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“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” I yelled, putting my hands out to stop them. Thankfully neither one of them moved, but they remained in combat mode in the middle of my living room. “Put those away!
” Still neither one moved. “Boris put your weapon away,” I instructed. He paused for a few seconds, but slow
ly lowered the gun
and re
-
holstered it. I didn’t have to explain to Cole who Boris was, but I could tell by the look on Boris’s face that he was guessing Cole was a cop. This was the moment I was dreading: Olevsky would now know that I was cooperating with the police.

Boris inhaled a deep breath and took two steps toward us
as he exhaled
. Cole still had his gun aimed at him and it made me nervous.

“Can you put that away?” I asked him quietly.

Instead Boris held up a hand and said, “It is okay.”

“Wh
at are you doing here?” I asked him.

“
Well, I was
here to take you back to Latvia
, but I guess things have changed
.”
He glanced at Cole.

“I’m…I’m not ready to go back.” I really was desperate to see my mom and brother
again
, but I was even more desperate to go to Jayden the second I
could
.

“The day has come
, Ty. Meinikov knows
of
you
.”
He
eyed
his watch. “We
need to
leave.”

“Leave? I’m not going to Latvia—”

“Please b
e quiet an
d listen to what I have to say.
Yes?”

I took a deep, angry breath, but reluctantly nodded my head. “Fine.”

“Dean
is dead.”

I stared at him for a moment. “Dead?”

Boris sighed heavily. “I know you don’t care for him, but he’s been a loyal member of our organization.”

My mind couldn’t wrap around a solid thought right away, but when the reality of it was started to sink in I said, “He
tried to meet with me, Boris.
I talked to him just an hour ago.
I didn’t like it one bit. It didn’t sound right.”

He nodded. “Yes, because it wasn’t. They’ve killed his family, Ty.”

Again I stared at him but I couldn’t say anything.

“His mom, his sisters, and even the family
dog
. If he didn’t get you back to town, they were dead.”

I swallowed hard, my stomach feeling sick. “I-I told him no. I—”

“It isn’t your fault, Ty. This is
the way it is
. But Dean managed to tip us off a couple of days ago. He felt like something bad was going to happen and he gave us some information. He warned us, Ty. He warned us that
he thought
they got to Roy Merrick.”

I had to think for a second to gather my wits. “The dirty cop?”

“
He has betrayed the organization. He is cooperating fully with the Derevenkos now while within the Olevsky organization
—”

“You mean he’s screwing us over and pretending he’s not?”

Boris slightly smiled at my impatience. “Yes, sir.”

I shook my head. “So
Roy
has turned to the dark side—okay, the
darker
side—and this means…what? What’s happening?”

“We’re going to use it to our advantage.
Roy
has
convinced
the Derevenkos that you are Olevsky’s chosen.”

“
Wait, what? W
hy would he even
think
that?
”

“
Because you are.”

I could only stare at him. The man had made my life miserable. How did that make sense?

“
You asked to be released from the organization. Mr. Olevsky granted your wish. It was very unwise, but his heart desired you to be happy
,
just as Vladimir Meinikov did with his son
. It was then that
Roy
set his course for betrayal.
Mr.
Olevsky
knew that
both Roy and
Dean
were
upset
with
your disassociation
, so he attempted to fix it by siding with
them
and agreeing to
their
terms
. Unfortunately it did not work—or, at least, it did
not last—a
nd
now Aleksey Meinikov is in the s
tates.
Roy
has gained his trust by
offering the final piece
…giving up Olevsky’s
favored
associates
.
He started with Dean, and now he is dead.
This has earned
Roy Merrick
a
favorable
positio
n with the
Derevenkos
. I expect that further deception will warrant a permanent membership in the organization.
”

I didn’t know what to say, but I didn’t have to because Cole began to speak.

“Ty is safe with us. There’s no n
eed for him to return to Latvia
unless it’s what he wants to do.
I’ll contact my team and put
plan B in
to
effect
—”

“You are rushing him out of town, yes? It means he is in danger?”

“He is, which is why I’m taking him somewhere safe while
Merrick’s
moves are being calculated—”

“He is
up to nothing good
.”

Cole eyed him carefully. “
I’m sure that’s true, but
I haven’t received that confirmation yet.
I’ve signaled my team that we have been compromised. They’ll take care of things on their end and I’ll—
”

Just then his phone rang, so he cautiously answered it while keeping an eye on Boris. He listened for quite a while, and whatever he was hearing, he was not happy about
it. Finally he hung up, but he didn’t say anything for
quite
some time.

“What’s going on?” I
finally
asked him.

Whatever it was, he was having a hard time getting it out.

“They
must
have Jayden,” Boris stated.

“
What
?
” I shouted, glaring at Cole to see if it was true.

Cole
tipped his head back slightly
and closed his eyes
. “How could this happen?” he whispered.

My heart felt like it was being ripped from my chest. It felt like the day I had left her. I took off for the door but Cole yanked me back by the arm.

“Where are you going?” he demanded.

“They want
me
! They want to make sure I come! They can have m
e, I don’t care! But not
her
!
She has nothing to do with this!”

“Ty, think about what you’re doing! You’re running blind into a mine field!”

“What am I supposed to do
then, huh?
This can’t happen!
”

“You’re gonna wait for
Merrick
to call you. He will. He’ll call, tell you what he wants, and then we can go from there, okay?”

“
I don’t have
time
.
What if… What if…?” I couldn’t even finish the sentence. All I could think about was what they did to my mother.
Ruining an innocent person’s life, all for the sake of teaching someone a lesson.
“Who exactly has her and how did it happen?” I asked angrily.

Cole took a deep breath. “Apparently th
ey were rear-ended while leaving town
.
Brandon could tell it was a setup, but before he could flee the scene, they were boxed in.
Brandon was shot
. H
e killed two of their men first
but…t
he others
took Jayden.
I’m not sure who did the deed, but I do know she’s with
the
Derevenkos
.
”

I dropped myself on the couch and groaned. How could this be happening? I’d se
parated myself from Jayden for
so long
just to keep her safe. It hadn’t even been worth it.

Boris stood
in front of
me and said, “Ty, they want you not Jayden. They’re just using her as leverage. I know this.” He looked at Cole and added, “Well, w
hat is
your
plan?
Ty is to be summoned
for sure
, and
Meinikov
will be there to carry out his vengeance.
You have the perfect opportunity to bring down a very prominent crime family.
Let’s
get moving.”

Cole chuckled sarcastically. “Sorry, pal, but you are in no way going to be in on this. We have enough people bouncing back and forth between sides.”
             
“Mr. Huntington is my responsibility
, too
. Where he goes, I go. If he makes a
n appearance in exchange for Miss
Jayde
n, I will be there
too. I
t would be
wise
to use me to your advantage, so I suggest you tell me what
the police are planning
to do.
If you are unable to end this, then perhaps you should leave it up to the experts, yes?
We’ve already got a plan in motion if you’d like to join us.
”

Cole almost scoffed, but then he looked like he was reluctantly debating the offer. Before he could reply Boris added, “
We
will
finish th
is war once and for all, with or without you
.
”

Chapter Forty-Five

My heart was racing like crazy, but not in a good way like when I think of Jayden. I took a deep breath so I could muster what little courage I felt I had. The problem was my anger; I was so angry with
Merrick
that I wanted to kill him. I prayed with every ounce of me that I could maintain my composure. I had no idea how this was going to end, but I was determined to make the plan work.
I trusted Cole, and I trusted Boris, but even with the strength of both sides
,
I was desperate for a miracle. I only wanted Jayden to be safe, and I would walk through hell and back just to make that happen.

Roy
had called me four hours
prior
. In his nicest voice he tried convincing me to come back to town to meet with him. I told him the same thing I’d told
Dean
, and then he
smugly
delivered the heavy blow.

“That’s too bad, Ty, because now things have to get a little tricky. You see…
I have something
that’s very valuab
le to you. She has lovely gold
en
hair, beautiful ocean
eyes, and a smi
le that’s to die for—except
she’s not smiling right now. Women are so hard to figure out,” he
chuckled
.

And
now here I was, about to face a
nightmare
that would determine my very future.

Boris was at my side, and even though I felt like I was walking into a death trap, I was somewhat relieved to have him directly with me.

“Just remember what I told you, yes?” he said quietly.
“They need you alive, so all you need to do is play this out like we talked about until we get Jayden, okay?
It will be fine.
”

I only nodded as we approached the side door of the warehouse in the dark of night. I could barely see the man standing guard; he startled
to
attention and was immediately on his phone as we approached.

He spoke Russian, and all I could gather was that he told us to stop, and
into the phone
he mentioned that I was not alone. Then I heard him reply with, “
Tarasov
,” which was Boris’s last name. A moment later he hung up and pounded on the heavy door. Once it opened, he motioned us through. Boris was immediately grabbed by two men and shoved into the wall. They frisked him and removed the two weapons he was carrying. After they patted me down, they sent us d
own the hall with two other men, and we followed them until we came into a large double-story warehouse.
Roy
was there waiting for us, along with
Dax
,
who apparently didn’t care
whose
sadistic little henchman he was
.