Page 123 of Canyon of Deceit

Rurik’s lips trembled and he drew Alina into his arms.

“This is a tender reunion. Unfortunately, I’m in no mood.” Daria ordered us into the living room where the three of us were told where to sit, except Alina. Daria seized her arm and kept the little girl beside her. The woman with shoulder-length sun-colored hair and stormy blue eyes looked more like a model than a killer.

“What is this about?” I took in the two armed men and their weapons.

“I need your help,” Daria said. “Rurik’s already refused as his face clearly shows.”

“Which is?”

“Jurg asked him to comply with one simple request, and like the pitiful coward they both are, I had to take over.” Her face hardened, and her eyes resembled granite. She sneered at Therese. “I figured Jurgwould botch up eliminating you.” She huffed. “I set the explosives at Therese’s house, then to be sure, I had you tailed and run off the road. But you survived. Now, you’ve used up all your chances.”

“You faked your murder and initiated Alina’s kidnapping?” I said in my negotiator voice.

She smirked. “Smart man. This coward still failed.” She waved her gun in Rurik’s face. “Tell the good Texas Ranger what you refused to do.”

Rurik swallowed hard. “Kill Edik Baranov and his family. I... I didn’t believe Jurg would harm Alina.”

Daria cursed. “Jurg doesn’t give orders. I do.”

Daria led the ROC in Houston? The unanswered questions made sense. All of it. Sergio and the FBI needed to hurry. “You ordered the hit on Therese and me?”

“Smart man. Now I can take care of you myself.”

Rurik attempted to stand, but one of the men shoved him back down. “Please do not hurt Alina. She’s innocent.”

“Spare me. She’s a nuisance.” Daria placed her Glock to Alina’s temple. “Where did Jurg hide the laser chips?”

“Why would he tell me? The man despised me.”

“So do I. Living with you was like a death sentence. Hated the pretending.” She smirked. “I held you in the palm of my hand as soon as I knew your wife was dying. I told Jurg I’d made a mistake in marrying you and convinced him to have an affair. Got him to join the ROC. My game. My benefit.”

“You’re an animal.” Rurik spat out the words.

“It’s over. Jurg told my man you knew the chips’ location. Here’s the deal. Tell me where to pick them up or I blow a hole through Alina’s head.”

“Rurik, if you have the info, tell her,” I said.

“He didn’t tell me. Daria, please. Jurg lied. I have no idea where he’s hidden them.”

“Jurg got greedy and wanted my job.” She laughed. “He had no clue I was calling the shots. Being with him was as nauseating as being with you. He thought if he kept the chips, he’d secure Russianaccolades. His life is a weak thread.” She pulled Alina closer and wrapped an arm around the little girl’s neck. “One more time, where are my laser chips?”

Alina bit down on Daria’s arm. She jerked back, but Alina held on. The gun fired, narrowly missing one of Daria’s men. Using my casted arm, I knocked the gun out of her hand, sending her backward against a rock fireplace. Alina broke from her grip and scurried to Rurik, and he placed her behind the sofa.

Rurik bolted and grabbed the wrist of the man closest to him, bending his hand back until it snapped and forcing the man to drop his gun. Rurik snatched the man’s gun and pulled the trigger into the man’s right shoulder.

Therese struggled with the second man while I ensured Daria lay still. Rurik ordered him to put down the gun, but he fired into Rurik’s chest.

Alina screamed.

Rurik fell onto the sofa and sent a bullet into the man.

I took Daria’s Glock and pointed it at the wounded men. “Therese, call Sergio. He’s on his way.”

Alina hurried to her dad. She kissed his cheek. “Daddy, don’t die. I need you. We need each other.”

SEVENTY-FOUR

THERESE