Page 45 of Angel's Forever
“Viktor, do you have any news? Have you found her?”
I knew that Nico would have no time for pleasantries, and in this instance, I was thankful.
“Nico, I am just heading to the location where we think Vincent is holding Gabriella. I have it on good authority that they are both there.”
I could hear Hudson in the background trying to find out exactly what was happening. Nico must have put the phone on speakerphone because the voice I heard next was Hudson’s.
“Are you sure? Can you trust your contact?”
I almost laughed. “I’m sure Nico will have heard of Teneva Diable, even though he isn’t Russian. He is my contact, and he has been keeping an eye on the place for me for the past few hours.”
Nico confirmed my suspicions when he spoke. “If the Shadow Devil is telling you he has found them, then I will not question it. Where is she?”
“I will send you the details after this call. Just start heading up to Old Orchard Beach in Maine. Once I have Gabriella, I will let you know where to meet us. Don’t worry; once I have my malyshka, I will not leave her side.”
I could hear lots of shuffling at the end of the line, telling me they were already getting ready to head out.
“Thanks, Viktor. We will be heading down to our car shortly. We are just going to grab a few things for an overnight stay. We will get a hotel on the way.”
“Don’t worry about that, Nico. I will arrange everything here. I will let you know where I have booked, and you can meet us there.”
“Thanks again, Viktor. We all owe you for this.”
“You owe me nothing, Nico. All I want is to see my malyshka happy.”
I didn’t bother with the niceties of saying goodbye and ended the call immediately. I needed to get my head into what was about to go down. We stopped just outside of Old Orchard Beach, at an abandoned house, about a mile away from the cottage. I was due to meet TD with Aleksandr. We were two of the only people to have ever seen his face, hence meeting in an abandoned house. He didn’t want anyone else to see him.
I got out of the car with Aleksandr and we walked around the back of the house, all the while keeping our eyes open just in case there was anyone else prowling around. We walked up to the back door and opened it, slowly stepping inside and announcing our arrival.
“It’s Viktor and Aleksandr. Are you here?”
“In here,” a voice answered from the other room.
We headed to what had once been the living room of the house and found him standing at the back of the room in relative darkness, the shadows of the empty house almost making him invisible.
Aleksandr walked directly up to him and greeted him with a hug. “It’s good to see you again, TD. How are you doing?”
His voice changed completely as soon as he saw Aleksandr. “Alek, I’m good. How about you? It seems like ages since we last met up. We must try to see each other more often.”
“I’m all good, thanks. And yeah, we must.”
Aleksandr pulled away, and TD immediately held out his hand to me, which I duly took and shook as he addressed me.
“Mr. Koslov, it is good to see you again.”
“How many times do I have to tell you to call me Viktor? It’s good to see you, so I can personally thank you for this.”
He gave me a slight smirk. “It’s me who should be thanking you for the money you are paying me. As for calling you Viktor, you are still a much-feared member of the Russian bratva, and for that, you deserve my respect. I will always welcome you as Mr. Koslov. After a while, I may slip, Viktor.”
If anyone should have been feared it was him and not me. If you were in his sights, then you wouldn’t know until it was too late.
“Just remember to warn me if you are ever sent for me, won’t you?”
His raucous laughter filled the room. “I would kill anyone that sent me for you because they wouldn’t deserve my time. However, to matters at hand. I am sure you wish to get Miss Quinn back as soon as possible. From what I have seen, she is locked in the second bedroom along the corridor. She hasn’t been let out since arriving five days ago. It appears that Vincent has brought her food and drink every day. The back door is left unlocked. I looked around early this morning, so I would suggest going in through that, as it will make less noise than crashing through the front door. I noted just before I came to meet you that he has taken some cocaine today, so be on your guard. I haven’t seen a gun, but that’s not to say he doesn’t have one. However, I suspect a man like him doesn’t have the courage to kill someone, hence why your dear Nikolai was involved.”
He paused for a second before he continued. “Having looked into Miss Quinn’s background, I would appreciate it if you would give me a chance to torture him. He is nothing more than filth as far as I’m concerned and should be wiped off the face of the earth. The Teneva Diable feels like getting his hands well and truly dirty when it comes to that mudak.”
I could completely understand what he was saying, and a part of me knew he would torture Vincent far better than I could. However, this was something that I felt I needed to do for myself.