Page 195 of Rise of the Queen

“Might be worth another look at Sal’s paperwork,”Ivan said silently.

“Agreed.”

“We’ll take another look and see what we can find,” I said. Eric extended his hand to me. I felt Sephie’s hand gently grab my free hand when I went to shake hands with Eric, followed by Doug. She was borrowing my gift. She had likely been snooping through their heads the entire time and was making sure her assessment was correct. Since we’d dealt with so many betrayals, she liked to be as confident as possible in her opinion on someone. It meant using everything she had at her disposal to form that opinion.

As we walked back to the SUVs to leave, Stephen said in our earpieces, “Boss, get in the vehicles, but don’t leave until I say.”

“Is there a problem?” I asked.

“I’m not sure. Henry’s guys have reinforcements we weren’t expecting,” he said. “Eric is leaving now. His usual tail is leaving with him, along with a few of the new guys.”

Doug had gone into the building before leaving, which meant we now had to wait for him to come back out and leave. There was only one entrance/exit into the parking garage, so we would be seen if we left before him, meaning Henry would be able to piece it together that we were meeting with the mayor and the DA behind his back.

Viktor sent a quick message to both Eric and Doug, alerting them to their newest addition in followers. We only had to wait a few minutes and Doug was back in the garage being picked up byhis driver. We waited for Stephen to tell us whether all the tails outside left with him or not.

“Doug is leaving. His usual tail is gone. All but one tail left with the mayor. They suspect something is up. He’s waiting to see who else comes out of the garage,” Stephen said.

“Just one person? You’re sure?” Ivan said.

“Just one. He’s parked not far outside the entrance of the garage, waiting. He showed up with everyone else. They’re not discreet in the slightest. They all had a meeting on the sidewalk, then dispersed to their separate cars. He’s the only one left,” Stephen said.

“I could go have a conversation with him,” Ivan said, knowing full well that was not going to happen.

“I have an idea,”Sephie told me. “Stephen, how many car lengths between where this idiot is posted up and the entrance to the garage?”

“One, two … five,” he said.

“And what does the car look like that he’s in?” she asked.

“Dark blue sedan, four door,” he said.

“Which side of the exit is he on?”

“South.”

“Misha, can I borrow you?” she asked, extending her hand toward Misha, who was in the front seat. He turned to look at her, curious where she was going with this but also excited to see the end result.

“What are you thinking, Seph?” Stephen asked.

“There’s a restaurant in the building next door. I can smell it. I’m looking for a delivery truck,” she said.

Stephen chuckled. “You’re a genius,” he said.

She grabbed Misha’s hand, borrowing his gift as they searched the area for a delivery truck large enough to block our watcherin, allowing us to leave without him following us. Preferably without him seeing us to begin with.

“Got it,” she and Misha said together. “Stephen, there’s a truck a block and a half away, to the south. Can you and your guys borrow it?”

“Nothing would make me happier right now,” he said. He quickly gave orders to the team that was with him and they put their plan in motion. Stephen was very capable, but one of his greatest attributes was his speed. Once he knew the objective, he wasted no time in completing his assignment.

It was under ten minutes and he was back, saying, “Be ready. The truck will be here in two minutes. Kyle is driving. I want to see if we can provoke your watcher into an argument before you guys leave.”

We could hear what was happening through the earpieces. Kyle parked the truck alongside our tail’s car, effectively blocking him in. He then went to the back of the truck, opened it up, and proceeded to act like he was about to make a delivery. Just as we hoped, our watcher got out of his car, trying to get Kyle to move the truck. He pretended to not understand English very well, drawing out the conversation, while giving us instructions in Russian.

“Not yet. He’s pretty pissed, but he can still see the entrance. I can bait him to the back,” Kyle said in Russian, as he pretended to not know what the guy was saying to him.

We waited for his signal, leaving quickly when he said, “Now.” We could hear them arguing as we pulled out onto the street and turned down a side street, completely out of view.

Stephen was laughing as he said, “This might be making Kyle’s day. He loves a reason to yell at someone. We’re going to return the truck and we’ll meet you at the penthouse.”

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