Chapter Five
Elena
“So, you can see how intertwined the Volkovs are,” I told my sister, rearranging some of the photos on the coffee table.
We’d both been in somewhat of a fog last night after Jaxson left. We never saw the movie we’d talked about watching. Instead, we both went to bed and didn’t wake up until almost nine. Now, it was close to noon, and we were starving, but we continued to hover over all the pages and photographs I’d printed out.
Sadie actually seeing Jaxson somehow lit the same fire inside her that I’d been carrying around for years. He was good-looking, charming, and calculating. The third trait was the one I looked forward to unpacking right into a confession.
I wanted my sister to see the connection the V Mafia had to the city. The Volkovs didn’t just cozy up to a few politicians at a party. Their connections ran far deeper and were more elaborate and happened to twist in their favor at all times. Whether the relationships were genuine or not, I had no idea.
“I mean, look at this.” I slid another photo over to her. “That’s his brother, Blake, and his girlfriend, or maybe wife by now. I don’t know, but she’s a top psychiatrist who just happens to work at a state prison. Talk about easy access to the criminal world.” I shook my head. “And her father’s a retired cop. How convenient.”
“Definitely an opportune placement for the Volkovs’ profession.” She rolled her eyes, scraping more hair into her drooping ponytail.
“And this one.” I tapped a photo of a uniformed female police officer. “Another significant other for one of the brothers. This woman is with Devin.” I shook my head and let out a grunt of satisfaction. “The only one who doesn’t fit the girlfriend mold is this artist. All the brothers date women who have connections, but not this one. She’s famous in her own right.” I shook my head. “But I don’t see the motive.”
My sister’s gaze landed on the picture of Mia and a smile touched her lips.
“No, she probably still fits the mold.”
“What do you mean?” My eyes flashed to my sister’s.
“Her brother is Luke Fletcher. He’s the guy the private security industry runs to for advice, consulting, you name it. His firm is the largest in the country. His clients range from high-profile celebrities to politicians. He has a knack for making problems go away.”
I sank into the chaise and groaned. “Of course he does. How do you know that?”
“He’s in the gossip magazines. I need my fix. What can I say?” She laughed.
“So every woman these men date or marry really does offer them something in return besides love and—” A chill ran over my flesh.
“Such a cynic.” My sister laughed and fell back against the cushion. “But there is something about Jaxson that is peculiar.”
“How so?” I turned to face her as she mulled over last night’s encounter.
It was nice to get an outside perspective. I’d spent so long connecting dots and creating ideas of who these men were that I often worried I’d overlooked the obvious.
“He’s charismatic, polite, almost kind…” Her voice trailed off.
“And cunning,” I added, fiddling with a tie on my grey sweatpants.
“Very shrewd,” she agreed. “But so are you.”
I flashed a grateful smile, and she sat back up and stretched. “I have to confess that I was shocked about last night. You weren’t the least bit intimidated by him. I’m not sure I’d have had the same moxie.”
“Moxie?” I chuckled, but I had to agree.
There was something about Jaxson that just pulled it out of me. I became combative the moment he came within ten feet of me, maybe twenty.
“I don’t know. We’re talking gangster stuff so moxie seemed fitting.” She quieted for a few moments. “But seriously. I’m concerned about this…about you.”
“Joey deserves the truth to be revealed. He was a good kid. He was murdered in cold blood.”
The familiar gnawing in my stomach surfaced as I thought about what happened to my cousin. No one deserved to be treated that way. It was hard to even let myself imagine the boy I grew up with facing the last few horror-filled seconds of his life.
My little cousin was a victim caught in the middle of very bad men and their evil actions, and I knew deep in my soul that the story needed to be exposed. Other families needed to be aware of the wickedness lurking in places they’d never expect. He delivered flowers, for Pete’s sake.
Her eyes turned from concern to sympathy as she reached for my hand. “I know you two were inseparable growing up, but I don’t think he’d ever expect you to devote your life to him.”
“I’m not devoting my life to him. I’m simply searching for a way to tell the truth. His truth.” I let out an exasperated sigh. “All Joey got was a few sentences in the local paper. That’s it. I want his story to get out, and I want the man or men responsible held accountable.”
“At the expense of your own wellbeing and happiness.” Her lips puckered into a scowl.
“That’s not true.” I shook my head. “I’m completely happy. I love my apartment. The city. My work. It so happens that my latest job will bring me peace of mind someday.”
“You hope,” she said softly.
“Yeah. I hope. Life is about hope.”
“This has been years in the making, but I don’t want anything to happen to you. Seeing how smooth Jaxson was and how you responded to him.” She shrugged. “I’ve never seen you like that with a man before. Your confidence level was through the roof.”
“It’s because I don’t care. Playing him for what he is…” I smiled. “It’s an incredible feeling. I want him to pay for taking away Joey, and I guess having that as a goal makes me feel powerful on some level. That’s what you’re seeing. Nothing more.”
Sadness filled my sister’s gaze, and her expression lifted slightly as she touched her chest. “You know, Joey is still with us.”
“Which is why I know he’ll protect me wherever this leads me.”
My sister shot up from the couch with a fierce look in her eyes. A few of the photos fell to the floor from the breeze of her quick movements.
“He couldn’t protect himself from these men. Why, in God’s name, do you think his ghost can protect you?” she snapped.
I glanced outside to the sea of grey filling the sky and took in a shallow breath as I thought about what to say. I knew she was right, but I felt in my heart that this was my purpose. There was something bigger than me pulling me to the Volkovs, but I couldn’t tell her that. I switched my gaze back to my sister’s and shrugged.
“Well?” The edge in her voice didn’t go anywhere.
“I guess I want to make a difference, and this is the only way I know how.” I stood and gathered the photos off the floor, placing them back on the coffee table.
“He likes you.”
Her words tripped me up as I refolded a blanket and placed it over the chaise.
“I don’t think he likes anyone.”
“The way he was looking at you was…” She stopped herself and turned toward the kitchen.
“Was what?” I prompted.
She poured herself a cup of coffee and leaned against the kitchen counter.
“Possessive.”
My stomach dipped.
“I didn’t see that at all.” I shook my head. “You’re being paranoid.”
“Oh, the sensation was there. I recognized that look in his eyes. The rawness.” She took a sip and placed the floral mug on the counter. “And the fact that you didn’t notice is worrisome. It makes me think you simply didn’t want to see it.”
“First, I was completely shocked that the man came to my door, and second—”
Knocking at the door broke off my last thought as my sister and I traded disbelieving looks before I made my way to the door.
Now what?
Alarm spiked through my veins at the sight of the two women peering back at me through the peephole. It seemed Jaxson’s warning was accurate.
“Who is it?” I asked through the door.
“We’re with Rick Harner’s campaign and would like to discuss a matter with you that’s recently come to our attention.”
Apprehension sizzled through my body as I stood motionless, temporarily resting my forehead on the door. This was what I wanted. To be fully immersed in the Volkovs’ lives. Going where the leads take me. It was as if I repeated the mantra to myself, I might believe it.
I slid a look at my sister, who was taking another sip of coffee before she made her way over and stood by my side as I opened the door.
“What can I help you with?” I asked, crossing my arms and watching the two women stare back at me.
“I’m Carmella Townsend, assistant campaign manager for Rick Harner.”
My stomach knotted. It was exactly as Jaxson predicted.
I noticed a coy smile trace Carmella’s lips while the other woman remained expressionless. Both had dark hair pulled back from their faces. They each wore their version of a dark power suit and heels. There was zero warmth from either of them.
“We have reason to believe you were at Mr. Harner’s house last night.” She withdrew a business card from her wallet and handed it to me.
“You mean when my cab drove by his house?” I asked, taking the card and barely glancing at.
“You tell us.”
“I don’t believe I have to tell you much of anything.”
“You don’t. You’re absolutely right.” Carmella nodded in agreement. “But since Mr. Harner’s doing everything in his power to bring his niece home and you were sitting outside his residence, it seems like I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t stop by.”
“I’d like to know how you know anything about my whereabouts, regardless of who employs you. Spending the campaign’s money tracking down random women doesn’t seem like something voters would approve of.”
My sister nodded in agreement.
“This has to do with Mr. Harner’s niece and nothing else. I don’t happen to think it’s a coincidence that a woman with your hobby was sitting outside Mr. Harner’s residence on the same night information was leaked to the press.”
Hobby.
Numbness spread through me. “I met a man at a bar whom I was interested in, and that’s why I wound up where I did.”
I hated what that sounded like.
“You’re saying you followed Mr. Harner home from a bar?” The nameless woman asked.
“I’m not saying that at all. As far as I know, I’ve never met Mr. Harner.”
“Then whom were you following?” she pressed, and I took a deep breath before my sister barged in to answer.
“My sister was interested in meeting up again with Jaxson Volkov as a sort of surprise, but when she realized he wasn’t going back to his own residence, she had the cab take her home. End of story.”
“And how do you know this?” Carmella questioned my sister as anger pulsed through me.
“Because I was here waiting for her.”
“But you do know that Mr. Harner’s niece is missing.”
“We saw that on the news last night. Yes.” I nodded. “But I had no idea until I came home last night.”
“What we’d like to know is how you knew how and where to find my sister.” Sadie’s eyes narrowed on Carmella.
“We are investigating every possible lead.”
“Isn’t that what the police are for?” My hand rested on the door handle. “I’d like to know what gives you the right to come to my door and ask questions that are frankly none of your business. In fact, I’d imagine it qualifies as an invasion of privacy. Did you have to bribe the cab driver for the information?”
“You’re a writer looking for her big break.” Carmella’s brow arched as she ignored my sister. “Isn’t that correct? A true crime blogger?”
“I don’t know what that has to do with your being at my door.”
“Everything.” She cleared her throat. “The cab driver was concerned enough with your erratic behavior last night that he got in contact with Rick Harner’s office after learning of Rick’s niece’s disappearance.”
Sadie rolled her eyes on my behalf. After Jaxson’s visit last night, we knew it was more complex than that.
“Unfortunately, I’m not comfortable with where you’re taking this conversation, so please pardon me while I get back to what we were doing before you arrived. I’d be more than happy to answer any questions the police might have for me, but I’m done discussing my whereabouts with political strategists.”
Carmella’s expression turned icy as I began to close the door. She blocked the door with her foot. Instinctively, I prepared for a confrontation but only received a warning.
“Be careful of what you get yourself involved with, Elena Egorov. You’re in the big leagues now.” She removed her foot, and I closed my door the remainder of the way, feeling as if evil had just whispered a breath away.