And the first thing you’ll lose is that sniper you sent after me. First I track, then I take him out. How do you think he’ll stack up against the SEAL training Joe gave me…

Chapter 9

Chapter
9

Maggiano Lake
Italy

Bohdan didn’t show,” Caleb said tightly when he reached Palik. “Neither did any of his top mobsters. The entire valley is filled with his meth and drug hierarchy screaming and blaming each other, but no Bohdan. I thought sure that I’d be able to zero in on him here. Where the hell is he?”

“Maybe he had something better to do,” Palik said. “Have you heard from MacDuff lately?”

Caleb tensed. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means I can’t get in touch with Rodland or MacDuff, and I don’t like it.”

“Shit!” Caleb cut the connection and dialed MacDuff.

No answer.

But he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that he was getting an incoming call from Jane. “Everything okay? I couldn’t reach MacDuff.”

“He’s probably a little busy,” Jane said shakily. “The last I saw was that he was trying to keep the Run from burning down. And then of course there were the drones that were dropping explosives. That could have been a distraction.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about Bohdan. Who else could it be? I only called you because I couldn’t imagine that if you knew about the attack you wouldn’t have been here. But it’s pretty clear you didn’t know.”

“Are you all right? Where’s Rodland?”

“He was wounded, and I sent Fergus to take him to the village.”

“Rodland is supposed to be taking care of you.”

“Isn’t everyone?” she asked wearily. “It doesn’t seem to be working out, does it? You’ll pardon me if I bow out. Too many people are getting hurt and dying. I won’t let it happen any longer. I’ll call MacDuff after I hang up from you and find out what damage I’ve done to him. But after that I’m on my own.”

“That’s crazy,” he said roughly. “Where are you?”

“At the moment, I’m still at MacDuff’s Run. But you know what a huge property it is, and I can’t promise I’ll stay here.”

“Are you trying to shut me out, too? You know I can’t let you do that. I’m coming after you.”

“And you might find me, but I’ll try my best not to let you. Because you’re the one I most need to keep away from. Bohdan will kill you if he uses me as bait. That’s what we’ve been trying to avoid.”

“No, it’s not. And I don’t care anymore. I won’t have you out there by yourself. I have to be with you.”