Page 86 of Secret Weapon

“A BMW import, the 5-series M-Sport in white.Tinted windows and six-spoke alloy wheels.”

So he’d been looking at the car rather than the person.A gearhead?Planning how to spend his paycheck?

“What about Fedor?”

“I don’t know what he drives.”

Was Moscow being deliberately obtuse?“What does he look like?”

“He’s older—more like fifty, but his hair’s been grey for years.He dresses expensive—always the good suits.And he’s missing a finger on his left hand.He told me it got blown off when he was in the army.”

“What’s his face shape?”

“Round, and he has a…a cleft in his chin.”

“Build?”

“Fedor, he likes to go to the gym.”

Right.But explosives accident, my ass—Valery Fedorov had lost that finger when his ex-wife went at him with a carving knife.Rumour said she’d been aiming for his mistress at the time and missed.Valery Fedorov was also an associate of Yuma Loslov, a hustler-turned-entrepreneur who’d become Anton Stepanov’s right-hand man.Or rather, his left-hand man, seeing as Stepanov was a southpaw.

So, we had a new lead now.But wherewasFedorov?Nearby?Probably not if he’d sent a courier, but did this team of fools have additional help in Coos Bay?

“Tell me, where did the ambulance come from?”I waved a hand at the vehicle parked in the clearing.“You managed to find it at short notice.”

The Mule answered that one.“Is easy to get an ambulance.You just call 911 and they send one.”

Fuck, these assholes had stolen an ambulance in the middle of an emergency visit?Where were the crew?

“What did you do with the EMTs?”

“Left them at the house.”

“What house?”

“The house we borrowed.”

“Give me the address.”

He rattled off the name of a street on the outskirts of Coos Bay, and the number told me the house was right on the edge of town.Away from the prying eyes of nosy neighbours.

“Where are the people who own the house?”

“Who knows?It was empty.”

“And the EMTs—are they alive?”

“Maybe alive, maybe dead.”He shrugged as far as his bonds would let him.“Does it matter?”

Collateral damage.Yes, it mattered.Killing EMTs would have been senseless and completely unnecessary.That’s what tranquillisers, handcuffs, and duct tape were for.Then you did the polite thing and called in their location later.

I turned back to Moscow.He seemed the more professional of the two.

“Where did you get this one?”I gestured toward the Mule.“The meat aisle at Walmart?”

Moscow gave a small groan.“He’s my brother-in-law.”

“And when the priest asked if anyone objected, nobody raised a hand?Khui.”

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