Page 9 of Kept By The Agents

Catalina

Was it smart to wait to the count of thirty, then follow the guys into that building? No. But damn it, this was my family. It didn't matter anymore that Alyona was the only one I'd known for years. They were all in my heart now and it was breaking for poor Elena. She had to be terrified. I refused to think about anything worse, like her being dead. The guys wouldn't understand, but I couldn't just sit back and do nothing. Besides they had enough firepower to take care of business if needed.

I'd just sneak in, grab a few photos and videos—if I was lucky someone would mention Elena—then head back to the safe house they were using, with none the wiser. My shoes scuffed against the concrete floor as I made my way down a long hallway. By the time I came to the end my heart had crawled its way up my throat and was beating at twice its normal pace.

As scared as I was, I was exhilarated, too. Poking my head around the corner, I sucked in my breath, expecting to see men either seated or milling around. What would warlords and kingpins wear to something like this?

My jaw dropped when I realized the space was empty except for Suave and the teams helping them. "What?" I whispered to myself. "No, no, this isn't possible." My heart sank as the realization set in. They weren't here.

"Let's go," It was Brandon's voice that echoed through the empty room. "Frye, get your guys back down here. Appreciate the help."

"What? You can't leave yet! Where is everyone?" I asked, hurrying out from my hiding place.

They all turned to look at me and I didn't miss the angry expressions on Suave and Brandon's faces. Weaver just shook his head and gave me a sympathetic look.

I didn't need his damn sympathy. "What's going on?"

"Lay low for the next few days," A huge Russian man said, ignoring me. He shot me a curious look on his way out, but didn't say another word.

Heat crept up my neck. How dare they all pretend like they hadn't heard me. A squeak popped out of my mouth when Suave grabbed me by the arm and started marching me back the way I'd come. "Wait! Please," I begged him, looking up into his face. As soon as his grip loosened, I ran over to the huge Russian man. "I'm looking for a girl. Well, young woman. She's eighteen. She was taken by the Raleka." The man just shook his head and looked over my shoulder. I did the same. "Please, Suave!" Elena was the only reason I was still looking into this. She was the only thing that mattered.

"She went missing about five months ago. Her family has been searching for her," I continued, focusing back on the man.

He shook his head and said, "I'm sorry. I haven't heard of her, and there's nothing I can do to help."

I watched in misery as he left. It was a desperate attempt, but I'd been hoping he knew something. Anything.

"Why do they think the Raleka have her?"

I looked over my shoulder and past Suave's huge form at Weaver. He and Brandon were right behind us. "Her father, Lev, hasn't been able to find a single trace of her. Two of her friends went missing the same day as well. They were good girls. They followed the rules their parents laid out for them. They never stayed out past dark. Never went anywhere alone. No matter what they were doing, one of their brothers or cousins always went with them. The three were inseparable."

"So where were the brothers or cousins?" Suave asked, getting us moving again.

"Hana's brother went with them that day. They were going to the farmers market and then planned to come straight home. None of them made it back. Later the parents went out to look for them and found Ivan in an alley. He was dead. They killed him for trying to protect his sister and her friends. Their parents lost both their children that day." I stared down at the ground as we walked, sadness creeping in.

The people of this city had both the Bratva and the Raleka terrorizing them daily. After learning what the organization had been doing since they settled here, I couldn't blame the people for being scared. Their children, especially the girls, were disappearing without a trace and no one would help them. Not the authorities, not the government, no one would stand up to the criminal organizations.

"Enough," Brandon stated. "We'll finish this back at the safe house."

I fell silent, going along with Suave. It was so disheartening to have been so close and to have lost the only lead I'd had. This was going to break Alyona's heart. Elena's parents, Ferra and Lev, were going to be devastated yet again.

No one said a word as we walked back to the house they were staying in. I thought back to the photographs of the girls the parents had showed me and a single tear dripped down my cheek. It was long past the window of time we had to find Elena. I wasn't sure if I was more afraid to find her and see what kind of shape she was in, or if it was worse to never find her at all.

Squinting against the light in the house, I went over and sat on the chair that they'd first tied me to and dropped my head into my hands. "This was supposed to be it," I said, not caring if they were even listening. "This was my only chance to find her."

"What about the other two girls?"

I raised my head and met Brandon's stare. "They were already found." All three men's eyes narrowed in speculation, so I explained. "They found Hana a week after the girls disappeared. She'd been strangled to death." Anger caused my face to flush hot as I thought about it. "She was tossed into a dumpster and left there to rot." The sight of her body lying there amongst the trash still haunted me. And I'd only seen the photo. Her parents witnessed the horror in person.

"How did they find her?" Weaver asked. His tone was soft, as respectful as he could be asking such sensitive questions.

"A new source Alyona managed to track down heard about the body. He told her about it and she said she would look into it. There was no stopping Hana's parents from going with her." I looked down at the floor and swallowed hard. "I can still see the devastation on her mother's face from when she told me about it." Once I'd gotten to Russia, I'd quickly met both families. They were all kind, caring people being put through a nightmare. This whole situation was weighing heavily on my heart.

A deep sigh made me look up again. Brandon swore. It wasn't an irritated sound. It was more a sound of resignation. "What about the third girl?"

"Sasha," I answered. "She's in Egypt."

"The fuck?" Suave muttered.

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