Page 71 of Traitor

The entire flight I replayed what I was going to have to do. I’d left my girl in bed asleep to commit a murder. Another one. Just when I thought I’d cleared my conscience, another sin reared its ugly head. As the wheels touched down on the tarmac, I made the decision to not only take out Katya, but the neighbor as well. Just to be safe.

A lead ball of dread had resided in my stomach the entire train ride to baggage claim. There was no coming back from this—killing in self-defense or for Lauren—I could justify that and sleep like a fucking baby at night. This was killing just to cover my own ass and that didn’t settle well with me.

As I waited for my bag, my cell phone rang. I’d expected to see Lauren’s name as she’d called a couple of times already, but I couldn’t talk to her until it was over. A blocked number flashed across the screen and I answered it with a tired, “What?”

“Mike, it’s Jeremy—uh, Jarvis. Listen, I looked into the computer records you had on the Egorichev case; you’re not gonna like this.”

I’d already known it was the neighbor, but decided not to spoil the momentum he had going. “What’d you find?”

“It’s not the neighbor—uh, Travis Logan. I did look into him too though. Marine veteran…wounded in combat. Other than that, the guy’s clean.”

I’d snatched my duffel bag off the conveyer belt and headed for the rental car counter. “If it isn’t him, then who the fuck am I looking for?”

Finding a stalker for a supermodel was like searching for a needle in a goddamned haystack. If Jeremy had just called to tell me who it wasn’t, then I knew that we were going to be hard-pressed to solve this.

“Lee Watkins. Guy was a journalist for Huffington Post around the same time Egorichev was rescued. Fabricated a story and lost his job as a result—so, there’s motive. And I traced the IP addresses back to Cedar Ridge. Mike, he’s in the same town as her right now. Every message traces back to wherever she’s been. He’s our guy.”

I’d frozen with the rental car keys in my hand. “Jeremy, you’re telling me that this guy’s location shows him in the same town as Katya and you didn’t think to fucking lead with that information? I don’t need to know all about who isn’t responsible!”

I tried calling her again. I’d been trying to call her since I left the airport. This time, she picked up.

“Katya, where are you?”

She distractedly answered, “I’m at home—why?”

“I need you to get into your car and drive back into town. It’s not safe for you. We found evidence on the letters you’ve been receiving. Facebook released records—you were right all along. What I need you to do is get to a police station or somewhere safe. Okay?” I’d lied about Facebook releasing the records, but I knew I couldn’t tell her that the club had hacked the system.

“Mike?” She questioned before my phone gave three short beeps and disconnected.

No service.

I punched the steering wheel in frustration and forced the SUV to move faster. He was within blocks of her and if I didn’t get there soon, he was going to kill her.

Her cabin was dark as I drove up, but her Jeep sat in the driveway, so I knew she was still inside. The question was, who else was inside with her? I killed the headlights as I coasted in behind her. My cell phone vibrated from the passenger seat and Lauren’s smiling face greeted me.

“I can’t talk to you right now, Red. Kind of in the middle of something,” I said, before declining the call. I should’ve told her this morning what was going on, but I hadn’t wanted to make her a part of it. If I went down for this, then I needed to make sure that nothing pointed back toward her.

I retrieved my gun and ammo from the duffel bag and loaded it with a heavy sigh. I was almost to the back of the house when I noticed that the neighbor’s truck was in his driveway too, yet his house was completely dark.

I kept a wary eye on his windows, anticipating an ambush at any second. The sound of music grew louder as I got closer to her back porch—it sounded like Sinatra.

I was fighting against my instinct to run in, guns blazing. I didn’t know if it was just Lee or if the guy had accomplices. Until I’d gotten a handle on the situation, I was going to have to wait it out.

Other than the faint music, things were calm. The sky began to spit snow and I burrowed further into my jacket, waiting for a sign.

Several things seemed to happen all at once.

Katya screamed, “Help me! Help me!”

I made the decision to kick in the door just as I saw a figure approaching from about fifty yards away. It moved up from the edge of the lake and toward Katya’s cabin. Without knowing if he was a threat or an ally, I was forced to hang back.

When I saw the dog, it clicked. It was her neighbor, Travis. He and the dog jogged past me before I could call out a warning. If Travis went in there, he was going to get killed. If Travis went in, it meant I didn’t have to kill him myself.

Goddammit.

I never wanted this life.

As he knocked on the front door, I took a chance and peered in the back window. Lee held a gun on Katya and gestured toward the door. She was cradling her wrist, but nodded at his words.

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