Yerik continued to press home his point. “You would be surprised what a man would do to get back one of his own.”
“The conglomerate will never return Elena, Yerik. Never!” the Greek man hissed. “Not even for Max Chevalier’s granddaughter. He is a formidable man. A very powerful one. You will have us all killed just for bringing her here tonight.” He gestured with his chin to one of his men. “Take her and set her free.”
Marin gasped sharply. Was he serious? She was to be set free? Bita also drew in a quick breath. She slid closer to Marin and grabbed onto her shoe. Marin yanked her foot away. She’d had enough of that woman touching her.
Yerik stepped between the women and the Greek’s entourage. “You will give me Elena,” he demanded. “In exchange for the chef.”
“No.” The Greek man shook his head. “But the conglomerate will let Elena live. You have done well to bring us the Iranian princess. She will serve us nicely.”
Bita shot to her feet. “I beg your pardon, but I decide who I work for and I’m not sure I like you.”
Marin was becoming slap happy because she almost laughed at Bita’s righteous indignation. Too bad for Bita, none of the men in the room paid her protests any attention.
“You, my agapi mu, will have a new role,” the Greek man told Bita. “You will assist us in manipulating the President of the United States.”
* * *
Adam signaled to the members of his team on the other side of the warehouse. Griffin fidgeted with his helmet. He was getting antsy to get to Marin. Leslie slipped her phone back into her vest and nodded to Adam that she and her team were ready to move in.
Just as Adam raised his hand to give the go-ahead, the rear doors of one of the white cargo vans in the parking lot burst open. A swarm of armed bodies stormed out and raced into the warehouse.
“Federal agents!” they yelled.
“Federal agents?” Adam screamed. “What the fuck?”
Griffin didn’t wait for the chaos to be sorted out. He drew his weapon and followed the crowd into the melee. Gun fire erupted from inside the building.
“Damn it, Griffin, stand down,” Leslie ordered as she followed him into the fray. “FBI!”
The clash lasted less than a minute and when the smoke cleared, there were three bodies on the floor and three others held at gunpoint. Griffin wasn’t exactly sure who was who, but he was sure he didn’t see Marin anywhere in the room. Salenko either.
“Where the hell is she?” he shouted as he spun around the center of the vast warehouse.
“And who the hell are you guys?” Adam demanded, his assault rifle fixed at the intruders.
“Homeland security, counter intelligence,” one of them fessed up. “I’m Reynolds, the agent in charge.”
“Oooh.” A woman moaned from the floor. “I think I’ve been shot.”
Blood was oozing out of Bita Ranjbar’s shoulder. One of the other Homeland agents called for the first-aid kit as he knelt beside her. “Help is on the way, Mrs. Ranjbar. You were very brave.”
The older woman snorted. “After all that, the double-crosser still didn’t tell us where the art is hidden.”
“Wait, she’s working for you?” Leslie asked.
The agent in charge nodded. “Anything more than that, I’m not at liberty to say.”
“Don’t give me that bullshit. We all work for the same government,” Griffin said through clenched teeth. “Where is Salenko? And how did he get away with Marin?”
“The guy’s a regular Houdini,” Agent Reynolds said. “We’ve been trying to pin him down for weeks. I have two guys out there set up to track him from this position. He can’t go too far on foot.”
Griffin wasn’t going to wait around for someone else to find Marin. He charged toward the door and nearly collided with one of the homeland agents coming inside.
“We lost him,” the agent announced.
“Damn it,” Griffin shouted.
“Agent Keller,” Bita called from where she was sprawled out on the floor. “I know how you can find her.”