Page 71 of Secrets Along the Shore

CHAPTER

FIVE

June 7

10:45 a.m., Dubrovnik, Croatia

“What was that?”Yvonne trailed Tyler as he headed into her living room. Having an aerial view of the location may have helped her ensure he wasn’t ambushed, but it did nothing to keep him from messing up her negotiations. Things were fragile. Viktor wanted their money—no surprise there—, but didn’t want to give up Elara and her son. It’d been hard to convince him to consider the exchange.

Now this young soldier blew their chances to safely secure their target. What had she been thinking to allow this guy onto the team? They’d have already set a date to make the exchange if not for him.

Near the couch, Tyler turned to face her. “Viktor just wants the money. He has no intention of giving her and the boy up.”

She folded her arms. “I get that. But the money gives us negotiation power.”

“He’s trying to control you.” Tyler held her gaze. “This is his game. He’ll make sure he’s the only winner. If he wants to keep our targets, he’ll hide them. If he doesn’t want any more trouble from your team, he’ll kill them.” He spoke with grim confidence that indicated he knew all too well.

Yes, what he said was possible. She couldn’t deny that. Viktorhadn’t shown interest in negotiating until she’d upped the price to two million. That’d been a dead giveaway that he wanted to keep control of his “property”. But she needed this mission to run smoothly. This was her home. The only home she knew since she and Amir grew up on the streets. Her life had been somewhat stable for the last three years, the last thing she needed was to be uprooted again.

That all aside, she had a good team behind her. Patrick thought they stood a chance of procuring Elara and her son through negotiations. That’s why she was standing here mad at Tyler for almost ruining what she’d worked on.

She glared at him. “I think you underestimate me and my team. We’ve done tough jobs before. Viktor won’t win.” After what she’d seen and read about what he’d be doing in the country, she wouldn’t let him. Just because she wanted to protect her life didn’t mean she’d allow Viktor’s actions.

Tyler shook his head. “If you keep trying to negotiate, you will give him the perfect chance to get all the money he wants and leave you with nothing.”

“He won’t get a penny until we see them in person.”

“Von, he didn’t even give me proof of life from the last twenty-four hours.”

She frowned. He kept saying her name wrong, but she hadn’t corrected him either. It was close enough. She stepped closer to him. “He showed you an image and a video, neither one was proof?” Yeah, he’d said that a dozen times at the meeting, but he’d never explained how they weren’t.

He swiped a hand over his beard. “The picture was too dark for a positive ID. You couldn’t tell it was Elara, plus there was no date. The video showed her, but she wasn’t hurt.”

“Maybe they didn’t hit her? We haven’t talked about the fact that maybe Viktor actually loves her and wants to keep her with him.” Amir shifted in his seat on the chair. He had a fair point. Elara wanted to leave though, since she’d called Koen.

“Yeah, he wants to keep her with him.” Tyler paced. “His men knocked her out when she was on the phone with Koen. They hurt her.”

Yvonne let her arms fall at her sides as she leaned against the couch. “And you couldn’t tell in the video?” She shouldn’t have been questioning him so much. If it’d been anyone else to bring her the information, she wouldn’t be.

“No. And she was scared. Terrified.”

“Shouldn’t she be?” Adele asked from the kitchen.

Tyler glanced at her. “Yeah, but she just spoke to Koen two days ago. He promised to help her. The wording of the video made it sound like she knew what the video was for.” He folded his arms over his muscular chest.

Yvonne sighed. “So he didn’t hand you any evidence.” That complicated matters. Without proof of life, they couldn’t move forward on negotiations. Yvonne stepped around the side of the couch and sank into the soft cushions. This mission would end up in a mess, wouldn’t it? She rested her hands on her lap. She had to make a choice. Right now. They didn’t know what Viktor intended to do with Elara. They could only assume she was safe for the time being. But Koen paid them to rescue her.

“My gut says the new guy is right. Viktor likely hasn’t considered letting them go.” Adam shifted on his stool at the kitchen island. “What are we going to do?”

“Just give me a moment.” Yvonne rested her head in her hands. Why did this job have to be so close to home? A different city would’ve been better. But no, it had to be in her backyard. Her home was in danger. Her family threatened. She couldn’t do this again. This job gave her control. She made the choices and gave other people in darker places a chance to live again.

A familiar hand rested on her shoulder. “Sis, we can wait a day or two to decide. The target isn’t in any immediate danger,” Amir whispered.

She sat up straighter. “But we don’t know that. And Tyler is right. She’s terrified. The longer we wait, the more likely she is to give up.” Just like Yvonne had when she and Amir lost everything. She’d almost lost the will to fight.

“But we can wait a day.”

She shook her head. “No. No one came to save us or our parentswhen they were murdered. I won’t sit around and let someone get hurt just because I’m afraid of us losing our home.” She pushed to her feet and retrieved her phone from the coffee table. With a couple of clicks, she had Koen on the phone.