Vow of Justice

by Lynette Eason

  “What about the MO?”

  “Several murders—victims found on their stomachs shot in the base of the skull—have been attributed to assassins in Nevsky’s organization, but no doubt carried out by Gregori. No one’s been able to prove it, though. He’s like a ghost. I can’t believe he let himself get caught on that one camera shot.”

  Linc rubbed his eyes. “I’ll do some research while you sleep. Go.”

  “If I can. If not, I’ll come back out here and work with you.”

  “Allie—”

  She frowned at his abrupt halt. “What?”

  “What’s your real name?”

  “Alina Radchenko.”

  “Allie?”

  “Short for Alina and also works for Allison. My little sister called me Nina.”

  Nina. The name she’d told him to call her when they were crashing Nevsky’s party. “Why was your family going into witness protection?”

  “I don’t know. I questioned my mother about it, but at first, she wouldn’t say anything. She just kind of withdrew into her own little world after I got out of the hospital—and then she was dead.” She shook her head. “It was the weirdest thing. While I was recovering, she held my hand and did everything a mom was supposed to do, but the day I got home, it was like a light switched off. She was never the same after that.” She rubbed her eyes. “I finally pushed her one day, screaming at her that it was all her fault, that I’d overheard the conversation between her and my dad, and I wanted to know who Nevsky was. I told her she owed me some kind of explanation.” Allie looked away.

  Linc went to her and pulled her into an easy embrace, not wanting to hold her too tight if she didn’t want the hug. However, she leaned into it and he settled her against him. “Did she give you one?”

  “A small one. She said that except for the day she went to see him to ask for money, she hadn’t seen Nevsky in years and neither had my father. Apparently, Nevsky went to my father and told him my mother had come to him and he’d given her the money. If my father would work for him, he’d forgive the debt. Father was furious. He said there was no such thing as forgiving a debt and they’d never get out from under Nevsky’s thumb now. I heard the conversation about the WITSEC thing and then Gregori shot us.”

  She fell silent and he continued to hold her, wishing he could take her pain away even while admiring her strength and resilience. Her breathing evened out and her body slumped heavy against him. He sank to the floor, carefully pulling her with him until his back rested against the wall and his gun lay next to his right knee. Allie shifted, then snuggled against him and fell deeper into sleep.

  In the early morning, the parking lot was mostly empty. In fact, the sun was just coming up. Next to an old, beat-up Bronco, he waited until the woman had finished loading her groceries into the back of her car and shut the hatch before he approached.

  “Hello.”

  She spun and pressed a hand to her chest. “Oh, goodness, you scared me to death, but hi. Fancy running into you here.”

  “I’m in town visiting friends and tying up some loose ends. I stopped to get a bottle of wine for dinner, thinking that would be an appropriate gift. What do you think?” He held up the bag and used the smile that said he could poke fun at himself.

  She smiled. “I think that’s the perfect gift.”

  “I’m not very educated on wine. If I tell you the brand, do you think you could confirm that I made a good choice?”

  “I’m probably more in the same category as you are. I don’t know much about wines.” She glanced at her phone. “My husband’s texting me, I’m sorry. I really need to go. He’s keeping the kids so I could get some shopping done before I have to take them to school.”

  “Of course. Nice seeing you again.”

  “You too.” She climbed into her car and he turned as though to head to his own vehicle.

  The clicking sound from her engine pivoted him back around. He strode over to her and she opened the door.

  “Everything all right?”

  “Obviously not.” She sighed. “I’ll have to tell my husband to come get me. It might be the battery.”

  “Want me to take a look?”

  “Sure.”

  “Pop the hood and I’ll see what I can do.”

  “Thanks. You’re a lifesaver. If Tom had to come, he would, but it’ll be nice not to have to bother him if you can take care of it.”

  She settled back into the driver’s seat and he leaned in, squeezing his hand around the paper bag. A stream of liquid caught her in the side of the face and she gasped, jerked her head up to look at him, then closed her eyes and slumped over the console.

  From his pocket, he took the latex gloves and slid his hands into them, then pushed his victim over the console. Her head hit the floor, the rest of her body sprawled on the passenger seat. Once he had the battery hooked back up, he settled himself behind the wheel and picked up her phone. A quick text to her husband explaining she’d run into Nancy from work and would be delayed a bit longer took two seconds, then he backed out of the space and drove away.

  Allie woke with a start. Sweat ran down her back and she pulled away from the heat source. She looked up to find Linc staring down at her. “I fell asleep,” she said.

  “Standing up. I’ve never seen anyone do that before.”

  “I was really tired.”

  “I think that’s a given.”

  “And I’m hungry.” Her stomach growled on cue and his lips turned up. A dart of longing swept through her. Longing to be normal. A longing to have him at her side without worrying if he would die because of her. “How long did I sleep?”

  “A few hours. It’s around lunchtime, I think.”

  “What? Seriously? Oh, good grief. I’m sorry.”

  “I’m not. I snagged a couple more hours myself.”

  “I’m going to get ready to face the day—or what’s left of it.” She pulled away from him and stood, then reached back to scratch at her stitches. “I’ll be glad when these heal up. They’re driving me crazy.”

  He rubbed the area lightly and frowned. “Let me see that.”

  “Why?”

  “It feels swollen. You might need to have those looked at.”

  “It’s fine. They filled me up with antibiotics at the . . . place.”

  “Place?”

  “The rehab place I mentioned earlier.”

  “Yeah, you never did explain that.”

  “It wasn’t a hospital, but it sure looked like one from inside the room. Catherine, one of the nurses, said Henry had brought agents there before who needed extra special care without media interference.”

  “Huh. Interesting.”

  She held her hair up and he lowered the neckline of her T-shirt over her left shoulder. With gentle fingers, he probed and she flinched. “It’s tender.”

  “That doesn’t look right. I think it’s getting infected.”

  She waved a hand in dismissal. “Whatever. I’ll have to deal with it later. I’m going to take that shower now.”

  “Let the warm water beat down on it. It might help. Go. I’ll keep watch, although it’s been blessedly quiet.”

  “How long do you think that’s going to last?”

  He grimaced. “Not long.”

  “I’ll hurry.”

  Ten minutes later, she returned to the living area to find Linc with his head resting against the back of the couch. His eyes opened. “Ready?”

  “I suppose.”

  “So . . . we go to Henry’s to regroup?”

  “Why? He’s just going to yell at us.”

  “Are you whining?”

  “Yes.”

  He grinned and her heart flipped once again. “My turn to get ready,” he said. “We can walk out the door in less than fifteen minutes.”

  True to his word, they were climbing into the SUV in twelve. Allie kept the hoodie and the dark glasses on, not wanting to take a chance on being recognized.

  When Linc pulled
into Henry’s drive, Allie couldn’t help but admire her boss’s home. She’d only been there a handful of times, but each time she saw it, her muscles seemed to relax a fraction.

  The house wasn’t large, but it was neat and well kept, with trees on either side of the property and lush vegetation surrounding the perimeter. All in all, Allie found it welcoming. And since it sat on two acres of land, his neighbors were a respectful distance away.

  Linc followed Henry’s directions and pulled around to the back. Their boss met them at the garage and motioned for Linc to drive in.

  When he turned the SUV off, Allie climbed out and Linc followed her and Henry into the house. Still, having not spoken a word, the man gestured them to the kitchen table. He dropped his keys onto it and took a seat.

  Allie’s mouth watered at the sight of the food in front of her. Henry had laid out sandwich meats, bread, and fixings as well as two bags of chips and a pitcher of sweet tea. Linc and Allie silently fixed their plates, then Allie cleared her throat. “When do you have time to do all the yard work?”

  “I don’t. I have someone who comes once a week. But we’re not talking about my yard. We’re talking about you two.”

  “Are you going to yell again?” Linc asked.

  Henry closed his eyes. “No. I’m going to beg the Almighty for some patience. And wisdom.”

  “Whatever it takes to make you a believer, Henry,” Linc said in all seriousness.

  “I’m starting to think some divine help might not be a bad thing to have.” He practically growled the words, and Allie could tell he was about at his wit’s end with them.

  Allie stayed silent, sending up a quick prayer that Henry would one day come to know the God she’d found, because even if she was kind of frustrated with him, she still believed and knew she’d be with him if she died. Not that she was in a hurry for that to happen.

  Linc seemed to think her silence was wise and followed her example, clamping his lips shut while linking his fingers on the table in front of him.

  Henry drew in a deep breath. “All right. Here’s the deal. We got nothing about Nevsky from Killian before he died, so right now we’re regrouping. Linc, you have to go fill out paperwork and talk to SIRG about the shooting. I’ve managed to hold them off to this point, but they’re ready to come after you. SIRT’s finished their review and all looks fine, but SIRG still has to talk to you. Again, it all looks like a clean shoot and you’ll be cleared in no time, but—”

  “It’s policy. I know. I’ll go now while Allie has you to watch her back.”

  “That would be best.”

  “Coward,” she whispered as he stood and headed for the door with a quick wave. She noted he didn’t even bother to deny her accusation.

  Linc left and Allie leaned forward to rest her arms on the table. “What now, Henry? How did Radchenko know to find us at the cabin? He had to track us, because even Annie can’t get a read on Daria.”

  “Unless there’s something on her clothes or shoes.”

  “Maybe, but I don’t think so. I think it has to be us. Somehow.”

  He frowned. “Then I don’t know. We swept Linc’s vehicle—”

  “And he’s been sweeping it every time we get in it.”

  “So no trackers there.”

  “Wait a minute. Daria texted me to leave her alone. If someone was monitoring her phone and she had it on longer than it took to answer my texts—”

  “He could have gotten the coordinates and tracked her down.”

  “But straight to the cabin?”

  “What if she has something on her phone that’s not connected to her phone GPS?”

  Allie blinked. “You think someone got ahold of it and put an actual tracker in it?”

  “It’s possible, right?”

  “Or her laptop. Which would explain why Annie can’t pick it up according to location services on it, but someone knew where to find her.” She frowned. “But Daria’s smart. She’d know better than to leave a trail like that.”

  “She’s a seventeen-year-old kid. You might be giving her too much credit.”

  He could be right. She raised a brow and sighed. “Well, I wish we could figure out how they’re tracking her so we could beat them to her. In the meantime, do you have a couch I can crash on for a while? My head is pounding and I feel sick.”

  Henry stood. “Of course. I’m sorry. You’re still healing and here I am, making you rehash everything. We’ll work more on Nevsky when you feel like it. Come on, you can use the guest bedroom.”

  His suddenly solicitous demeanor took her a little by surprise, but she decided to simply be grateful for it. She was asleep the minute her head hit the pillow.

  18

  Linc’s phone rang two hours into his meeting with SIRG. They were just about finished, so he requested to take the call and they dismissed him with kudos on taking an assassin off the street. Linc didn’t bother to tell them any more than he had to, but he’d wanted to tell them everything. Henry was really putting him and Allie in a tight spot, and the more he went along with it, the less he liked it.

  In the hall, he answered the phone. “Linc St. John.”

  “Allie’s friend?”

  The voice was familiar. “Yes. Who’s this?”

  “Roland Carter. One of Allie’s neighbors. We met the day you cleaned some stuff out of her apartment.”

  “Oh, right. Yes, sir, Mr. Carter, what can I do for you?” And how had he gotten Linc’s number?

  “Allie’s got a squatter, I believe. You want to check it out or you want me to call the cops?”

  “Someone broke into her apartment?”

  “I don’t know about broke into. I don’t see any sign of forced entry. But yeah, someone’s there and they’re not answering my knocks.”

  “I’ll check it out. Thanks for letting me know. You didn’t happen to get a plate on the car the person drove, did you?”

  “Nope. Would have if she’d been driving one, but the girl just walked up.”

  “Girl? How old?”

  “Heck if I know. These days twelve-year-olds look like they’re nineteen. But if I had to guess, I’d say around that. Eighteen or nineteen.”

  “No sign of forced entry, so how’d she get in when I know I locked that place up tight when I left?”

  “Had a key, it looked like.”

  Immediately, Linc flashed back to the conversation between Daria and Allie when she’d made the sarcastic comment about how it would have been easier to get a key to Nevsky’s office if he had just kept one in the plant by the door like she did.

  If that was Daria in Allie’s apartment, she’d obviously remembered that—and the address Allie had shared with her. “Thanks, man. I’ll be right there.”

  Linc texted Allie as he headed to his SUV. When he got no response, he called her.

  Voice mail.

  “Call me when you get this, will you? Looks like Daria’s at your place.” He hung up and focused on the drive. Twenty minutes later, he pulled in to Allie’s apartment complex and wove around to the back.

  Roland Carter sat on his second-floor balcony in clear view of Allie’s first-floor walkway and door. Linc approached with a wave. “Thanks for calling.”

  “Sure thing.”

  “How’d you get my number?”

  The old man laughed. “I still have my connections.” He sobered. “She went in a little over an hour ago. Haven’t heard a peep from her since.”

  “She could have gone out the back.”

  “She didn’t.”

  “How do you know?”

  Carter shrugged. “I’ve been keeping a watch. Trust me, she’s still in there.”

  The girl had him curious. Somehow she managed to travel pretty much wherever she wanted to go without trouble. Not only that, she’d dodged a trained assassin who worked for her father, along with several FBI agents who shouldn’t have had any trouble locating a teenager with no experience in eluding the law.

  Or had Gerard train
ed her to do that very thing? It wouldn’t surprise him.

  Linc nodded to Carter. “You got my back?”

  A gleam entered the man’s eyes and he stood. “You know it.”

  While he waited for Roland to come down, Linc scoped the apartment with a quick glance. Would Daria be watching? Knowing her, she’d probably have some kind of booby trap set up in case someone opened the door.

  He made his way around the back, with Roland following at a respectable distance. Linc slipped up the stairs that led to Allie’s screened-in porch and found it unlocked. However, the back door was secure. He peered around the sheer curtain and got a good view of the kitchen and the half bath straight past that, but nothing beyond or on either side. Allie’s bedroom was to the right of the kitchen, her second bedroom to the left.

  Linc reached into his pocket and pulled out the key he’d kept since he and Allie had been there after her “death.” It didn’t take long to ascertain that there was nothing blocking the door that would set off any alarms for Daria. If it was indeed her. Linc opened the door and slipped inside.

  He was going to scare the daylights out of whoever was in the apartment, but if it was Daria, he wasn’t about to warn her of his presence and send her running again. He needed to talk to her and get some answers. On silent feet, he made his way through the kitchen and peered around the corner into the small living area with sliding glass doors.

  He blinked. Daria lay stretched out on the couch, one hand tucked under her left cheek, the other resting on a wicked-looking revolver. He returned to the window and found Carter watching, a hand resting at his back. He met the man’s eyes and gave him a thumbs-up. Carter grinned and returned the gesture before walking back toward the front of the building.

  Linc retraced his steps to the living area to look down at Daria once more. He raked a hand through his hair and sat down to text Allie and plot out his next move.

  Allie woke with a gasp, the nightmare fading too slow to suit her. Drones with bombs, cold water that stole her breath, gunshots, her little sister missing the base of her skull.