Page 188 of Bossy Hero

I take the chair next to Kri and softly ask, “Is Valerie alone downstairs?”

“She’s asleep and would probably be bored to tears listening to this. Or potentially triggered, depending on whatever the big news is. Figured it was best to let her rest.”

I offer a half smile, which is about all I can manage after the emotional ringer I’ve been through tonight.

Shep adds, “She’ll text us if she wakes up wondering where we are. And with the guards manning the lobby, it isn’t like she’s going anywhere.”

Alan knocks his knuckles on the table and artificially clears his throat. “All right. Let’s get started. Klein, can you hear us okay?”

His voice calls back from the speakerphone on the table. “You’re coming in Lima Charlie, Boss.”

Leo directs his voice toward the speaker. “Is everything okay at home? Is your mom good?”

Klein answers, “Yeah, she’s good. She’s asleep.”

Since someone needed to stay with his mother, he wasn’t able to work late at HQ. Alan sent another guard to his house tonight to ensure their safety. Usually Mia’s there with him, which they consider adequate protection since she’s thoroughly trained. However, with her here, it was wise of Alan to move things around.

The way he cares for his people never fails to impress me.

“Excellent. So where to begin?” Alan flicks his gaze to the ceiling, oddly enjoying drawing out the moment. “Well, tonight I met the architect.”

A series of sharp gasps sweep across the room.

Sawyer is the first to speak, surprising no one. “Chief Bigsbyis the architect?”

Shep piles on his disbelief. “He’sAlexei Bugrov?”

“Nothing gets by you two, does it?” Without waiting for a reaction to his jab, Alan angles his head toward Shep. “And I met your Russian buddy, Yuri. Patterson was also there.”

Shep’s head kicks back, and he puckers his lips, a blend of skepticism and alarm crisscrossing his features.

Mia closes her laptop and leans her elbows on the table, putting all her focus on her boss. “Where exactly wasthere? I tried to locate the Chief’s vehicle, but his tag wasn’t working. Same with Patterson.”

“Why did you track him?” Alan asks.

“We caught him driving by on your dash cam right after you left with the chief.”

Alan nods. “Bigsby drove me to a caretaker’s shed in Booker’s Creek Preserve. He and Patterson intentionally disable their tags when they go there. I assume Yuri’s careful about that as well. Apparently, it’s been their off-the-grid meetup for years. Given the remote location, there aren’t traffic cams in the area for Lenkov to hack. It’s a ghost town at night, so there’s a low risk of someone seeing them and reporting it to Lenkov. Bigsby made me leave anything trackable in the car, thus lessening the risk of the location being exposed.”

“Since we haven’t tagged Yuri’s vehicle yet, we didn’t know he was in the area either,” Shep adds. “Not that we would’ve known to check.”

Alan steeples his hands in front of his face, his elbows braced on the armrests. “The whole thing was pretty clandestine. Chief didn’t even let me talk to him on the drive, which makes me wonder if his SUV has been tapped previously.”

Klein chimes in, “Not speaking in your own vehicle is a new level of paranoid.”

Alan cricks his neck to the side, giving his head a subtle shake. “It’s warranted in this case. Based on what he shared about his long-time position with Lenkov, I’d imagine most of his communications are monitored by the bratva.”

“That would explain why he was always using those over-the-top riddles,” Mia muses.

With a hearty eye roll, Alan huffs. “Yes and no. Mostly, that was Yuri’s influence. The pair of them go way back, and when plotting this shit out, Bigsby let Yuri have a little fun while trusting we’d figure it out.”

“Whatishis history with Yuri and Lenkov, Boss?” Tomer asks.

Alan tells the group the story he told me in his office earlier about the chief’s past with Lenkov and how he came to be involved when he fell in love with Yuri’s sister. Including the part about her murder and their babies being taken to keep him in line. So tragic.

Collectively, everyone in the room goes still.

Alan leans back in his chair, folding his arms behind his head. He unabashedly yawns, making me want to smile, but it’s not the right time for that. He’s exhausted and ready for bed. Same here. Our age is catching up to us.

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