Page 49 of Killer Sins

The others exchanged tense looks.

Finally Bridger broke the taut silence. “Okay, so Tenaya’s stalker isn’t Zhezhnov.”

“At least not this time,” her father added.

Tenaya strode to the couch on wooden legs. Not Zhezhnov. Then who? And why?

Tai locked his fingers together behind his neck, bending his head downward. “Either Tenaya’s got a second stalker, who hopes Zhezhnov gets the blame for his psychotic behavior––”

Fenn had a far-off look in his eyes. “Or someone wants the world to believe Zhezhnov’s still alive…and still obsessed with Tenaya.”

Tai puffed out his cheeks, then met her gaze, his eyes hard with fury and resolve. “Doesn’t matter who’s behind this sick game. They’re going down.”

27

Tai paced the floor, his mind jumbled worse than if he’d been hit with a flash-bang grenade. He couldn’t hear. Couldn’t think. If Zhezhnov had been dead for months, who was stalking Tenaya? And why?

Beside him, Tenaya went over the timeline again, voice shaky. “Victor started harassing me almost two years ago. But then it stopped suddenly about six months back. I thought he’d finally gotten bored or given up.”

She wrapped her arms around herself. “But then a couple months later, the calls and threats started up again out of the blue. Only now you’re saying he was already dead by then.”

“Okay, let’s think this through.” Bridger braced his hands on the counter. “If Zhezhnov’s out of the picture, we’re back at square one. So who else would want to terrorize Tenaya?”

“And why would they want to convince her––and us––that it’s a dead Red Hand leader?” Kate added.

Tai scrubbed a hand over his stubbled jaw, pulse kicking faster. None of this made any sense.

Around the room, the others wore equally stunned expressions, struggling to process this shocking revelation.

Finally Bridger broke the tense silence. “Okay, so if the real Zhezhnov died months ago, that means someone else has been terrorizing Tenaya this whole time.”

“Someone who wants us to think it’s Zhezhnov,” Kate added grimly.

Tai resumed pacing, mind spinning uselessly. Who? Why?

As if reading his thoughts, Graham clasped his shoulder. His slate blue eyes hardened. “Whoever’s behind it, we need to remember they’ve already taken the life of an innocent woman. There’s no reason to believe they’ll hesitate to kill again.”

Tai’s fists clenched, outrage burning through his veins. Graham was right. The identity of Tenaya’s tormentor only ramped the threat level up about a hundred degrees.

He shoved his hands in his pockets. “I still say we take the fight to him. Whoever this creep is, he won’t back off easy.”

Kate looked skeptical. “Even with our new information?”

“Especially with this new info.” Tai paced, mind spinning strategies. “The stalker doesn’t know we’re onto him.”

He turned to the others. “I’ll leave a message at one of Zhezhnov’s known hangouts, threaten him right to his people’s faces. If the imposter wants to pretend Zhezhnov’s alive, he’s going to have to react.”

Bridger frowned. “There’s a huge hole in your logic, my man. Once he shows up…if he shows…he’ll out himself as a fake.”

“Not necessarily.” Graham leaned forward. “Could be he sends proxies instead of risking exposure. We’ll grab them and trace back to the source.”

Tai nodded. “Exactly. He’s got to respond somehow if I openly threaten him in front of his own crew. The guy’s clearly desperate already.”

Around the room, reluctant nods answered him.

“It’s risky.” Fenn waggled a cheese Danish. “But you might be right that direct confrontation is our best shot at drawing him out.”

“I don’t love it, but I’m with Fenn.” Kate pursed her lips. “Let’s end this.”

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