“If it looks like fake Louis Vuitton, and feels like a fake Louis Vuitton, then it is fake Louis Vuitton.”
“What the fuck is that? A venereal disease?”
Delilah looked horrified.
She pointed at her briefcase to give the Fed a clue. Still, her face was blank.
Ethan helped his wife out.
“It’s a designer, baby. You know your luggage that Callen got you? That L and V on it…?”
Jesus.
What the hell was going on in her life.
“Let me get this straight,” Delilah said. “You’re wearing two-karat diamond rocks in each ear, that cost almost fifty thousand dollars, and you don’t know what Louis Vuitton is?”
She looked sick.
WHAT?
“Ethan, tell me she’s lying. Tell me that Callen didn’t spend half of what I make in a year on earrings. I may throw up right now.”
Of course his wife was horrified.
“Tiffany. I can spot it a mile away,” she said, lifting her black hair to show off hers. “Twinsies.”
That made her nearly freak out.
The worst part being the woman looked like she stepped out of a catalog, and Elizabeth was the antithesis of that.
“Oh, Jesus,” she said, pulling them out and placing them on the table like they were explosives. “What the hell was he thinking? I lose shit all the time!”
Ethan gave Delilah a look.
It said it all.
It said don’t tell her about the necklace she was wearing, or his wife was going to have a stroke.
“Anyway,” she said. “He’s a bad downpour. I hope you get that storm handled before someone gets hurt.”
Delilah was about to say more when Gamble headed in with fast food in a bag.
“Well, there you are. Uh, are you hungry?” Ivan asked checking out the giant greasy bag.
“Starving,” he said, tossing one to him, Heath, and Wilcox. “I had a productive day.”
“As in you got out of bed?” Ivan asked.
“You’re funny, dickwad. I actually found the building with the killer. So, fuck you.”
Elizabeth stopped him.
“Pardon?”
Greyson was staring at him.
“Are you serious? You found Viktor Marchenko’s hiding spot?”
“Yeah, I got his picture.”
That wasn’t good.
If he even suspected it, he’d be in the wind.
“When?”
“About ninety minutes ago,” he stated, biting into his burger. He stared at them when he chewed. “What?”
“Ninety minutes ago?” she repeated.
“Yeah. Traffic in Vegas is a bitch, and then I stopped for something to feed the working stiffs.”
“You could have called us,” Greyson stated. “He’s not going to sit still long, and if he saw you, he’s going to flake out and run.”
He laughed.
“He didn’t see me.”
Elizabeth was about to blow.
Delilah pulled out her card and handed it to Elizabeth. She stared at it.
“What is this for?”
“You’re going to need me to get you off for murder.”
Yeah, she was absolutely right.
It was coming.
* * * G R E Y S O N C R O F T * * *
Washington DC
Wednesday Night
He was packing his things, and the house was oddly quiet. Callen was at work, and the family was having dinner. Feeding time at the zoo was quiet for about twenty minutes before the natives were up and scrambling.
As he packed his bag, he heard someone behind him. It was Bethe, and she was dragging her blanket. She looked about ready to head to bed. If he was lucky, he could tuck her, and Charlie, in before he left.
“Hey, baby girl,” he said, scooping her up and tossing her into the air.
“Daddy! I love to fly!” she squealed.
He held her in his arms. “I love to fly too. One day, we’ll fly together,” he said.
“Okay.”
She laid her blonde moppet head against his shoulder.
“Where’s your best friend?” he asked. “You and Charlie are usually together.”
“She eating.”
He snuggled his daughter.
“Where momma?” she asked.
“In Vegas. I’m heading there to help her on a case. I’ll tell her you miss her.”
“I make her a letter.”
He didn’t have much time, but how could he rush this moment?
“Okay. While I pack, you make her a letter.”
He dug out a pen, a piece of paper, and some crayons from his spare drawer.
She sat on the bed and drew on the paper. It was messy, sloppy, and had kid scribble.
Then she drew a heart.
Under it, she drew a woman there, and she had black hair—not the blonde that she got from Cyra. She looked like Elizabeth, and that said it all.
“She’ll love that,” he said, packing his clothes.
“Give her kisses?”
“I will. Give me your letter. What does it say?”
“It says you best momma. I miss you. Come home. Bethe,” she said, pointing at the scribbles.
“She’s going to love it.”
“I know. She said I da best artistist.”
He was amused by how Bethe butchered it, even as his love for Elizabeth grew. She was a good person, and he was a lucky man to have her in his life.
“It’s artist.”
“I said that, Daddy. Artistist.”
Chris gave her a kiss on the nose.
“Yes, you did.”
“You go now?” she asked.
“Yes, princess, I have to go. Will you miss me?” he asked, giving her tickles.
“Yes, Daddy. I miss you all the time. You my best daddy.”
He held his daughter and prayed for time to slow down. All Chris wanted was more time.
More.
Damn.
Time.
“Let’s go tuck you in.”
She held his hand as he walked her down the hall.
“I love you, Daddy.”
Oh, he loved her too.
More than his own life.
Chapter Nine
Sky Villa
I t took her a minute to compose herself. The ONLY reason she didn’t flip her shit was because her head hurt, and if she let Ethan know that, he wouldn’t let her go out on the hunt for Viktor Marchenko when the time came to search for him.
Since the FBI was handling this case, they were going to be the ones going through the door, looking in the deep dark corners, and digging in the mess.
“Just give me the address,” she said, leaving it at that. She wanted to tear into him, but she had to choose her battles—and this wasn’t going be her focus.
Not this one.
He rattled off the building number, and Greyson was incredibly excited. This might be the beginning of the end for this mess. He knew they couldn’t tell Dimitri since he’d likely try to crawl his way there—but he was confident the Feds could handle this.
Later, he’d tell him.
She pulled the address up on the screen.
The search pulled up the whole city block around it.
“There, in the lower corner, is the apartment building where Julie Pierce was held, lived, and trained,” Greyson stated.
Elizabeth didn’t want to know.
She thought she’d puke if he went into details. She was aware there was a disc with all kinds of perversion on it.
“It looks like an abandoned building,” she said. “Are you sure it’s the right one?”
She had to ask.
Elizabeth didn’t know this man from Adam.
“Yeah, I have visual proof.”
He handed her the SD card from his camera and she popped it into the side of the tablet. Immediately, the photos pulled up, and she flipped through them.
“That’s him,” Greyson stated. “I
saw him at Dimitri’s bar the one day. It was the day he stuck a tracker on him.”
He sounded charming.
She pulled up the only picture they had of him. It was close, but it wasn’t exact.
“He’s had some facial work,” she stated. “I think he got a nose job.”
Riley got it.
“Uh, his nose before was his nose. Now he’s wearing Dimitri’s nose.”
Elizabeth pulled up a picture of Dimitri in the database.
“Someone is trying to look more like Dimitri and less like some wackadoo crackerjack, who is a pervert,” she said.
“Uh, why is Dimitri’s picture in there?” Greyson asked.
“Well, because he’s a killer and the government has a file on him,” Elizabeth stated. “Calm down. There’s a file on everyone in this room.”
“Pardon?” Delilah stated. “That’s against my…”
Riley covered her mouth with a kiss.
“Let it go,” he whispered. “Job security.”
She laughed.
She could do that.
Elizabeth stopped at the pictures where he was entering a code.
“Yeah, abandoned buildings don’t have that kind of security,” she stated.
“And they have booby traps,” Ivan stated. “LOTS OF THEM.”
She giggled.
Ethan did not.
“Okay, so we go in now. It’s getting dark. We’ll go in, pull him out, and boom. That’s the end of him. Viktor Marchenko goes away for life.”
“With a fair trial,” Delilah stated.
Greyson glanced over at Riley since they knew that Viktor was NOT going to get a fair trial—not if he had to pull the trigger on his own first.
“Why don’t you and Delilah head home, Riley? It’s been a long day.”
He looked irritated.
“I can go in,” he said. “If you’re raiding the place, you can take me. I’ve been through a few doors before in my life. I’m not afraid.”
That was neither here nor there.
“Yeah, you can go in first,” Elizabeth stated, staring at Delilah. “You know, so when the bombs go off, we can pick the pieces of you up to share at his FAIR TRIAL.”
The woman got it.
Elizabeth didn’t have to paint any other picture.
“I retract that. Toss him in Gitmo. I heard nothing. I like Riley in one piece.”
And she did.
“So, I can go?” he asked.
“No,” she said. “I’m going and I’m taking my band of merry men. They were soldiers and are Marines. They are accustomed to getting blown up.”
“Oohrah,” Ivan stated. “I love me some bombs,” he said sarcastically.
Ethan stared at his wife.
This was not the universe working in his favor. This was the universe shitting all over his best-laid plans. So much for her staying in and resting.
“I’ll go,” he offered.
She touched his cheek with love, tenderness, and respect. It was NEVER happening.
“You can’t Deputy Director. They, meaning the three men giving me the hairy eyeball, can’t let you get hurt. So, you can’t go, and Riley works for Greyson. Who else is there?”
No one.
This had to be her, Ivan, Wilcox, and Heath. He could call in more Feds, but they didn’t know who the potential mole was. It could be someone they called in for backup.
That was more dangerous.
“Elizabeth,” he said, and then sighed.
He’d given up. She could tell. That worked for her. They’d go in through the front, spread out, and then call him in.
“You can sit in the truck.”
“I hate my job.”
Yeah, because he had to watch his wife put herself in danger. That didn’t sit well with him at all. It didn’t make him happy, and it rubbed him raw.
“Fine. I’ll be in the truck.”
Greyson opened his mouth.
“We’ll wear body cameras. That’s as close as you can get to the action. No offense, but you’re pretty recognizable. You can’t be ponied up to the deputy director in an FBI surveillance vehicle.”
He was aware.
“Okay. I don’t like it, but I’ll take it.”
Elizabeth pointed at the men.
“We go into the building in one hour. Get yourselves geared up.”
“What about me?” Gamble asked.
She didn’t know him.
She looked over at her husband.
“Do you vouch for him?” she asked. After all, he’d given the man a head start, and that pissed her off.
“Yes, and Elan Barr, too, if you need him.”
Her gut said no.
Gamble had found the place way too easily. He’d given the man ninety minutes. She knew they were looking for someone on the inside, who had stalled the sex trafficking investigation, this would be a damn good candidate.
“You should have him wait with you in the vehicle. You can’t sit in the street alone.”
He understood.
That was his wife’s way of warning him that she didn’t trust Gamble Holloway.
At all.
He’d go with her gut.
In fact, he’d make sure Elan Barr was there too.
As backup.
He gave her a kiss on the cheek, meanwhile, he whispered in her ear. “I’ll keep an eye on him.”
She was glad he got it.
“Team, suit up. We go into that building in an hour. Ivan, if you have any tricks, now might be the time to pull them out and use them.”
He nodded, saluted, and headed toward his room with the other two men behind him.
She left too.
When they were gone, Ethan pulled Greyson aside.
“I need a few minutes.”
“Okay, what?”
“Greyson, there’s something you should know about what you’re up against, and it might help you in the long run against the commissioner.”
“What?”
“Four years ago, Commissioner Raye’s wife went missing. She went out to meet the girls for brunch, and the next thing they knew, she never showed up. Make it your next case.”
His eyes went big.
He stared at him.
“Seriously?”
Ethan nodded.
“Those are the skeletons my wife told you were in his closet. You haven’t had time to really dig, so let me point you right at it. He fucked with my wife, and now you can find her and fuck with him.”
Yeah, someone was really pissed off.
In this case, an angry Fed was his best friend.
“Thank you, Ethan.”
“We might not be able to clean up the police, but now you have something to arm yourself with. Have someone watch him. I planted the seeds. He’s going to run scared.”
He grinned and hugged the man.
“Thank you, Ethan.”
“No thanks are needed. Bag that asshole and bring him to justice. Make his missing wife your next client. She had a sister. Find her. That should put him right over the edge.”
Well, he could do that.
And he would.
“I’ll make sure you get the link to watch in on the body cams.” He pulled his tablet out and handed it to the man. “You’ll get the alert when they go live. You’ll see and hear everything. Keep Dimitri locked down.”
“I will.”
He patted him on the back.
And both men went to go deal with their wives. One was about to go into a building to catch a killer.
The other was with a killer, trying to get justice.
Yeah, Vegas was the wild, Wild West.
* * * G R E Y S O N C R O F T * * *
It was easy for him to take her out of the building. It was easy to toss her away. When he carried her down to the back-loading dock, he only had to roll her off the edge and into the trunk of his car.
She landed with a thud.
A wet.
Squishy.
&n
bsp; Thud.
Then he was gone. He slammed the trunk and left to handle the unfortunate evidence of what was left after he trained and played with his pets.
The remains.
Back in his home, he had his precious one waiting for him. He had his most precious pet sitting there after their voracious playtime.
She’d gotten him off a few times.
She’d made him cum more times than he could remember. Well, he’d left her food and out of the closet. That was her reward.
If she could find it.
Being blind had to be a bitch.
He should know, he’d stolen her eyes.
Now, as he drove his broken whore away, he thought about how much fun he’d have when he got back. His favorite pet was there, and he was going to teach her how to rock his word.
When he burned her alive.
* * * G R E Y S O N C R O F T * * *
Greyson headed into Dimitri’s condo. It was silent, and he placed the containers of takeout on the counter. One of the guards was kind enough to pick up some food for him, Emma, and Dimitri.
Now, he was going to feed him and then tell him and Emma the news. He wasn’t looking forward to it. He knew the man.
He was going to want to kill Viktor.
Before he could head in, he saw an envelope stuck to the front of the refrigerator.
No, two of them.
One was addressed to him in Russian, and the other his wife. He only knew because they were trying to learn.
Pulling his down, he opened it.
It was in English.
‘Greyson,
My brother.
If you’re reading this, I’m dead. I’ve likely gone after my brother and he’s killed me. There are a few things I want you to know, and I guess this is my last will and testament.
First off, thank you for the last year. It has made a difference in my life. I was born into a world where everyone was evil, cruel, and hateful. Then I met you and your wife. I found out that there was love and softer things, and they were worth feeling. Because of you and Emma, I became a better person. The only reason I go to my death now and am okay with it is because I am at peace. You gave me that peace.
Thank you.
True Justice Page 28
