Page 89 of Poisoned Pawn
“Ah, so that’s what had you storming off yesterday.” She doesn’t waste time goading or questioning me about it. “What do you need?”
“I want her moved from her current house, but she needs medical care. She has a team, but I don’t know if any of them are compromised.”
“Who else knows about her?”
A message pops up on the screen.
Koda:
There was no breach.
“Lennox and Lev,” I tell her.
“Pavel?” She takes a sip of her coffee.
“It’s possible. But given what we know, it’s not really an issue if he does. I don’t think Pavel is anything other than a pawn in Rook’s game.”
She stares at the table for a few seconds, chewing her bottom lip. When she looks back at me, she asks, “Burns?” I nod. “I might be able to sort something. But I’m going to need some help.”
I have a strong idea of who she’s talking about. Her connection to Triple R Security is deep, and I’m aware that the partners of the three guys who run it are all involved in some form of rescue for victims of abuse, be that sexual or domestic.
“Fine but keep it to as few as possible. The less people that know the better.” I give her a quick summary of the care Erica requires.
“Jesus, Carter.” She finishes her coffee, placing the empty mug on the table. “And where are you going to be while Star and I sort out Erica?”
“I’m going to see Lennox,” I say as another message comes through from Koda.
Koda:
You might want to take a look at this!
There’s a link and when I click it, a video fills the screen. It takes me a moment to figure out who I’m looking at thanks to the blood and swelling on this guy’s face.
A voice bursts from the speaker, and though he sounds different, I recognise him.
“Say hello, Kir,” Rook demands, but when he doesn’t answer immediately, he stabs at Kir with a metal prong. There’s a crackle of electricity as Kir’s whole body is sent into a spasm followed by a pained groan. Roxanne gets up and comes to stand behind me on one side as Star also joins us.
“Funny how you don’t feel like talking now. But it’s okay, we’re all friends here, and I’m happy to tell everyone what you did. Let’s start at the beginning shall we. Carter, I know you’ve been wondering about who hired a Shadow to kill that precious little whore of yours. Well wonder no more. Here he is. But that’s not even the best part, is it, Kir?” He pushes the cattle prod into Kir again and this time holds it just a few seconds longer. Kir slumps over as Rook pulls the prod away. “Looks like he’s not up for talking again, so I’ll carry on. Lev Orlov ordered Kir to hire someone to kill Miss Kavanagh. And it couldn’t have worked out any better for me. I do love it when all the pieces fall in line. Please give Lennox my regards when you see him.” The screen goes blank.
“I’ve seen that guy before,” comes Star’s voice to the right of me.
“Yeah, he’s the guy outside Perry’s office after—”
“No, no, not Kir. The guy talking in the video.”
I’m confused as Rook never showed his face, and I turn around to look at her. Seeing my obvious confusion, she explains.
“Can you rewind it back.”
I turn back around and do as she asked.
“There. Stop!” she shouts, leaning forward and pointing to the screen. There is a mirror leaning against the wall across from where Kir is and in it is the clear reflection of a pair of Nike trainers.
“Star, do you know how popular those trainers are?” Roxanne says.
She rolls her eyes. “Of course I do, but how many have half the tick missing in that exact way?” she implores pointing to the left trainer’s reflection, and sure enough half the black tick is missing.
“Explain,” I demand, turning around again in my chair and suddenly feeling anxious that she’s been so close to Rook.