Page 97 of Mountain Mens' Curvy Obsession

“Sokolov’s lawyers will fight every piece of evidence tooth and nail,” Chance replies.

“That’s for the courts to figure out. We need to make sure we do everything we can to get the Sokolovs there before something happens to Anya,” Nico reminds us.

Caleb Pruitt stands up from behind his desk, smiling broadly as we walk in. “Gentlemen. It’s been a minute,” he exclaims.

“Sorry we didn’t come see you sooner, brother,” Nico says and shakes his hand. Chance and I give Caleb a nod and a smile, then take our seats, once again flanking our older brother. “Thank you for taking the time to see us.”

“Well, if what you told me over the phone is legit, I’d be a fool not to,” Caleb quips, settling back behind his desk. He looks good. He’s clad in a dark suit, is clean-shaven, and carrying some faint scars from his Navy service. “So, why come to me for this? The Sokolovs are on the New York Field Office’s task list, and they’ve been trying to get at them for years.”

“You have local access through the Bureau, and Leo’s latest crime of kidnapping happened right here,” Nico says. “Leo Sokolov just flew out of Missoula with Anya Asimova against her will. She’s in grave danger as long as she’s anywhere near that guy.”

“Yes, I’m familiar with her family history and with what happened at Dalton.” Caleb sighs deeply. “It’s a shame they could never indict the fucker.”

“Anya is the only surviving witness,” I reply. “And he’s making a power play for her father’s territories and seat at the Bratva table.”

“After he tried to kill her—twice.”

Nico takes out a backup USB drive and hands it to Caleb. “We copied everything our techs were able to recover from the damaged drive Aleks Asimov was hiding. There’s a separate folder with the corrupted files, as well, on there. Maybe your guys will have better luck recovering the rest of the data.”

“Okay.” Caleb nods and sticks the USB drive into his computer, eyes glued to the screen. “What am I looking at here specifically?”

“A considerable paper trail that could get a couple of the Bureau’s divisions involved against the Sokolovs and their associates,” Nico says. “Enough to get the ball rolling, at least.”

“From Missoula,” Caleb chuckles. “Our New York counterparts will be frothing at the mouth.”

“Show those big city boys how it’s done.”

Caleb shifts his gaze back to us. “You three look good. That mountain air does wonders, apparently.”

“And the solitude,” Chance replies with a shrug.

“I should try some of that sometime. Now, what do you fellas need from me?”

Nico leans forward as I gaze out the window, watching the city with its steel and glass giants stretching out against a pure white horizon.

“Leo left on flight 2234 from Missoula this morning. We couldn’t get any information out of the FAA, but maybe you could help us,” my brother tells him. “He had Anya with him. We assume he’s headed back to New York, but we need to figure out where he landed. And we need some way to track his movements to the best of your abilities, of course.”

Caleb chuckles dryly. “To the best of my abilities. Captain Hayes, you’re as smooth now as you were back in the service, sir. Let me see what I can do. Sit tight in the meantime. I’ll have my colleague bring us some coffee.”

“Coffee sounds good right about now,” I reply.

Nico runs a hand through his hair and lets out a heavy sigh out as Caleb starts making calls. Once he’s done greasing the right wheels and kissing the right asses, he hangs up the phone and gives us a wary look.

“I’ve got good news and bad news. Which do you want to hear first?”

“Let’s get the bad stuff out of the way,” I say.

“Well, bad news. I wasn’t able to track Flight 2234 out of Missoula. It was privately booked, and the FAA is dying on the federal warrant hill for this. I won’t be able to get one until we open the official investigation based on the evidence you gentlemen provided,” he replies. “But I do have a link for you to hook up with in the greater New York area. A friend of mine from the ATF has a keen interest in putting together a joint task force against the Sokolovs, and he’s got a bit more leeway in terms of intel and resources to share.

“I assigned you and your brothers as consultants for the Missoula Field Office pertaining specifically to this investigation,” Caleb adds. “I’ve alerted him as to Anya Asimova’s presence on that plane, and he’s aware of the threat Leo Sokolov poses to her. I’m texting you his number now, and he’ll go over the local airports in the meantime to see if he can get a line on that plane.”

Nico gives me and Chance a surprised look. “It’s better news than we expected, truth be told, considering how tight-lipped the FAA was.”

“Well, they’ll get their asses handed to them when we serve them with a federal warrant and bring in the disciplinary committee,” Caleb says. “I wish I could do more right now.”

“You’ve given us a great place to start and a contact. We owe you one.”

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