“No Dad, of course not. He’s angry though.”
“Rightfully so. It was an inside job. Someone is doing this to others besides us and Nuvon.”
“Any leads?”
“None.”
“Dad, want me to try and find out?”
“If you can, but be careful of your cover. There isn’t anyone to trust right now. Things are getting worse. Our allies are few,” he said and then coughed.
“Something is wrong, I can tell.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“Son of a bitch, he sent men to hurt you, threaten you? You’re his damn brother.”
“Anastasia, please. I’m fine. Just stay out of this.”
“And watch him take things out on you? Whomever is responsible will be caught. I promise to make sure we find them.”
“Watch yourself, Anastasia. Like I said, our allies are few. No one can be trusted.”
“Believe me, Dad, I know.”
She ended the call and then tapped the top of the phone to her lips and debated about making the call. She looked up the number.
“Hello?”
“It’s Anastasia. I need a favor,” she said and then told her contact what was going on.
“You know how this works. No one states who brought the shit in. It’s put out, transferred to the right location, and then advertised and distributed out. If it was that rare then it’s already overseas.”
“So no way of getting it back?”
“Nope.”
“Shit, then if I can’t have back what was stolen, then how about who did the stealing?”
“Give me some time. I’ll do some digging, but you may want to start with Detrix Vane. Heard he was flashing some Russian jewelry. Could be a clue.”
“Thanks a bunch. I’ll check it out.”
“Anytime.”
She ended the call and thought about Detrix Vane. He was making his way up the chain in dealing and delivering goods. Could be him and his boy Murdock were the ones stealing. They worked for a few other big shots. Not too smart on his part. But they could do the job considering that Detrix would have access to the inventory at the warehouses since he’d done some jobs for Nuvon recently. She couldn’t go making accusations though. Detrix and Murdock, that scumbag, had a lot of friends. She wouldn’t risk her position, her contacts to hand him over to her uncle. No, she needed to be smart.
What she did know about Murdock was his love of cocaine, need for steroids, and how he beat his pregnant girlfriend who’d disappeared. She overheard Detrix talking to a few of the guys who had asked about the beautiful woman. Anastasia was good at eavesdropping, at picking up on conversations and information then storing it in the computer of a mind she had.
Anastasia thought about what to do next. How could she find out for sure if it were Detrix and his buddies that had stolen the paintings and other things from that warehouse? She worried about her father. What had Nuvon done to him? Or better yet, what did he have his cronies do?
She turned around in time to see Creagan coming down the hallway toward her. She placed her phone in her purse and stared at him.
When he didn’t slow his steps or seem like he was going to stop, she retreated only for him to grab her tight and press her up against the wall. His hand was at her throat. His arm wrapped around her midsection tight. She gasped.
“I hope you’re not involved with this. I really do. I’d hate to have to kill you.”
She was scared. Nuvon really thought it was her that was double crossing him.