Chapter Six
Leonid
Henry Miller’s missing.
I glare at my phone, reading the text over and over again. This doesn’t make any sense. Within a span of two days, we’ve been investigating the possibility of a mole and I’ve taken Elena hostage as a suspect. And then…Henry goes missing?
Tossing my phone on the mahogany table, I drag my hand over my head. It makes no sense, unless something’s very wrong with him. Something like him being a big part of this entire scheme to fuck me up.
If there’s any truth to my suspicions, I wonder if Elena knows where he is.
A knock on the door catches my attention. I sigh and steeple my hands in front of me.
“Come in.”
The door swings open and Artem enters, holding a brown folder. “You okay, boss?” he asks, looking at me with concern.
I sigh again and start to rub my temples. “I heard about Henry Miller.”
“Me, too. The son of a bitch seems to have a hand in this,” he says. “We should’ve taken him, too.”
“We should’ve.”
What are the odds that the enemy sent two spies to keep an eye on my yacht? Maybe there are even more, and I got lucky catching Elena. God help Henry he’s truly one of them. He can run, but he can’t hide from me forever.
I’ll find him and whoever the fuck he works for. No matter what it takes.
“Do you want me to run a search for him?” Artem asks, watching me carefully. He’s one of those people who can read my thoughts and predict how I’d like to handle business before I even speak. It’s one reason why I like him, though it’s also a reason to be wary of him.
But we grew up together. As annoying as the fucker is, I actually trust him.
Trust is a dangerous concept, but he and Mikhail are the only ones I feel that way about. We grew up together, and we’ve had each other’s backs through life and death.
I nod. “Yes. Find out where the son of a bitch ran off to.”
“I will.” He places the folder he’s holding on the table. “Here’s the report you asked for on Elena.”
“What did you find?” I ask, opening the folder.
“She’s clean,” he answers. “No ties to the mafia or any other cartels. No fishy funds in her bank account or suspicious phone records.”
I take out one of the documents and start to skim it.
“This can’t be right,” I mutter. A clean background means I have to let her go. “Are you sure this is accurate?”
It’s a dumb question, and the narrowed glare Artem gives me confirms it. “When have we ever made a mistake? Everything you need to know about her is in there. Unless there’s something else you need.”
There is. I need a reason to keep her with me, but I don’t say that. “They could’ve cleaned her background.”
“All the way to elementary school?” His brows knit. “Not possible, boss.”
It’s possible, as long as it means I can keep her. “We can’t let her go just yet. She knows about us. Releasing her might come back to bite us in the ass.”
There’s a stretch of silence between us for a moment, and as if carefully choosing his words, Artem finally speaks.
“Her parents have filled a missing person’s report,” he says. “They’re pushing for the cops to look into her whereabouts.”
I lean back in my seat. “And?”
He shrugs casually. “The police aren’t pushing hard enough. It’s almost as if they tossed her report in the old stack of unsolved cases and completely forgot about it.”
“Something’s not right.” I sit upright and press a finger to my temple thoughtfully. “Doesn’t it look all look scripted? Elena. Henry. The police not taking her disappearance seriously.”
Artem nods. “I agree. Something’s definitely not right. It looks like someone’s pulling the strings from behind the scenes. Whoever is covering up Elena’s disappearance is behind everything else. The social media posts about her where taken down too, even the one on her mother’s blog.”
“We can’t make any moves until we know for certain what’s happening and who we’re up against. We’re keeping the girl, too.”
Artem looks like he wants to argue about keeping Elena, but he simply sighs after a moment, nods, and leaves.
Aside from my greed to have my little prisoner around, letting her out of my sight would most likely put her in danger. The person behind all of this won’t simply let her go after using her as a pawn. They’ll hunt her down and probably kill her.
My chest constricts, and I hate the sudden wave of anger that crashes into me at the thought of anyone hurting Elena. I need a walk to clear my head.
Rising from my seat, I head down the hallway, but I’m only a few steps in when someone gingerly walks up behind me and throws her hands over my eyes. I know who it is when the scent of her jasmine perfume fills my nose.
Only one person would ever be gutsy enough to sneak up on me without fear of getting shot in the head.
“Tatiana.”
A giggle slices the air behind me, and then my sister uncovers my eyes and moves around to face me, her eyes glinting with mischief.
“Hey, brother,” she says with a wide smile. “Good to see you again.”
I huff and roll my eyes. “The last time we saw each other was only a couple of days ago.”
She fakes a frown and pretends she’s thinking. “Is that so?” Her voice is laced with amusement. “I thought it was at least six months ago.”
My sister’s the opposite of me—kind, caring, chatty.
I’ve made sure to shield her from the bratva and everything it stands for since she was little.
I might not show it often, but every time I see that innocence in her eyes and the ways she swims through life with a lack of worry, I know I’ve done something right.
Tatiana is the most important person in my life.
She’s the ray of sunshine in all of my darkness.
I pinch my brow and feign frustration. “What do you want, Tat?”
She shrugs and throws her hands up. “I just wanted to see my favorite brother. Is that too much to ask for?”
My lips lift with a smile. I can’t let her stay, especially not with Elena being locked up in the basement. If there’s anything my sister stands for, it’s equal rights and good treatment of women. I agree with her on that, but she’ll throw a fit if she finds out I’m keeping Elena locked up.
Of course, I don’t expect my sister to understand why that’s necessary.
“You’ve seen me. Now it’s time to go.” I grab her hand and start to drag her away. She’s a fragile little thing, so I make sure I’m not holding on too tightly.
“I went down to the basement and the door’s clocked,” she whines. “Is there something in there?”
I keep my expression flat. “Something like what?”
“You tell me. It’s your house. The basement is never locked, so I know you’re definitely hiding something.” When she pauses and gasps, I know she’s about to throw an insane accusation my way. “Are you hiding a dead body?”
I scoff. “Why would you think that?”
“Why not?” She stops walking, plants her hands on her waist, and frowns at me. “If you’re hiding a dead body in there, now’s the time to tell me.”
Seeing as she won’t drop the topic until she gets a satisfactory answer, I play along. “What would you do if I say I was?”
“I’ll call the cops,” she answers.
Knowing Tatiana and how obsessed she is with justice, I know she’s not bluffing. If she says she’ll call the cops, she most definitely will.
“You can be so cold sometimes.”
“Yeah. I wonder who I learned that from.” She stops smiling and studies me through narrowed, suspicious eyes. “Jokes aside now, what’s really in that basement?”
“Nothing that concerns you.” My voice is a little gruff. It’s my way of letting her know I’m done playing around. “Stay away from the basement. I won’t say it again.”
I feel my sister’s glare boring into the back of my head as I walk out of the hallway. Despite the intentional coldness in my voice as I warned her to stay away, I know that won’t stop her from prying.
My sister has a weird habit of not being able to stay away from my business.
***
Elena doesn’t turn around to face me despite the fact that I’ve been standing by the doorframe for over ten minutes now.
She has her back to the door. I can’t tell if she simply doesn’t care about my presence or if whatever she’s staring at through the small window by the side of the mattress is just that captivating.
I’m about to make my way toward her when Mikhail’s voice echoes through the hallway. “Nazarov.”
I close my eyes and draw in a sharp breath.
The bastard’s obnoxiously loud, and if he weren’t my cousin, I’d have ripped his tongue out just so I wouldn’t have to go through the torture of hearing his annoying voice daily.
He enters the room and smirks, his gaze bouncing between me and Elena. She still doesn’t even spare us a glance. It’s as if she can’t be bothered by our presence.
“I can tell from the back she’s prettier than I thought,” he says, then squints at her. “Why’s your doll not turning around? Is she broken?”
I glare at him. “Out.”
He shakes his head. “Whatever happened to your sense of humor? I was only—”
“Now!” I growl, not letting him finish. It’s not like I care what he has to say. It’s probably just his usual bullshit.
He throws his hands up. “Okay, okay! Easy now, big dog.” Backing away slowly, he adds, “You’ve really got to work on your anger issues.”
“If I had anger issues, you’d be dead already.” I follow him outside, cross my arms over my chest, and wait for him to speak. “Why’re you here?”
He runs a hand through his hair. “Can’t I visit my favorite cousin just because I miss him?”
I sigh. I wonder if he and Tatiana have been practicing the same script lately. They both repeat a whole lot of unusual nonsense sometimes. “Talk before I snap your neck.”
He half-grins. “Right. I heard about Henry Miller’s disappearance, but I clocked that asshole had been acting suspicious for a while. We should’ve taken him when we had the chance.”
“You’re right, we should have. But unless you have a fresh idea on how to deal with his missing ass, I already went over this with Artem earlier today.”
“I know.”
He doesn’t say anything else.
My chest heaves with exasperation at his sudden silence. I came down here to see Elena, not to stand in the hallway, listening to my cousin breathe. “And?”