Page 87 of Her Silver Fox Mountain Men

I shake my head slowly, trying to wrap my head around everything. “None of you were willing to see him for who he truly is. To be honest, neither was I until I looked through my dad’s accounting ledger. He made notes of specific suspicious transactions. He had receipts and account summaries printed and clipped to every flagged page.”

“A forensic accountant could easily confirm all of this if we tell him where to look,” Kara replies.

“Not without the ledger. I’m pretty sure Igor took precautions after my parents were killed. It’s why I took the ledger and a few other documents from his safe.”

“I didn’t know about the safe either,” she says and sighs deeply. “I assumed he had one. We all do. But I had no idea what he kept in it. I figured it was just runaway cash and whatever dirt he had on some of the family’s associates. Igor liked to keepcertain people loyal through blackmail. Papa wasn’t too fond of it, though.”

“Igor can’t kill me until he gets his hands on that ledger,” I tell her.

Piotr looks back at us. “Is that where you’re keeping it? At the bank?”

“Yeah. I moved it from one branch to another every couple of months or so. I took every precaution I could to make sure it would stay out of his reach. For a while, I really thought I was safe.”

“He has been working hard to terrorize you,” Kara scoffs, visibly disgusted. “I realized that when I learned that he knew where you were. He’d known for months yet he didn’t tell us anything. That’s when I decided to come here and see what was going on for myself.”

I give her a curious look. “Is that why you hired James’s private security detail?”

“Yeah, I wanted to figure out who they are, what they do, and why Igor was being so patient, calculated, and secretive about it. Obviously, the minute they told me that they’re former Army Rangers, it made sense. Igor may be cold-blooded and ruthless, but he’s not dumb. He had to work his way around James, Oliver, and Roman before he could get to you.”

“He showed up at our doorstep.”

“I heard. He’s desperate. By then, he knew I was in town as well. Someone in the family must’ve let slip that Papa and Andrei were on their way, too,” Kara says. “The noose is tightening, and time is running out. For all his planning, Igor is now forced totake drastic measures. As terrible as it may sound, it’s actually a good thing.”

“How so?”

Piotr chuckles. “He’s going to make mistakes.”

The town of Rustic rises ahead with its quaint façades and narrow streets, French-style windows and neatly decorated storefronts. Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and as the last of the fall leaves carpet the sidewalks in deep shades of brown and red, I feel as though it’s the end of an era in more ways than one.

My stomach is the size of a pea as I look around. Simple town folk walking up and down the road looking innocent enough yet some of them could be Igor’s eyes. Watching. Waiting for me to emerge.

“The bank is just up ahead. A couple of more blocks,” I tell Dmitri.

“I will slow down and look for a side street for us to park,” he says.

“After the flower shop. You’ll see it on the left,” I reply then look at Kara. “I wasn’t sure how much you all knew about Igor’s involvement in my parents’ death. For a long time, I thought you were all in on it.”

“Listen, leave that in the past,” Kara says. “What matters now is that you know we had no idea. I promise you; Papa would’ve never let that stand. Igor would’ve paid dearly.”

“How? Konstantinovs don’t kill Konstantinovs.”

“Death isn’t always the worst punishment,” she reminds me. “And Igor needs to pay. Not only for what he did to your parents, but for what he did to you, too. The minute you left, Igor became unhinged. I should’ve realized it then…”

“Unhinged?”

“Nervous. Secretive. Fidgety. And absolutely desperate to find you before anybody else,” she says. “We offered to help. Papa, in particular. But Igor kept saying that you’re his wife, his responsibility and no one else’s. He suggested that you might’ve stolen some cash and jewels from him, but he couldn’t back that claim up with any evidence.”

I curse under my breath. “The bastard. All I took were my own jewels. Gifts from you, Andrei, and Lev. My wedding earrings and a couple of necklaces, the engagement ring and the wedding band. I sold some of it to afford food and essentials, then pawned the rest to put down a security deposit on that mangy cabin. It wasn’t cheap to get myself so far away from him.”

“I’m just sorry we didn’t pay closer attention.”

“It’s okay, Kara. You said it yourself, what matters is that you’re here to help now.”

Dmitri takes a left turn after Shauna’s flower shop.

“You’re right about being careful how we go into that bank,” Kara says. “Igor has already proven he’s got a greater reach in this town than what we originally suspected. The problem is I can’t tell which of his men are loyal to him and which are loyal to the family. I’ve already made the wrong bets on a few of them since I joined this messy party.”

“Your father will need hard, indisputable evidence,” Piotr politely chimes in. “Igor is the firstborn, Kara. You know what that means.”

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