to him, he scooted back away from his desk, wrapping his arm around her as she crawled onto his lap and nuzzled her head under his chin. Holding her felt so right.

“Well, you would have to come under the protection of a powerful
Pakhan
for it to work. Take yourself off the available list and pledge allegiance to only one group.”
Like mine.

Silence reigned while those words lingered in the air. Grigori struggled with asking for Nikolai’s protection, having spent his life as one of the most powerful enforcers the Russian mafia had, either in the States or abroad.

Nikolai didn’t immediately offer, wanting to give Grigori plenty of time to make up his mind.

Grigori finally swallowed his pride and began, “When this is over…”

“Say no more. It will be accomplished.”

“Thank you.” Grigori’s respect for Nikolai’s leadership grew as the man answered him without making him grovel or verbalize words that some would consider weak.

“We’ll not speak of it again until this is over. Now, what do you know about Leonid?”

“He’s in bed with the Colombians.”

“That is not news.”

“For more than drugs,” Grigori added.

“What is he moving?” Nikolai let his free hand play in Katya’s hair, knowing she could hear both sides of the conversation from her current position but making no attempt to move her from his lap. She was the rightful leader of the San Moreno
Bratva
, and if Nikolai was successful in schooling her, she would be making decisions as his equal before too long. She needed to know what was happening around her.

“Women. The bastard is selling women.”

Nikolai shook his head, wondering when his friend had grown so soft. “Grigori, all of the
Bratva
have been involved in prostitution—”

“I didn’t say whores, Nik. The bastard’s not running cathouses in the jungles of South America. He’s helping provide those Colombian devils women to be sold.
Slaves
.”

“How do you know this?” Nikolai asked, tightening his grip on Katya as she gasped and tried to pull away. Yeah, she’d heard Grigori and was as appalled as he was.
His organization may skirt the law in certain areas, but that was a hard and fast one that neither Nikolai nor his predecessors had ever crossed. Never.

“I found one of their camps when I was down there.”

Katya struggled in his arms, and Nikolai finally released her, alarmed to see her crying silently and shaking her head as she backed away from him. “Hold on a second,” he instructed Grigori, muting the phone on his end and laying it on his desk.

Holding out his hand, he called to Katya, “Come here,
dorogaya
.”

“Those women…”

“Katya, come here.” Nikolai waited while she battled with herself, finally coming back to him and letting him pull her back onto his lap and into his arms. He stroked a hand down her back. “You know I would never condone such behavior.”

“Do I?” Katya knew her question was offensive the minute she heard her words echo in the room and hurried to make amends. “I’m sorry. Of course I know you would never participate in such a vile activity. But if—”

“Not if. Grigori wouldn’t have said anything unless he was 100 percent positive his facts were accurate.”

“And this is the same person responsible for my parents’ deaths?”

“Indirectly, yes.”

Katya was silent for a moment, then asked, “May I speak with Grigori?”

Nikolai raised his eyebrows, but slowly nodded, his eyes searching her own and then his lips curving in a grin at the resolve and anger he saw reflected there.
She’s going to make a fabulous leader.
Pushing the button to unmute the phone, he then placed it on speakerphone and instructed Grigori, “Katya is here and would like to speak to you.”

“Katya? Hey, doll. You needing more rope?”

Katya smiled but then sobered. “No. Thank you though. I heard what you were telling Nikolai.”

Grigori said something in Russian, then apologized. “You weren’t meant to learn of this ugliness.”

“If I am going to help Nikolai in the near future, I have to know what’s going on.”

Grigori asked the question that sprang to his mind without even thinking of tempering it. “You’re going to share power?”

Nikolai hugged Katya close and answered, “For now. Katya presented a very good argument.”

“And now I find myself ready to make my first major decision.”

“Good for you. How can I help?” Grigori asked, smiling at the confidence he heard in her voice.

“I want anyone associated with this Leonid person gone.”

“When you say ‘gone,’ doll, what exactly do you have in mind?”

“Gone. Dead. Buried alive. Dropped off a boat wearing concrete shoes. I don’t care. Just gone!”

“Nik, she’s awfully bloodthirsty. Maybe you should rethink sleeping for a while.”

Nikolai smiled. “She’s not directing her hatred at me, so I’m safe. And I tend to agree with her solution. Leonid has been a thorn in everyone’s side for years. If he now has men like the Ryndin brothers vying for his attention, things are about to go from bad to worse.”

“I plan on taking care of the Ryndin brothers. They are responsible for hiring the hit on Katya’s parents and will be dead before the weekend is over, if I have my way. But I need to know how they’re connected to Leonid. Stefan said no one has been able to get close to the man for years now. He surrounds himself with men willing to die for him and doesn’t blink an eye when they pay the ultimate price. He simply fills their spots with more devoted followers.”

No one said anything, but all three adults were thinking how stupid some people could be. Grigori continued, “Stefan thinks Leonid has some major connections down here, and I mean to ferret them out and turn them against him. When his infrastructure begins to crumble around his ears, he won’t have such an easy time of hiding, and then I will be able to find him.”

Nikolai was glad he wasn’t going to be around to see the aftermath. Grigori wasn’t known for his patience or his mercy. Leonid would pay for his sins, in ways Nikolai couldn’t even begin to fathom.
I just hope that Grigori doesn’t end up leaving another piece of his soul behind in the process. The man sounds tired and ready for something different.

“How can I help?” Nikolai asked, getting back around to the reason for Grigori’s call.

“I need to know how deeply Danil is in this.”

Nikolai cringed but then nodded. “I’ll personally see to his interrogation. I’ll have the men pick him up in the morning. Will that be soon enough?”

“Yes. I’m heading back to the hotel to see what kind of information the Internet can yield on his movements in the area. I know how he’s bringing his merchandise in from South America; what I need to know now is whether or not he’s sending merchandise back from this locale.”

“If you need backup, call Stefan. He may be young, but he has connections that amaze even me.”

“I have a few thoughts in that regard. We can discuss them when this is over.”

“Right. Good luck, and keep me updated.”

“Will do.” Grigori disconnected the call and exited the freeway, heading towards his hotel. He’d finish going over the information Stefan had left for him, and then he was going to go on a little midnight investigative tour. He’d start at the dry cleaner and see if he could determine what kind of merchandise had been purchased earlier in the day.