Someone had drawn the Knights of Babylon symbol on it.
“Kaz?”
I turned the picture back around and looked at her. “Yes. Unfortunately, I recognize the men.”
She widened her eyes. “Who are they?”
I set the image between us and pointed to the man with the chained leash and the poor, naked black guy on the other end. “That’s Zahkar’s father, Adrik.”
“Holy shit. Zahkar’s father is the one holding the black man like a dog.” She leaned in closer. “What about everyone else?”
“Yes.” Swallowing, I pointed to the one next to Zahkar’s father. “This is Sasha’s father—the one they called, The King. The one’s place I took in the brotherhood.”
“I thought that Zahkar’s father, Adrik, was your father’s friend.”
“They were all friends.” I pointed to the next man. “Which is why my father is right here.”
Stunned, she pressed her mouth closed.
I shook my head. “And this is Uncle Igor. You can’t tell because he had all his hair and it’s black. He looks better. This was when he was much younger, probably just met his wife. Misha definitely wasn’t born yet. This is Rolan and this is my god father. I never met him, and I don’t remember his name, but I know his face. My mother had photo albums full of him.”
She stared at the picture.
“They were really young here. Early twenties at least. Some could be eighteen or nineteen.”
“What about the black man?”
“I don’t know who that is, mysh. It’s odd, but. . .he looks familiar to me for some reason like I’ve seen him before.” I turned the picture over, unable to see the image anymore. “Never have I seen any of them do anything like this in my life. In fact, I’m disgusted and embarrassed. I. . .apologize that you even had to see this.”
“You didn’t do it, Kaz.”
I moved my hand, not even wanting to touch the image anymore. “There’s no way that my father or Rolan would have been okay with this. I have to talk to Rolan about this immediately.”
“Where’s Adrik now?”
“Dead. Killed in Siberia by an enemy gang long ago. Zahkar and I were teens.”
“Do you think your father was a part of the Knights of Babylon?”
“It’s possible. But he died in his twenties. He wouldn’t have been with them for long. We already know Uncle Igor was terrified of them, but everyone else. . .I have no idea.”
“What about Rolan?”
“The Big Bear? Couldn’t be. I’ve seen the loves of his life. They’re a rainbow of beautiful women—all colors and sizes. He always told me that he loves with the heart, not with the eyes. That’s why I can’t believe he’s even in this picture.”
“Let’s hope this only happened, when they were young.”
Bile rose in my throat. “Mysh, they stood next to Adrik while he walked around with a naked black man on a leash. Rolan will have to answer for this.”
“When will you call him.”
“This is bigger than a phone call. Rolan will need to talk to me face-to-face. I want to see him look at that picture in front of me. I’ll have Pavel send for him tonight. We’ll meet with Rolan tomorrow and talk to him.”
“Okay.”
“He’ll have answers. Goddamn it.” I stifled my grown, finished my vodka, and set the glass down. “Meanwhile. . .”
“What?” She quirked her brows.
“We have other developments.”
“Like what?”
“When I arrived at the house and went down to the cells, I saw this.” I took out my phone, pulled up the pictures, and handed the device to her. “These are the men from the security room. I was going to wait until after dinner, but after everything today, I doubt it’ll make you lose your appetite.”
She studied the pictures. Many of the roughest men in the brotherhood would’ve flinched and held their stomachs. Emily flipped through the images and even zoomed in on some of the cuts on the peeled face man.
“That’s interesting.” She went to the second man and zoomed in. “Hmmm.”
“Who do you think killed them?”
Frowning, she handed the phone back to me. “Well. . .this looks familiar, but I could be wrong.”
“Yes?”
“It looks like Jean-Pierre or some other psychotic maniac that enjoys peeling people’s faces off.”
“You’re correct. You know your creepy friend well.”
She shook her head. “And you were right. He was going to try and get to the people in charge before us. What are you going to do about this?”
“Well, mysh. There’s much more to the story. You weren’t the only one who had a little battle today.”
She widened her eyes. “What happened?”
Before