Chapter 33 - Lev

Somehow, the head of the Portland gang must have gotten wind that we were after him, or had exceptionally good luck, because the only people at his hideout when we arrived were a few lackeys. Their leader had gone into hiding, and no amount of persuasion could get them to talk, which meant they didn't know anything.

Now the next day, I was still pissed off and slamming around the kitchen. Nothing was different from the day before and I had wanted this over before Jenna got home from her spa weekend. Max was out with some of the guys looking for our missing person, and Mila left right after she ate breakfast to do some shopping, fed up with my foul mood.

There was nothing left to do at the moment but wait until we had fresh intel, but I was impatient and disappointed that this was continuing when it should have been done. With nothing to keep me busy but slamming around the pots and pans, I considered picking Jenna up early. I needed to see her, make sure she was safe with my own eyes, and most of all, I longed to have her in my arms. Only one full day and night without her, but it felt much longer. Too long.

However, there was no real justification to end her fun early, and I still held out hope we could find the jackass who'd slipped through our fingers and end this. Then Jenna and I could start fresh, with no more secrecy and at least a few less worries. Until the next rival group decided to muscle its way in on my territory, but that was a bridge I didn't need to cross right now.

Right now, all I could do was bide my time and wait for updates. I wished I hadn't been so short with Mila that morning, practically shouting at her for being calm and rational instead of edgy and outraged that we hadn't gotten our desired result. She had asked me to chill out, because the Portland leader couldn't have gone too far, and we'd end up finding him even if he did. She had no sense of urgency, and wasn't about to put up with my shit. I could have used her sympathetic ear, but I'd chased her off, and she hadn't returned by lunchtime.

With no appetite, I still made myself eat, sitting on Jenna's side of the kitchen table so I wouldn't have to look at her empty spot and miss her more. It would have been comical how woebegone I was over her being out of my sight for two days, but I was too pissed off to laugh at anything, especially myself.

It was after I cleaned off my lunch plate and put on a fresh pot of coffee when Aleks called. I was just about to ignore the call, but since he was also going to be at the spa later on today to pick up Katie, I wanted to make sure he wasn't falling behind schedule.

"Is Jenna with you?" he asked without a greeting.

"Why would she be?" I asked, my knee-jerk reaction since I was so entrenched in our secrecy. The last thing I wanted to do was tell him over the phone.

He sighed. "Katie's freaking out. She said Jenna was acting off yesterday and then didn't meet them for breakfast this morning. They can't find her and wondered if she asked you to pick her up early for some reason."

I took a breath, forcing myself to not start shouting again. "Have they looked everywhere? Asked the employees if anyone saw her?" It was a huge resort. This wasn't a reason to panic, so why was I so close to panicking?

"One of the workers said they might have seen her go out on one of the hiking trails, but they did the whole trail with no sign of her. So, she's not with you?"

"No," I said in a clipped tone. "Hang on a second." I put him on hold and called Jenna, but it immediately went to voicemail. Her phone was off. I got back on with Aleks. "I'm on my way down there right now," I told him.

"Yeah, I'm heading up that way as well. I was going to have dinner with the girls at the resort. Hopefully, Jenna will show up; they still haven't checked the beaches."

He was trying to keep things light, but he was clearly worried. Katie was a mother hen, but she wasn't the type to get hysterical over nothing. As for me, I was on the verge of terror.

Before I left, I sent a message to Max to drop what he was doing and meet me down in Monterey, sending him the spa's address. The men could keep up the search, but I might need him down there.

By the time I arrived, Aleks hadn't made it up from LA yet, so I kept up the act of a concerned brother-in-law for the moment. But I was more than concerned. There was a hurricane of anxiety starting to twist up my insides, and it was probably only Katie's own worry that kept her from seeing how distressed I was.

"Let me speak to the employee who thought he saw her on the trail," I said.

As soon as I was done grilling, the kitchen worker who'd been helping bring in a load of fresh produce when he spotted her, the storm inside me was really raging. Turns out she might have been walking with another man.

"Kind of older, a little bit bald," the kid said with a shrug.

Chilled to the core, I turned to Katie, and her eyes widened. "She met someone she knew from her internship. A local government guy who was here with his wife. I forget his name…"

"Hardy?" I asked.

"Yes, that's it. Councilman Hardy. They had tea together yesterday."

This was all too much of a coincidence. First, the Portland leader getting tipped off and then Hardy showing up where my wife just happened to be staying? And now Jenna was missing? We scrambled to the front desk to see if they'd call Hardy's wife down to speak to us, but she had already checked out early that morning. Long gone. They could be anywhere by now.

"Damn it," I hissed, turning away from Katie's confused look. Hardy's wife was as dirty as he was and was probably in on it.

"What's going on?" Katie asked, her hand pressed into the top of her rounded belly.

Her face was pale, and I helped her to a seat in the spacious lobby, but she jumped up a moment later when Aleks strode in. He wrapped her in a hug, and I felt a pang, wondering if I'd ever get to hold my own wife again.

Stop it; of course you will. Hardy was too much of a coward to do anything to Jenna. But if he was working with those other Russians…

"We've looked everywhere," Katie told him as I walked over, unable to hide my grim outlook. "It's been hours since anyone saw her."

"She could be with someone I've been having trouble with," I said, giving my brother a curt nod over the top of Katie's head. "A local politician who might be involved with that new organization from Portland."

I led them to a more secluded spot in the corner of the dining hall and quickly filled them in on my history with Hardy and where we were currently at with the Portland gang. I had them running scared, and they might have gotten desperate. By this time, Nat had joined us from where she'd been searching the beaches with some of the spa employees, shaking her head to signify she'd had no luck.

Katie and Aleks took it all in but seemed more confused than enlightened by the time I was done explaining my beef with the councilman.

"But why would Hardy having a problem with you have anything to do with Jenna?" Katie asked.

Oh yeah, I'd left out some critical information. I scrubbed my hands over my face and sighed. It was time to spill everything. Clapping Aleks heartily on the shoulder, I said, "Right now, let's just concentrate on finding Jenna and making sure she's safe."

"What the hell are you talking about?" he asked, his dark blue eyes narrowing.

"Jenna's my wife," I said. "We've been married since just after the first of the year."

Katie slapped her hand over her mouth, too stunned to speak. Nat groaned and instinctively put her hand on her father's arm, knowing as well as I did what came next.

"What in the fuck did you just say? Tell me I heard you wrong," Aleks snarled, his muscles tensing as he leaned forward.

"You can beat the shit out of me when all this is over, okay? The most important thing is focusing on finding Jenna."

He shook his head. "You seem to forget I'm good at multitasking."

His fist leaped forward to slam me in the jaw. Pain rocketed up the side of my head and down my neck. He must have been keeping up his membership at my club. I nodded once, rubbing the spot that was surely going to be a wicked bruise, accepting it probably wouldn't be the last blow I'd have to take. Not now, though.

I stood up and headed for the door. "Now let's get to work."