“I’m uncomfortable with this.”

Agnes jerked her eyes over to Dr. Kovenov. “We don’t have a choice. We need to get the girls out of here before new ones can be brought in. And we can’t take any chances on getting caught. This is my chance, don’t you understand? My chance to finally make a statement.”

Turning his watery, grey eyes toward the young beauty, he pressed, “Are you sure?”

“I’m sick of their patronizing way of looking at women. I can do more…I can be more.”

“But your mother has a role in the business. She is treated well,” he protested.

Rolling her eyes, she glared at him. “My mother is treated that way because she married into another family. And she brought the Volkov name with her.”

At the mention of the name Volkov he winced. The fierce name of Gavrill’s family was well identified with his ruthlessness.

“We will do this and we will make a statement,” Agnes said, her voice strong. “I’ll be known, over my brothers, even over my parents. But, I need your help.”

Sighing, knowing he could not persuade the determined woman, he nodded. “Okay, I’ll help. But once the girls are dead, how will their bodies be disposed of? Who will help you?”

With a sharp shake, she said, “No. I have to handle everything myself. That’s the only statement that I can make to assure complete success.”

Nodding, he agreed. “I’ll get the drugs. I’ll be ready tomorrow. Ingestion will be quick. But you need to be ready.” He turned to walk away and then stopped, stepping closer. Peering into her eyes, he added, “And not just ready to handle the situation but ready to deal with what you are doing. Getting rid of the girls…you might not be ready for—”

“Don’t worry about me,” Agnes interrupted, lifting her chin. “I can handle this.” She observed as he nodded before walking down the hall, a sly smile curving her lips.

Bayley looked up from the counter as Daphne walked into the shop, her eyes red-rimmed. The two women stared at each other for only a second before Bayley ran around the counter and engulfed Daphne in a hug.

“I’m so sor—”

“No, I’m sorry,” Daphne said, cutting off Bayley’s apology. “I was super sensitive and you have always had my best interests at heart.”

“But I should have never interfered.”

Daphne wiped a new tear from her cheek as she shook her head. Allowing Bayley to lead her toward the back, where they could sit in the employee lounge, Daphne said, “I’m going to end things with Lazlo.”

“Oh, no, please don’t based on what I said,” Bayley pleaded.

“It’s not you…honestly. The truth of the matter is, he really doesn’t treat me very well. I thought he was just private. You know, the kind of guy who doesn’t like his business out there for everyone. Last night…” she swallowed hard, “I felt like the only thing missing was him putting money on the nightstand.”

Eyes wide, Bayley soothed, “Oh, honey.”

“I mean, I know that’s how a lot of people are. Just sex and nothing else. No talking, no cuddling, no public displays of affection. But even a fuck-buddy has the word buddy in the title. He made me realize that I was nothing more than convenient sex.”

Holding her hand, Bayley cried, “You are worth so much more than that. Please tell me you know that.”

Nodding sadly, Daphne replied, “I do. That’s why I’m letting him know today that I don’t want to see him anymore. I’m going to wait until the end of the day. He’ll probably come pick me up and I’ll tell him then.” With a slight lift of her shoulders, she added, “I don’t think he’ll care.”

“That, right there, tells me he’s not worth the worry,” Bayley declared, leaning over to hug her friend, hoping Daphne was right. A sliver of concern slid through her at the thought of Lazlo not being the type of man who liked to be dumped.

The Saints all moved to their seats in the conference center. Nick had arrived early to work with Luke and Charlie, attempting to find some connection between the hotel the Gruzinskys owned and Gavrill’s nefarious businesses.

Nick reported, “I’ve been in touch with the U.S. Coast Guard. They’ve been investigating and watching Gavrill’s ships for the past year, waiting for the right time to board. So far, Gavrill’s managed to slip by them, not having human slaves on the ships they’ve spotted. Gavrill’s got a ship in his port now that should have already sailed, but the dates have changed twice. The only reason given that there has been a hold up of goods being delivered. I have no idea if that’s tied in to what we’re looking at, but the Coast Guard is at the ready.”

Luke added, “While we know the familial relationship between the two families, I’ve found no money coming from Gavrill into the Gruzinsky’s business, but we’ve been able to trace an account going in the other direction.”

“Payout to the head of the main family?” Marc asked.

Monty, the other Saint that was former FBI, nodded as he said, “While the old mafia ways have changed over the years, the idea of making payments to the ones in charge is still very much in force.”

“I’ve been pouring over the security tapes from the Gruzinsky’s hotel and from the lobby, to the back alley, to the floors, I’m not seeing anything suspicious,” Charlie reported. “Luke’s been looking at the floor plan, and we’ve determined there is no security camera in the basement, beyond the staff rooms. There also appears to be a block of rooms on the first floor, near the back, away from the elevators. Six rooms. And there is no camera there either.”

“What kind of staff rooms?” Jack asked, looking up at the screen where the blueprints of the hotel were being shown.

“There is a large staff breakroom in the basement,” Luke said, using enhancements to change the color of the room his was referring to. “On the west side, there is a men’s locker room and on the east side, there is an equal women’s locker room. There are security cameras in there, except for the toilet and shower areas. We’ve been watching the tapes and have seen no unusual comings or goings there.”

“What else is down there?” Bart asked.

“Supply closets, mostly. But here is where it gets interesting. The blueprints show more space beyond where the cameras provide security. So, there is the possibility of something else there that we can’t see.”

Cam grinned, “Time for night stalking?”

Hell yeahs rang out from around the table. Jack grinned as he looked over his eager crew. “Let’s get it planned.”

Nick leaned back, his heart pounding. This was what the Saints did. Not hampered by legalities. Not worried about search and seizure regulations. But able to find out what needed to be discovered. Looking up, he saw all the eyes in the room staring at him, unspoken questions in their expressions. Grinning, he said, “You heard the boss…let’s get it planned.”

“Time to eat.”

The Saints had been planning for the next evening’s recognizance mission when Jack interrupted the meeting with his pronouncement.

As the group stood and stretched, Jack added, “Bethany’s got something for everyone upstairs. That way we can eat here and keep planning.”

“Hell, she didn’t have to fix food for us,” Charlie said, knowing how much these men could eat.

Chuckling, Jack said, “Don’t worry about it. You’ll see what I mean when you get upstairs.”

Filing up the stairs, the Saints laughed as they walked into the living room, hearing chatter. It appeared the Saint women were gathered and ready to eat. The huge dining room table and kitchen counter were filled with warming trays of chicken, asparagus, new red potatoes, vegetable lasagna, bowls of salad, platters of rolls, and on another table set up near the couches stood a decorated cake.

“What the hell is this?” Nick wondered aloud.

Shrugging, Bethany explained, “There was supposed to be a wedding last night at my venue and as the bride got to the head of the aisle where the groom was, he looked over the crowd and said he found out, and had proof, that she had been having a long-time affair with his best man and it was still going on. So, he walked back down the aisle, looked at me and said, since his family had more money and had paid for the reception instead of the bride’s parents, he did not want them to have the food.”

“You brought it all here?”

“No, we packed up as much as we could in my truck and took it to the homeless shelter in town. But we couldn’t carry it all and the shelter has a rule about not accepting food after a day, since it might not pass the health inspectors, so what we couldn’t carry we brought here. Believe me, this is only a scrap, compared to what the shelter received.”

The Saints greeted their wives, children, and fiancés. Nick was surprised to see Bayley in the midst, but hustled to her side. Kissing her sweetly, he said, “How’d you get here?”

“I can drive, you know,” she teased. “But, Bethany called and said that Faith would pick me up from the shop since it was on her way.” Looking around the huge gathering, she grinned. “This is a great group, isn’t it?”

Nick dragged his gaze from her shining smile and gazed around. The eclectic group appeared to be at ease with each other, laughter filling the room. Giving Bayley a squeeze around her waist, he agreed, “Yeah, you’re right. It’s a great group.”

“No regrets?” she asked, her voice soft, eyes searching his.

Smiling back, he shook his head. “No regrets.”

An hour later, stomachs full and laughter still going, Bayley set her empty paper plate on top of Nick’s and watched as he went into the kitchen to throw them away. The men offered to clean up since the group had decimated the leftovers. Bayley felt a nudge on her foot and startled as she looked at the perpetrator.

Grace, sitting on the floor with Ben in her arms, grinned back at her. “Yep, you’ve got it bad, girl.”

“What?” Bayley pretended not to know what her sister-in-law was talking about.

“I can recognize love when I see it.”

“Oh, you can say that again,” Bethany laughed. The other women chimed in, all agreeing, but it was when Bayley’s gaze landed on Faith’s penetrating stare and she saw the small curve of her smile that she leaned back against her chair, for once no words coming. But warmth slid over her heart.