Page 89 of Her Silver Fox Mountain Men

“I see,” the manager replies and looks at me for guidance. “Can I see your ID, please?”

“Yes, of course,” I hand my driver’s license to him.

We stop by his desk, where Steve, the manager, hastily takes a seat behind his computer. He clicks away at the keyboard, then scans my ID onto a small black device, constantly stealing glances at Kara as if she’s not meant to be here.

“My sister,” I try to reassure him. “We’ve got some family documents in that box, and I need her to go through them with me.”

“I see,” he says, sounding like a robot.

Kara checks her phone, and I instantly notice the change in her expression—eyes widening, nostrils flaring, followed by a deep, measured breath.

“What is it?” I whisper.

“Papa’s in town, with Andrei and Michael.”

My blood runs cold. “Michael’s here? No. Terrible idea, we need to—”

“We need to get to that deposit box first. Mikey’s safe with them, Elise. You, on the other hand, are the closest thing to a sittingduck that I’ve ever seen.” She glances back at Piotr and Dmitri, still waiting in line. “There’s only so much they can do for us if my brother’s men charge into this bank.” She keeps her voice low to stay out of the manager’s earshot.

Once he’s done on the computer, Steve escorts us to the ground-level vault, leading us through a corridor with several turns before we reach the hot spot. It’s a square room with cold, fluorescent ceiling lights, safety deposit boxes mounted in all three walls, covering them from top to bottom.

In the middle sits a large ebony table.

He takes out a key and sticks it into the appropriate lock, then opens the latch and pulls out the safety deposit box. I stare at it as though it’s the Holy Grail, holding my breath until he leaves it on the table. “I presume you have your key,” he says.

“Yes, right here,” I reply and show it to him. I keep it on the same keychain as my house and car keys, all of them jingling in my hand as I reach for the box.

“I’ll give you ladies all the privacy you need,” he says. “Please, leave the box on the table when you’re finished and don’t forget to call me back in here when you’re done.”

“Thank you,” Kara replies.

She watches him like a hawk, and I’ve got a feeling it’s only when he’s gone that she is finally able to breathe. I stick the key in the box’s lock. “Here we go.”

“God, I hope this goes smoother than the first half of today. There’s only so much crap I can take with just one latte in my system,” she says.

I chuckle softly and open the box lid.

It’s all in there, just as I left it. A manila envelope with photos and documents taken from Igor’s safe back in Chicago, the ledger with its leatherbound cover, pages stained yellow by the passage of time.

“Got it,” I tell Kara. “We can go, now.”

We leave the box on the table as instructed and head out of the vault.

“Great. Let’s do that. The longer we stay here, the higher the chances we’ll—”

She bumps into someone on the way out to retrieve the manager. The blood freezes in my veins as I recognize him.

“Igor,” I gasp.

He stands in the doorway of the vault room and he’s not alone. Behind him, Piotr and a couple of other guys keep a lookout. On the floor, in a pool of blood, sits Dmitri.

Horror washes over me in an icy wave, and I can’t even scream.

“What the fuck?” Kara tries to get away from him, but I catch a glimpse of the silencer mounted on his gun just before he fires it.

“Kara!” I finally get my voice back.

She falls to the ground, red roses blooming all over her brown coat. I take a step back but it’s too late.

---