chair with an ax and wrapped it in trash bags as well. When they were done sanitizing the crime scene, they loaded it all into the plane.
With Thorn’s G550 somewhere in Eastern Europe, and wanting to get things moving as quickly as possible, Reece had Liz drop him in Billings. Liz borrowed a van from the Corporate Jet Center and took her “trash” to a landfill. Reece was able to catch a commercial Delta flight to Minneapolis that connected into Washington–Reagan National.
After spending several months of solitude in a rural and isolated environment, it took Reece some time to adjust to the sights and sounds of the modern world. His mind had adapted to the natural order of the wilderness and rebelled against his reentry into society. By 10:00 p.m., he was relieved to be stepping through the doorway of Katie’s condo in Old Town, Alexandria.
“I told you it wouldn’t be long,” he said.
Katie had beaten him to Virginia by thirty minutes and, despite the late hour, she made coffee while Reece caught her up on the developments of the past forty-eight hours.
“How are you feeling?” Reece asked.
“Like I’m grateful that I wasn’t kidnaped by a psycho assassin who likes to wrap women’s heads in det cord.”
“Thank goodness for small favors.”
“I’m okay, Reece. I just keep thinking about how lucky we were that Caroline Hastings is such a great shot, and that you showed up when you did. And…”
“And, what?”
“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t wonder if life with you is always going to be this way.”
Reece nodded.
“I’ve wondered the same thing myself. Before we delve into that, though, I have an important question to ask: Do you have any honey?”
“Ha! Oh yeah, I forgot you take your coffee like most of my old sorority sisters.”
Returning to the table with honey and a small carton of half-and-half, she watched as Reece doctored his brew.
“I have something to tell you, Katie, and I need your help to think it through.”
“What is it?”
“Raife’s little sister, Hanna, is missing. She was working in Romania and, not long after we were attacked, someone took her.”
“What?” Katie whispered in disbelief. “The same people who were after you?”
Forcing the rational side of her brain to restrain her emotions, she closed her eyes and processed the news.
“How can I help?”
“Well…”
“Hold on,” Katie interrupted.
She picked up her iPad and phone, depositing them in her bedroom before closing the door. She then unplugged the LCD television hanging on the wall of her living room. Satisfied, she picked up a legal pad and sat back down.
“You’re as paranoid as I am.”
“It’s not paranoia if someone’s really after you,” she said.
I’ve heard that somewhere before, Reece thought.
“Here’s what we know. Oliver Grey was a CIA analyst who went off the grid several months ago. It turns out he was working for Vasili Andrenov, a former colonel in the GRU. He recruited Grey near the end of the Cold War and kept him on retainer even after the fall of the Soviet Union and Andrenov’s ouster from the new Russian government.”
“He’s the Russian billionaire who was blown up in Switzerland last year?”
“That’s him. Grey helped plan the operation that killed the Russian president and attempted to kill ours. After the follow-on chemical attack in Odessa, he went underground and ended up in Argentina.”
“I thought they only hid Nazis.”
“They’re branching out. Anyway, after that, he makes his way to Saint Petersburg, Russia, and started working for someone named Ivan Zharkov, who runs one of the big crime families in the bratva, the Russian mafia.”
“Why would Grey want to kill you? Why wouldn’t he just lie low in Russia?”
“I can think of a couple reasons. First is that he knows I’m going to track him down. He’s right about that. He’s one of two people left who had a hand in killing Freddy. He wanted to put me down before I got the chance.”
Katie frowned at the casual way Reece referred to killing like it was a normal everyday occurrence and she had to remind herself that for him, it was.
“And the second?”
Reece thought of the stainless steel Submariner that used to adorn his father’s wrist. He’d purchased it in a PX in Vietnam, and worn it every day Reece could remember.
“I think Grey had my father killed, Katie. I can’t prove it, but I’ve been doing some reading while I was in the mountains. I asked Vic for some files after the Odessa incident.”