I can feel Isabelle’s eyes on me, studying me. “Do you know who he’s talking about?” she asks.
I speed-dial Liam as I nod. He answers on the second ring.
“We’ve got a problem,” I tell him. “I might know who is responsible for Isabelle’s and Landon’s kidnapping. And who was responsible for Isabelle and me being in Huntington Beach to begin with.”
“Who?”
I relay everything that Henri, Liza, and Josephine told me.
“Fuck almighty,” is his response. Along with a few other curses. “Do you have a positive ID on them?”
“No. I have the two witnesses who described them.”
“Are you still with the witnesses?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll get Connor to send you photos of the three men. See if your witnesses can confirm if it’s them or not.”
A few minutes later, my phone pings with incoming texts. I open up the photos and show them to Liza and Henri.
“That’s them,” Henri says. “I’d recognize those tattoos anywhere.”
The tattoos that say, “Respect the Past,” “Create the Future,” and “Protect What’s Yours.” Those last three words are the ones Henri saw on Nikolai’s fingers.
Liza also confirms they were the three men that day in the restaurant, watching Bradshaw and Josephine.
“Who are they?” Isabelle asks me.
“Vadik Orlov; his grandson, Nikolai Orlov; and Vadik’s bodyguard, Rasputin Zadorov. Vadik Orlov’s the crime boss the team was hired to take down prior to you and I going to Huntington Beach.”
“You mean the ones who shot you?”
I nod. Those would be the bastards.
32
Isabelle
After we finish talkingto my grandmother and her friends, Jayden, Mojo, and I head out. We’ve barely left the house when my phone pings with a text…as does Jayden’s.
It’s a group text sent to the entire team.
“Hell no,” Jayden growls.
And I grin. “Sorry, buddy. Looks like you don’t have any say in this.”
Usually, I’m not part of their team meetings when it comes to their missions. Hopefully, this isn’t a one-time exception.
Sandra, my temporary replacement, is sitting at my desk when we arrive at the office.
The warm, bubbly brunette smiles at us. “Liam and the others are in the conference room.”
We enter the room and take the two empty seats next to each other at the table.
Jayden grabs a donut. “Christ, I’ve missed these. Connor, have I told you lately you’re the best?”
The way he gazes lovingly at the donut, you’d think he’s going to bite the heads off anyone who dares mess with it. But then he sinks his teeth into it and moans his satisfaction.
