Too Far Gone (10 page)

Frantic piano notes drifted from somewhere downstairs. Mike exchanged a look with Lauren, but her face reflected his confusion. He headed for the stairwell and started the descent, pausing on each step to listen. The player struggled to bring a classical composition out of a piano with a halting, jerky touch. Maybe prisoner number five was having a piano lesson.

As promised, Lauren followed him with no protests. They stopped on the stairs when the music ceased, moving again when the music swelled in a flawless demonstration. Mike gave Lauren a signal to wait as they reached the first floor landing, and then he inched around the corner and had a look.

More doors lined the corridor but all were closed and none had windows. He eased back out of sight when he heard boots squeaking across the waxed floors. Lauren watched him with wide eyes, but she didn’t speak.

A phone rang nearby, the shrill sound doing the piano student no favors. The booted feet quickened and a man’s voice answered the summons in a foreign language. Mike couldn’t catch anything helpful from the conversation. Definitely Russian. He hadn’t spotted any cameras down here yet, but he didn’t want to take the risk of being discovered and dropping Lauren right into their laps. He planted a bug under the handrail at the bottom of the staircase as well as another under a table near the front door, and then he ushered Lauren silently back up the steps.

They left the building just as they’d entered it and moved quickly back up the hill. He programmed a receiver and transmission booster for the bugs, confident Claudia would be able to make sense of any intel. She had state of the art translation software.

The arrogance of the operation disgusted him almost as much as the
product
. None of the women had exhibited signs of physical torture, but there was a hell of a lot that could be done without visible signs. The four he had seen looked to be in their very early twenties. All appeared resigned to their fate. If Trinity had been funneling women to Polzin like this for years...

Good thing someone else had already killed him because Mike would have gladly done so himself.

“We have to get them out,” Lauren said when they reached their hiding place at the top of the ridge. “There’s what? Three guards on site watching them?”

“At least three and possibly a piano teacher.”
Not bad odds
. “We won’t be making a move like that this morning.”

“But they could be moved, sold, or whatever at any time.”

“I know.” His hands in tight fists, he wanted to attack as well. Images and sounds from that rescue in Mubi kept playing in his brain. These bastards were no better than the sons of bitches who had taken all those young girls from that school on the other side of the world. The situation was too similar for Mike’s comfort. Though the political fallout was unlikely, there could be mistakes this time, too. What if some of these captives didn’t want to be free either? He had to allow for that, even as he tried to keep the past from interfering with his decisions in the present. When captives were held long enough and brainwashed adequately they didn’t always understand what was best for them.

“We need a plan and more information. We have to do this right. This is about more than rescuing just those five women. We need to make the connection between these women and the bad guys. We need to shut down this operation.”

“I’ll give you a plan.” She flung her arm toward the school. “We go in and subdue the guards. We hold the building until the police arrive.”

“And then what? Hope those women are able and willing to identify who took them and why? We have no proof of why they’re here much less that they’re prisoners. We can’t prove this isn’t some weird rehab.”

“Vanya said—”

“Do you think the police will get here before a Russian crew?” He cut her off. Hell, he was sorely tempted to do as she asked, but if they failed... “We only know this piece of the puzzle. Even if we’re damned lucky, the most we can hope for is that the police will close five missing persons cases, but that doesn’t save you or any of the other women who’ve already been victims of these bastards. Or whoever they’ve got inside the police department could ensure we’re ushering them into a death sentence.” He pushed a hand through his hair. He understood her need to act, but they had to be smart here.

For several seconds she simply stood there staring at him, and then she spoke. “Mike?”

“I’m thinking.” He yanked himself back to the present. “Even if we get those women to the police, Kozlov and everyone involved in the Polzin operation’s still out there. They can lay low, like Trinity suggested before he died, and come back stronger. They’d definitely come back with a bigger axe to grind against you.”

“Right now I don’t care about me. I care about saving those women.”

“All right.” He planted his hands at his waist. “What do you want?”

“What do you mean?” She glared at him.

“Do you want to save five women or do you want to end the operation entirely?”

“Both,” she snapped.

Had he expected a different answer
? “Then we wait and we watch.”

“And plan,” she said. She wheeled around, dropped her camera bag and stretched out on the ground. She dragged out her binoculars and focused on the school.

Without a better plan at the moment, he joined her. Maybe they’d get lucky and observe some definitive action soon. At least the perception of doing something was good for Lauren’s morale. At some point he’d have to make the decision to go in with or without a connection to the men in charge.

An epiphany had him shaking his head. Here he’d thought he was in charge when the fact of the matter was that his decisions lately were based on keeping her happy as well as safe. He was a professional--usually. He didn’t know why this woman had such an effect on him. Beautiful didn’t begin to describe the light and energy inside her. She was so much more than her perfect features and tantalizing body.

He liked her mind, even when she challenged the orders he gave for her safety.
He liked her mind?
What the hell? With a mental groan, he focused on the school and the case. She wanted to save these young women
and
to take down an established crew of human traffickers. He supported the concept, but that kind of operation usually required extensive planning and observation before law enforcement stormed in with cuffs and arrest warrants. Lauren was a client caught in no-win-land between the police and a deadly mob. She had a good heart, valiant intentions, and he was here to protect her from danger. The current problem was he couldn’t be sure he could protect her from
him
.

He removed headphones and a small dish from his pack, setting it up so they could catch any conversations that might take place outside. “We might not get as much as we’d like to today.”

“We already know more than we did when we woke up this morning. I’m nowhere near ready to call it a day.”

He didn’t challenge her. They didn’t have another lead beyond the club where they’d found Vanya and he didn’t want her going back there if he could help it. Just thinking of that little dress had him fighting off another unwelcome hard-on. Bottom line, to do this right they needed Kozlov or his boss to show up here. Who knew if that would happen?

“Righting a wrong is a good thing,” he said, tapping his boot to her tennis shoe. Even that small contact had his mind drifting down inappropriate paths. “Taking on Trinity’s guilt isn’t.”

“That’s not it,” she protested.

He waited.

“Maybe that’s part of it.” She went quiet for a moment. “There’s so much crap in the world,” she said. “What’s wrong with wanting to clean up this particular corner?”

“Nothing.” He’d shared the perspective way back before he learned the hard way that truth and justice didn’t always win. Bad people and the crap they dumped on the world had a way of sprouting back up. “As long as you live long enough to appreciate the effort.”

“I’m aware Polzin isn’t the only criminal involved with human trafficking, that a global problem won’t end with him. But letting him continue to profit when we have at least some tangible evidence that might stop him isn’t acceptable to me.”

“Fair enough.” It helped to know that, besides a soft heart, she had a bigger goal than simply appeasing misplaced guilt. And it did ridiculous things to his ego that she thought he had the skill and smarts to take down an element of the Krushka syndicate.

“I hear a vehicle,” she whispered.

“Got ‘em.” From their perch, Mike used his binoculars and identified a long black limousine, the two escorting SUVs, and another smaller sedan. The vehicles rounded the last curve of the canyon road and proceeded into the parking lot below. Kozlov got out of one of the SUVs and stalked toward the limo. Anticipation whipped through Mike. The limo driver emerged and moved swiftly to open the back door for his passenger.

A tall man exited the limo and Mike zeroed in on his face. “Holy hell. That’s Andreas Polzin.” Federal law enforcement would do backflips if they knew the bastard was in the States. The situation locally must be seriously wrong if the syndicate boss had come to this little twig on his sprawling criminal tree to attend to business. It was one thing to visit the mistress, another to inspect what amounted to a holding yard. Men like him usually steered clear of the day-to-day activities.

If Lauren had stayed at the hotel, Mike might’ve waded in and removed a few players in this drama, but he didn’t want her anywhere near an encounter with these men. Taking a swipe at Polzin’s personnel might be satisfying, but it wouldn’t make enough of a difference. There were too many men eager to fill a vacated position. With Polzin’s arrival, the bad guys now far outnumbered them.

Polzin walked through the front door held open by one of the men standing guard and Mike took a deep breath. With any luck they’d have a conversation in English near one of the bugs he’d planted.

“Why would Vanya let herself be used by a man like that?” Lauren asked. “He’s pure evil.”

“The real question is whether she’ll let us use her,” Mike replied.

“She gave us the school,” Lauren said. “Besides, we want to help her, not use her.”

He marveled at Lauren’s bright and shiny idealism. That sort of thinking had been drummed out of him by the time he finished his first SEAL mission. Helping them bring Trinity’s killer to justice would effectively end Vanya’s way of life. He knew firsthand how much people resisted change, especially if you couldn’t show them tangible proof that the new life would be better.

“You have to remember that however she got there, she’s at the top of the food chain as his mistress. She’s untouchable. Turning her against him could get risky.” She’d given them the school, but Mike hadn’t seen anything else that would persuade Vanya to throw over Polzin. From what Claudia provided, the woman had everything she needed with the apartment, the private driver, the club, and the not-too-frequent demands from Polzin.

“But his business is barbaric,” Laurel said. “No woman should be forced to support that kind of life. She can’t want to be in his organization.”

“You’re right,” he agreed. “Though the right kind of domination can be fun.”

“What a guy thing to say.”

“I am a guy,” he said. “But for the record, the first time I heard those words it was from a woman.”

“Oh, TMI,” she said, waving her hand as if she could erase the words from the air.

“Be still,” he snapped, covering her hands. “You could draw their attention.”

She sucked in a breath, whether because he’d given another order or the chemistry that sizzled whenever they touched he didn’t know. He couldn’t afford the distraction of analyzing it right now.

“You can let go,” she said. “I’m still as a rock.”

He removed his hand from hers slowly, telling himself it was all about avoiding detection rather than lingering over the sweet contact.

“Just keep your kink and quirks to yourself.”

“Your loss,” he said, putting his attention back on the school in the canyon below. Polzin was spending more time than Mike would’ve thought five women required. If he had cell service he’d send a text to Claudia so she could alert her contact at Interpol.

“I’m not a prude,” Lauren clarified. “I know people get off on different things, but sex should be about mutual pleasure.”

“Amen.” He’d brought up the wrong topic. The burning memory of that kiss was making him want things he couldn’t have. That was how cases fell apart: one small mistake led to a distraction, then another mistake, and it snowballed until it consumed or crushed everything. He had to stop the cycle right here.

He cleared his throat, wishing it were as simple to clear his mind of the endless sensual possibilities with the woman beside him. It was all too easy to imagine a little domination-submission play with Lauren. He could show her the exquisite pleasure in either role. Just thinking about it made him hard again, but her resistance to the idea made him curious. Had Trinity or someone else in her past taken too much control in the bedroom?

Now wasn’t the time to indulge his curiosity. Any pleasure he might eventually coax out of Lauren had to take a back seat to finding something to drop a net over Polzin. Her life depended on it.

As if on cue, the front door of the building opened and Polzin reappeared with Kozlov right behind him. Mike felt Lauren shiver. “Relax,” he murmured. “This is progress.” Everything indicated Kozlov carried the bulk of the workload in this area. While Polzin glowered at the men around him, he didn’t direct any ire toward Kozlov specifically. Mike slipped the headphones over his ears and turned up the volume of his parabolic ear. He wanted to pick up and record as much of the conversation below as possible.

“Damn Trinity. We need a redhead,” Andreas Polzin said. “One of tonight’s party guests is partial. The others are most acceptable. Make sure they’re ready for tonight’s guests. And find me a damned redhead.”

“It will be handled.” Kozlov gave a nod to another man who immediately stalked toward the sedan.