Page 73 of Sergei
I didn’t ask for this.
I didn’t want this.
But here I was, utterly consumed by a woman and ready to burn the world down to get her back. I didn’t know where they had taken her. I didn’t know if they’d hurt her. I didn’t know if she was scared and calling for me or if she was already gone.
It didn’t help matters that I knew what these men were capable of, and it had my mind reeling with the most horrific things imaginable. I had to stop. Thoughts like these break a man faster than any bullet. I knew how this worked. I lived it, breathed it, and I knew if I let myself feel anything, I would unravel.
I couldn’t let myself think about the way she tucked her hair behind her ear, or the way she bit her bottom lip when she wrote in her journal, or the way her neck and cheeks would blush whenever she was aroused. Thoughts like that would do me in.
I had to keep my focus. It was the only way I was going to find her. It was the only way I was going to bring her home. So, I let my rage seep in. I would come for them. I would find them. I would carve my name into their flesh and take what they love and make it rot.
But to do that, I needed information.
I already knew that Sidorov and Vasiliev were nothing more than a couple of errand boys for a man named Mikhail Korolenko. I didn’t know much about the man. I had no reason to know. He belonged to a world I’d turned my back on and had no desire to ever return to. But now that he’d forced my hand, I was eager to know everything there was to know about him.
So, I made a call to Lev. He was a pain in the ass, but he had a way of getting information when I needed it. And I needed it now more than ever. It had been less than twenty minutes since I’d told him what I needed when he called back and announced, “I got them.”
“Tell me.”
“Mikhail Korolenko. 108 East 27thStreet.”
I wrote it down, then waited for the next.
“His lieutenant, Ivan Zadora is 4224 Chicot Road. My guy says he’s out late and gone early, and you need to know this guy is off. He has a thing for torture, and not your run of the mill kind, if there is such a thing. I’m telling ya, he’s a real son-of-a-bitch.”
“Guard detail?”
“I just got the names. The rest is up to you.”
“Understood. I’ll be in touch.”
With that, I ended the call and turned my attention to Jenson. He was sitting at his desk, going through the security footage from my apartment in hopes of finding something on the men who’d taken Lina. Maybe then, we could figure out where they’d taken her.
Jenson was good, but it was going to take him some time to piece it all together. Unfortunately, time was something Lina didn’t have. I had to get to the head of the snake, cut it off, and work my way down. It was my only chance of getting her back.
I stepped over to him and handed him the addresses Lev had given me. He glanced down at the addresses and asked, “What do you need?”
“Access to their security footage.”
He nodded, but I could see the wheels turning in his head. He was still trying to find something on the men who’d taken Lina, but right now, this took precedence. He took the paper and started doing whatever it was that he did. I turned and headed to the vault. I put in the combination, and seconds later, the lock disengaged. I opened the door and stepped inside.
I grabbed my bulletproof vest and slid it over my head, cinching it tight beneath my pullover. It had been years since I’d put it on, but there was still a familiarity to it. I didn’t overthink it. I simply reached for my gun and holster and put it on. I shoved a couple of clips into my back pocket before I reached for my blade.
My movements came so naturally, like I was stepping into my old skin, but this time, I wasn’t going to war for my father. This was my war, and the blood I was about to shed would be on me and me alone. The thought didn’t dissuade me. If anything, it fueled me.
I walked back into the office and over to Jenson. “What did you find?”
“Looks like an old system. Probably just using it for monitoring. Not sure it’s recording.”
“Can you shut it down?”
“Absolutely. I can kill the power, too.”
While the dark would offer me some cover, it would serve as a warning to Korolenko and his men. I couldn’t take that chance, so I told him, “Leave the power. Just kill the security system when I give you the go ahead.”
“You got it.” Jenson inhaled a quick breath, gathering the courage to ask, “You really going after these guys alone?”
“I am.”
