Page 17 of Capture (Primal #3)
“I was only a kid back then, so I’m unfamiliar with anyone called Poppa, although I am aware of the Popovs within the Ivanov family,” I explained as an eerie sensation traveled over the skin on my forearms. There was something about that incident that stirred inside of me.
Nineteen years ago, I would have been only nine years old, but I knew someone older and probably knew more about the situation: Gunner’s mom, and my Aunt Sylvie.
“Judith changed her surname and first name, went on to enroll in the police force, worked her way up the ranks, and made it her mission to destroy the Kaiser empire, whom she held personally responsible for killing her husband.”
“Wow,” Ronan said under his breath. “That’s an incredible revenge plan. Did she have proof?”
“If she had proof, I haven’t found it. But she was coaxed by the Ivanovs to have someone working on the inside in the police to turn a blind eye to certain crimes, while coming down hard on your family, including the arrest and imprisonment several years ago of Lars Kaiser and then your conviction,” he described, clearing his voice a couple of times.
“False conviction,” I corrected him, then pointed to the canister of chilled water, so Ronan could pour a glass and offer it to the sergeant.
“Yes,” he sighed, then gulped the water on as three dribbles flicked onto his olive-green shirt.
“So, she’s crooked as a dog’s hindleg, and you’ve known about that for a while?” I stated, trying not to sound as if I were accusing him of withholding information.
“I became suspicious when I had a phone conversation with Annika and she seemed scared, and I knew that Judith had gotten to her, so I, with support from the Gothenburg PD, began following them,” Tindale relayed to us.
Ronan filled his glass with more water, because it seemed like he had more to offload.
“I have to admit that apart from the shifty blond cop, we’re not surprised about anything you’ve told us,” I stated honestly.
“Well, I have two questions for you…ah…one is, do you know where Annika or Riley Laws is currently located, because she seemed to have dropped off the face of the earth?” he pressed, and my stomach turned.
Ronan shuffled on his feet, conflicted. On one hand, we want to trust this guy, but on the other hand, I didn’t want her to leave the confines of that room. Not yet.
“She’s safe and well,” I told him sternly. “In hiding from,” I nodded my head toward his phone, “the crooked cop.”
“I may need to speak to her,” he said, tensing up a little as if he believed I might have harmed her.
“That’s fine. That can be arranged with notice,” I stated.
“We could organize a phone call,” Ronan added. “Why do you need to speak to her?”
“Ah, well,” he hesitated, “Just to make sure she’s safe and well and being used as a pawn in your or their games. I guess I still have echoes in my mind of the last conversation I had with her, where she was shaken, so I would feel better if I spoke to her to know that she is taken care of.”
“She is,” I assured him. “What is your second question?”
“Gunner Kaiser,” he stated, tilting his head to the side to look at me differently. “Do you have any idea where he is?”
Ronan puffed his cheeks out and then blew air from his mouth as if deliberating whether it was wise to bring this man we’ve only just met into the little game of two families.
He observed our hesitation, then added more information, “We followed a van owned by Ivanov with Gunner in the back, so we know they have him. I’m just curious to know if they have contacted you to make a deal or exchange?”
“They haven’t given the specifics of their demands yet,” I replied slowly.
“And what are your plans? I assume you have plans?” he queried sharply.
I wavered again and glanced at Ronan, who shrugged his shoulders.
Tindale filled our silence by saying, “I doubt you’d sit back and do nothing,” he pointed out correctly.
I opened my mouth to give him a vague answer, but he spoke over me.
“Kidnapping is a grave criminal offense, Mr. Kaiser,” he began in a warning tone that I didn’t like, and my jaw clenched. If he were trying to threaten me with arrest because we kidnapped Annika, I would take the Glock out of the bottom drawer right now.
Instead, he surprised me and took a different direction.
“You see, as I previously stated, we don’t want the Ivanov family and their type of business back in town.
And I’m prepared to do anything to make sure that doesn’t happen.
So, if we were to arrest those men for conspiring and then the abduction of Gunner Kaiser, then we can at least put them behind bars where I can keep a close eye on them. ”
He relaxed back in his chair and tapped his phone, where the pictures of the dirty-blond Larsson cop were.
“She’s not the only one with a need to avenge the bad guys,” he stated bluntly, looking me in the eye.
I glanced at Ronan, who gave me nothing.
“Let me think about it,” I told him. “Give your contact details to Ronan and one of us will get back to you when we’ve decided what we’re going to do.”
“No problem,” he said cheerfully, pushing his chair back to stand, then offered me his hand. “Pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Kaiser.”
Ronan walked him to the elevator as I thought it over. When Ronan returned, he shut the door behind him and passed me Tindale’s business card. “What do you think?”
“I don’t know,” I replied, taking the card from his hand and looking it over, searching for something amiss with his details and finding nothing. “Makes sense to tell him what we know about Gunner’s location to arrest the fuckers, but I needed to think about it.”
“Fair enough,” Ronan replied, slightly glum.
“In the meantime,” I exhaled, preparing myself for battle, “I’ll swallow my pride and call Sylvie to see if Serg Popov rings a bell.” I tapped my finger on the desk irritably. There’s something about the car crash nineteen years ago that stirred my instincts that I needed to get to the bottom of.