While Alyssa is upstairs spending time with Lev, I pore over every bit of information my team has managed to dig up on Sobakin and both Dominiks.
The more I read up on Evanoff, the less I believe he has anything to do with Sobakin or Polly’s capture. In fact, there might even be some enmity between him and Boris based on a few deals gone south involving the two men’s respective organizations. Sobakin has burned a few too many bridges in his lifetime, it seems.
When my phone pings, I reach for it absentmindedly.
DIMIV: Call now.
The blood rushes to my fingers as I rush to dial him. He answers immediately. “Two things. Dominik Evanoff is not your man. There’s bad blood between them, lots of it. It looks like Sobakin was responsible for the deaths of Evanoff’s father and uncle.”
“Doesn’t surprise me. What’s the second thing?”
“I looked into Boris’s dealings in Moscow. One of my hackers managed to get a record of wire transactions made from Boris’s account to an offshore account linked to a woman living right here in Moscow. Elena Chernoff is her name.”
My body is pinging with adrenaline. I get out of my seat and start pacing, bearing down the same track Nikolai wore into my carpets last night. “Doesn’t ring a bell. But she has to mean something to Sobakin if he’s providing for her.”
“It’s not her he’s providing for,” Dimiv clarifies. “It’s her ten-year-old son. Artem. There’s no father listed on his birth certificate, but I got a look at a picture of the boy a short while ago. If Sobakin isn’t the daddy, you can go ahead and shoot me between the eyes.”
Yes. Fucking yes.
“Dimiv Bugrov, I owe you one. Several, actually.”
“That’s what family is for, cousin.”
“Keep digging. I’ve got business to take care of on this end.”
The moment I hang up, I fly out of my office and towards the shed. Alan squeals and hides under his blankets when I kick the cell door open.
Sobakin, on the other hand, offers me an ugly smile. “You should know by now—I won’t talk.”
“Not even for Artem?”
The moment his name is out of my mouth, Boris’s head snaps up. The smile melts off his face and his eyes look watery. The fear on his face is evident.
It’s the sweetest thing I’ve seen all day.
“Don’t you dare touch a hair on his head!”
I smile coldly. “You’re in no position to be making demands of me, Boris.”
Boris grinds his teeth. “You want to know who I sold your sister to?” he asks of his own accord. “I’ll tell you: Dominik Drozdov. But that’s as far as my knowledge goes. She was sold to him and that’s where I lost track of her.”
“What was her life worth?” I snarl. “How much did you sell her for?”
Boris shakes his head. “It was never about the money. I would have sold her for nothing if it meant watching you suffer.”
I probably should ask where this personal vendetta of his comes from. But I’m too angry to care. I settle on beating him senseless, until his head bobs on his neck, barely still attached. Then I walk away, leaving the broken shell of the man behind me.
I so desperately want to end his life right now, but I restrain myself. His corpse will be of no use to me. But he still might be.
Without even bothering to wipe the blood off my hands, I send texts to both Dimiv and Kruger, letting them both know that Drozdov is the man we’re looking for. Then I head to my bedroom to shower off Sobakin’s blood.
I’m stripping off my clothes when Alyssa walks in. Her eyes go wide as she sees the blood on my hands.
“It’s not mine,” I explain before she can ask.
That doesn’t seem to comfort her as she ventures closer. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fucking golden, Alyssa.” I turn to look at her, grinning. “I know who has Polly.”
She gasps, her eyes going round. “Really?”
“The lead you gave me—Dominik—it panned out.”
Relief floods her face. “Oh, thank God!” She immediately grabs her charm bracelet like it’s a string of prayer beads. “Thank God!”
She follows me to the bathroom and watches as I wash the blood off in the sink. When I turn off the water, she steps to my side and reaches up to touch the side of my face. She draws back her hand and I notice a fleck of blood on her thumb.
“It’s everywhere…” she whispers.
“How about you help me get clean?”