Page 36 of Demitri

“Alright. We all know who you are. Let’s get down to business. Joker, what did you find?”

Joker pulls up a video on the screen behind Daniel, showing the outside of Mia’s bar taken from across the street.

“The hardware store next to the bar has external cameras I was able to access. The perp zapped the security system on his way in. High-tech stuff. Don’t know who these people are working with, but they have money. Something like this isn’t cheap.”

“Illegal stuff usually isn’t,” Aiden says.

“He went in, did what we all saw him do on the inside cameras, and left.”

“Any idea what he’s driving or who he is?”

“I know who he is,” I speak up. “His name is Sasha Pavlov. My uncle.”

“You said he’s worse than Andrey?” Mia asks.

“Yeah,” I say with a laugh. “He was one of Ivan’s spies. He kept an eye on the others, reported who was doing what, and made unilateral decisions on when it was time to kill one of our own.”

“He wasn’t brought down with the others?”

“No,” Davis answers for me. “He went underground when the heat started ramping up. No one’s seen him in over five years.”

“Until today.”

Joker types a few keystrokes and pictures of my uncle pop up on the screen. He was bigger than Ivan, but not as commanding.He used brute strength to get his point across, whereas my father used cunning manipulation to get what he desired.

“It’s thought he’s killed or had a hand in the killing of over a hundred people—men, women, and children.”

“So what angle is he playing?” Daniel asks.

“Could he want the power for himself?” Aiden asks.

“Then why help Demitri’s sister?”

“Not my sister,” I say before I can stop myself. “She’s not my family.”

Mia places her hand on my leg and squeezes, calming me.

“We need prison records. Who’s visited your family, what names they used, what their backgrounds are.” Grady writes notes, not looking up.

“What is this woman’s name?” Mia asks out of the blue. “The one who was in the bar?”

“She’s been known to have a few names,” Nate offers. “Kara, Karina, Katya. Her legal name is Katya Sokolova. After her mother.”

“And this Andrey guy? What’s his story?” She turns to look at me.

“I can answer that one,” Davis offers. “We couldn’t connect him to anything big when we took the family down, but he had a few possession and theft charges levied on him, and he did a short stint behind bars.”

“And now he’s teamed up with Katya and Sasha,” I say, trying to wrap my head around it.

“And they want me for some reason,” Mia whispers, more to herself than anyone.

“Until we know more, we can only be proactive in keeping everyone safe.” Daniel stands. “So with that in mind, we’re putting a detail on you Mia. Full-time, twenty-four-seven.”

“Will they be better than this one?” She looks at Grady, who grins at her. “His skills of following people without being noticed are kind of lacking.”

Everyone at the table laughs while Grady flips off my girl. “I wasn’t trying to hide, Princess.”

“Yeah, but we know these people are after me, so it would reason that they would follow me at some point, right? And if you’re being so flashy with the following me and shit, then how can we catch them doing the same?”

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