Page 120 of Sinner's Salvation

“Two reasons,” the agent answered. “To make contact with Brian Stettler and arrest Ledger.”

Baz grunted. “Good timing then. Ledger arrived only minutes before you did.” He waved at the agent to follow him. The two approached the bed Williams was still guarding.

“Brian crashed on the bed with Nika.” Baz chuckled. “He’s so sleep deprived he probably won’t remember getting here.”

Evan wandered over while Ledger lost his shit in the hallway outside the room. The man was raving and shouting that he would murder every single one of the people responsible for his arrest.

Brian was passed out on the narrow bed, his back to Nika and facing the wall.

Nika was also unconscious, but lay on her back. She had a couple of IVs, one plugged into the back of each hand. One of those had a clear fluid dripping into her vein. The other was a unit of blood.

The FBI agent sighed.

“I honestly don’t think you’re going to be able to wake him up for a few hours,” Baz said. “He was out of it.”

“We don’t want to impose on you or the detective,” the FBI agent began.

Baz cut him off with a raised hand. “He’s no trouble. Nika has been mentoring him a little. Feel free to leave someone here if you’re worried about his safety.”

The agent smiled for the first time. “Something tells me his safety is in good hands. But I will leave one agent here to ensure no further imposition on you.”

“Fair enough,” Baz said, shaking the other man’s hand, and giving him a half grin. “Brian was a good choice, by the way. To plant in my cousin’s employment. He’s a terrible liar and he’s so conservative half the shit that comes out of his mouth makes him look like a fish out of water. Honest and entertaining are two qualities my family appreciates in our law enforcement partners.”

The smile on the FBI agent’s face turned wooden, but he refrained from reacting further. “Once he’s up, have him check in with his supervisor.” The man walked out, pulled one agent aside, and gave orders for him to stay with Brian.

Anna walked over to Baz. “Can she be moved?”

“Not yet,” Baz answered. “The doctor said that if she responds well, she might be allowed to go home in twenty-four hours.” He stared at Nika with his arms crossed over his chest. “You have no idea how hard it was to restrain myself from killing Ledger with my bare hands.”

“I have a pretty good idea,” Evan said. Every time he recalled watching the video of Ledger shooting Anna in the head, he wanted to wring the man’s neck until he was dead.

Baz flashed a grin. “That’s because you’re a bloodthirsty asshole like me.”

Anna frowned at Baz and moved closer to him. “There have been some developments,” she said, just above a whisper, her tone calm despite how stiffly she held herself. “We have a new cooperation agreement with the CIA and US Army Intelligence.”

Baz’s response to that was a dubious side-eye. “So, you’ve flipped us out of the frying pan and into the alphabet soup?”

“It was that or the fire, Bazyli. Which would you have chosen?”

He rubbed his face and sighed. “Yeah, yeah, okay. I just hope it doesn’t come back to bite us in the ass.”

“It may very well lead to other problems. In fact,” she said slowly. “A lot of things are going to need to change, and not just for our family. The Chinese, for example, would like to relocate here permanently.”

“The Italian brothers are out,” Evan added. “Also permanently.”

Baz stared at him. “Who’s taking care of the bodies?”

“Army Intelligence.”

“Oh, well, that’s fucking fantastic,” Baz said, throwing his hands up in the air. “I’m sure they’re going to bag and bury them without any of the usual things done to dead bodies involved in a law enforcement conflict.” He flashed his teeth. “Like autopsies and taking DNA samples.”

“They already knew,” Anna said, glaring at her son. “It seems my actions during World War II were remembered and passed along to more than one person.”

Baz stared at Anna blankly for several seconds, then shook his head and chuckled. “Well, how’s that for a thank you for saving the free world?”

Out in the hallway, a knot of people, including a continuing to yell and threaten everyone Ledger, moved away in the direction of the elevators. The noise level went down immediately.

The remaining FBI agent came into the room, introduced himself as Special Agent Jones, and told them he would sit outside the room on a chair one of the nurses found for him.

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