Chapter 24 - Agafon
My heart stops when I hear Lilibeth's petrified scream cut through the call, and then everything goes silent.
“Beth! Beth! Talk to me, are you there?” I scream into the phone as fear grips every sense, but she never replies.
Fuck. What the hell just happened?
I tap frantically at my screen. When I found Lilibeth gone, I thought she must have pulled a stunt like the time she went shopping and tried to track her location, but she had covered her tracks by shutting off her GPS. Fortunately, I have police-grade tracking equipment that enables me to hack into anyone’s location if they stay on the phone longer than thirty seconds.
Thank god I used the tracking system because the blinking dot on my screen shows me she’s at my cabin.Or was.The same cabin I first took her to bed in, the same cabin where I felt like I was the happiest man in the world.
Not relevant, I tell myself, leaving the walk down memory lane for another day. I need to know what happened. Need to know she’s safe.
But I also fear something bad has happened: that she’s been taken by intruders. Her scream, the way it shattered out of nowhere, tells me my instinct is probably on point. I have to rally the troops, our families, so I first call my associate, Petrov.
“Listen,” I tell him. “Lilibeth was at my cabin by the cliff, and I think something bad happened. Go out there right now, will you? Tell me what you find. Look for signs of who was there and report back immediately.”
“On it.”
I hang up and immediately dial Bogdan. When he answers, I don't waste time on greetings and ask him to bring the others down to my house right away. When I tell him it’s Lilibeth, he tells me they’ll be there immediately.
The next call makes me nervous. I have to call her brothers and the Zolotovs. I hang my head in shame before I dial Lion’s number. She was my responsibility. She was supposed to be safe under my roof, and I drove her away. Now, she’s in trouble because I couldn’t think before I spoke.
I square my shoulders and make the call. I’ll face whatever consequences might come my way, but my priority is getting Lilibeth back home safe. I don’t care if she never wants to speak to me again; I can’t bear the thought of one hair on her head being hurt.
“Letvin,” Lion says by way of greeting.
“I’m calling with bad news, Lion,” I say, trying to hold my voice steady, but it cracks. “We need help.”
“What happened?” he asks calmly.
“It’s Lilibeth. Sh…she’s gone missing.” My throat constricts around the words. “I'm assembling our troops. I need everyone on board. Call Nikolai. Tell the Zolotovs.”
A sharp intake of breath. “Where? When?”
“She was at my cabin when we were talking seven minutes ago. She screamed, then the call dropped. Please, Lion. Bring everyone.”
“I’ll be there,” he says, and his voice cracks too.
Less than half an hour later, my home office is packed with our families. My brothers have arrived—Bogdan, Faddey, Ilariy, Melor, Rurik. Even Nikandr heard the commotion andoffered to help, though he’s been out of the family business for years now.
The Orlovs are here too—Lion standing with his cousins—Nikolai, Dima, Fedor, and Artyom.
Abram Zolotov stands in a circle with his—Vladimir, Denis, and Mark.
All of us wait with a quiet desperation, needing information before we can do anything.
“Are you sure there’s nothing we can do?” Lion asks, stepping closer.
“How?” I ask. “Her phone’s at the cabin.”
Just then, Petrov calls back. We all fall silent as I put the phone on speaker.
“She's not here, Boss.” Petrov's voice crackles through the speaker. “But someone was. I found muddy boot prints by the door of two different sizes.”
I clench my fist while across me, Nikolai pales, and Lion steps forward, closer to the phone.
Petrov continues. “So I hacked into the security cameras on the main road. Two black SUVs with Sokolov plates passed by half an hour ago. They were heading out, and we zoomed in through the windows. The bastards didn’t have tinted glass. She’s in there, Boss. So is Viktor.”
