13. Easton

Chapter thirteen

Easton

H aving the dad practically fall into my lap is a development I never saw coming, but I'm grateful for the stroke of luck just the same. Luck can make or break all sorts of situations in my line of work. Fortunately, this time, luck is working in my favor.

Darius matches step with me as we exit Emily's shop and we head over to his car. "The man?" I ask him quietly.

"He's already detained in the usual cell."

I nod. "Excellent. Let me know the minute anything changes out here."

Darius is a man of few words. He simply nods and gets back into his car. I'm dying to sit Emily's ex down and have a chat. I'm so eager that I have to force myself to walk normally and stay within the speed limit. No point in doing something stupid to delay what could be a very informative meeting.

My youngest brother, Daniel, is there, waiting for me at the bottom of the basement steps with Kevin at his feet.

"You get anything out of him?"

"He's an Andreev."

The Andreev family are small time compared to the operation we run here, but they are still a force to be reckoned with. I know most of the guys in the upper echelon of their operation. In this line of work, you don't have friends but, occasionally, you do gain allies. I would have called them that up until this moment.

All of their operations were centered further southwest of here–far more inland than mine. One of their men operating in my town without my knowledge is a problem. If Emily's belly is any indication, he's been here a while. That makes me wonder exactly how big this problem is. I pause to take my jacket off and hang it up before following him down a side hall. "He tell you that?"

Daniel huffs a laugh. "No, fingerprint match."

"You fingerprinted him?" I ask, amused.

Daniel grins. "Just call me Officer Degarmo. He wouldn't tell us anything when they first dropped him off, so I decided we'd find out one way or another."

I roll up my sleeves as we approach the door. "And he submitted to that willingly?"

Daniel smirks. "He may have a broken finger or two."

"Look at you, little brother, ready to take on the big times."

Daniel just shrugs.

We walk into the bare room, Kevin at our heels. Andreev is sitting on the floor, already stripped to his boxers. He has a black eye and a lump on his forehead. He turns away as soon as we enter the room. I step close and grab his face, forcing him to look at me. "Mr. Andreev, it's good to finally meet you. Emily's told me all about you."

Andreev says nothing. His hands are cuffed in front of him and his legs are zip-tied, making it impossible for him to do much other than stare at me with hatred in his eyes as he tries to squirm out of my grasp. I dig my fingers tighter into the flesh under his chin and he winces, but doesn't say a word.

I stare back at him for a long moment before I let him go with a hard shove. His head hits the wall with a loud crack.

"OOOh, that ought've hurt," Daniel chuckles from behind me.

"Tell me about our new friend," I say aloud to my brother as I take a chair from the small table in the corner and pull it close to my new friend. Kevin makes a long Mreow sound as he begins to sniff along Andreev's leg.

"What's it doing?" Andreev interrupts.

"Investigating. Cats are curious creatures. They're also carnivores." I turn back and look at my brother. "Do you think Kevin would eat him eventually if we left them together long enough?"

"You always hear those urban legends about the old ladies who die and the cats eat their bodies…I don't see why not." Daniel says.

Kevin jumps on the man's lap and I can't help but flinch, just imagining those tiny claws digging into my own thighs. Andreev grunts but says nothing as Kevin continues to sniff him.

Daniel sits back in his chair and opens a plain manila folder. "Ivan Andreev, age 29, occupation…" He starts laughing and I turn to look at him, eyebrows raised.

"You're fucking kidding, Andreev? It says here Life Coach. That can't be for real. Where did they get this–holy fuck, E, he has a fucking website."

I turn and look back at the man still facing the far corner. "Maybe you should consider paying yourself for a session or two?"

"Fucking for real," Daniel says before continuing on. "Last known address was that of a woman named Ava Vickers. Prior to that, they have him connected with a Jana White, prior to that…Emily Grayson." He chuckles to himself and I look back.

"What?"

"Emily's the only one close to his age. It seems our friend here likes cougars."

"He likes cougars or women who have the money to put him up?"

Daniel nods, "Ah see, good point. This is why you're the Alpha."

I kick Andreev in his side, and he groans. "Emily's not rich, Mr. Andreev, so why'd you pick her?"

He closes his eyes for a moment, then opens them and continues to stare at the wall, silent. I've got to give him credit for that. Lots of men in this room spend their time crying, pleading, and begging. Not Ivan. Kevin climbs on Andreev's shoulder and makes a graceful leap up to a shelf just a few feet above his head.

I pull out a large folding knife from my belt and start to play with it, letting it click each time it snaps back into place.

"Mr. Andreev, I don't like getting blood on my clothes. I get all kinds of shit from our housekeeper when that happens, so I'm going to give you a chance. One. Last. Chance. What were you doing with Emily and why are you back in my town?"

Silence.

I turn to Daniel. "A little help?"

He jumps up right away and presses a foot against Andreev's thighs as I grab his cuffed hands. The man tries to fight against us as he protects his hands–one hand firmly held by the other. I grab his ring finger and yank it back as he cries out in pain. My knife is just about to come down on it, ready to sever it, when he cries out. "No, fuck, I'll tell you."

"Tell us what?" I pull harder on the finger until Andreev is nearly hyperventilating.

"He…sold…her."

"Who?" I ask, but already have a sinking suspicion I know.

Andreev's breathing gets heavy, but he manages to spit it out. "Neil."

"Neil sold his sister?"

I let him go, and he hugs his hands to his chest. "My brother and I wanted to get in on some things, but the old man was always blowing us off, so we decided to get into trade on our own." His breathing is heavy, but he doesn't scream or cry.

"Why did Neil sell Emily?"

"He owed us a hundred grand. He said she had a business already established that we could use to keep everything on the up and up."

"But you had to take it over first." Daniel says from behind me. "So, you'd marry her, then sell her off, but…"

"She got pregnant first." I finish.

Andreev says nothing.

"What did it matter, Andreev?" I ask. When he says nothing, I nod over at Daniel. He stands and plants his foot back on his leg as I pull out the knife again. "Come on, Andreev…that would have been a two-for-one. I bet someone would have paid a ton for a baby."

Bile rises up in my throat just from saying the words. I'm tempted to pluck out one of his stupid eyes that are staring back at me with panic and fear, but I keep my hands at my side, ready for whatever stupid response he's holding in.

"Fuck you, I'm not selling my kid."

"Impressive." Daniel smirks as he presses his heel deeper into the flesh of his thigh. "He has just the tiniest bit of a conscience."

I intend to just walk away and let my men deal with it, but stupid men never shut up. "Her fucking brother lied about her. Told me she was younger than she was. No one wants to buy an old whore–"

My fist lands with a satisfying crunch, and he groans in pain as blood gushes down his face. Daniel hands me a towel to wipe my hands with and I walk away, not wanting to be in his presence any longer. Outside the door, Esther, and a few of Tracey's cats–Fredrick, Jimmy, Wayne, have gathered. Kevin mreows from his perch, as if he's calling them over, and they begin their inspection of Andreev as he tries to regain his breath.

"They're trying to eat me!" Andreev suddenly screams. Jimmy is attempting to gnaw on Andreev's knee. Daniel shakes his head. "It's just love bites. They had breakfast. You'll be fine."

We leave the man leaking blood and snot all over the place, swarmed by cats, and step into the hall.

"We can have Mack get rid of him," Daniel suggests. I shake my head.

"The Andreevs will want him back. Have Mack work his magic, but leave him alive. I can't trade a dead body for a favor."

"Will do."

I walk off as he pulls out his phone. "Hey Easton, should I let the cats out of the room?"

I shake my head. "Let him think about becoming cat food until it's time for their dinner. It's better than the girls he wanted to sell would have been treated. But make sure they're out before Mack gets in there. He gets rough and I don't want one of them hurt. In the meantime, I think I'm going to give Old Man Andreev a call."