Page 126 of Hunt Me

Oh, my God. Turning away, I scanned the room, finally noticing my phone dumped in the middle of the bed. I scrambled to grab it before I forgot the words. I repeated them over and over again as I tried to find Mikhail’s number.

I finally remembered he’d programmed his cell phone under Master. The bastard. As I dialed, I turned back toward the television. A new story was already being told.

When the call went directly to voicemail, I hissed, fisting my hand and pressing it against my forehead. “Mikhail. I remember the words Sergio told me. They were ones you said at the funeral. Plus, the man standing beside you was in Sergio’s house thatnight. The man standing beside you betrayed you. Please be careful. I’ll be leaving here soon.”

CHAPTER 31

Mikhail

Boasting wasn’t good for anyone within the Bratva. Neither was keeping secrets. The man in lockdown was being accused of both.

Whatever he knew, the man should have come to me. He was a low-level employee working in one of the parking garages. Not a soldier. Yet he’d overheard someone who was a trusted soldier betray me.

Now I needed to know who.

Once again, we were in the green room. While the area had been cleaned, tonight there was a distinct stench in the air.

Maybe it was my need for death that I’d promised Bristol wouldn’t happen tonight. I wasn’t in the mood for games, nor would I accept any bullshit.

“Mark Bayon.” That was my way of making an entrance. The young man was sitting nervously in a chair, surrounded by Kazimir and three other enforcers.

He was nervous, sweating like a pig and I could tell by his white pallor he was guilty as fuck and he knew it.

“Sir. Mr. Dmitriyev.” His words were barely audible.

“I understand you have some information for me. What is it?”

“I… I, um,” he whispered, looking around nervously.

I moved closer, squatting down so I could look the man eye to eye. “You were heard boasting that someone else in my employ was about to stab me in the back. I need to know who.”

“I don’t know. I’m sorry.”

“So you were lying.”

“No. No! I just don’t know who. I overheard a conversation. I park cars.” His shirt was soaked with sweat, beads dripping off his face.

I took a deep breath and glanced at Kazimir.

“He was in a bar drinking, overheard someone saying the Pakhan was about to get what he deserved.”

“Hmmm. Is that so?”

The kid’s foot was tapping on the floor, his entire body shaking. “I didn’t mean that. I meant someone else was going to do it. I would never do anything. I swear.”

“Okay, but instead of coming to me with what you overheard, you chose to boast to everyone in a bar that I was weak.”

“That’s not what I meant.” He pleaded with me with his eyes.

“Then what did you mean exactly?”

“I overheard this guy talking on his phone as he was walking to his car. He’s an employee. He was parked in the employee lot. He acted like something bad was going to happen.”

“To me.”

“Yes. Yes, sir.”

“What did he look like?” The employee spots weren’t personalized, but Mark worked at Ecstasy. That narrowed it down to about a thousand employees.