Page 20 of Oathbreaker

“Now, do we have any idea where she is?” I finish.

Misha’s mouth quirks up on one side.

“Potentially,” he says.

“Potentially?” I say with forced patience. It’s not that I want to piss the most powerful Mafiya leader off. I don’t. But maybe part of me revels in the idea of being pummeled by this guy.

He stares at me hard.

“What do you want?” I ask, as a deep quaking chill settles in my bones. Men like Misha Hroshko don’t give information for free. Nor do they do anything out of some deep-seated generosity. He wants something. And I know it won’t be something minor.

“Your latest project shows much promise, yes?” he says. I search for what he means by project.

“You mean Project Panacea?” I hedge.

“Yes, unless you have more projects close to being released,” he replies.

We don’t. Not really. The thought of any new technology isn’t even on the table right now. Maybe fifteen years from now, but to date? All we have is Panacea.

“What. Do you want my company?” I ask, exhaustion settling into my muscles.

He waves his hand away at my suggestion.

“What use do I have with yet another company? I have plenty,” he says. “I simply want to use your technology for someone important.”

We look at each other for several heavy seconds. Even Veronica stops sniffling.

“We’ve barely gone into human trials with it,” I tell him. “It’s not ready to be shared.”

He taps the top of the iPad in his hand. “I trust you to make it ready,” he says.

This man knows where Winter is. For that information, I’ll do whatever to whoever for whatever reason.

“Deal,” I say.

Misha Hroshko smiles, and it’s the most menacing look ever.

“Wonderful. It’s a shame your people couldn’t find her because it was quite easy. Nonetheless, he disabled many of the tracking options for us. His cellphone was found smashed on the side of the road. Your woman’s too. And it looks like he ripped out the tracking devices your team puts on all their vehicles.” He snorts, but the sound is humorless. Probably at the idea of our team being so sloppy that the security measures were in such a conspicuous place.

At least, that’s the thought that surges through my brain.

“But he didn’t remember the manufacturer’s tracking systems record every location, even if it’s deactivated.” Misha turns the tablet around, showing a map zeroed in on the middle of the woods on the side of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

“North Carolina?”

The spot is stationary, deep in the mountains with proximity to Asheville. I scan the terrain on the map, and I’m dismayed that there aren’t any direct roads leading to where the vehicle is.

But if she might be there....

“There is something else we’ve uncovered looking for your woman,” Misha adds. “It has something to do with our mutual acquaintance.” He cuts his eyes toward Veronica, and she bristles.

“I get to know everything,” she says hotly.

Misha looks at her for a long beat, tilting his head to the side as he stares at her—as if she were a specimen at a museum.

A more fragile woman would have fainted at the aggression radiating off him. Instead, Veronica sits up in her chair, hand on her pregnant belly, and stares back at him with the same ferocity.

“She can know, Hroshko.”

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