Chapter 30 - Aleksandr

I pulled up to the building, passing the lines of police vehicles and parking a block away. It took a few seconds to get myself together enough to go and deal with them. The building was under their control, and I didn't even have the power to send them on their way.

I was on the phone with Lev as I walked up, ignoring the young rookie I didn't recognize who tried to stop me from striding into the lobby. My brother was trying to determine if anyone we had on the inside was working the case so that we could get any information they'd otherwise hold back from us.

A detective I recognized came running as soon as the rookie squawked about me crossing the crime scene tape. I glanced at his badge and held out my hand, surprising him into momentary silence.

Detective Simons," I said, my hand still outstretched in greeting. "The man who was killed was my wife's bodyguard."

His brow furrowed, probably trying to figure out why I was talking to him like he was human, and subsequently deciding if he would do the same to me. He slowly raised his hand and briefly shook mine before dropping it with a look of distaste.

I wasn't offended. My people gave him plenty of problems to sort out and often had him and his people running in circles just to keep them out of our affairs. I wasn't going to apologize about it and try to make friends. I wanted to know if he had any leads yet so I could find Katie. He'd have more bodies to deal with after that, but that wasn't a problem for either of us at the moment. Only getting Katie back mattered.

"Really?" he asked. "Was the identification on him correct, then? Sergei Oborin, date of birth—"

"That's him," I interrupted, not caring that it pissed him off. "My wife was with him when he was attacked. I'm assuming you haven't found any sign of her in the building?"

His eyes widened. "Give me her name and description. We're currently going from office to office, and since we arrived, no one has entered or left the building."

We both smirked a little at that since I was standing right there. He motioned for me to follow him toward the back of the building. "We also have someone going over the CCTV footage since the time of the incident."

"The incident," I grumbled under my breath.

"Sorry for your loss," he said with a halfhearted shrug.

It was true that my line of work caused a lot of death, which caused him a lot of paperwork due to unsolved crimes. I didn't expect any honest sympathy from him.

"Whoever did this may have my wife," I reminded him. "She's not…" I shook my head, not sure why the detective needed to know anything about Katie. "She's not part of this. I only want her found, safe."

"That's exactly what we want, Mr. Fokin," he said.

To his credit, he did seem to be taking it seriously as he led me into the security office. Another detective I recognized looked up, barely hiding his shock at seeing me with his colleague.

"Come to finally confess?" he quipped. I remained stony until Detective Simons explained the situation as he knew it.

"Hmm," the other one said. "So we've got a dead bodyguard, a missing mafia princess, and, hey, Simons, you remember that body out by Santa Monica this morning?" He turned to me with a look that itched to be smacked off his face. "That guy was Russian. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you, Mr. Fokin?"

His voice dripped with false respect, but he dropped his eyes back to the rows of monitors as I gave him a death stare. How much did I tell these people in return for a little bit of information? I could get my own people to hack into these systems, but that was going to take time. I was right here, so I swallowed the bile that rose in my throat, reminding myself this was necessary for Katie's wellbeing.

Detective Simons pulled up a chair and motioned for me to have a seat. "That case isn't relevant to this, Kirby," he said before turning to me. "Or is it? Could this help us find your wife?"

I shook my head. "It's no longer relevant," I told him, letting him decide what that meant. "What have you found so far about the attack?"

"Not a hell of a lot, unfortunately." The sarcastic one seemed to forget the years of animosity between us as he lapsed into professionalism. "This seemed to be planned. More than half the cameras in the building, including all the elevators, were disabled or covered with gum."

"Gum?" I asked, incredulous.

"You know, it freshens your breath, and kids blow bubbles with it? You don't have gum in Russia?"

Kirby was very close to getting punched. "It just seemed so rudimentary to me," I told him.

"Ah, that's right. You have experts who can cut the lines without ever being in the building. I guess your latest enemy is working with what they've got."

"They've got my wife," I snapped through gritted teeth. "Let me look at what footage there is to see if I can spot her anywhere. There's a chance she may have gotten away and still be hiding."

Seeming to sense how disgruntled I was with the one cop in charge of going over the cameras, Detective Simons sent him out to get a report from the officers who were currently canvassing each floor of the building. Together, we went over the footage, but there was nothing useful. They might have been operating with simple items like chewing gum, but they had done their homework, able to get in and out without a trace.

We were loading up everything we'd already watched, to see if there was anything we might have missed, when an officer burst into the room.

"We've got something from a camera outside the building behind this one," he said. "It was half-covered with a bird nest, so they must have missed it."

"Show me," I ordered, standing up to loom over the young officer.

He looked taken aback and turned to the detective, who nodded. The officer fumbled his phone out of his uniform pocket and held it to his superior. "Their security emailed it to me."

He loaded up the tiny image and held it out to Detective Simons. I reached across and took it from him, watching the scene unfold. Half the view was obscured by a stick or a leaf, but it plainly showed two thugs dragging Katie to a car. Only the front end of the vehicle was visible; it was a dark, nondescript sedan with a covered plate. The men wore business suits, probably how they'd gotten into the building with such ease, and there were no clear face shots, though the one was stained red down his entire front.

Detective Simons whistled, watching beside me. "So that's where all the blood ended up."

The last scene that was visible was Katie fighting valiantly to get away, and almost slipping free. Then, one of them smashed her in the side of the face, and she went down like a sack of bricks as they dragged her out of range of the camera. My fists were clenched so tightly I could feel the skin of my knuckles about to rip, thinking about those men putting my woman in the trunk of their car.

"You recognize them?" Detective Simons asked cautiously.

Anyone with half a brain cell would know how dangerously close I was to erupting. Anyone who watched their loved one being beaten and manhandled like that would have felt the same.

"No," I said.

But I knew who they worked for. I clicked through from the beginning to watch it again in case I missed something. Rage had a way of clouding your vision, and I had to focus right now. I winced as if I was being hit when it came to the final frames, but in truth, I would have given anything to trade places with her. I was more than ready to unleash hell on my enemies for this, but not until she was safe in my arms.

"There were no more cameras that might have gotten a location?" Detective Simons asked his officer.

"We're still working through the other buildings' footage. Not just behind but the ones on either side of the alley, and across the street."

"Keep me updated," I said, forcing it to sound more like a request than a demand.

"Got it," he said with a tight nod. For the moment, we were on the same side. Neither of us liked it, but we both had our reasons for doing it. His might have just been duty, but if it had helped find Katie faster, that would have been all I needed from him. He turned to the officer. "This isn't just a murder; it's an active kidnapping. Let's light a fire under everyone's asses."

I returned the officer's phone to him, and left, calling Lev as I jogged to my car. We didn't have much, but we had something.

"Let's set up a base at your house," he suggested. "I can get my people and their gear there in less than an hour."

I could hear clicking in the background. He already had a team working their way into the surrounding cameras, and our other brothers were gathering men to go out and find information the old-fashioned way, since that was how this new Armenian gang liked to operate. We'd see if cracking some heads led to information faster than computer databases did.

My adrenaline was fading, and my rage was fast turning to despair. All I could see was that fist hitting Katie, over and over in my mind. I could sense her fear, and as terrified as I was that I was about to lose her, it couldn't have come close to what she was feeling.

"Hey? You still there?" Lev asked.

I shook away the dark thoughts that threatened to overwhelm me. "Yes," I said. "I'm on my way back to my place. I'll see you there."

"We'll get her back," he said, ending the call.

Out of all my brothers, he was the one I confided in the most. I'd never actually told him the depths of my feelings for Katie, but he knew me well. He knew exactly how I felt about her, with no words needed.

But did Katie? Was she fighting for her life this second while wondering if I was still angry with her? If only I'd swallowed my pride and taken the time to tell her the real reason I'd gone off the rails at her. If I'd told her the truth, maybe she wouldn't be in this situation at all. I could have prevented this, but I didn't want to lose her. And here she was, gone from me anyway.

No, I wasn't losing her. She wasn't gone. My girl was a fighter, clever, and strong-willed. I had to believe she was coming back to me. I wanted to believe she'd stay.

Glancing down at my death grip on the wheel, I pressed the gas and swerved around a few cars to get onto a less populated street. Whether or not she forgave me was still up in the air, but that wasn't at the front of my mind right now.

The only thing keeping me going was the belief that I'd get Katie back safe and sound.

And imagining wrapping my hands around her kidnappers' necks and squeezing until their eyes bulged out of their heads.