Page 129 of Pistols and Plush Toys

Another hidden, timed message popped up. He clicked it.

Meredith:She got approached while waiting to pick up my order by a young woman who introduced herself as a friend of Vicki’s. Handed her a sealed envelope, which ended up containing these:

What followed was a batch of hidden timed picture messages. Nikolai clicked them one at a time so that he could look at each closely. They were all shots of Mattia Vitale and some other guy, bent over an open case. They were half blurry, taken from a distance, and time stamped for yesterday.

Meredith:Pretty sure this means the plan is working. Mattia plans on coming home soon.

Nikolai agreed. There were no other reasons for Vitale to be shopping for weapons.

Nikolai:With ammunition.

Meredith:Looks like it.

Well then. That answered a few questions. It seemed like Vicki was worth her word after all. Nikolai would keep that in mind going forward.

Nikolai:Okay, good. Set up surveillance on his penthouse and see if we can get eyes on incoming private flights.

Then he tried to think, pushing aside the fuzziness from the four am phone call and oversleeping. If Vitale was coming back, what else needed to be done? They needed surveillance, sure. They needed to know what they were going to do when he landed.

And Nikolai needed to be ready to finish it. Finish him.

Nikolai:And book me at the range for this afternoon.

It had been too long since he’d gone anyway. Some practice would do him good.

Meredith:Will do.

Then his thoughts turned to the other order of business.

Nikolai:Did Gerard text you about the shipment last night?

Nikolai went and checked his burner phone for messages quickly, but it didn’t look like he had anything from Eisen yet.

Meredith:Yeah, something about rats in the new stock? Did we treat for vermin?

Nikolai:Not yet, but I called supplier last night. He’s going to handle it. He’s thinking his side might have the infestation.

Three dots typing, then:

Meredith:Do we think it’s connected?

She was no doubt asking about Vitale.

Nikolai:I think is possible.

Meredith:Me too. Okay, keep me updated.

Followed immediately by:

Meredith:Also don’t worry about the meeting you’re already missing, I made excuses for you.

Nikolai let out a long breath. He’d just hit the button to turn on his computer.

Nikolai:Thank you. You are best.

Nikolai scrolled through the rest of the messages he had on his personal phone and was just pulling up his email when a knock came at the door. It was Elliot’s knock, soft and almost hesitant.

“Come in,” Nikolai called, and the door opened.

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