Page 67 of Goodnight, Sinners

Havel kept his flinch from showing on his face. If they threatened Leeza’s father, then she might become reckless in an attempt to get at him. They could capture her easily, but she would be angry and vengeful. Havel wanted to avoid that scenario.

“I think we should wait, see if she comes to us. She’s in a bad spot. Can’t use Vasiliy’s resources anymore because she knows we’re tracking them. She can’t travel far with a child in tow. Eventually, she’ll have to come to us, or spend the rest of her life hiding.”

I will leave it in your hands, but I don’t like having loose ends running around unaccounted for. My aunt and her daughter must be brought in.

“It’ll get done,” Havel agreed.

He was going to have to press his contacts harder, try to get his hands on Leeza before her cousin did. He was loyal to Jozef, but he’d loved Leeza since she was young. He would do what it took to keep her and her boy alive. He would have to balance his loyalties, and hopefully things would play out in a way that he wouldn’t have to make a devastating choice.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

“That was amazing!” Elisa said enthusiastically, stripping her gloves off and shoving them into the hazardous materials bin. She flung her mask in next, revealing a toothy grin. “You were phenomenal. What a success!”

Shaun smiled ruefully, stripping off her own mask, gown and gloves. “We won’t know until the patient wakes up and goes through the after surgery protocols.”

Elisa rolled her eyes. “You know it was a success. You’re as much a surgeon as I am. You know the feeling when something goes really well and your patient comes through with flying colours. We may have bought Branislav more than a few years.”

“Yes, I know that feeling,” Shaun agreed, her tone still serious. “And I’ve been wrong before. I’ll wait for the patient to wake up and start talking before I pass judgment on the success of the surgery.”

“You are such a… what is that American term?” Elisa looked thoughtful before coming up with the answer. “A party-pooper. You are pooping on my party.”

The way Elisa spoke, almost child-like in her excitement, made Shaun laugh. She was definitely more reserved than her friend, but she’d learned the hard way not to count her eggs before making sure the chicken survived.

“What if we have a celebratory cup of coffee in the cafeteria?” Shaun suggested. “I’ll pay; a thank you for assisting in a fantastic surgery.”

“Ah ha!” Elisa crowed. “You admit the surgery was fantastic. Yes, we must celebrate. They have a very mediocre chocolate pudding in the cafeteria. I will allow you to buy me one of those too.”

Shaun laughed out loud and shook her head. She walked out into the corridor, looking around for her bodyguard. Cooper stepped away from the wall, along with the Prime Minister’s bodyguard.

She directed her words to Dietrick. “Branislav is still under anesthetic. We should know in a few hours how the surgery went.”

He nodded his understanding but said nothing. His gaze was blank.

She supposed it made no difference to him other than a paycheck. Her observation of the Prime Minister and his bodyguards was that there was no love lost between them.

Cooper followed as she and Elisa continued to discuss the surgery.

When they left the surgical ward, Shaun said, “I’ll meet you in the cafeteria. I want to grab my purse.”

Elisa smiled and continued on.

Shaun was still flying high from the success of her surgery when she and Cooper arrived at Elisa’s office. Cooper automatically stayed on the other side of the glass wall while Shaun flashed her ID badge across the metal scanner to get into the office. As she bent over to pick up her purse, she heard a voice behind her.

“Hello Shaun.” She jumped and would have whirled around, but the voice stopped her. “Don’t react!”

Her heart rate sped up and she had to gasp to catch her breath. Her initial thought was that Dasha had somehow found her, but the voice was male.

“What do you want?” She tried to strengthen her voice, but she felt like a trapped mouse. The only way in and out of Elisa’s office was through the glass door. The voice was coming from the direction of the windows. Whoever he was, he could easily stop her from leaving the room before she made it to the door.

“I want you to reach into your purse and collect your phone. Then you’ll pretend that you’re calling your mother.”

Every instinct told her to resist, told her she was in danger and that she should run. But Shaun now had plenty of experience with extreme situations. She could force her breathing back to normal, which supplied enough oxygen to her brain that she could think through what was happening. Whoever was talking to her wasn’t interested in hurting her. Or at least not at the moment. They wanted to talk to her without the interference of her bodyguard, which piqued her interest.

She reached into her purse. Her phone was on top. He must’ve gone through her things. Anger rushed through her, but she pulled the phone out and held it up to her ear.

“Now what?” she demanded.

“Turn around and wave at Cooper, let him know you’ll be a minute.”

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