Page 81 of Triplet Babies
He holsters his weapon and gestures toward the exit. “There’s no sign of Sarah or any other occupants, except for some dead guy by the back door. He looked Greek maybe, and his identification said he was Yeorgi Demitrios. Best guess is he was working with Roman and was another loose end to tie up. There are tire tracks outside leading away from the building from what looks like a heavy vehicle, possibly an SUV.”
I stand, working through everything we’ve found. “Someone killed Roman and took Sarah. The question is who, and where did they go?”
Valentin examines the blood spatter on the nearby wall, noting the angle and distribution. “It could be Roman’s associates, cutting their losses when they realized we were closing in.”
I examine the blood spatter pattern on the wall behind the body more carefully, noting how the droplets spread in a tight cone from the impact point. “Or someone else entirely. This was an execution, not a struggle. Roman knew his killer and trusted them enough to let them get close.”
Before Valentin can respond, shouts erupt from outside the warehouse. My men have found something, or someone. Werush toward the sound, weapons ready, our boots slipping slightly on the oil-stained concrete.
Near the back of the building, two of my men have cornered a figure in dark clothing, who was attempting to pour gasoline around the foundation. The acrid smell of accelerant fills the air, making my eyes water, and I see additional containers stacked nearby in preparation for a major fire.
I approach the would-be arsonist, noting the expensive suit beneath the dark jacket and the Nikitin family crest on his cufflinks that catches the light from our flashlights. This is a professional cleaner with direct ties to the family. The man looks up at me with defiant fear, clearly recognizing who I am despite never having met me personally. His hand moves toward something in his jacket, but one of my men grabs his wrist before he can complete the motion.
I step closer, keeping my voice deadly calm despite my growing rage. “Search him thoroughly before you bring him inside where we can…talk privately.” I turn and walk back toward the warehouse, using the closest door, with Valentin on my heels.
Moments later, they drag him into the warehouse and force him to his knees beside me. Sweat beads on his forehead despite the cool night air. He knows what’s coming. I crouch down to his level, keeping my voice calm and conversational despite wanting to tear him apart with my bare hands. “You’re going to tell me where they took Sarah Clark.”
He shakes his head frantically, words tumbling out in accented English that betrays his nervousness. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I was just supposed to clean up the mess and burn everything down.”
I gesture toward Roman’s corpse with deliberate casualness, letting him see the pool of blood still spreading slowly across the floor. “What mess? This mess? Or the mess of taking an innocent woman?”
He grits his teeth, seeming to be trying to retain control. “I don’t know about any woman. I was told to burn the building and destroy any evidence of what happened here.”
I pull out my knife, testing the blade’s sharpness against my thumb with slow deliberation. A thin line of blood appears, bright red against my skin, and the man’s eyes widen with terror as he realizes I’m not bluffing.
“Let me explain something to you,” I continue in the same reasonable tone, wiping the blood from my thumb onto his jacket. “The woman who was here is important to me. If something happens to her because you’re being uncooperative, I’m going to take my time making you pay for it.”
His resolve cracks immediately, fear overriding whatever loyalty he might have felt to his employers. That must be why he’s a cleaner and not a foot soldier. He doesn’t have the temperament to fight. “Katya Nikitina ordered the cleanup. She said there would be two bodies and evidence that needed to disappear before morning.”
Hearing her name just confirms my worst suspicions about the woman I’m supposed to marry. “Where did she take Sarah?”
He’s dripping sweat now and pauses for a moment as though evaluating who poses the bigger risk to his ability to keep breathing—me now, or Katya in the future. He chooses wisely. “The old Nikitin compound upstate. She said she was taking careof loose ends before the wedding to make sure nothing could interfere with her plans.”
Katya, my supposed fiancée, orchestrated this entire scenario from the beginning. It wouldn’t surprise me if she helped Roman too, using his obsession with Sarah to eliminate threats to her plans, then killed him and his henchman when he was no longer useful to her scheme.
I lean closer, letting him see the fury I’ve been holding back throughout this conversation. “What does she plan to do with Sarah?”
The man’s voice drops to a whisper, as if speaking quietly might somehow protect him from retaliation, and the acrid scent of urine fills the air around us as he urinates on himself. “She said it was a tight timeline, and she had to handle something before you found out. I don’t know what, but she said it represented a threat to everything she’s worked for. She has to marry you for her plan to work. That’s all I know, I swear.”
Her plan, of course. Katya isn’t just planning to marry me. She’s planning to inherit everything after my convenient death. It’s what I’ve suspected, but her actions and determination to remove whatever besides Sarah she perceives as a threat to her plan gives me all the proof I need and eliminates even the tiniest shadow of doubt that remained.
I stand, my decision made with crystalline clarity. “How many men does she have at the compound?”
“I don’t know.”
I run the knife across his cheek, making him flinch. “Don’t you?”
“I was going to say, I don’t know exactly.” His voice is trembling. “I’m just guessing she has maybe ten or twelve. It’s a guesthouse at the family compound, where she can handle sensitive business without interference.”
I turn to Valentin, who’s been listening to every word with growing alarm. “Get me the layout of the Nikitin compound, with satellite imagery, building plans, and security protocols. I want anything you can find but pay special attention to the guesthouse.”
Valentin pulls out his phone to start making calls to our intelligence contacts. “Yarik, if Katya has that many men defending the compound, and if she’s had time to prepare?—”
“We’ll go through them.” I check my weapon and signal my team to prepare for immediate departure. “I’m not leaving the woman I love in the hands of someone who wants her dead.”
The man on his knees looks up at me with desperate hope, probably thinking cooperation might save his life. “If I helped you, told you about the compound’s defenses, the guard rotations?—”
I consider his offer briefly, weighing the potential value of his information against the time we’ve already lost. Then I shake my head. “You were going to burn evidence that could have helped me find her faster. That makes you complicit in whatever happens to her.” One quick motion ends his pleading. I don’t have time for witnesses or complications and leaving him alive would only create more problems later.
