Page 26 of Lethal Alliance

“I’m the one who found her. I want to be there.” He stares me down, something I’m becoming more used to than I might like. “I want Darya to know she has a family. She thinks we don’t care.” He gives me a rather hard look. “She should know that we do. ThatIdo,” he adds pointedly.

Christ.The kid hasn’t let up on me for a second. “I’m beginning to regret letting you back into the lab,” I say resignedly.

Mickey smiles tightly. “You need me, and you know it.”

I shake my head. “You’re turning into an arrogant little shit, you know that?”

He shrugs. “I learned from the best.”

We both almost smile, then a computer pings, and we zero in on the screen, all trace of humor lost. That’s the thing, the last couple of days. There are moments, here and there, when I forget the hellish reality we’re all living. Moments when Mickey makes me smile, or Dimitry and I fall into our familiar banter. But as soon as the moments come, they go again, and the darkness descends.

I still haven’t heard back from Makari. And I still don’t have a plan.

For once, I’ve listened to Dimitry and Mickey. And, yes, to goddamn Abby, though that girl pisses me off beyond recognition at times. They’ve all advised me to wait, to hear what Darya has to say before I make an attack plan for Miami.

Mickey has also suggested talking to Sergei, Darya’s father. That’s a conversation I’m not ready to have. I did send Dimitry there, to find out if Sergei knows anything about Darya’s whereabouts, but I already knew before he went that the visit would be useless.

Darya’s been running a long time. She knows her father is the first place I’d turn for information. She’d never risk telling him anything that might endanger him or betray her whereabouts.

Mickey’s phone buzzes again. He holds it up, waving the screen at me. “It’s Sergei again. You should talk to him, Roman. He’s worried about the girls.”

“Oh, I bet he fucking is.” I don’t give a shit how Sergei Petrovsky feels. No matter how much I might love his daughter, I doubt I’ll ever forgive the man whose ineptitude got my parents killed and whose greed got my daughters kidnapped. He can worry all he likes, as far as I’m concerned.

“Come on, then.” I tilt my head at Mickey and hold the door to the lab open. “If you’re coming, get in the bloody car.”

He almost takes my arm off in his haste to duck under it.

“You should take the chopper,” Dimitry says, frowning. “It’s quicker.”

“It also draws attention.” I don’t mention the fact that I’m actually looking forward to the drive. I need some time to get ready for the upcoming encounter, to prepare myself for the fact that Darya just might not want to come back, not after what I said to her. She might not want to be found.

She certainly did a good job of running.

Without Mickey’s eagle eye and insane skill at hacking cameras in places I never would have thought of, we’d never have tracked her. Even now, we’ve only narrowed her location down to a rough area in Granada. It will take a bit of footwork on the ground to pinpoint exactly where she is.

If I’m honest, Mickey is the right person for the job. A kid asking questions is a lot less obvious than someone like me asking them. But the thought of being alone in the car with him for several hours isn’t quite so appealing. Mickey might have kept the worst of his opinions to himself, but his snarky asides and hard side-eye have spoken volumes.

He’s pissed at me. Seriously pissed. He’s also terrified for his sisters, and frustrated as hell at how long it’s taking to get them back. I’m guessing this car ride is about to become an interrogation, one I’m not really looking forward to.

“What are you doing?”I glance sideways to where Mickey is tapping away on his laptop. Dusk is falling behind the mountains, purple and gold in the distance. The coast is fading behind us as we go further inland, through the steep passes and winding roads that lead to the ancient inland city of Granada.

“Still trying to hack into the security cameras at the Coconut Grove compound.” He glares at the screen. “It’s surprisingly difficult. And the connectivity up here is cooked.”

“Doesn’t Pavel have a whole team working on that?”

“I’m better.” He hunches over the screen, his lips pressed hard together.

“Mickey.”

“Hm.” He doesn’t look up.

“Mickey. Put the fucking laptop away.” That at least gets him to turn my way. “The reception won’t get any better until we’re through the mountains, and that’s at least one hour, if not two. Pavel has a team working on hacking the system, with all the lab’s power behind them. You clearly have some things you’d like to get off your mind. Now’s your chance.”

I take the corners at a measured pace, watching him from the corner of my eye. After a while he closes the screen and half turns in his seat, so he’s facing me. “I’m not sure you want to hear what I’ve got to say.”

My hands tighten on the steering wheel. I relax them with an effort. “I’m not going to beg, Mickey. You want to talk, you don’t want to talk—it’s up to you. But don’t assume you know what I do and don’t want to hear. If I wasn’t interested, I wouldn’t ask.”

“Okay, fine.” I can feel his eyes boring into me. “Why didn’t you ever tell us your real name?”

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