by Ginger Ring
“I’m fine, just a little cold.” He took off his jacket and put it around her. The two guns he had secured in a double holster would have caused quite a scene at the place they’d just left. Wrapping the jacket tighter around her, she inhaled his aftershave. This day had been emotional and draining and what would happen next was anyone’s guess.
Again he placed his hand along her back and pressed her forward. Her legs felt like lead but she could do this. She’d run most areas of the business but this was different. Her role was always overseeing the books, taxes, and working with the employees at the clubs. If her gut was right, this would be getting your hands dirty with someone’s blood.
The sun had set and the sky had turned to stunning shades of orange and red. Arlo knocked on the door and it was Jasper who let them in. It was even darker in the building and it took a moment for her eyes to adjust. There in the middle of the large area was a lone bright light hanging from the ceiling. Below the light, a man slumped in a metal chair, his hands tied behind his back.
“Who the fuck is that?” Arlo asked gruffly.
“Christopher.” Jasper spoke up behind them. “I don’t like this one bit. If it wasn’t for him, we’d never have found Jackie. He was the tech guy who alerted us she’d been taken.” He explained for Layla’s sake.
Layla turned to face him. “Taken?”
“By Fedor’s brother. I owe him her life.” Jasper cursed and shoved his hands in his pockets.
“But if he was involved with the bombings, he also almost killed her. Almost killed all of us,” Arlo pointed out. “Let’s hope that’s not the case.”
It was warmer inside but it still didn’t take off the chills going down her spine. Layla slipped her arms through the large jacket and pulled it closer. The weight of it gave her comfort and strength.
“Let’s go see what’s up.” Arlo waited for Jasper to lock the door behind them.
As they neared the men in the darkened room, Layla looked for familiar faces. It was just Roman and Dominic that were there. Surprisingly, she expected there to be more.
Roman nodded at her while Dominic remained focused on their captive.
“Who is this man?” She wanted to hear Roman’s side of the story. Hopefully her voice hid her nerves.
“Christopher, one of the tech guys.” Roman appeared relaxed except for the slight twitch in his jaw. The lack of blood on the man showed the hadn’t had time to question him yet.
“Why is he here?” Although she asked the questions, Layla remained to the side of Arlo. This was not her territory and there was no need to show disrespect to anyone in the family by stepping up or on anyone’s toes.
“To find out what he knows.” Roman slowly started to circle the chair. “It seemed odd that the bombs exploded at the same time but yet killed no one who was targeted. We suspected from the beginning that this must be tied to someone on the inside. Someone that would know where everyone was at all times.”
Christopher kept his face down but you could see he trembled. Layla glanced from man to man. All were emotionless and focused on the guy in the middle.
“The person had to know where everyone was but yet the bomb went off when we were all safely away. Why is that?” Roman stopped in front of the chair for a moment before starting to walk again. “I sent files on our employees’ homes with these guys and the only one that drew a red flag was Christopher’s.” Layla briefly looked at Arlo and there was no emotion on his face. “We pay you very well, Chris, yet all your credit cards are charged to the max paying off routine purchases. Food, rent, car payments. Why is that?” He stopped in front of the chair again. “Why is that?” Roman shouted, his voice reverberating in the large chamber.
Christopher looked up and she could see a tear roll down his face. “I got into something I couldn’t get out of. I’m so sorry.” He sobbed. “So sorry.”
“What did you get into?” Metal scraped on the cement floor as Roman pulled a chair up and took a seat facing the doomed man.
“I…I have…had…a girlfriend in Chicago. I was going to propose. Being stupid, I stopped at a casino on the way, thinking I could gamble a bit and hopefully get an even bigger ring.” He sniffled a few times as he explained. “I’m not much of a gambler, don’t even know that much about it, but I thought I would just stop for half an hour and call it good.” Christopher’s jaw lowered to his chest.
“And?” This time it was Dominic that asked.
“I don’t remember,” Christopher admitted and Dominic turned his head toward Arlo, his eyes wary.
“What do you mean you don’t remember?” The captive remained quiet and Roman continued. “There’s one and only one reason that you aren’t bleeding all over the floor right now and that is because you’ve saved the lives of people in this family several times. Now spill or I’ll be forced to have Arlo get out his tools.” Everyone turned toward the man who could make anyone talk but still he remained emotionless. Layla looped her arm around his. A mob boss, male or female, was supposed to be strong but if she had to watch Arlo torture someone, she’d probably be sick.
Chapter Thirteen
Arlo
“Did you hear me?” Roman asked quietly but Chris looked up and nodded. His face pale and strained. “What happened next?”
They’d never met in person but he’d talked to Chris several times on the phone. The kid looked young but had had been an expert at his job.
“We don’t have all day.” Roman stood up and motioned Arlo over but the guy finally found his voice.
“Okay, okay.” Chris bounced in the metal chair.
Usually he enjoyed the chance to make someone talk, to get information, but the thought of doing that in front of someone he cared about turned his stomach. Her father expected to her rule but Layla would need someone she could trust to handle this part of the operation. She wasn’t an enforcer, never was, never would be. He thanked his lucky stars that Chris agreed to spill his guts.
His boss took a seat again. “Talk, we don’t have all night.”
“Like I said, I went to the casino and I don’t remember what happened after that.”
A slap sounded in the room as Roman reached out and smacked Chris across the face.
“I’m serious,” Christopher argued. “I played a few games. A waitress came up and offered me a free drink so I took it. After she brought it to me, I drank another, and that’s the last thing I remember. I woke up in the presidential suite. My mouth was dry, my head was spinning, and when I checked out, I had a hundred thousand dollar plus tab.” The guy was on the verge of crying as he looked up to the heavens. “I tried to argue about it but they threw me in a room. Roughed me up a bit and wouldn’t let me leave. I said I would call the cops but then he showed up.”
“Who showed up?” Layla asked beside him. The expression on Christopher’s face showed shock that a woman was here but if he’d thought they would go easy on him, he was mistaken.
“Some Russian guy, said his name was Fedor something. I had no clue who he was but when he showed me a picture of my girlfriend on his phone, I knew it was much worse than I thought.”
His voice was raspy and Layla asked for some water for the man but Roman declined the offer.
“Keep talking and then we’ll get you some water.” The cautionary stare his boss gave Layla spoke volumes. She was to remain quiet for the rest of the interrogation. No compassion, no forgiveness.
“Like I said, the guy said his name was Fedor and he was the head of the Russian mob. The freakin’ mob.”
“You work for the mob, you dumbass,” Dominic grumbled.
“That’s different. You pay me. I do surveillance just like a security company.”
“We are not a fucking security company. I make people disappear. Forever. Does that sound like a normal, run of the mill security organization?” Dominic added.
“No.” He stared at the ground.
“No? And yet you double cross us?” Dom got in his face.
&nbs
p; “They took my girlfriend. They drugged me and somehow got me into debt for well over a hundred thousand dollars. Then they jacked up the interest so much I was in for over half a million in just a few months.”
“Why didn’t you come to us?” This time Jasper got into the action. “We could have helped.”
“Aren’t you listening?” he cried. “They had my girlfriend. The one I was going to ask to marry me.” Chris groaned and shook his head. “When I didn’t make the first payment…” he choked, “they sent me a picture of her with a bloody eye. Her pretty face a mess and in tears. They said if I told anyone they would start sending me pieces of her body in the mail. A few days later, I received a finger. A fucking finger! I didn’t know if it was hers or not, but I was terrified. I had to save her. Had to do something.”
Layla gasped. Arlo put an arm around her and pulled her to his side. Her delicate perfume was out of place in the stench of sweat and decay in the old building. Her soft curves molded to his hard body, giving him comfort.
“I emptied my bank account and started charging and advancing on my credit cards but it was never enough. I’d lost everything but he wanted more. Said we could work something out. I had not a clue what he wanted from me. No one knew what I did, I told him I worked for a small tech company but he knew.” His lower lip quivered. “He knew I worked for you.”
“So, he asked for intel?” It was a question, but Roman probably knew the answer. They all did.
“Yes, places of shipments. A few unknown warehouses in Chicago. Some of Bruno’s hang out spots.”
“The hits we’ve had in the last few months.” Jasper walked over and placed a hand on the kid’s shoulder. Christopher had to be in his mid-twenties but he appeared as vulnerable as a teenager.
“Yes, but what he didn’t know was that as I was feeding info to him, I was also feeding intel back to me. I had to find my girl.”
“How did you get access to Bruno?” Layla had stiffened at the sound of her father’s name so he asked the question for her.
“By monitoring Connie’s phone. As Roman’s mother-in-law, she is under our protection and supervision. That’s how I knew where they were having dinner that night. I knew something was up so made up a fake threat to get them both back home.”
“Did he have you check on Layla also?” Arlo had to know.
“I didn’t have access to her but yes, he did ask, numerous times.”
“What is his interest in Layla besides the obvious?” She is a beautiful woman but the guy had to be a lunatic if he thought she’d marry him.
“I’m sure he wanted to use her for leverage and didn’t think he could get to anyone else. His brother, Alexander, disappeared and I think he thought we had him and he wanted to trade the girl for his brother. Fedor kept asking questions about him but I said I knew nothing. I didn’t let on that we had him.”
Roman rose. “What makes you think we do?”
“Don’t know for sure but with him asking and you having a scrambler near a safe house I put two and two together.” Chris laid his head back.
“But you said nothing?” Arlo got back into the conversation.
“Correct.”
“He could be lying,” Dominic jumped in.
“I’m not or you’d all be dead,” Chris declared.
“And why aren’t we all dead?” Their boss locked his hands behind his back and stared down at their captive.
“Like I said, I was monitoring all their info also. I didn’t know about the bomb until about twenty minutes before. I love my girlfriend but I couldn’t let you all die. I made a call to Bruno that he was needed at home, but I guess he was feeling unwell anyway. I also sent a warning to the boat that you had to come in due to the storm. There really was no storm warning. I wish I could have done more to save the people in the restaurant and on the ship but there was only so much I could do without raising suspicion.”
“You said you loved your girlfriend; did you change your mind or did something happen to her?” Layla spoke up even though she’d been warned not to. Leave it to her to bring up something that he’d missed.
“I had to find a way out so I went even deeper into their intel. I found her on their payroll. It was all a set up. The woman I wanted to marry was a plant and I’m one hundred percent sure I was drugged at the casino. I was going to come forward with everything but I needed more time to get everything documented. You can check my files. Even if you killed me before hearing my story, I wanted you to know the truth. I tried my best to do what was right but…I was in over my head. Clearly. I’m just a stupid IT nerd that had a chick way hotter than I could have even imagined. It seemed too good to be true and it was.” Chris was void of feeling and expression. The man appeared lost and to the point where he really didn’t give a damn anymore.
“There’s no love lost between Fedor and his brother, why does he want him back?” Arlo had wondered that ever since they’d captured him so he was glad that Roman had brought up the subject.
“It’s some kind of Russian family rule to keep brothers from killing each other. If one is found guilty of killing the other, they will be dethroned. If the oldest brother is proven to be incapable of overseeing things, the younger one will be the boss. I suspect Fedor still needs him to secure his leadership. I found some emails that people were not happy with this brother’s disappearance. They think Fedor may have been behind it.”
“But Alex is one hundred percent crazy. He’s psychotic.” Arlo knew that first hand. He’d been in on his torture and the guy just didn’t give. It was like he felt no pain or was in a trance.
“Maybe, maybe not.” Christopher added. “There were rumors that Fedor caused that in his brother but not sure how, why, or if it was even true.”
The men exchanged glances before gazing back to the man in the middle.
“What do we do now?” Dom started to pace. He had issues with being in enclosed areas for too long and the fact that he’d been involved in a fight to the death match in this very spot probably didn’t help either.
Roman walked over to them. “Since this involves both our families, what are your thoughts?”
You could have knocked Arlo over with a toothpick. That Roman had asked Layla’s opinion was huge. It showed great respect for her and her family.
“He said he had a file with all the info. I would check that out first to see if it is true. I would then see what all he has on Fedor. What they’ve done and what they’re planning to do. I’m assuming you have Alexander?” Both Roman and Arlo nodded.
“He’s crazy.” Jasper joined the conversation. “We should kill him and be done with it.”
“Maybe he isn’t so crazy after all.” Layla raised a finger to her lips.
“What do you mean?” He could guess where she was headed but he wanted to hear it from her lips.
“What if Fedor drove him crazy so he could take over?”
“He took a girl and left her near dead by the side of the road.” Alexander was a sore spot for Jasper and for good reason.
“Just a second.” Roman pulled out his phone and wandered off to make a call.
“What was that about?” Dominic now joined the conversation.
“I don’t know.” Arlo didn’t know what to make of it all.
“I still think we need to see the files this guy said he was leaving us and see what he has on the Russians,” Layla insisted.
“I don’t trust him,” Dominic reiterated.
“We’d have to monitor him closely but he might be the only way to find out what’s really going on and if what he says is true. The man did save all our lives.” It was true. They could all be dead right now.
“Thanks again and sorry for calling so late.” Roman finished his call and joined their small circle. “That was Ryan. I asked him if the Russian girl they found had any distinguishing marks.”
“You mean the one that Alexander took, who worked in one of the brothels. The one he left for dead along the road,” Arlo ex
plained for Layla’s benefit. When she tilted her head his way, he added, “She had a tattoo on her arm from one of their houses.”
“Yes, that one. And guess what?” Roman smiled for the first time since they arrived. “She’s missing a little finger.”
Chapter Fourteen
They talked little on the drive back to his place. He replayed everything that was said, and it was a good bet that she was doing the same. Even after he parked and opened her door, Layla remained still.
“Ready to go in?”
“Oh, right. Yeah.” Gathering her purse, she got out of the car.
He took her arm and escorted her into his building. It was usually comforting and quiet but today it just seemed empty and cold. Maybe when this was over, he’d buy a house, something on the lake or in the country. Unfortunately, without Layla, it would be lonely as hell so he might as well stay here.
Layla stopped at the elevator and pushed the button. Something was clearly on her mind. The doors opened and they stepped inside. He didn’t bother arguing about not using the stairs today. Not to mention they’d put extra security on the property since she’d moved in.
“I’d like to see this woman.” She finally broke the silence.
“What woman?”
“The Russian prostitute that Chris was involved with.” He figured as much. “Do you know where she is?”
“She’s in a private rehab facility. Her injuries were substantial, both physical and mental.”
“I can’t imagine what she went through.” Layla placed a hand over her heart as the elevator stopped on their floor. “I want to talk to her. Get her side of the story.”
“I’m pretty sure that can be arranged.” Arlo opened the door and ushered her in. “I’ve not seen Alexander for a while, I’d like to give him another try as well.”
“You mean torture him?” She tossed her purse on a chair and took a seat on the couch. “Maybe a different approach might work.”
