Chapter 39
Hawk
As Niko predicted, Antonov arrived right around the same time Petrov, Sr. did.
If I didn’t know better, I would have assumed he was one of Petrov’s men.
His suit was much nicer than Hicks’, and he was built like Falcon.
His dark blond hair was cropped short and he was clean shaven with a salesy grin like Niko’s. Nothing about this man screamed FBI.
After a lengthy and painful goodbye to my woman, we agreed to go to the Atlanta field office with Antonov. Niko had pulled me aside when the nurses came in to check the dressing on Kat and assured me this would happen but it was a formality.
Seeing their father so chummy with Antonov, I assumed something was up with them but I’d dig further into that later.
Before he arrived, I’d already called Eagle and told him to melt down any guns used earlier. Even my Desert Eagle. That one stung. I loved that gun.
Whether Antonov was in cahoots with them or not, he probably couldn’t keep the Atlanta office off our ass, and we didn’t need any way to have any casings traced to us. None of our weapons were registered, but if they got access to the guns and the casings, they could match them.
Niko and I were both escorted to a conference room, not an interrogation room. No two-way glass, no bad lighting, no shitty chairs. I’d been detained plenty of times by local and state police and had never been in a room like this to be questioned.
“Gentlemen, water? Coffee?” Antonov offered.
I declined out of habit. I wasn’t about to hand over DNA or prints, even though they probably had it already somehow. Niko, on the other hand, graciously accepted.
Antonov had a larger pad and a fountain pen. I hadn’t seen one of those in person, ever. As he casually spoke to Niko and jotted a few things down, I took note of his cufflinks. Not your basic steel or black. Nothing I’d seen before, but definitely ornate and pricy.
Blurting between their chatter, I asked, “Are you a senior agent? Supervisor? Higher?”
Antonov’s toothy grin spread. “Maybe soon, thanks to this. But no. Special Agent.”
Niko said, “Still a coveted role.”
Goddamn, he was such an asskisser. I had to remind myself it was Kat’s brother and my business partner for a very long time. But fuck, have some self respect, man.
“Thanks, Mr. Petrov. But let’s dig into this. Miss De Luco… how long ago did you meet?”
“Maybe a couple years. I’m not a hundred percent sure. A lot of women gravitate towards us,” I said, leaning back in the comfortable chair.
“And she worked at your dance club? Perhaps we can use her start date?” he asked, writing as he spoke.
“I’ll have the file pulled.”
He continued. “And you didn’t recognize her as Gianna De Luco? Mr. Petrov, had you not recognized her?”
“I don’t come often. Like Mr. Jones, I see a lot of women.”
I thought of all the times Niko had been there. Even though I wanted to have a reason to not trust him, he’d probably seen her all of twice. “She didn’t come around as often.”
Antonov pulled out some files and pushed them across. “We have reason to believe she had modifications done. So it’s reasonable, if even you’d seen her, you wouldn’t immediately recognize her.”
Niko looked over the photos. “I know this man, but unfortunately, these women all look the same.”
I understood what Niko meant. For years, a blonde was a blonde, a brunette was a brunette.
There were very few women that stood out to me.
The one I thought I knocked up I recalled vividly– but not because she was special, just scared the shit out of me.
And of course, my Kitty Kat. I knew every dip, curve, and line of her body.
Her face was burnt into my mind so much that I’d see it in my sleep, when I blinked, and even sometimes when I was wide awake and she was nowhere in sight.
“Who is that?” I asked, looking down at the photo of Jeannie, or whoever the fuck she was, and a few others.
Antonov leaned, pointing as he identified each person. “Well, you now know this is Gianna, her mother Anna, and that’s Anthony De Luco.”
“He died, no?” Niko asked, as if he was seeking confirmation.
Antonov nodded. “Yes, several years back. But Anna’s maiden name is Martinelli.”
I hadn’t handed over the recording yet, but Keys had sent it to me, and I’d already discovered the connection. Reaper was the founder, and Raptor had taken over as president when he died. We all knew the story of him taking over, but I didn’t know why.
Pops was against violence on women. He had his own horror story as to why.
If he found out Reaper was running humans instead of guns, it would have set him off.
And now I knew Reaper was with Anna at some point, a long time ago.
It was possible Raptor and Pops were in it together, or Pops took him out for his own satisfaction.
Raptor had been VP so he moved up and held the seat for a long time until he was killed.
He’d grown Atlanta and set up a nice club, but Pops was the one who expanded it to other chapters and grew it to what it was today.
Antonov pulled a few more documents out, some photos, some statements. “Bit of a story, but we believe Anna’s been running a ring for years. Well, we thought it was De Luco, but when he passed, it only grew.”
“Why didn’t you shut it down?” I asked.
Antonov shrugged. “Unfortunately, on this side of the law, it’s not always that simple.”
“And now?”
“With the bust at the airport and all the ties to Martinelli’s crew, we have a lot more to go on.
But all the info you can provide helps. We’re sweeping her neighborhood now.
Looks like her street was all part of her crew.
But as we already know, they’re smart. Not sure how much we’ll find that can lead us to any answers. ”
Niko glanced over, tilting his head as his smile turned into a line.
“If I could give you something to help, what’s in it for me?”
Antonov sat his pen down, leaning back in his chair. “Is it not enough that you were not detained? Or asked how all those men were dead?”
“No. Unfortunately, it’s not. But if you can assure me it stays that way, we may be able to help each other,” I said. There was no way now I could go after Anna De Luco, so my best bet was to ensure she was indicted. And I had enough evidence to help one of our own.
Niko folded his hands in his lap. “I can vouch for Special Agent Antonov working in our best interest.”
“First things first, I want you to take over a case.”