Page 19 of Fire and Ice

"Where is Volynski?"

"He's gone to ground but was able to send us a message that Gavlik had ordered a hit on him."

"Damn. Have you talked to Gavlik?" Maia asked.

"He is refusing all communication with AGS right now. Told us our business was done. We've classified him as hostile."

"So he wanted us to get Volynski for him to whack and maybe in the process eliminate Reznikov?"

"Looks that way. We believe Gavlik is the pakhan and Reznikov was a high-level henchman. I would not be surprised if Gavlik ordered the kidnapping of Volynski in the first place. But since Rave-IX got big, Reznikov got greedy and positioned himself to take over the bratva or at least control distribution to the United States which would be a lot of money. There are indications that a shipment of Rave-IX is in a container at Baltimore Harbor and is just sitting there. We're working that angle right now," Viktor said.

"That could be millions of dollars."

"No shit."

"Where's the DEA and the Feds on all this?"

"They've been informed and they're letting us make our play on this. They're tied up dismantling Vergara's organization, which seems to be growing new heads everyday."

"So, Raul Vergara was supposed to be the mover for Rave-IX, but the DA got to him and we've foiled their attempt to eliminate their star witness. So now we've got a shit load of drugs sitting somewhere with no distributor."

"Not yet, not with the arrest warrants out. This thing is still too hot. But with the money involved, someone's going to throw down."

"That means Reznikov is lying low. He was last seen in Alexandria, Virginia," Maia grumbled. "And I'm marooned in the Outer Banks."

"Stand down, Maia."

"I should be in Northern Virginia."

"No, what you should have done was follow the playbook."

"Are we back to that again?" Maia retorted.

"Yes. You're number one on Reznikov's hit list. If you had just delivered Volynski as ordered and had not gone back for the two girls—getting into a shootout I might add—there wouldn't have been a video of you breaking them out. That loop we had rigged into their camera system was only good for one extraction," Viktor said suddenly annoyed.

"I couldn't leave them there. They would be in the dregs of Russian prostitution by now. You would have done the same thing. Do you regret what you did for me?" Maia demanded.

"We're not talking about me," Viktor snapped. "And no, for the last fucking time, I do not regret getting you out!"

"Okay, moving on then," Maia said, knowing when to back off. "Anything else you have for me?"

"What's going on between you and McCord?" Viktor asked softly.

"Right now, not much," Maia replied in all honesty. So she agreed to bake the guy an apple pie. That was by no means a vow of ever after.

"Baby, I know you can take care of yourself, but Jack McCord is a player. None of his relationships have lasted more than eight months, the average is three. He had a fiancée who died in a car accident twelve years ago. He's never had a serious relationship since."

"May I remind you that my last relationship lasted three months, do you not remember how that ended? And my average hookup is three weeks with vast spells of nothing in between," Maia reminded him.

Viktor burst out laughing. "Now I'm beginning to fear for McCord."

"Look, don't worry about me. Obviously the guy's never gotten over his fiancée, and that's really tragic, but he's been pretty decent to me and a good kisser to boot," Maia added on a laugh.

"As long as I don't have any angry lovers beating down my door demanding where you are..."

"You won't."

"And practice safe sex."

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