Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 70370 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 352(@200wpm)___ 281(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70370 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 352(@200wpm)___ 281(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
I wrapped my arms around my legs and rested my head on my hands. I shivered as the shadows grew darker, the room colder, and my hopes dimmer.
“Please, Egan,” I whispered. “Find me.”
EGAN
I bent over Damien’s laptop. “What do you have?”
“There are a lot of businesses in the province with the name Sterling in them. Many of them closed in the past few years, but one stuck out. Just outside Toronto. A shipping company that was next to a printing business. Sterling Shipping. Sterling Printing.”
“Sterling. Paper,” I repeated. “Yes.”
“Both businesses closed. Both are still standing, but one seems more logical.” Damien showed me an image. “A small warehouse. Deserted.”
“That works,” I said, my heartbeat picking up.
“We need some heat imaging and visuals.”
My phone beeped, and I grabbed it, staring at the screen. “My beautiful, smart woman,” I breathed. “She figured it out. Her tracker is working.”
We compared the logistics. “That’s the building. We found her.”
“Now we have to get her.”
Marcus spoke. “Matteo and I will go in. Do some recon. We’ll send you what we find so you can start making a plan. Send us the coordinates.”
They left and Julian stood. “Tell me what you need.”
“I need to know where this safe house is. I have the blueprints, but any identifying information is deleted. I know it must be in a fairly remote, safe location.”
Julian stared at the blueprints. “They move Yuri frequently.”
“Yes.”
“Even HJ doesn’t know the schedule, they keep it so tight. And they do it well. I think they pull a van into the garage as usual for shift changes and load him and his family in and take them away. They probably go to their headquarters, put them in another vehicle, and take them elsewhere. They keep up the appearance at the old safe house in case it’s being watched for a while, then suddenly just stop. The witnesses are safely tucked away elsewhere, and no one is the wiser.”
I pursed my lips. “One of his last demands was he wants to see Yuri before I detonate, so he knows he lost and Ivan won.”
“If we arrange for the other agency to move Yuri, then get Ivan and his men into the safe house Ivan is aware of, we could take them down.” He met my eyes. “Follow the HJ mandate.”
“Trust me, I have zero problems killing Ivan.”
“Yuri and his family will be eliminated, but not by us.”
I shrugged. “Rid the world of all that scum.”
Damien rubbed his head. “You’re forgetting one thing. They want whatever evidence Yuri has and keeps with him, plus what is in his head. It implicates others. He or his son wears a briefcase chained to their bodies.”
I shrugged. “Forget what’s in his head. I’m sure what’s in the briefcase will have names. The other agency can shoot them, cut off the briefcase, and dispose of them. I don’t care. I only care about getting Sofia back and killing Ivan.”
Julian stroked his chin. “You’re probably right. I’ll go make some calls. See what I can get rolling.”
“How long until they get to the warehouse?” I asked, anxious.
“About forty-five minutes. You going to build some bombs?”
“No, I’m too distracted. What I will build can be done swiftly. I plan on a painful death for that group. The deadly ghost will make them wish they’d never heard of me. Whatever HJ does with the others is their business. My focus is Ivan.”
“Okay. You can help me. I want to scan the area where the warehouse is—see what we’re dealing with.”
I sat down. “On it.”
Marcus and Matteo returned, and we sat in the workroom. Julian joined us, his face giving nothing away.
“She’s in there. There is one main heat source. I flew the drone over it, but the windows were too dirty to get much of a look. But the room she is in has no windows.”
“Are the doors wired?”
Matteo shook his head. “Marcus kept watch, and I patrolled the outside. No cameras or sensors on the building. There was a broken window I slipped in through on the main floor, but I didn’t want to attract any attention. I saw a camera pointed toward the stairs. They are watching inside.”
He and Marcus exchanged a look. “What?” I asked. “What aren’t you telling me?”
Marcus put his hand on my shoulder. “Matteo saw a pile of broken boards and investigated. The second floor was badly damaged, so we had a clear view. He could see up to the third floor, right where we thought she would be, including the hole she mentioned. I sent up a small camera.” He handed me his phone. “I had eyes on her.”
I looked at the dim, grainy image. Sofia was leaning against a wall, her head down. She appeared to be sleeping, no doubt exhausted. My heart ached at the sight of her. She would be cold, scared, and alone. I needed to get to her.