Page 65 of It's Always Been You

“Apparently, before we made that deal, Komarov promised to turn over Caitlin to her. He reneged on his deal with his sister.”

“Are you telling me Komarov had nothing to do with this attack?”

“Correct.”

“Fuck. Our only lead is Pavlo.”

“Is he in custody right now?”

“Yes, a cruiser took him away.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Porter said and disconnected.

Travis rubbed the phone on his chin, deeply contemplative.

“Everything all right?” Caitlin asked.

“Not sure,” Travis replied. “I just don’t like how Komarov seems so accessible to Porter. And vice versa.”

“After what happened tonight, I don’t blame you,” Nate said, frowning.

Travis put his arm around Caitlin as the three of them made their way to Nate’s car.

The police cruisercarrying Pavlo Milekhin exited the Beltway and rolled into the Cloverleaf district—a shady, rundown area near Washington DC. There were rows of dilapidated buildings, some of them abandoned and housing some of the homeless from the city. It was the type of area where bodies were disposed and Pavlo’s instincts were certain that he was about to get whacked. His brother-in-law probably figured out that Olga had defied him and to placate the CIA, Komarov had given the agency his blessing to do with Pavlo as they see fit. In this case, kill him and make an example of him, so Olga would stand down.

That traitor. He didn’t deserve to be Pakhan. Selling out his own blood in exchange for money.

The vehicle turned into an alley. Yes. This was to be his end. His regret went deep. He failed Olga. Granted it was in self-defense, but it was still Caitlin Kincaid’s bullet that killedtheir son. Their men attested to that fact. The blonde woman with John Cooper was responsible.

The backdoor opened and a man in a leather jacket appeared.

“End of the line, Pavlo.”

“Just shoot me and get it over with,” Pavlo snapped.

The man just laughed. “I’m not here to kill you, you idiot. I’m here to offer you a deal.”

“What?”

“You want Caitlin Kincaid dead?”

“More than anything.”

“Fine. You help us, we’ll give you what you want.”

Pavlo didn’t trust the man, but he was curious.

“How can I help you?”

“Not here. Come with me.”

He considered what he had to lose.

Nothing.

Travis seemedwithdrawn when they entered the house. Caitlin could feel a tense energy rolling off his body, and he had not spoken a word since Nate dropped them off. He walked directly to the kitchen, presumably to grab a drink.

Caitlin was too tired to figure out if Travis wanted her to stay with him. She needed to shower the grit off her anyway. Hunkering down in a ditch wasn’t a picnic. She stepped into their bedroom and groaned. She’d been meaning to move her toiletries in here, but she kept on forgetting. Travis was getting annoyed that she had to shower in her old bedroom all the time and had repeatedly told her to move her stuff. She’d do it this weekend.

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