Hotwire

by Cindy M. Hogan

  “Actually, no. I’m one of the bulls, the byki, more like bodyguards. I protect the Councilor.”

  “Do you have any information that could help us locate the car we’re looking for? You say you don’t have the address of the shipping yard for your shipment, but do you know where they hold the cars before they ship?”

  Kozlov shook his head. “Look, even if I did know, I don’t think I would tell you. To have you Division guys barging in to rescue one car could destroy everything I’ve worked for these last five years. Do you know what I’ve had to give up, what I’ve had to become?” He locked eyes with Jeremy, and I could see that he was haunted.

  “In one year, I’ll have enough to bring down the whole bratva. Don’t ask me to do anything to endanger that.” He stood up. “I’ve told you what I can, and I can’t stay any longer. What you do now is up to you.”

  Jeremy and I watched him go. I knew what he was thinking without him having to say it. He wanted to abandon the project. Before he could derail it, I would have to try to convince him that we should stay on it.

  “We can’t give up on this, Jeremy. Seriously, there must be something really important about this car that we don’t know about, or Division wouldn’t have sent us after it. If you think about it, it’s really not only about the one car, it’s about all of them. We find it, and the whole car theft ring will be exposed. Once it’s exposed, the FBI or whoever, can shut it down. Think of the impact we could have…how many people we could help.”

  He looked at me with a calm patience that made me feel a bit frantic. He didn’t interrupt me or even twitch as I talked. I was going to lose this battle. “Jeremy?”

  “Normally, I would agree with you, but in this case, there are too many variables, too much danger, too many unanswered questions. Every time I go to the director with my concerns, he ignores them and basically strong arms me into getting to work instead of getting to the bottom of things. It’s just not safe. The mafia? Hello! The four of us cannot take that organization on and expect a good result. I’m certain that when the Director hears what we have to tell him, he will take us off the case immediately and turn it over to the FBI and CIA so they can mount an appropriate operation to bring them down.”

  “But think about this. What if being a four-man team worked to our advantage? The mafia would have no idea we were coming. No one could leak information, and we could get in and out without a lot of hassle. Don’t you think it would be the greatest challenge ever?”

  “But,” Jeremy said, raising an eyebrow, “what if what we did exposed Kozlov and ruined all the work he’s done to bring down the entire network? Would it be worth it to save one car when in a year all the cars, weapons, people, and drugs could be saved?”

  I sighed.

  “We have to consider the big picture. Our pride can’t get in the way of the greater good.”

  What could I say to that? He was right, really. I had no way to counter what he was saying. The risk was too great. “You’re right. We better get to headquarters.”

  Jeremy gave me a sad look and immediately asked for covert entrance into Division Headquarters, giving instructions that we needed Director Skriloff to be present. I stewed the whole way there, still trying to think of a reason why we should stay on the case, but the writing was on the wall. It was simply too dangerous for us to continue without more specialized training about the mafia, and it would be a silly move that would jeopardize everything Kozlov had worked for. The car-theft gang would fall if he were successful, along with the entire structure from the Pakhan to the shestyorka. I had to concede to a defeat beyond my control.

  ***

  Even in the middle of the night, Division was hopping. Sure, not every desk was full, but the night shift was at least half-staff. The director, however, worked about a ten-hour day and then went home. He’d be getting out of bed to come meet with us. I hoped that wouldn’t make him less approachable. We made our way through the cubicles in central command and down a long hallway to a conference room. It shocked me a little to see Director Skriloff already sitting at the head of the oval table with a smile on his stern face. He wore a crisp suit that hung perfectly on his moderately toned body. He’d even taken the time to slick down his graying black hair. That’s when it occurred to me what he thought we were going to say. He thought he was about to report to whoever had hired us that we had retrieved the car. He was about to be one very upset man.

  “I didn’t think you would succeed in such quick order. Is the car in the garage now? Was there any damage?” His broad smile hitched his glasses up a bit on his nose, giving him a comical look.

  “I’m sorry, sir,” Jeremy said. “We haven’t uncovered its whereabouts as yet, and it doesn’t look like we’ll be able to.”

  The director’s face fell, and he rubbed at his clean-shaven chin. “I don’t understand.”

  “It would seem that this is not a small-time theft operation after all. It is an arm of the Russian mafia, shipping cars to West Africa.”

  The director shifted his head to the side, an abrupt, short movement. “Did you say the Russian mafia?”

  Jeremy nodded with one slow motion. He explained what we had learned from Agent Kozlov, though I noticed he didn’t mention any names.

  A look of complete dejection spread across the director’s face. “No wonder. I guess nothing can be as simple as it seems on the outset.” He bit the corner of his lip. Silence filled the room while the director seemed to be thinking. His eyes darted from one side of the room to the other, and then he closed them and took in a deep breath. Finally he spoke, “But I’m afraid we can’t abandon this mission.”

  Jeremy raised an eyebrow, and his jaw dropped. I believe I shared the same reaction. “Sir,” Jeremy said. “I don’t mean to challenge you, but there is no way one car could be worth risking bringing down the entire Russian mafia.”

  “I am your director, and I am telling you that it is worth it.” He spoke in a clipped, irritated voice. Somewhere on the edges, I thought I recognized a bit of a challenge.

  Jeremy’s jaw tightened, and I knew he was doing everything to stay calm. “Surely, Director Skriloff, we should be working with the FBI to make sure we aren’t jeopardizing the undercover agent’s life or his operation—

  “Let the FBI worry about the FBI. And on that note, you were given strict instructions not to share information between agencies, and yet you defied that order.”

  “Sir, I—”

  “I don’t want to hear any excuses,” Skriloff barked. “Your actions will be noted in your record. I suggest you follow orders with more integrity in the future if you want to stay in the field.”

  Jeremy’s face flamed red. I knew Director Skriloff’s attack on his integrity must hurt.

  “Director,” I said carefully. “It was my idea to go to the FBI agent—and we did learn some valuable information from him that we wouldn’t have been able to get otherwise. And honestly, sir, after what we learned I don’t think we can in good conscience continue this mission.”

  Director Skriloff turned to glare at me. “Who authorized you to speak? A second-year agent, and you think you have any right to lecture me on what missions we can or cannot continue? I am your director. I am privy to information that you—for very good reasons—are not. It is not your place to question the ethics of the mission. It is your place to trust your superiors and follow orders.” Anger boiled just beneath his words, and his face turned red as he delivered his diatribe.

  “Your mission remains the same. Retrieve the car by any means necessary before it is shipped off, never to be found again.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I expect you to use your training to infiltrate the mafia and uncover the location of the vehicle. Once you have the location, you are to retrieve the car and bring it here. Do you have any questions?”

  “Is there something you aren’t telling us?” I blurted.

  Director Skriloff’s eyes bugged out in barely contained rage. “Of course there’s some
thing I’m not telling you. I’ve told you exactly what you need to know to do your job and nothing more. Now go do it.” He turned away for a moment and when he turned back, his face was a mask of calm. “I am anxious to receive your report that you have located the vehicle.”

  ***

  Jeremy and I didn’t speak on the way home from headquarters. For my part, my mind was spinning with everything we’d learned, and I didn’t trust anything coherent to come out of my mouth.

  For better or for worse, we were back on the case. Only now there was an extra element of danger. I had to find a way to retrieve this mysteriously important car without endangering myself, Agent Kozlov, or the FBI’s efforts to bring down the bratva. The pressure made it a little difficult to breathe, and more than a little difficult to sleep that night.

  Chapter 18

  I got to the school five minutes before Mr. Shareweather. Without a word, he opened the back shop door and let me inside. Watching him up close like I now was, I couldn’t help but notice how he had the look of a Russian—the prominent, round cheekbones, gray-blue eyes, thin lips, and a strong jawline. Could he be of Russian ancestry and was trying to hide it with the ridiculous name of Shareweather?

  He unlocked some cupboards and pulled out two small tablets, handing me one. “I understand you’re quite proficient in stealing cars without high-tech security systems.” His voice was flat, devoid of humor.

  “I guess so.”

  “Either you are or you aren’t. This is no time for being modest.”

  I nodded. “Then, yes.”

  “I am, by some miracle, supposed to make you proficient with these high-tech systems in one and a half hours. You appear to be someone with some intelligence.”

  “Yes.” I did not look away.

  “Then, we work.”

  He was forceful and impatient throughout his instruction. Luckily, I had watched several videos provided to me by Division about the process, and there were only a few differences between what I’d already learned and what Shareweather was demonstrating—it seemed the Russians had found a slightly faster way to get in with the program they had. The tablet also had a jammer function that prevented GPS from locating the car once they’d stolen it. The process was slick, actually. By the time school started, I had my time down to four minutes.

  “I am rarely surprised by the kids Viktor sends me.” S-Dub’s voice was flat and gruff. He left it like that, just short of a compliment. I chose to take it as one. Inside, however, I wanted to spend more time on it so that I could get closer to Mikado and Jericho’s time of three minutes. Then again, there were two of them. Maybe paired with someone skilled, I’d be at three minutes, too. But did they plan to pair me with anyone?

  Viktor was standing just outside the shop as I exited it. He leaned in and took my hand. “How’d it go?”

  “Excellent, I think, but S-Dub is pretty short on compliments.” I frowned.

  “Ah, S-Dub has had a rough life. He expects a lot of his protégés. You’ll learn to appreciate him over time.” I couldn’t help but notice how perfectly Viktor’s short beard, mustache and eyebrows were trimmed. He took great care of himself.

  “Do you hire someone to keep you looking like a GQ model, or do you do it yourself?”

  He pushed a quick puff of air out his nose and stroked his chin. “This is all me, baby. All me.”

  I tilted my head and gave him a look that said, tell me another one.

  “Okay, okay. I might have someone help me out a couple times a week.”

  I chuckled. “I thought so.” I didn’t want to compliment him, but it seemed like the right thing to do. “They do a great job.” I nodded several times.

  He pressed his lips together and raised his chin. “Thanks. I want to look perfect for you.”

  I knew the truth of the matter was that he wanted to look perfect for himself, but a girlfriend would coo at such a statement, so I did.

  “Should we go in?” He gestured toward the doors to the school and started to pull me that way.

  I tugged back, the feeling that I should show some vulnerability hitting me pretty hard. “I just don’t want to let you down.”

  He turned back to me and took both my hands this time, putting his chin on his chest. “Ah, Amber, this is not the time to feel unsure. You can do this. I know it.”

  I let my head loll forward. “You know what? You’re right! I can do this.”

  “That’s my girl. Just wow Alexander tonight, and you’re in.”

  That wasn’t anything new. What I needed to do was get him to invite me to his uncle’s house somehow. If I could manage that, I might be able to find some information on where they were shipping from. “What if I don’t, though? What then? He’ll hate me, won’t he?”

  “Once you know him better, you’ll see, he’s pretty great.”

  Now that I had my foot in, and he was thinking about me getting to know his uncle better, I would leave it and get back to it later. “I hope so. I’d really like to get this to work.” Now it was time to play a little hard to get with him. I looked pointedly at his hands holding mine. “I also don’t know you well enough to be holding your hands. No fair taking advantage of my vulnerability.”

  He smiled and brought one of my hands to his lips. “A little vulnerability looks good on you.” He raised one eyebrow. “But only a little. In time, you’ll come to trust me, too.” He led me inside and school started as usual.

  On my way to second period, I ran into Carson. His face was clean-shaven, and he had his guitar slung over his shoulder.

  “Hey.”

  “Hey, yourself.” I smiled.

  “Did I see you with Viktor this morning?” His blue eyes narrowed slightly.

  “You did.” I wanted to ask him why he was Viktor’s friend, but thought better of it. I had no idea if he was involved in the car theft gang or not.

  He pulled me off to the side, away from all the traffic in the hall. “Be careful. He’s dangerous.”

  “Dangerous?”

  “Let’s just say I’ve had a few run-ins with him, and it wasn’t pretty.” He kept his voice low as we walked down the hall, leaning close together.

  “But I thought you were his friend.”

  “I play my part well, then.”

  “Seriously? You hang out with him, but you don’t like him?”

  He nodded. “His family—”

  “Amber!” Jericho interrupted. “You enjoying your new laptop?” He tapped my forearm.

  Carson took a step back from me, and my eyes flicked from him to Jericho. “Are you kidding? It’s fabulous. Thank you again.” Why had Carson stepped back like that?

  “I’m not the one you should be thanking. It was Wind who gave it to you.” Despite his words, I could see he totally wanted to claim the credit. “Come on, Carson. We don’t want to be late for calculus.” He motioned with his head in the direction of their class.

  Carson pressed his lips together before saying, “We’ll finish this discussion later.” He smiled and then mouthed. “Be careful.”

  What did he know? I couldn’t imagine him being a part of the gang, but who would think Karina or Gina would be, either? I looked around the students rushing through the hall and wondered how many of the student body were somehow involved with the thefts. Had Kozlov been right that there were at least twenty kids under S-Dub roaming the halls of this school?

  I rushed to class so I wouldn’t be late. At lunch, Viktor tried to get me to sit with him, but I chose to sit with Karina, Gina, Hank, and the nerdy boys who had saved me from social suicide instead. I kept hoping Carson would come to me and finish what he’d started, but I didn’t even see him in the lunchroom.

  “I think they look great, Hank.” Karina smiled widely, and while her teeth weren’t perfectly straight, Hank’s were, and his braces were gone.

  “Wow, Hank. Your teeth look great. Feel a bit slimy?” I’d never forget that first day after getting my braces off and how slick and slimy my teeth
felt for a few days.

  “Yep! But I don’t care. It’s awesome having them off.” He leaned in toward the middle of the table. “Do you think Kara will go out with me now?” When he said her name, he looked toward a table to our left where I assumed she was sitting.

  “Which one is she?” I asked.

  “The one with the long black hair and sun-kissed skin.”

  I smiled. She was a beauty, her oriental heritage gifting her all good things. “Has she turned you down before?”

  “No,” he admitted. “But I figured a girl like that wouldn’t want to date a brace-face.”

  “I bet she’s dying to go out with you,” I said. I noticed a slight scowl cross Karina’s face. Was she hoping he’d ask her out?

  “I can’t wait to get braces. I hate my teeth.” Karina’s hands flew to her mouth.

  “When are you getting them?” Hank asked.

  “Well, our insurance won’t pay for them, and my parents don’t have the money, so I got a job to pay for them. Hopefully I’ll have enough by the end of the year.”

  “Man. That’s harsh, Karina. I can’t believe you have to pay for them yourself. If you want my opinion, though, I don’t think you need them.” Hank patted her hand.

  “Really?” She blushed slightly.

  “Really.”

  “Oh, I don’t know. This one overlaps that one, and it bugs me.” She pointed to a pair of teeth that were crowded.

  “Well, if it bugs you that much, I might know someone who would give you a good deal, considering you’re earning the money yourself. He’s super nice. I’ll talk to him.”

  “Seriously? That would be great, Hank. Thank you.”

  “No problem.”

  They smiled at each other and moved on to another topic. In just a few short days, I’d found Hank to be completely genuine and kind-hearted. It was a relief to be around him—he had nothing to do with the mafia, and he was just a purely good kid. It was nice to have that respite from the darkness of my mission. Maybe his goodness would rub off on Karina and pull her away from the path she was heading down.