Targeted Risk (R.I.S.C. #7) - Anna Blakely Page 0,31
men was considered to be open and shut. Juliet was slated to testify the same day as Mikhail, but somehow Mikhail found out and put a stop to it. Said he’d retract his statement altogether and lie his ass off on the stand if the Feds forced his sister to testify.”
The bile returned. “And they went for it?”
“It was risky. Prosecutor wasn’t happy, to say the least. But she was confident she could still get a conviction on both men with the evidence they had from the investigation, plus Mikhail’s testimony. So the Feds made the deal and agreed to leave Juliet out of it.”
“Jesus.” Mike ran a hand over his jaw.
Back when they’d been together, he’d asked Juliet about her father’s business. Kept it casual so she wouldn’t suspect he’d been planted by the government.
She’d looked him right in the eye and lied. Because she was ashamed? Embarrassed?
Because she didn’t trust you.
Apparently, she still didn’t.
“Juliet said Mikhail committed suicide,” Mike muttered, forcing those thoughts away for now.
“He did,” Lopez confirmed the story. “Stupid bastard ate his gun a few days after the trial.”
“You know why?”
“Our theory is to keep his father from sending someone after him in retaliation for his betrayal.”
Mike hated that, after everything, that’s how Mikhail’s life had ended. But he couldn’t really blame the guy. A bullet to the head was faster and far more humane than what Volkov’s men would’ve done to him.”
“Okay...” Mike processed everything the other man had said. “That all makes sense, but why go after Juliet now?”
“Christ, man. You really have lost your touch, haven’t you?”
“Ben,” Mike hissed.
“Volkov knows Juliet had agreed to testify against him, Mike,” the other man blurted what should’ve been obvious. “He and Ivan both know.”
The blood in his veins turned to ice. “How the hell did they find out?”
“Obviously, there’s a leak somewhere. Not all that surprising, given how far Volkov’s pockets reach. Whether it’s in the CIA or FBI, I don’t know yet, but I won’t stop until I figure out who the traitorous bastard is and take them down.”
Shit. A leak could mean bad news for all involved. “Think it could’ve been the agents Jules stayed with while she was under FBI protection? Or, what about that dipshit, Fuller? He seemed a little too eager the day he and his cronies dragged Jules from her house for questioning.”
I’ll fucking kill him.
“We’re looking into every possible angle,” Lopez assured him. “In the meantime, you need to talk to Juliet. Find out what she knows about her dad and brother, and who else she’s told.”
A sense of dread fell like a lead ball in the pit of Mike’s stomach. Looking through the glass, he thought about the woman still sleeping in his bed. He’d been laying there, trying to figure out a way to tell her the truth, but now...
“You want me to work her?”
“I read the report from her break-in the other night,” Lopez informed him. “The good Samaritan who shot the intruder was listed as Jay Reynolds. That means, for reasons I don’t want to know anything about, you still haven’t told her the truth about who you really are.”
I haven’t told her because I’m afraid she’ll never speak to me again. “So?”
“So, your girlfriend never actually gave up any useable intel on her father. You have a past with this woman. Use it to figure out what she knows, and then bring her in so we can get a current statement. With Mikhail no longer in the picture, there won’t be anything standing in the way of her testifying, this time.”
Fear worked its way through him. “They’ll kill her, Ben.”
“They’re going to try to do that no matter what. At least this way, Juliet has a chance to put her father away for good this time. Their attorney’s gonna push to suppress Mikhail’s testimony. Given the guy’s track record in court, he’ll probably get what he wants. Juliet Farrow is our last chance at making Alexandar pay for the awful things he’s done.”
“No.” Mike shook his head. “I can’t ask her to put herself at risk like that.”
“You have to, Mike. You need to work your magic with her and make her see reason.”
“Now you’re not listening,” he ground out angrily. “Someone already tried to kill her once, Ben. Then they destroyed her place.”
“A message.” The agent surmised. “They want her to know they’re not giving up, which is all the more reason for her to want to put those fuckers back behind