Page 54 of Stolen By the Bratva King

David needs me, and I need to show up for him and prove that I care. I can’t ignore the problem, and I can’t ignore him.

I made a promise to him, and I need to uphold my end. If going to another warehouse is the only way to find Vlad and beg him to tell me how to reach David, then I’m desperate enough to do it.

I callVeronica when we get a few blocks away. “Try to find street parking.”

“Are you asking me to parallel park?” She pretends to be appalled.

“I believe in you,” I laugh.

“What if there are people around?”

“Just… do your best. Don’t think about them.”

“Great advice,” she drones, then, “oh wait! I found a spot!”

“Good luck.”

“Same to you,” she says warily.

My heart bashes against my ribcage as I find a place to park a little closer up and with my mace clutched in my fist, I march in the direction of the warehouse.

I slink around the back, careful not to draw attention to myself, and wanting to stay out of window views.

At the back, there’s a loading dock. I stop in my tracks when I notice men moving heavy boxes from the loading dock to the back of an unmarked box truck.

I backtrack, panting hard, pulse swooshing through my eardrums. I dig my heels into the back of the building, unable to move, peering up at the sky, mentally plotting my next move.

A cold sweat breaks out on my skin. I count out a full minute and when nobody runs around the corner of the building to snatch me, I brave a peek, craning my neck around the edge of the building.

The men have their backs to me, but my heart drops when I notice one of them is Oleg. He’s barking out orders in Russian to the others. One has a cigarette between his lips as he lifts a box with a grunt and disappears into the back of the box truck.

Another is laughing on a cell phone, but quickly shoves it back in his pocket when he receives a reprimanding scowl from Oleg.

I suppress a gasp when I see one of the men shoving contents inside a bigger box. It’s the counterfeiting equipment, and theman is replacing it with machines I recognize from my research that are used for manufacturing weapons.

My fingertips tingle with fear, and dread. Oleg’s trying to take over David’s business while David is in jail.

I push off the building and race back to my car before one of them spots me and ends my life for good. My heart hammers in my chest as I call Veronica and explain what’s going on.

“What are you going to do now?” she asks, her voice tight with worry.

“I’m going to go by David’s condo,” I reply.

“For what?”

“Maybe Vlad is still there. Maybe there’s a clue somewhere.”

“Don’t tell me you are going to break into the condo.” Veronica sounds reluctant to participate.

“I’m just going to drive by and see if there’s any activity. I know what kind of car he drives. If I see it there, I might knock on the door.” The plan is coming into motion in my head as I speak it aloud to Veronica.

“I don’t know if it’s a good idea.”

“It can’t be any worse than what I just did,” I say. “Besides, I know Oleg won’t be there. He’s back at the warehouse switching out the machines.”

“That’s true…” she trails off. “Listen, while you were investigating, I got a call from my mom. She wants me to meet her for dinner so I can meet her new boyfriend.”

I suck in a breath. “Yikes.”

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