Page 123 of Corrupt Game

“Probably. Edmond would have ordered it through,” I responded honestly.

Rossi shook his head. “None of this feels right. I think we’re just walking into a trap. The added problem of Sergi Petrov makes the risk even higher. He is more of an issue than Edmond ever could be.”

“You know that’s not true,” I protested. “Just because he has an old beef with me doesn’t mean that he’s gunning for us.”

“Right? And I’m the tooth fairy.” Rossi drummed his fingers on this leg. “I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that this video and the entire situation might all be just an elaborate hoax cooked up by Sergi Petrov to get back at you. You lose your best friend and he gets you to come to him where he has access to you.”

I stared at him. “Seriously, you think that Sergi had someone date Andrew for over a year, get pregnant so they could lure him over here to kill him? That’s a little far-fetched.”

“It’s not, though. Think about it. He has some woman come over here and hook up with your best friend. Then instead of going with him to find her, you just send him. The woman wasn’t that far along and she might not have even been pregnant. What if she just told Andrew what she needed to get him to contact you?”

“Andrew wasn’t a bad judge of people,” Colette said. “I don’t think anyone could have fooled him like that.”

I sighed and slid back into the seat. People would do elaborate, crazy things for revenge. I tended to side with Collette, though.

“Why do you have to be so practical about everything?” I asked rhetorically.

“Isn’t that what you pay me for?” The humor in his tone was unexpected.

He laid out a Glock and began the process of cleaning it.

There was no way that I or Collette were going to be unarmed while in Ireland. I was taking no chances.

While we were on foreign soil, we had to work through the proper channels to ensure that we weren’t arrested with guns. There were other safety measures that had to be taken care of before we could start our search.

Rossi had secured us licenses to carry, but that didn’t mean we wouldn’t get in trouble if arrested. This whole thing could go sideways in a second, and there wasn’t a lot more I could do to prepare us.

Sergi Petrov Ivanov needed to stay out of my life, and I was going to make a permanent ending to the situation. The time had come to finish things and put all of our grievances to rest.

We’d made plans to be as inconspicuous as possible. Rossi had arranged most of the bookings through a third party so our names wouldn’t trip basic precautions. Kathy was already staying at an economy hotel in Dublin and Rossi had booked us rooms on the same floor.

Collette sat next to the window of our rental car and gawked at the wonders of a new city, even though her face was shadowed with stress.. Maybe when things were settled, we would steal a few days so she could enjoy this experience.

“Are we there yet?” She stifled a yawn, and I couldn’t help but enjoy how cute she was.

“Nope, but we’ll get you tucked into bed for a couple of hours.” I pulled her over to let her head rest on my shoulder. She didn’t even protest.

“The time difference will mess with your system for a little while.”

International travel was always a bitch, and we needed to be sharp. Rest would help with that.

The morning traffic from the airport wasn’t too bad, and I was relieved that we hadn’t run into any trouble when we reached the hotel. Kathy met us in the hall.

“Hello, Mr. Holdt, Colette. The Daderson project blew up while you were in the air. Are you up to helping me sort out some of the fall out, Colette?”

Colette laughed. “Is a meal involved?”

Kathy grinned back at her. “I’ll order room service for all of us.”

Rossi and I saw them into Kathy’s room, which was mostly office, before checking out our rooms.

The first room had a large king bed. The decor was uninspired, but it was clean. That was fine for now. As soon as this was over, Collette would only experience the very best that life had to offer.

Rossi’s room was attached and I unlocked the door on my side. Trouble was going to find us, it was just a matter of when.

The bellhop arrived with our suitcases and I pulled out a twenty-pound note for his trouble.

“I’ll wait while you shower.” Rossi stood in the doorway.

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