“Yeah. I need you to slowly drive away. The police are on their way and we don’t want these fuckers to get a whiff of our move.”
Carter starts his car and slowly pulls it out of the parking lot. “There were two armed men next to the staircase. He’s most likely upstairs.”
“Yeah, there are two men stationed on the balcony of one room. I’ve texted Chief all the details.”
I pull on my collar as we stand in wait. As much as I’d like to be part of the action and get my hands on Lebedev, I have to let the police do their job.
We wait for a few more minutes until a bunch of police cruisers and a police van pass by us. My hand clutches my gun in case I need it.
Fifteen minutes go by, our view of the bustling parking lot now obstructed by the various police cars.
Beside me, Gavin fidgets in his seat. I’m sure it’s torture for him as it is for me to sit here, away from all the action.
Finally, my phone rings. I put the chief on loud speaker.
“It’s done, Keith. We have him.”
“You do?” Although I was hoping today would be the day, it feels everything happened too easily. With Lukas in the hospital, my girls scared shitless at home, I thought it would be…harder than this.
“Yes. Do you want to see him?”
Do I want to see the fucker who has occupied a permanent place in my brain for weeks?
Of course I do.
I’m about to tell the chief I’ll be there in a second when Gavin checks his gun. He’s all ready to open his door and march to the parking lot.
Fuck! As much as I’d like to see that fucker, I can’t take a loose cannon like Gavin with me.
“Not now. I’ll meet you at the police station.”
Gavin’s gaze shoots to me and he curses loudly as I end the call.
“Did you forget he shot Luke and kidnapped your girl?”
“I didn’t forget anything.” My hands tighten on the steering wheel. “But we can’t afford to have another of our men in jail or in the hospital.”
36
KEITH
I pass the take-out boxes holding Chinese food to Clementine and Merida.
“He’s really behind bars?” Clementine asks, her gaze shifting toward the TV where the news about the abductions run on low volume.
“Does that mean we can go out whenever we want?” Mere asks.
“These men usually don’t work alone. We need to be careful that no one from Lebedev’s gang is still carrying out his vendetta.” When their pale, wary faces peer at me, I add, “We have no reason to believe there is someone else, but just for a few more days, be cautious.”
They both nod, foreheads still creased. But I’ll take it. I can’t let them run around not being careful.
We silently start dinner and I try to distract them. “Lukas is much better now. He should move back home next week.”
“Will the girl who showed up at the hospital also return?” Mere digs her fork into the salad.
When I don’t reply, Mere’s forehead creases. “What? She’ll visit Uncle Luke next door, won’t I meet her then?”
I rub my forehead, not liking where this discussion is going. Lukas hasn’t spoken much about the girl or his relationship with her and I don’t know how much he wants Mere to know. “Until then, can we please talk about something else?”