Page 69 of Fire and Ice

"It's not funny. May I remind you about the last time you let him get away with tranquing me?"

Derek had the decency to look contrite.

"How long are you staying?" Maia changed the subject.

"Not sure. As long as you are here, I think. Jack conscripted me to provide additional security," Derek said. "Now, I'm not sure I want to. I hate to be caught in the crossfire."

"We're usually sweet together."

"That might be worse," Derek answered dryly. "So, does Lee count as one or three?"

"Oh, shut up, Derek."

CHAPTER TEN

A black Toyota 4Runner pulled up behind a blue late-model Bentley sedan in an alley off West Read Street in Mount Vernon, Baltimore.

A man dressed in a leather jacket, dark jeans and combat boots got out of the SUV and rapped at the heavily tinted windows of the sedan.

The door opened to reveal a blond man in his mid-forties. He was attired in an expensive Armani suit that set off his handsome but cruel face. Sergei Reznikov.

"Any news on Boris?" he asked his associate Peter Coltrane after he climbed into the car and closed the door.

"No, we have to assume Pierce eliminated him."

"I have no time for all these fuck-ups," the Russian flared angrily. "What does it take to get rid of one little woman?"

She was quickly becoming the bane of his existence. Maia Pierce, as he knew her, had infiltrated his compound located south of Moscow and taken off with Alexsey Volynsky, the lever he had on Mikhail Gavlik. Now Reznikov was exiled from Russia and from his bratva. Those loyal to him were few but they were the best boyeviks—warriors. They have followed him into the United States in the past few weeks but Pierce had already killed seven of them, and it was beginning to piss him off. Now he had to augment his group with mercenaries like Boris.

"She appears to be under the protection of Jack McCord."

"What? The brother of the one Vergara asked us to whack?"

"Yes, the one who owns the defense company."

Reznikov appeared very displeased.

"This brother is very unlike his tree-hugging sibling," Peter continued. "He is an ex-Navy SEAL. His company deals in high-technology weapons. The MD-Bandit drones that took over most of the Predator drones of the military are made by his company. I don't think we want to be on his radar. After that boat incident, I think we've pissed him off."

"You're advising us to back-off from Pierce?"

"For now. Until we establish what their relationship is."

The Russian sighed. "I agree. We need to concentrate on moving the Rave-IX from the container. Have you contacted our dealers?"

"Yes. Some of them are flying in for the International Medical Conference and are under various covers like doctors and pharmaceutical representatives. It's the perfect setup."

"Do you know if there are any representatives from GAV-VOL pharmaceuticals?"

GAV-VOL pharmaceuticals was the company owned by the Gavlik and Volynski families who were distant cousins. Mikhail Gavlik was the pakhan of the bratva in which Reznikov had been a former lieutenant. Gavlik's cousin Volynski discovered that Gavlik was using their company to produce the Rave-IX drug, so the former had Reznikov kidnap him. Gavlik double-crossed Reznikov and hired an outside incursion team to rescue Volynksi. Gavlik was setting Reznikov up to take the fall and was going to murder Volinski himself but his cousin got smart and went into hiding. Gavlik wanted all the profits from the Rave-IX for himself and was reneging on the 50-50 deal he had struck with Reznikov. But perhaps his pakhan had heard the rumors of his lieutenant wanting to overthrow him. Such are the hazards of life in a bratva. Trust no one.

"I checked the conference attendees; there are none. I think Gavlik is keeping a low profile. His company is under investigation by the AGS and the FBI. But we must be careful too. He may be sending some assassins for you."

"I'll be well-guarded. I'm sick of laying low. Let him come for me. He does not have the formula for the Rave-IX, I do. This medical conference is indeed very timely. I have another job for you."

Reznikov handed Peter a brown envelope.

"That's the minimum equipment and raw material requirements for what we need to manufacture Rave-IX. Find out where we can procure them. We shall start producing Rave-IX soon so we can assure our buyers of a steady supply."

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