“Zoya Levin,” Linda said. She gripped the side of the sofa with white fingers as if all of a sudden this had become terrifyingly real. “She’s on the Antakov payroll.”

“Does she moonlight as a chef at a hibachi? That’s who cut me,” Cain said, accepting the knife from Jerry. “Thanks, man. Why don’t you go and pull the car to the back and take the boys with you?” Jerry seemed hesitant, so she took him into the kitchen. “I need to wake that bitch up and hear whatever her last words are going to be. Do you understand?”

“Yeah, but I hate to leave you. I’m supposed to be watching your back.”

“Thank you. Making sure nothing happens to those kids will be helping me.” She looked him in the eye and tried to gauge what he was thinking. “Are you okay with all this? There’s me and what I do in concept and quite another to have it thrown in your face. I don’t want to get you into this any deeper than I have to.”

“I grew up in foster homes, and all I ever wanted was my own family. You gave me and Maddie that. I told you the day you handed me my son—I’ll follow you to hell, and someone will have to put a bullet in my head to get me to betray you.”

“Thanks, Jerry. You’re a good friend, but please don’t think you owe me anything. JC is where he belongs, and I know you and Maddie are the best choice of parents for him. His father was a lot like these people. His birth mother, though, was an innocent who lost her life because of the asshole she married.” She accepted a bottle of water from him when Linda came in, dropped two Tylenol in her hand, and walked out. “You’re all that little boy is ever going to need to become a good man.”

“Don’t worry about me. This is a lot more exciting than putting out hay, for damn sure.”

She had to laugh at that as she followed him out. Tim and Joshua seemed reluctant to leave Linda, but she talked them into going with Jerry. “Zoya is one of Uncle David’s killers,” Linda said after the three walked out the door. “Sending Zoya means Nicola knows where we are.”

Cain handed Lou the knife, and Zoya woke up with a start when he used it to cut off her index finger. The gag Lou had put in her mouth kept her quiet, but Zoya glared at her until she seemed to notice Linda in the room. That’s when she started to struggle, until Lou did away with the middle finger. The ropes from Jerry’s truck weren’t going to give.

“You bitch,” Zoya said when Lou pulled out the rag, but she appeared to be talking to Linda.