Nate leaned forward. “What was the offer?”
“Either I started working for him to bring heroin into the city, or he’d murder my entire family including my five-year-old daughter.” His voice cracked on the last words. After a few moments, he continued, “That was when I first started working for Dmitri, and I’ve been bringing his shipments into Philadelphia at least once a month since then. Okay?”
“What can you tell us about his operation?”
“He has an office down by the water.”
Peter leaned against the door frame. “The storage warehouse?”
Yuri nodded. “Yeah, the front looks like individual storage units, but the rest of it just houses his guys, and they store drugs and guns there.”
“Is that where Dmitri stays?”
“No. He’s rarely there. Okay? Only to do a little business here and there. He mainly stays in his high-rise in the city. It’s some sort of penthouse. I don’t know where.”
“You sure you don’t know?” David pushed past Peter into the room.
Yuri shrank under his cold gaze. “I swear. I’ve never been there. Okay?”
David sat behind Yuri, intimidation from every angle.
Nate held up a hand. “I believe you. What do you know about the rat he has in my organization?”
Yuri shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “I’ve heard talk that Dmitri has your rat by the balls. And that the rat is close to you.” He glanced to Peter. “Very close.”
Peter stiffened. “The fuck did you just say?”
“Calm down.” Nate held Yuri in his hawk-like gaze. “Do you have any idea who it is?”
“No. Okay? No. Only Dmitri knows. He doesn’t tell anyone. Except for maybe the shlyukha. She’s the only one he talks to, because she’s the only one who’ll never repeat what he says.”
A wrinkle formed between Nate’s eyebrows. “The what now?”
“Whore,” Peter supplied the translation. “He said the whore.”
“Who do you mean? He has a woman?” Nate asked.
“No. It’s not his wife, and I don’t think they have a good relationship. He does things to her…” Yuri trailed off and glanced at me.
“You can say it in front of her.” Nate slammed his hand on his desk. “Eyes on me, Yuri.”
Yuri’s head whipped around. “I mean to say that he hurts her. The shlyukha. That’s what he calls her. They say he keeps her chained. They say he likes to cut her. They say he forces himself on her in front of others.”
My horror grew the more he spoke, and I couldn’t keep the question from leaving my lips. “Who is she?”
“I’m sorry.” He turned his head slightly, but not enough to meet my eye. “I didn’t want to say those things in front of you.”
“Who is she?” I repeated. Dmitri’s words from his kidnap attempt resurfaced in my mind. He’d said he’d already ruined my father’s other toy. Could he have meant—no. I shook my head. No.
“I can’t say for sure. She’s Russian. A little older. Some of the men that worked on the boat from time to time when I had shipments gossiped that she was once a rare beauty who was shared amongst the generals of the Bratva. One of them crossed Dmitri very badly, so he took her as payment and punishment.”
The legal pad and my pen slid from my hands and slapped on the floor.
Nate rose and pointed at Peter. “Watch him.”
“What is it?” Nate knelt in front of me and took my ice-cold hands in his.
The words didn’t want to leave my lungs. If I said it out loud, it would be real. And I didn’t want it to be real. Not like this.
“Baby, please tell me what’s wrong.”
“It’s her.” Tears burned in my eyes.
“Who?”
“My mother.”
Chapter Twenty
Nate
Sabrina stayed in our bed for the rest of the day. I wanted to help her, to reassure her that I would do everything in my power to free her mother. But the truth was I wasn’t sure what I could do. We knew the building where Dmitri was holed up, but we also knew that it was well fortified and nearly impossible to raid. On top of that, I had no evidence that it truly was her mother.
I didn’t give Sabrina those details, just held her through her silence and tears. She’d never known her mother, but that bond was still there. Her pain was my pain. And I would do everything in my power to make this right for her.
In the late afternoon, her breathing evened out as she finally fell sleep. I rose and padded down the stairs.
George gave me a short salute from his post at the front door as I passed. “We got two more drones this morning. Both of them equipped with cameras. Peter and David went in search of the operator, but they didn’t turn up anyone. We’ll keep trying. But they could be somewhere more remote.”
I nodded my thanks for the report and strode to my office. Sinking behind my desk, I cradled my head in my hands. Word was already traveling about our heroin heist the previous night. Pretty soon, the Russians would be riled up like a nest of hornets and looking for somewhere to strike. It was all part of the plan. They would expend their energy attacking our next shipment, which was due in three days. Hopefully, the rat already told Dmitri about it and directed them to the river where I could set a trap, while the actual shipment came in via the airport to the south.