Page 80 of Cruel Russian Monster
“Shit,” Katya said. “Call the guys, I'll call the girls. I'll send you a message to let you know if they heard anything.”
And she hung up.
I called Marten, Pyotr, and Avit, but none of them had seen her. Then I called Lev.
“Personal or business?” Lev asked, all business-like.
“Personal.”
“What do you need?” Lev asked, his tone softer.
“Have you seen or spoken to Vera today? She left the house to head to the office, but never made it.”
“I didn't see her, but why would she come see me?” Lev's voice held genuine curiosity and not malice.
“She wanted to apologize for what happened between you the last time, but she hasn't been well the past few days. The others haven't heard from her. I was hoping you did.”
“I haven't. Did you call Katya?” He paused briefly. “Stupid question, you would've called her first, what did she say?”
“She hadn't seen her, but she's calling the others.”
Just then, a notification came in from Katya.Negative. The others haven't seen her. What are we going to do?
“Katya just messaged.” I felt my heart speed up. Fear wasn't something I’d felt since I found out that my parents had died. “The other ladies haven't heard from her. She wants to know what we are going to do.”
“And there's no way I'm going to stop Katya from being a part of this search. Is there anywhere you'd like us to look? Have you tried her phone or tracking the car she took?”
I squeezed my eyes shut. Some underboss I was. After talking to Tomas, those were the first two things I should've done.
“I feel like I'm losing it. I haven't done either.”
“Okay, tell me the places that she might have gone, and we'll check there. You stay there in case she comes back.”
I rattled off all the places that Vera might be, then Lev hung up.
I called Vera's number, but it went straight to voicemail.
Shit!
I checked my phone to see if any car other than Tomas’s had left the compound, but it hadn’t. Vera probably didn't want me to know that she was on her way to me, so she found a way to disable or block the tracker.
Fuck!
The doorbell rang and I went to answer it. It was Katya, and she had Alexi in her arms. She pulled me into a hug as best as she could.
I didn't realize how much I needed that to stop me from spiraling.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, taking Alexi from her arms.
“Well, Mr. Brave Macho Bratva Underboss, I knew you'd be worried, so Lev dropped me off.”
“Worried is an understatement,” I said as I sank into one of the sofas in the lounge.
“Did she answer her phone? Were you able to track her car?”
“Her phone is going straight to voicemail. I'm assuming she didn't want me to know she was heading to the office to surprise me, so she disabled the tracker.”
Katya's brows slammed together. “Vera grew up in Bratva; she knows that danger is always lurking. She'd never take the tracker off.” Katya's voice grew softer. “Not if it meant she might be snatched away and you'd be able to find her faster because of it.”
