Page 63 of Secrets Along the Shore

“Why did you call him? I’ve taken care of you and the boy. You have a roof over your heads. You have food in your bellies.” Viktor growled. “Who is your dad?”

“I-I-I don’t know what you mean.” Elara bit her tongue. Her body shook with fear, and she couldn’t control it. He’d always hurt her, but Rian had been safe up til now. What if he was hurt because of their escape attempt?

“Don’t give me that!” he shouted. “Some people have called, trying to negotiate your release.”

Relief flooded her. Dad had figured out a way to help her. But his people would soon find out that Viktor wouldn’t negotiate. He saw her and her son as his property. He controlled them. What reason would he have to let them go? None.

“Who does your dad know?”

“I don’t know. I ran away at seventeen.” A major mistake on her part. Her dad may not have been super present in her life, but she should have been a better daughter. She rested a hand on the back of Rian’s neck. His arms tightened around her waist.

“Well, they are quite determined to get you.” Viktor leaned over them, his shadow blocking out the light from the hallway and swallowing them whole. “They’ll be disappointed to find out there’s no reason for them to.” He grabbed a strand of her hair—this time more gently. “But I should at least try to get something out of them, right? That’s what a good businessman does.”

Elara leaned away. He was hardly a businessman. He was a killer. A brutal killer. He led a gang, and he’d use them to eliminate her dad’s people.

God, please, protect them.

June 6

1:03 p.m., Dubrovnik, Croatia

“This is unusual.”

Seated in her living room, Yvonne Khatri lowered her steaming cup of tea, eyes on the clear blue waters of the Adriatic Sea. With the stress that came from her job, watching the rippling tide was therapeutic. Sometimes she made trips down to the shore just to feel the coolness of the water on her fingertips and remind herself that she was a long way from the desert she’d fled.

Today, looking at it didn’t bring her peace. She’d agreed to a job that was right in her backyard and might force her to move her home and company. But that wasn’t what her brother was talking about. He referred to the fact that she’d agreed to help a man they’d had on their team for two months, as well as allowing a complete stranger onto the team during a mission.

She set her tea on the coffee table in front of her and turned on the couch to face her brother. “The whole mission is highly unusual.” She didn’t like it, but she’d accepted it. Koen Atkinson had helped train her ex-military team to work together flawlessly. Every one of her men and women agreed to work for Yvonne, but not all were happy about working together. Most operated differently and had to learn teamwork. Koen had helped solve several problems already, including one with her mechanic and part-time sniper, whom she hadn’t wanted to fire.

“I get going after the target even though she’s in our city.” Amir sank onto the sofa beside her. “I mean, of course, we should help our people out. But letting a new guy onto the team?”

Yvonne shrugged. “Koen promised the operator was good at his job. He specializes in rescuing hostages.”

“Is that all he can do? Because I’m sure I can do it just as well.”

She frowned. “No. And you know why.” She’d spent most of her life protecting her younger brother after their parents were murdered. No one had cared to help them, so they’d been on their own. But they survived. Even now, she intended to ensure her brother’s safety.

“It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve gotten my hands dirty.”

True. “But we can’t do that in our city.” Yvonne stood. She had agreed to this, but she wasn’t about to flee her home unless necessary. She’d worked too hard to build her life from nothing to have it destroyed. Which meant that she and Amir couldn’t be seen. “I brought in people who don’t live in Croatia for a reason.”

“Right. I know.” Amir puffed out a breath. “How much of a cut is the new guy getting?”

In order to allow Koen’s friend to join, Yvonne set a few rules. “He’s not getting any of our money. Koen is paying him separately.”

“How much more?”

She lifted a pillow off the couch and swatted him with it. “Don’t worry about it.” After their poor childhood, he often felt the need to hoard money. He didn’t want to go without ever again. She didn’t blame him, but she didn’t do these black ops jobs just for the money. “We’ll have a hefty sum in our bank account, as long as we complete the mission.” And if she could negotiate her way out of bloodshed, then they’d get to keep more money without buying more weapons and equipment to replace what was used or lost.

“Speaking of the mission, have you heard from Viktor?”

She shook her head and lifted her phone off the coffee table. Three hours ago, she’d gotten a call through to him and tried to start negotiating Elara’s release. He’d been furious and shouted in his native language, though she’d understood most of it. “No. I’m not sure he wants to negotiate.” Maybe. Maybe not. But he was a criminal. He did illegal activities to gain money, so she could safely assume he’d want to negotiate a price.

Yvonne patted the phone against her palm. She’d give him another couple of hours, then call again. He didn’t need to think that they weredesperate, but if Viktor intended to harm Elara, they needed to move quickly.

Amir lifted her mug of tea and sipped. He jerked the drink from his mouth and coughed into his hand. “You drink that?”

She frowned. “Yes.” She retrieved her mug from his hand. “If you don’t like my tea, stop drinking it.” Setting her phone aside, she returned to the sofa and grabbed the folder off the coffee table. Koen had emailed her all the information she’d asked for, and after collecting a little more through her hacker, she’d printed it out.