Page 168 of Bossy Hero

Oxygen gets trapped in my lungs.

Kri reaches across my lap, removing my balled-up fist and comfortingly entwining our hands. “He doesn’t need a weapon to defend himself. Remember that.”

“Thank you, sweetheart,” I tell her, genuinely meaning it.

The crackle of my son’s voice coming from the speaker pulls my focus back. “Did Boss go willingly?”

Although Leo can’t see her, Mia waves her hands wildly at the monitors. “From what I could tell, yeah. He was calm as a cuke. No sign of distress.”

“Then trust his gut,” my son urges, and I let his reminder soothe me too. “Besides, the chief’s been a strong ally for Redleg. We have no reason to distrust him.”

Like he’s been doing this entire time, Tomer erodes all traces of optimism with a single statement. “Correction, Lionheart. Wehadno reason. Until now.”

“Explain,” Mia and Leo demand simultaneously.

Tomer levels his gaze on Mia then points his chin toward the screen displaying the photo Sawyer found. “Our intrepid duo found a framed picture in Yuri’s desk drawer, hidden under a stack of papers. It’s none other than our dear friend and Lenkov Bratva alum Yuri Zaytsev. Arm and arm with Chief Motherfucking Bigsby and their wives and kids. It’s an older photo, which I estimate dates back to the time when Yuri was in the bratva. So clearly, the chief has personal history with Lenkov, which is just peachy.”

I pulse my grip around Kri’s hand. “I take it nobody knew this?”

She shakes her head ardently.

Terrific.

Sawyer piles on, crystallizing some of my fears. “And given that it was buried at the bottom of his desk, I’m guessing Yuri doesn’t exactly have favorable memories of his old friend, which doesn’t paint the chief in a great light.”

And he’s got Alan now.

Weaponless.

No tracking.

In the dark. In the middle of nowhere.

Mia snaps her fingers at Tomer. “We need to pull them.”

Tomer nods. “Team, plant the rest of the bugs and exfil immediately. We’re redirecting you to back up Lionheart and Boss.”

Gulp.

“Copy,” Shep answers.

Shaking Kri’s hand loose, I rise to my feet, too frightened to sit on my tush when goodness knows what is happening. My vision bounces from monitor to monitor, but I’m unable to decipher much of what I see.

A half hour ago, I was reading vampire smut, and now I’m facing the very real possibility that Alan’s in grave danger.

“Tomer, refresh the tracking app,” Mia barks at him, her tone fraught with tension. “Big Al’s tags aren’t moving.”

The screen with the map flashes, and Tomer nods. “Done.”

Mia prattles under her breath. “We saw him drive away with the chief. So why aren’t any of his trackers registering the movement?”

Standing beside me now, Kri flings her pointer finger toward one of the maps. “It’s not the app.Look. Leo’s tracker is moving.”

Tomer directs his mouse furiously through a series of app pages. “I’m accessing the camera on Big Al’s phone.”

While he does that, Sawyer and Shep leave Yuri’s house and jump the fence in the backyard. The echo of their panting breaths as they sprint to safety is oddly comforting.

Mia inches closer to Tomer’s workstation right as he connects to Alan’s phone.

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