Page 116 of The Devil's Ransom

Skyler began to work the buckles on his harness and Fabio said, “If you leave that seat, you’ll spend the rest of this journey unconscious. We aren’t aborting.”

Chapter69

Andrei Obrenovic felt his phone vibrate and thought,Finally. He looked at the number and saw it wasn’t Nikita. It was an unknown. He thought about declining it, but then recognized the area code as Washington, DC. He accepted the call.

“Is this Andrei Obrenovic? The Russian oligarch?”

“It is, but I don’t like that term. I’d prefer ‘the Russian businessman.’”

“Businessman? What’s your business? I mean besides bankrolling hackers to take money from U.S. corporations?”

That got Andrei’s attention. He said, “Who is this?”

“Who I am doesn’t matter. What I represent does. My reach is long, and your protection right now is poor.”

Andrei laughed and said, “I promise my protection is adequate. You’ll have to do better than phone threats.”

“You mean Nikita? And his pack of pipe hitters? They’re dead. I killed them in Croatia. And I’m coming for you unless you answer one simple question.”

Andrei turned in a circle, not wanting to believe the words, but how else would he know the name of his head of security?Andthat he was in Croatia?

Andrei hadn’t had contact with Nikita in days, which also bolstered the story. He said, “What do you want?”

“I’m not after you. Yet. I’m after a man I know as Sphinx. Ionly know his code name, but I know you know his identity. He’s an American and of no consequence to you.”

“I know of no such name. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Andrei, listen to me closely. Nothing this man says will come back to you. I have bigger fish to fry than to chase you down, but make no mistake, I’m going to find Sphinx. If I do it the hard way, it’ll be through you. I’m going to find you. And I’m going to kill you.”

“I can’t give you what I don’t know.”

“Then enjoy what’s left of your life living like a pauper.”

“What’s that mean?”

“It means the only way you’re going to extend how long you walk this earth is to disappear, meaning no more yachts, no more villas in the mountains, no more caviar. It’ll let you live a few months longer, but you’ll still die. It’s what I do. You do ransomware, and I hunt men for a living.”

Andrei considered for a moment, then said, “So if I give you the name, you leave me alone?”

“Yes. With one caveat: you no longer bankroll ransomware gangs. I’ve already destroyed Dark Star. Don’t give me a reason to regret today’s decision.”

The mention of Dark Star made up Andrei’s mind. The man was telling the truth, and if he’d killed Nikita and the rest of Andrei’s security, he was skilled.

He said, “His name is Dylan. I don’t know his last name, but he runs a cybersecurity firm in the United States. He’s some sort of computer genius.”

“That’s it? That’s all you know?”

“Yes. Well, when I talked to him on the phone he had a DCarea code just like you. I don’t know if that’s where he lives, but that was his cell phone.”

“Give me his number.”

“It won’t do any good. It was a burner phone. Each time he called me, it was from a different number, but the area code was always DC. He only used each SIM card once, and that’s all I know.”

“That’s enough. You just earned the right to keep eating caviar. Don’t forget what I said.”

Andrei started to answer, but the line went dead.

Chapter70

---