Chapter 26
“What do you mean, you lost them?” Janice demanded through the mobile phone.
The agent on the other end of the line began giving excuse after excuse.
“I don’t want to hear about snow or the fucking conditions,” she told him, cutting him off. “You were sent out there with a team of our best men, and you can’t track down two people?”
“Ma’am, one of them is as trained as we are,” he stated.
She rolled her eyes. “And? The woman isn’t. She’ll slow him down.”
“She may not be trained, but she’s capable because we’ve not found any sign of her either.”
Janice squeezed the phone as rage filled her. “They can’t have gone far if the weather is as bad as you say it is. It’s winter in Romania.”
“We’ll keep looking,” he replied in a testing tone.
“You bet your ass, you will. If you see them, kill them.”
There was a beat before he said, “We were told to bring them in alive.”
“Who told you that?” she demanded. “You’re taking orders from me, and I never said that.”
“The order came after we arrived here. And no, ma’am, it didn’t come from you.”
Janice’s gut clenched. The only people who knew she’d been told to bring Maks in alive were the Elders.
That meant they’d contacted the team that she’d sent out.
Did they do it because they didn’t think she’d carry out their orders?
If that was the case, then she was surprised she was still in her position.
The Elders didn’t mess around when someone failed.
“Ma’am?”
She swallowed and cleared her throat. “You have your orders. Follow them.”
“I just want to be clear that we’ll be bringing the couple in alive.”
“If you find them.”
The agent’s voice went hard as he said, “Oh, we’ll find them.”
Janice disconnected from the call and looked around her office.
At one time, everything had gone her way.
She hadn’t aspired to run this division of the Saints, but she was glad she had taken the job.
It had gotten her close to those in the Saints who could help her attain the positions she really wanted.
Never in her dreams did she think some IB and a spy would ruin her hopes. She had all kinds of resources at her disposal, and yet she couldn’t bring either of them in. There had been only one threat to her, but it was that one threat that scared her most of all.
The sound of her phone ringing split the silence. Her head jerked to the mobile lying on the desk. Her heart was pounding as she reached for the phone and saw there was no caller ID. With shaking hands, she answered. “Hello?”
“I thought we discussed this.”
The moment the male voice, raspy with age, reached her, she closed her eyes. “We did.”
“Then why are Maks and the woman still not in custody?”
Janice swallowed hard. “They got lucky. They’ll be brought in today.”
“Hmm,” came the reply. “And what is your explanation for not following my orders explicitly?”
“I-I don’t know what you mean?”
“You know exactly what I mean. I said I wanted Maks brought in alive. Yet you told your team to take a shot if they had it.”
It was on the tip of her tongue to lie, but she thought better of it.
No one but the team she’d called upon to track Maks and Eden had known what her order was.
So, either one of them had told on her…or…
her office was bugged. Janice didn’t even have to wonder.
She realized that she was being spied on.
“Wise of you not to try and lie,” he told her.
“You’ve been good for us, Janice. You’ve always done what was expected and beyond.
Look how far you’ve come. However,” he said with a dramatic pause, “if you continue in this vein, then everything will be snuffed out like a candle. You’re upset that Maks and the woman are eluding you.
He’s one of our very best. It was never going to be easy bringing him in. ”
She drew in a deep breath. “Sir, he could know sensitive secrets. Wouldn’t it be better if he was eliminated?”
“Without a doubt.”
“I don’t understand,” she said with a frown.
He sighed loudly, letting her know that he was irritated. “It isn’t for you to know. It’s for you to follow orders.”
“Yes, sir.”
“I hope you can, Janice. Your family has been a part of us for generations. I knew your father well. I was the one who placed your sister in our organization. Your family has an unblemished reputation. You wouldn’t want to ruin that now, would you?”
It was a low blow for him to bring up her family since she was estranged from them. But Janice got the point. “No, sir, I wouldn’t.”
“That’s good to hear. Now, bring in Maks and Eden so we can put an end to all of this. Today.”
The line went dead. Janice didn’t slam the phone down. If her office was bugged, they were no doubt watching her, as well. She knew for a fact that the Saints monitored others in the organization. Why did she think she was above that? Because her family was well known in the group?
She wanted to roll her eyes but managed to hold back just in time.
Janice walked around her desk and went to sit down.
She stilled, feeling the hairs on the back of her neck rise.
Just as she was about to turn and see if there was a camera behind her, she stopped herself.
Instead, she called back the unit of men she’d sent after Maks and Eden.
The commander picked up on the second ring.
“Tell me everything that happened last night,” she said. “Including exact locations.”