Page 10 of Waiting for Him
She nodded and adjusted her body so she was facing forward again. There was no way she would tell him his words had her thinking he wanted to get as far away from her as possible. She’d lost so many loved ones in her life and just reconnected with the only man she’d ever been in love with. Kat couldn’t give him up again. Not yet, and hopefully, not ever.
She’d made a few friends in Portland but never knew if she and her dad would need to move again, so it was easier to keep those friendships to a minimum. Her closest friends were her boss of over seven years and his wife. Jeremy and Eva Pierce owned the canine training facility where Kat had found a career she was good at, which also afforded her some protection.
Kat’s handler, Chris, and Jeremy had served in the army together, and the latter now trained dogs for law enforcement and private firms along with his retired police officer wife. When Kat had been greeted by Ian’s dog yesterday, she’d immediately recognized the dog’s training. While Beau hadn’t been one of J&E International K9’s dogs, the training was similar for the specialized dogs worldwide, and most of the U.S. dogs were trained in the German language.
Chris had never broken his non-disclosure oath about safeguarding Kat and her father in the Witness Protection Program, but Jeremy wasn’t stupid. He knew who his friend worked for, the U.S. Marshals, and could figure things out from there. But the afternoon Jeremy had agreed to see if the young woman had it in her to be a canine trainer, he knew she had the right stuff. While she was shy around people, she showed her alpha side when it came to dogs, and the animals respected her as one of their pack leaders. At least when this was over, she had a life to return to if things didn’t work out with Benny.
They arrived back at the compound without saying another word to each other. Boomer got out of the car after he parked and went around to open Kat’s door for her. But he was too late. She was standing outside the vehicle and closing her door. His eyes narrowed, but he left it alone. Remember, ass-hat, she’s not your submissive. His dick would like to rectify that, but his head told him, “No.”
At least she let him hold the door to the office open for her, and he followed her inside along with Jake. He introduced her to Colleen, their secretary, who’d just started her work day. The two women shook hands before he led her into the conference room, where his life had changed a little more than fifteen hours ago. Ian and Devon were waiting for them, and neither one looked happy.
Boomer held out a seat for Kat. “Katerina, this is Ian’s brother, Devon. He’s the co-owner of Trident. Dev, this is Katerina.”
She held out her hand to shake Devon’s before taking the offered seat. “It’s nice to meet you. Please call me Kat.”
Devon took the seat across from her, with Jake sitting in the one next to him. “Kat it is. And it’s nice to meet you too.” He glanced at Boomer. “Everything all right last night?”
Boomer sighed as he dropped into the seat next to Kat. “Yeah. Just forgot about Pop coming by this morning. He was as shocked as I was. He’s stopping for breakfast for everyone and should be here in a few minutes.” His gaze flicked between the Sawyer brothers. “What’s the scoop?”
Ian tossed him a few papers he’d printed from an email. Some were text, others were photos. “These are from Keon. Sergei, "The Wolf" Volkov, was murdered in an empty warehouse three weeks ago. Double tap and clean.” Meaning he’d taken one bullet to the head and another to the heart. No bullet casings were found. “No suspects, but the guy had lots of enemies, so it could have been anybody. But tell me what you think.”
Rick walked in as Boomer was studying the pictures of the crime scene photos. He looked at them over his son’s shoulder after handing a bag of egg sandwiches to Jake to distribute. Boomer suddenly zeroed in on what Ian wanted him to see. “It was someone he knew, someone close to him. The warehouse is empty. If he was killed there, and it looks like he was, he was meeting someone. He wouldn’t have gone there without at least one of his bodyguards.”
Ian nodded. “Exactly what I was thinking. Keon, too. The FBI has the case because he’s been on their watch list for years. Everyone they’ve interviewed in his inner circle has denied knowing what he was doing there. So, the questions keep mounting, but the big one is . . . if Volkov is dead, who the hell is after Kat? And why?”
As Rick took the seat next to Boomer, the five men turned their attention to the bewildered woman. “I have no idea. All I know is what I’ve told you. My father was dying and high on morphine, so I only have his mumblings and hearsay from twelve years ago.”
Boomer’s mind was spinning with details, none of which added up. “What did Keon say about Mr. Maier’s involvement back then?”
Ian shook his head as he accepted the wrapped sandwich sliding across the table at him. He left it unopened. “Not much more than what Kat told us. Maier got himself in too deep to cut and run and ended up with information he should have never seen. Information that resulted in a price on his head.”
“So, we head to the bank in Norfolk.” Boomer couldn’t think of anything else that would help them at this point.
“Yup. Jake, I want you to go with them and keep us updated every four hours. CC will be at the hanger at eleven-hundred to fly you all up there.”
Conrad Chapman, otherwise known as CC, was a retired Air Force pilot Trident contracted to fly their jet wherever they needed to go. The small private airport they used was about twenty minutes from the compound. Ian directed his next statement to Boomer and Kat. “Keon will arrange for someone to meet you with ID and the death certificate. Kat is to stay hidden as much as possible. I don’t want the chance of someone from her past recognizing her.”
She frowned. “I doubt anyone would recognize me from twelve years ago, but you never know. I can get a wig or dye my hair if you want.”
Before Ian answered her, Boomer spoke up. “I can grab a wig from the club.”
He mentally kicked himself for mentioning The Covenant. The first building in the compound gave no indication it was a BDSM club. There was a small store on the top floor, and it specialized in fetish wear and toys. Blonde wigs were popular, and they had several in stock, but he’d have to run over there without Kat. There was no way he was letting her inside the club. He’d never been ashamed of his lifestyle, but at this moment, he couldn’t bring himself to tell her about it. He thought back to the shy, little virgin she’d been twelve years ago and figured she would run to the hills if she knew about his kinks. Thankfully, she didn’t seem to notice his flub, and Jake sensed his predicament.
“I’ll grab one before we go.”
Boomer nodded his thanks, then said to the room in general, “Anything else?”
Ian and Devon looked at each other for confirmation and then shook their heads. Ian stood and picked up his egg sandwich. “At the moment, no. Brody and Marco are due back this afternoon. I’ll get Egghead on his computers to search for everything he can find on all the players in this.” Brody “Egghead” Evans was their computer and tech specialist and a world-class hacker of the first degree. And Marco “Polo” DeAngelis was their communications specialist and backup helicopter pilot. He was also Brody’s occasional ménage partner. “When you get to Norfolk, let me know where you’re staying so I can have Keon’s man meet you with the paperwork.”
After Boomer acknowledged his order, Ian left the room as the others stood. Jake pointed to Rick. “Do you mind following them back to Boomer’s condo? I need to swing by my place to grab my go-to bag. It’s usually in my truck, but I was cleaning it out yesterday and didn’t have a chance to put it back together.”
“No problem at all,” the older man answered.
They all picked up their unopened egg sandwiches and headed for the door. They could eat on the way to grab their gear. As they passed Colleen’s desk, the secretary handed Boomer a piece of pink paper. She had taken a phone message for him while they were in their meeting. He glanced at the message before folding the paper twice and sticking it in his back pocket. He’d take care of it later.
As they headed back to his condo, with his father following him this time, Boomer turned his head toward Kat when he noticed she was rubbing her temples. “You all right?”
She winced. “It’s a headache. I’ve been getting them about twice a month for the last few years. I take over-the-counter migraine meds, and they help, but I ran out of them. Can we stop at a pharmacy really quick?”
