Page 14

14

CONOR

STRANGE - THE FEELING

I didn’t know why but I left Aoife and Finn’s place with a heavy heart.

While I was filled with purpose and that should have brought some comfort, I mostly felt burdened by something intangible that I couldn’t evade—a belief that that might be the last time I’d be leaving their home.

The gloomy thought followed me onto the sidewalk where one of our town cars was waiting for me.

I’d already been chided by Finn for traveling to his place via cab sans guard—Eoghan was a fucking snitch—so I settled back in the seat and watched the city float by in stages as we got locked in by traffic.

Twenty minutes into the journey, my cell buzzed.

Half expecting it to be one of my brothers and more than ready to ignore it, instead, I found myself looking at an unknown number.

As my finger hovered over the disconnect button, the temptation was strong to cut the call.

Who knew who the fuck it might be?

But in my line of work, staying abreast of the situation was the only way to keep ahead, so even though I definitely didn’t want to answer, I hit connect.

“What?”

“Conor O’Donnelly, I believe?”

The accent was strong, impossible not to recognize. Russian .

“Who’s speaking?” I demanded.

“My name is Misha Babanin.”

I recognized the name. “You like cutting up people.”

A soft laugh drifted in my ear. “The knife is not my weapon of choice. Regardless, you consider a rapist a person?”

“The Stepanov boy was a rapist?”

“ Da . Had my Pakhan not dealt with the situation, I’m certain that your sister-in-law would have suffered his attention too.”

My jaw worked at that. “Why are you calling me? I’m not a liaison with the Bratva.”

“I don’t need a liaison. I have information for you .”

“From?”

“My Pakhan.”

“Why didn’t he call himself?”

“Because he’s indisposed.”

“Indisposed how?”

“Injured.”

“Lyanov’s in the hospital?” That was news to me.

“You may have read about a bomb that went off in Moskva’s Petrovsky Park recently… He was caught up in the blast.”

My brows lifted in surprise. “Why the hell was he involved in that?”

“I didn’t say he was involved. I said he was caught in the blast. He has been unconscious ever since but when he woke up, he wished for me to tell you something.”

This made no sense, but that he didn’t just come out with what he was supposed to tell me clued me into a sorry truth. “It comes at a price?”

“Doesn’t everything?”

I had to laugh. “Lyanov shouldn’t mess around with the Five Points.”

“My Pakhan told me to give you this information. I’m the one who is putting a price on it.”

“That isn’t your place. I’d heard the New York Bratva bred mutiny better than rabies spreads around a pack of dogs, but now I’ve got proof of it.”

A growl, rather fitting considering my metaphor, rumbled in my ear. “I do not betray my brother. I ask for help on his behalf.”

That had me frowning. “What kind of help does he need?”

“His… loyalty to the Bratva has been called into question. The Krestniy Otets has deemed him unfit to lead us here. We are evacuating him from Moskva as we speak.”

“And?”

“And Moskva will learn that we do not always answer when it calls.”

I blinked. “You’re separating from them?”

“Maxim is the best leader we have ever had. In under a year, he’s done more to protect us and serve us than Vasov did in twenty-six years.

“The men know this. They have made their decision.”

“So what do you want me to do about it?”

“Power comes in many forms in the city.”

“It does.”

“Maxim’s leadership has to be recognized by the other factions.”

I pursed my lips. “Tell me what he wants me to know. The Five Points recognize Maxim as the leader of the Russians. We don’t give a fuck if the name of your gang changes.”

“Your brothers feel the same?”

My brothers didn’t give a fuck about the Russians.

“Your infighting means nothing to us,” I dismissed.

There was a pause. “Maxim wished for you to know that he attended a ball at Petrovsky Palace with Star Sullivan. She danced with a man called Anton Kuznetsov and he took her into his office.

“That was the last he saw of her.”

My brow puckered as I repeated, “Anton Kuznetsov?”

“ Da .”

“Have you heard of this man?”

“Most of Russia knows of the Kuznetsovs but they are not a name you speak out loud.”

“Why not?”

“Because people who speak it tend to find their tongues cut out the next day.”

“Intense.”

He grunted. “Very. Maxim attempted to recover Sullivan.”

Now that stunned the crap out of me. “He tried to rescue her?!”

“He did. Maxim is an honorable man.” His voice had turned gruff. “Even if it means he doesn’t watch his own ass in the process.

“The rescue mission failed.”

“And that’s why the Bratva have rejected his leadership?”

“ Da . One does not go against the Kuznetsovs. Especially if you are Bratva.”

My mouth tightened at that news but… “For no other reason than that he attempted to rescue Star Sullivan, you can tell Maxim that he has the full support of the Five Points and, when the next Summit is held, he will be backed by my family.”

Silence filled the air for a moment. Then, Misha rumbled, “I appreciate this, and thank you on my brother’s behalf.”

He ended the call before I could say another word.

Pressing the corner of the cell phone to my bottom lip, I tried to figure out my next move.

I had my confirmation that Star was in Moscow, but she hadn’t been behind the bombing as I’d thought.

Maxim Lyanov was the one who’d been caught in it, not her.

Nevertheless, that didn’t mean she wasn’t in danger.

This Kuznetsov appeared to be the last person who had seen her alive…

A man whose name stirred fear into the heart of a Bratva foot soldier who felt no fear in chopping up an enemy’s son into parts and presenting it at his feet—I’d heard the stories from Aidan and Brennan. Even they had been surprised by how Lyanov had handled that situation.

Contemplating what I’d just learned, I decided the best way to deal with this was to send out a group message.

Me: Just a heads-up—Maxim Lyanov has been deposed as the Bratva Pakhan by Moscow itself.

Eoghan: How the hell do you know that?

Me: Does it matter?

Brennan: Yes. It matters. What’s going on, Kid?

Me: Got a call from Lyanov’s man, that Misha guy.

Aidan: Why did he contact you and not me?

Declan: Don’t throw a tantrum, Aidan. Just because you’re trying to set yourself as the big boss of everything, lol, it don’t make you president.

Eoghan: Hahahaha.

Aidan: Fuck off, Declan.

Declan: Just calling it how I see it. ;)

Eoghan: I agree. We gotta keep your head from exploding, Aidan.

Aidan: Savannah does that just fine.

Finn: Before this takes us down a rabbit hole none of us want to explore, what happened, Conor? What did Misha have to say?

Me: Lodestar has gone missing. As a result of his rescue attempt, the head of the Moscow Bratva deemed Lyanov’s judgment to be unsound. His men on the ground here are retrieving him from Moscow and are bringing him home to lead, no matter what the Bratva mothership wants.

Me: Misha asked that we support Lyanov’s claim to leadership and because of what he tried to do for Star, I said we would.

Brennan: You had no right to decide that. Not without speaking to us first.

Me: Like you’d consult us if anything jeopardized Camille’s safety. She’s my woman, Brennan.

Brennan: You’ve never met her. You could hate her the minute you set eyes on her. What if she’s catfishing you, for fuck’s sake? I know she ran out on you; doesn’t that tell you she ain’t good people?

Aidan: Brennan, watch it.

Finn: Yeah, you’re out of line.

Brennan: Someone has to think realistically here. I get how you can fall for someone out of nowhere. Jesus Christ, do I understand that. But I’m looking out for us all. Conor too. She’s no good, Kid. She wouldn’t have taken off and run if she gave a shit about you.

Me: You’re entitled to your opinion. I’ll allow her to change it when I bring her home.

Aidan: YOU’RE going? As in, leaving the country?

Me: She needs me.

Brennan: You hate flying.

Me: I don’t.

Eoghan: You’re a shit flyer.

Me: So? I’ll have a couple of whiskeys to take off the edge. It would help if aerodynamicists could decide how planes actually stay in the air.

Declan: You read too much, Conor. That’s always been your problem. Sometimes, you just have to appreciate technology. You don’t have to understand it.

Finn: At the risk of this developing into an argument about aerodynamic lift and how Declan can’t talk when he can wax lyrical for hours about why Mondrian liked squares, WHO is behind Lodestar’s disappearance?

Me: According to Maxim, a guy called Anton Kuznetsov. They attended a party together. She went into the guy’s office and never came back.

Brennan: That sounds really loyal. Attending parties with a guy from the Bratva and going into some fucker’s office AT said party?

Declan: Shut up. Lodestar’s different. She’s ex-CIA and she’s on a mission to annihilate the Sparrows. This ain’t like Camille deciding to swan off at some gala with the Dragon Head of the Triads.

Aidan: If the local Bratva isn’t on Lyanov’s side, then we have no way of helping you get to her, Kid.

Me: I’ll figure it out.

Declan: You’re not on your own in this.

Eoghan: If you need me to fly over, just tell me.

Brennan: FFS, same.

Aidan: I’m not fit to fight. My knee’s a thousand times better but I’d just slow you down. I can send men though.

Me: Stop. I don’t need any help yet. First, I need to get on the ground. Then, if I need backup, I’ll call them in, okay?

Declan: We’re here for you, Kid. Always. Brennan’s just being his usual grouchy-ass self.

Me: I get it. You all baby me. But I’m not a child even if that’s my nickname. Maxim Lyanov did me a solid. The least we can do is back him if he has the support of the foot soldiers here. Which we know he does.

Brennan: He’s been a solid leader so far. One of Camille’s cousins told her that the mid-to-lower ranks love him. It’s upper ‘management’ who have a problem with him.

Aidan: Why?

Brennan: He believes in playing fair.

Declan: Meaning he spreads the cash around so the upper ranks get less of a cut?

Brennan: Sounds like it.

Eoghan: Kid, I’ve heard of that Kuznetsov guy.

Me: You have? I haven’t. Misha indicated that the Kuznetsov family holds a lot of power in Russia.

Eoghan: Yeah. I remember now. I had to take a specialist class and there was this real-life situation that was being used as an example of how NOT to do shit.

Eoghan: This guy was driving along with his wife and kid in, fuck, Ohio? I think it was anyway. They had diplomatic plates. Someone took them out.

Brennan: What kind of teaching moment was that?

Aidan: What kind of class were you taking?

Finn: How to be G.I. Joe, lol.

Declan: 101 :P

Eoghan: Fuck off.

Me: Go on, Eoghan. What happened?

Eoghan: It was supposed to appear like an accident. They tampered with the brake lines but in the crash, no one died. An operative had to take them out by hand. The girl got away though. Ran into traffic if memory serves. It was a big stink that had to be hushed up quickly.

Brennan: This was a cheerful story time, Eoghan. Remind me if I have kids not to get you to read them bedtime stories.

Finn: Yeah, I’m never letting you tuck Jake in lol.

Me: What does this have to do with anything, Eoghan?

Eoghan: The diplomat’s name was Kuznetsov.

Brennan: Probably just a coincidence.

Me: Yeah, probably, but I’ll dig deeper, Eoghan. Thanks, bud.

Eoghan: There’ll be nothing to look into, Kid. I’m telling you it was cleaned up. That’s how I know it’s not a coincidence. The level of bleach that was required to sweep this under the rug was insane.

Me: Interesting.

Aidan: What happened to the kid? The girl?

Eoghan: If I remember right, oncoming traffic knocked her down. I have a feeling she died in the hospital but I don’t remember more than the bare bones.

Declan: Your job sucked. I thought working for Da was bad. At least we didn’t have to kill kids.

Eoghan: Why do you think I tried to get out? At least working for Da came with a penthouse. All Uncle Sam got me was PTSD and into deeper shit than anything my mobster father could cook up.

Me: :/

Me: Aidan, you’ll back Lyanov, won’t you?

Aidan: I don’t see why not. Lyanov might not have kept Moscow happy but he’s maintained order in New York, and that’s all that matters to me.

Me: I think you should check in with Padraig, Declan.

Declan: He hates being called Padraig. His road name with the Sinners is Sin.

Brennan: So original.

Declan: Don’t think he gives a flying fuck what you think of his road name lol. What do you want me to tell him, Kid?

Me: Star’s a Sinner. Whether she remembers that or not. Just loop him in so that he knows I’m working on bringing her home.

Declan: You want him to know about this?

Me: Of course. Katina is Star’s daughter. If you update him, then Katina’s sister can at least reassure her that I’m hunting Star down.

Aidan: Surprised you thought of that.

Me: She’s the one who told me Star was gone.

Aidan: Really? So, she’s a good mom then? From what Savannah told me of Star, I wouldn’t have thought she was the type.

Me: She’s definitely the type.

Brennan: What did she leave her for then?

Eoghan: Don’t worry, Con. I’ll kick his ass on your behalf when I see him next.

Me: Appreciate that, Eoghan. (You’re a jerk off, Bren.)

Brennan: I own it.

Finn: Kid, remember, if you need help, we’re here.

Me: I appreciate that, deartháirs.

Declan: Let us know when you land.

Me: Being a dad has turned you into a real mother hen lol.

Declan: I’m not ashamed of it. ;)

Lips curving, I switched screens and went to reserve a flight.

I had a name, and I had a location.

That was more than I’d had when I woke up this morning, and I’d accomplished plenty with a lot less.

“Star,” I muttered under my breath. “I’m coming to get you.”