Page 60 of The Russian's Revenge Bride

I leaned back in my chair, studying his face. “If that’s true, if someone is feeding information to our enemies, how would you suggest we identify them?”

“Carefully. Quietly. Start with the people who had access to the compromised information and work backward from there.”

“Makes sense. I’ll want you to prepare a list of everyone who knew about Eleanor’s movements today.”

For just a moment, something flickered across his expression. Too fast to interpret, but definitely there.

“Of course,” he said. “Though the list will be quite short. Operational security on family movements is typically restricted to essential personnel only.”

“Good. The shorter the list, the easier it will be to investigate.”

“Investigation could be delicate, though. We don’t want to create paranoia or damage morale by treating loyal associates like suspects.”

“True. But we also can’t afford to let a traitor continue operating within our ranks.”

Dmitry nodded thoughtfully. “Perhaps the investigation could be handled discreetly, through normal security review procedures rather than anything that might appear accusatory.”

I smiled, but there was no warmth in it. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

After he left, I sat in the gathering darkness of my office, pieces of the puzzle rearranging themselves in my mind. Dmitry’s performance had been flawless. Too fucking flawless.

A loyal man would have been more concerned about Eleanor’s condition, would have asked for details about the attack, would have shown some emotion about the fact that three of our people had been killed. Instead, he’d been focused on managing the investigation, on making sure any search for a traitor was conducted in a way that wouldn’t be too effective.

I picked up my phone and dialed Lev’s number.

“Yeah?”

“I need you to do something for me. Quietly.”

“What kind of quietly?”

“The kind that doesn’t leave any electronic traces or involve any other personnel.”

“Shit, Maxim. What are we talking about here?”

“I already put Cassandra on compiling a file, but I also need you to find everything you can on Dmitry Chertov. Personal history, financial records, communication patterns, travel logs, sexual preferences, childhood fears, every fucking thing.”

Lev was quiet for a moment. “Are we talking about what I think we’re talking about?”

“We’re talking about the possibility that someone very close to this organization tried to have my wife killed today.”

“Fuck.”

“Exactly. How long?”

“Give me twelve hours. Maybe less if I can call in some favors.”

“Do it. And Lev?”

“Yeah?”

“If I’m right about this, if Dmitry is the leak, then he’s been playing us for years. Which means he’s dangerous as hell and probably has contingency plans we haven’t even thought of.”

“I’ll be careful.”

“Be more than careful. Be paranoid. Trust no one except me, and if something happens to me, take the information directly to Rafael.”

“Jesus, Maxim. Are you sure about this?”