I ride around for a few hours before I decide to head back to Volkova Inc. and finish up some of the work I put aside before I left on my honeymoon.
It was work that could wait then, and it can still wait now, but I need something to occupy my mind.
I take the back entrance and the elevator up to the floor that houses my office, hoping I won’t get any more nasty surprises. I shouldn’t because it’s nearly one in the morning and the fundraiser ended at midnight.
When I step out of the elevator car, I see the light on in Zakh’s office and hear voices. Him and someone else who sounds like Malik.
Zakh’s office isn’t far from mine, but since I always use the other entrance I don’t really see him unless we arrange to meet.
It occurs to me that he might have been here working late in the past and I wouldn’t have known.
Earlier, he wanted to speak to me because he and Malik had tracked down the dealer who supplied the particular blend of poison he’d found in our father’s office. He said he was looking into who purchased it—to see if it was Viktor—but hadn’t found anything yet.
Maybe he’s found something. Zakh has now shared his suspicions with Malik, so it would make sense for them to be here if something more was found.
I make my way over there. They look at me when I reach the door and I can tell straight away they were deep in conversation about something important.
“Hey, guys.” I keep the annoyance I still feel out of my voice.
“What are you doing back here?” Zakh asks.
“Better to work.”
“Trust me, it’s not,” Malik says.
“What’s happening?”
“The short story is our dealer is dead.” Zakh leans back and steeples his fingers.
I release a heavy sigh. “How?”
“Shot this evening just after I found the intel.”
My brows knit together. “That’s suspicious as fuck.” I walk in and take a seat beside Malik. “Who else knew you got the intel about him?”
“Just me,” Malik replies.
“Then you’re being watched.” That’s the only thing that makes sense.
“That’s exactly what we’re thinking too, so something else is definitely going on. And whoever is watching is tracking us from inside here, and our homes. I’ve been going through my computer looking for spyware, but I can’t find anything.”
I look from Zakh to Malik. They’re worried, which they’re right to be with
everything being so vague. “Did Viktor go home?”
“Yeah, with his secretary.” Malik smirks. “He’s been with her all day.”
I shake my head with disgust, but that’s an alibi that might excuse him on
some level.
“What are you thinking, Desmier?” Zakh asks.
“I’m not sure. It looks like someone else is involved.”
“I managed to get a message to Eric Markov.” Erik is the Obshchak in the Voirik Bratva. He was one of the people I went to see when I was in L.A. He creates and supports our antivirus software at his company Markov Tech. “I sent him the IP address I found. It was linked to the undisclosed recipient emails ordering the poison from the dealer. I won’t take the risk and decrypt anything from here. Eric’s looking into it now. We’re just hanging around to see if he finds anything tonight.”
“Good. How did you find the dealer’s details in the first place?”