Chapter 30 #2
Wolfe lifts his eyes and looks at me like I have a dick growing out of my forehead.
“I have his full name. I can get a license plate number, Loch. Jesus.” His gaze returns to the screen.
“I have him on a traffic cam about forty minutes ago near that area. I can’t get a feed right at the pier, though. ”
“Where did he go?”
“Still piecing it together. Cameras have gaps.” Wolfe frowns at the screen. “But he headed south. Into Southie, still on the waterfront.”
“And Adriana’s car?”
“I’m pulling up traffic footage now.” A few more keystrokes and his face tightens.
“I have her silver Mercedes heading in the direction of Pier 7 at ten thirty-one this morning. But as far as I can tell, it never came back. It might still be in the lot, but like I said, I can’t get footage of that specific area because there are no traffic cameras. ”
Still in the lot. But she’s not answering her phone. And Vincenzo’s SUV is gone.
“So Vincenzo left. Adriana’s car might still be there. But she’s not picking up her phone.”
“That’s what it looks like.”
My phone rings with an unknown number, Miami area code. Must be from a burner phone. I stab to accept the call.
“Yeah?”
“Lochlan. It’s Nik.”
Nikolai Malakov. Russian Bratva out of Miami and my supplier for hard-to-find Mustang parts.
But car restoration isn’t all he does. The Malakov family doesn’t operate like the Kozlovs.
They’re smarter and cleaner in their business operations.
Nik thinks the Kozlovs are reckless and sloppy… bad for everyone in the business.
“Nik. What’s going on?”
“Word just came through my contacts. The Kozlovs are mobilizing on the waterfront in Southie. Something big is happening in Boston. Today.”
My blood ices. “What do you mean, mobilizing?”
“Vehicles, men, lots of activity at the Kozlov warehouses in Southie. Whatever’s going down, it’s already in motion.” Nik pauses. “I wanted to let you know so you could protect yourselves.”
“I think my wife might be missing,” I say. “She went to a meeting near that area over an hour ago. Her phone’s dead and her car’s still there, but she’s gone.”
Nik sighs. “That’s not good, brother. The Kozlovs don’t move like this unless they’re confident. They think they’ve already won something.”
“Yeah. That’s what I’m afraid of.”
“Watch your back. And if you need anything from my end—”
“I’ll call.”
I hang up and look at Wolfe. “The Kozlovs are mobilizing near the waterfront, just south of where Adriana was supposed to meet Vincenzo.”
Wolfe’s fingers fly across the keyboard.
“Let me cross-reference.” A few seconds pass, an invisible hand clenching my throat gets tighter and tighter.
“I’ve got Vincenzo’s SUV on camera heading into an industrial area in Southie.
It’s the same area the Kozlovs have been operating out of, according to intel I’ve been able to gather. ”
“What’s there?” I ask, even though I already know.
Wolfe’s face darkens. “Abandoned warehouses. They’ve been running product through them for months.”
“But what the hell would Vincenzo’s SUV be doing there? Would he have brought Adriana there for some reason? To call them out on some attack he got wind of? Because what the fuck else could have gotten him to take her there? He’s family. He loves her. There’s no way he’d—”
My eyes tangle with Cillian’s. “No way what, Loch? No way he’d sell her out to the Russians after their other attempts to weaken her have failed epically?”
I sink down next to Wolfe. “He could never betray her family like that,” I mutter.
“Yeah, because that never happens,” Gavin says with a roll of his eyes.
Shit. I shoot up from the couch again and storm around the living room. The pieces start clicking together and I don’t like the picture they’re beginning to create.
“Pull up the location,” I say.
Wolfe turns the laptop toward me. On the screen is a satellite view of an industrial zone near the water. Shipping containers stacked like building blocks on the outside of a group of decrepit buildings.
“So we know that Vincenzo’s SUV was spotted where the Kozlovs are gathered, and Adriana’s car is still at their original meeting location at the pier. What happened to Riccardo? Could he be with them?” Cillian asks.
Nobody has an answer. But the possibilities running through my head are making me sick.
Either Vincenzo’s also in trouble or he’s the reason Adriana’s missing.
“I need to get there,” I say.
“You’re not going alone.” Cillian stands up.
Gavin pushes himself up from the couch, wincing. “I’m coming.”
“No.” I shake my head. “You’re staying here. You can barely move.”
“Lochlan, come on,” he says. “I can’t let you guys go in there alone.”
“I need you here with Wolfe. Running comms. If this goes sideways, someone needs to know where we are and be ready to call in backup.”
Gavin makes a face. “I hate when you treat me like a baby.”
“Next time we go after the Russians, I promise, you’ll be on the front line. But today, I need you to stay back,” I say.
He lets out a huff. “Fine. But you keep the phone lines open. If anything goes sideways, I’m coming anyway.”
“Deal.”
“So where are we going?”
I flip around to see Ronan leaning in the doorway with his arms crossed. He glowers back at me, one eyebrow lifted.
“What the fuck are you doing here?”
“Gavin texted me.” He pushes off the frame and walks into the apartment. “I heard something was going down with the Kozlovs.”
I lance Gavin with a glare, but he shrugs. “I texted him as soon as you got here. I figured you’d need the backup, and I knew you’d never call him yourself.”
My jaw clenches so tight, my teeth might crack. I look back at Ronan. “Since when do you give a shit about me or Adriana?”
“I don’t. But I’m not gonna sit around with my dick in my hand while Russians make moves on our territory, thinking they can take what’s ours.” He stops a few feet away. “I’m an asshole, not an idiot. And I’m gonna help stop them.”
“Why aren’t you running to Dad with this?” I ask.
“I tried. He’s not answering. His phone’s going straight to voicemail. Nobody’s seen him since this morning.”
That stops me cold. Eamon’s phone never goes to voicemail. The paranoid bastard is always reachable.
“When’s the last time anyone heard from him?” Cillian asks.
Wolfe’s already typing. “I’m checking.” A pause. “His phone went dark a couple of hours ago. Last ping was near the waterfront in Southie. Same general area as Vincenzo.”
The same area. Around the same time Adriana went missing.
“Son of a bitch,” I bite out.
“What?” Ronan’s eyes narrow.
“Eamon’s in on whatever the fuck is happening right now. He has to be. He disappears the same time Adriana does? Same area? That can’t be a coincidence.”
Ronan’s jaw tightens. For a second, I think he’s going to argue it and defend our father like the good little bitch he always is. But instead, he just says, “Then we need to get going.”
“Just so you know, this isn’t about territory to me. It’s about Adriana,” I say to Ronan.
He nods. “She’s your wife. That makes her family, even if it’s a fucking sham. And family doesn’t let family get snatched by fucking Russians. Even family I don’t like.”
I stare at him. Only days ago, he called her a liability and said I should let her family burn. It pisses me the fuck off. “Forget it. I don’t need your help.”
“Yeah, you do. You’re gonna walk in there with just Cillian? Against Christ knows how many Kozlov soldiers?” He shakes his head. “I’ve got six guys who can be ready in twenty minutes.”
“Why would you help her?”
“I’m not helping her. I’m helping you.” He pauses. “I don’t want to watch my brother lose someone he loves. Despite what you might think. And I don’t want to hear that you got yourself killed, either.”
The long stretch of silence deafens me.
I don’t trust him. After everything he’s said and done, I’d be a fucking moron to trust him.
But he’s right. I need the backup.
“Fine. You follow my lead. This is my operation.”
He gives a non-committal shrug. “Done.”
“And if you do anything that puts her at risk, I will bury you. Brother or not.”
Ronan’s mouth twitches. “Fair.”
“Okay, where are the access points?” I ask Wolfe.
“Main entrance here.” He points at the screen. “Secondary on the south side. There’s a loading dock in back.”
“What about security?”
He shakes his head. “Unknown. I’d assume heavy.”
I nod. “Ronan, your guys take the loading dock. Cillian, you’re with me covering the main entrance.”
Ronan’s pulls out his phone and stares at the screen. “My guys will be there in fifteen.”
I look at Cillian. He gives me a short nod. “Let’s do this.”
I head for the door. I’ll bring her back or die trying.
There’s no third option.