Chapter 20: Mikhail

I arrive at the restaurant just before nine.

When the maître’ d leads me to the tables on the top floor, I know Eric wants us there for a reason.

I find him sitting at the back in an elegant booth eating a continental breakfast.

He nods at me when he sees me.

“Get him the same as me, please,” he says to the maître’ d, who nods and saunters away to retrieve my order.

I sit in front of Eric and look him over. “I take it me eating means I’m going to be here awhile.”

“Yes, and you need to blend in,” he answers. “The place is going to be busy in a few minutes. I expect the people I need you to see will be here roughly around that time. Their reservation is for ten past, and we’re sitting up here so we can watch them.”

This sounds promising.

“What did you find?”

“I’m not really sure yet. I found a piece of information, and this is us following it through to fill in the blanks.” He clears his throat. “Do you know a guy called Tony Iglesias?”

“Never heard of him.”

“He’s one of Raul’s… what the hell do I call this guy? For the purposes of today’s discussion, let’s just call him a middleman with some above-board tech skills. I took a look at Raul’s emails from his office and found something interesting I haven’t seen in a while because it takes a special kind of person to do this shit.”

My interest piques. “What?”

“Put simply, your investigation team missed a few key things.”

Jesus, this is all I need to hear now. “What did they miss?”

“A lot of Raul’s work emails were encrypted with what my guys call ghost files. It’s a file with a secret encryption that allows it to be hidden within another. To read it, you need to either know how to spot it or use a certain code to reveal it. It looks like your people completely missed those files.”

“Fuck. Does this mean everything needs to be rechecked?”

“Yes, it does. I scanned the files for secret encryptions because I thought things on Raul’s system looked way too clean for a cartel king. That’s how I got intel about this meeting here in ten minutes.” He straightens. “Raul arranged for Tony to meet someone called the Red Fox, to sign the Dmitriyev Ltd. contract.”

The blood drains from my face. “The Dmitriyev Ltd. contract?”

“Yeah. I don’t know what that’s about yet, but I’m interested in knowing who Red Fox is code for. That’s why we’re here. We look and see, then take action.”

I don’t know what the hell to think other than that I was right.

“Eric, if they’re meeting about the Dmitriyev Ltd. contract, it must mean the plan is still in motion.”

He nods. “I think so, Mikhail. Forgive me for saying this, but I’m not sure yet if the files were missed by accident or if it was done on purpose, so I think we should keep this between us. At least for the moment.”

The suggestion of missing the encryption on purpose opens another can of worms I’ve considered when I thought of who could be watching us and how. But I placed the thought at the back of my mind until we sorted through everything else. Now it’s resurfaced.

“You don’t have to ask me for forgiveness, Eric, and of course we can keep this between us. To be honest, I think I prefer it that way.” I do. I’m sure my father won’t like to hear I’ve been doing something he told me not to do. That was an order, however, he gave me as my father, not as my Pakhan, so it’s different.

“Good, because often times when shit hits the fan and no one can explain how it got there, the answer is closer to home.”

He’s right, which irks me even more. And if he is right that the files were missed on purpose, that means someone from inside our Bratva was working with Raul and wanted us dead.

“What makes you think it could have been done on purpose?” I need to know. I’m aware that as open as he’s being with me, he’s also respectful.

“I assume the skill set your people have must be close to mine, or the people in my alliance. I don’t fully believe something like that would have been missed. The dead giveaway was everything looking too clean. But that’s just my opinion. Your people were handpicked by your father. I would not disrespect a Pakhan by suggesting the people in his decades old system is flawed.”

“I appreciate you pointing it out to me.”

“I know you do. That’s why I’m going to recheck everything. It’s going to take me some time to go over it all thoroughly, but I’ll get it done.”

“I owe you for this.”

He chuckles. “Next time we go to Vegas, play me a hand of poker, and we’ll call it even.”

I laugh. “I beat you fair and square last time.”

“I don’t like being beaten.”

“Neither do I, but I’ll play you again.”

“Good man.” The smile recedes from his face when the door opens, and he glances over my shoulder. “Tony’s here. Now to see who the Red Fox is.”

I look and watch a well-dressed Mexican guy walk in. Like when I entered, the maître’ d approaches him quickly and gives him the VIP treatment.

They walk to the far corner of the room but stay in our line of sight.

Tony looks like Raul did, like a sophisticated businessman in his Armani suit, but his presence gives off the dark vibe all men from our world carry with them. A moment later, the waiter returns with my food, and Eric and I eat.

I’m more anxious than hungry, but I eat to blend in.

At ten past nine, the door opens again, and who I recognize walk in has me setting down my fork.

The middle-aged man who walks in is called Barabbas Ponteix.

He’s a black-market trader who works for high-level politicians and men with money older than dirt. There’s no question over whether he is Red Fox. That’s the type of code name he’d use to conceal himself.

I glance at Eric, who’s already looking at him the same way I am.

We watch him until he’s ushered toward Tony before we look back at each other.

“Mikhail, whatever happened months ago is definitely still happening,” Eric states. “Whoever hired Barabbas Ponteix is someone big. My guess is they want your company, and you are all still in danger.”

All I can do is look at him, because seeing Barabbas confirms my worries. Someone still wants us dead, and from the look of things, it could be someone right under my nose.

I seethe inwardly when I remember how Raul kept his silence to save his daughter. A man as powerful as him would only worry about a threat if the person he feared was more powerful than him.

Someone he knew who could still get to his daughter even after his death.

Who is it?

Who the fuck is it?

I reach for my gun, getting ready to go down there and to end them. When I think of my mother and sister, I want to kill them.

Eric, however, stops me with a heavy hand on mine.

“No, old friend. Calm the fuck down,” he cautions.

“Why, when they’re right there?”

“You have far too many loose ends to tie up, and those two guys there are foot soldiers. Fucking pawns. In the same breath, don’t believe a man like Barabbas is here by himself.”

Damn it. I hate that he’s right. This is so frustrating.

I glance around at the people in the restaurant who all look so normal. A man like Barabbas is going to have backup. I can handle a showdown, but not if I don’t know who’s who and where they might fire from.

“I suggest we keep to the element of surprise and you start small by talking to Tony,” Eric says. “We can then track Barabbas’ movements. Sometimes, you have to watch things play out to get all the pieces of the puzzle before you strike.”

“Okay, I’ll send someone to get Tony later so we can have a little chat.”

I just hope for more luck than during my interrogation with Raul.