Gedeon shot him a look that told him to back off. He didn’t much care if he was the biggest, baddest pakhan around. Gedeon would be quite willing to take him out and all his single leopards as well if they decided they were going to try sniffing around Meiling. “Not a good idea.”
“I can see that,” Fyodor said.
Gedeon’s cell vibrated. He glanced down at the text from Harold. Bookkeeper unexpectedly died of heart attack. Fredrick put word out we needed a closed-mouthed bookkeeper. Lospostos gave the recommendation.
There it was. Lospostos. The one name Gedeon didn’t want to see. He sighed. If he had to kill the man, there would be hell to pay. He’d send Meiling home first. “Anything we discuss, you keep confidential? Even from someone you may have an alliance with?”
“Gedeon, you’re a man of your word. You say a child has been kidnapped, then I don’t say shit to anyone until you say she’s safe.”
“What do you know about Elijah Lospostos?”
Gedeon could tell he had shocked Fyodor. He wasn’t expecting Gedeon to ask about Elijah. Fyodor’s eyebrow shot up again. “Why would you ask about him? He would never, under any circumstances, harm a child. I can personally vouch for him. If you think he has anything at all to do with the kidnapping of a child, I can assure you, he didn’t. He would be the first one out hunting whoever did.”
“He has a reputation.”
“Gedeon, I hate to point this out, but you have a worse one.”
It was true. He couldn’t deny it. He deserved his reputation. He’d earned it. Maybe Lospostos hadn’t earned his. Gedeon had always thought the thing with his sister was a crock of bullshit. Still, no one had that big of a reputation without a good deal of it being true. The man was reputed to be hard as nails, and Gedeon believed it. Gedeon didn’t need to have an enemy like that on his ass while they were working on such an extremely sensitive and very urgent case.
“Elijah has a wife he loves and three little girls. They’re just babies, but he spends as much time with them as he can,” Fyodor continued. “We visit with him whenever it’s possible. We know our wives and children are never going to have normal lives, so we try to give them the next best possible thing. Friends that understand the life we lead. He protects his family, and he protects my family. He would never take that child.”
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Meiling texting. His phone vibrated.
Need to know if Fredrick was sleeping with anyone after wife died.
He didn’t die, Lotus.
Was he always going to feel guilty because he couldn’t stop the cycle of sex or violence? She wasn’t the one making him feel guilty. She had backed off and given him the freedom to carry on with his lifestyle. It was just that he didn’t want that lifestyle anymore. He wanted Meiling. He didn’t dare take her and make a mistake. He’d lose her for certain.
Don’t give me crap. It’s important, especially if it was long term.
They had decided ahead of time that only one of them would take the lead with Atwater and Brinks. That would be Gedeon. It was always that way on their cases. It allowed Meiling to fade into the background, where she could do her best work. He liked that she wasn’t afraid of him. She stood up to him, especially if she was onto something—and he was certain she was now.
Several times he caught her sneaking glances at Timur under the fan of her long lashes. She wanted to talk to him. She wouldn’t do it without speaking with Gedeon first. He sent the text to Harold asking about Atwater’s sex life and then sent a text to Meiling.
Do you need me to set up a meet with Timur?
She hesitated, glanced at her watch and then bit down on her lip. She shook her head. Not yet. She texted back.
I have to talk this over with you. Be certain I’m on the right track.
That meant politely ending his conversation with Fyodor, and he still wasn’t certain about Lospostos. “How loyal is he to his men? In other words, if they were involved without his knowledge, would he stand with them, or would he let it go?”
Fyodor sat back in the chair, studying Gedeon’s face. Gedeon knew there was nothing for Fyodor to see. Gedeon was a merciless man when he needed to be. His leopard had learned from a very young age to be nearly impossible to trace, if not impossible. He slipped into houses under the noses of leopard security and their infinite number of cameras and assassinated his targets. It wasn’t that anyone caught him at it—there were only the results of his work.