Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 80660 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80660 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
He needed her to stay on the line a little while longer. “I still have questions.”
“I’m sure you do. You seem like a curious guy, but I’ve got a full day ahead of me,” Kelsey replied. “And I haven’t even gotten a nap in yet.”
He could already tell she was done. He wouldn’t get her to talk. But he might get her to answer the most important question of all. “Whoever your client is…I need to know if your client is going to show up on our doorstep one day.”
Would he bring Natasha here only to have her life upended again?
“Only if you need him. The world my client lives in…it’s not suitable for her.” Kelsey was quiet for a moment. “Good-bye, Mr. Taggart.”
The line went dead and the door opened. Hutch stood there, looking down at his phone.
“Hey, you know we don’t trace cell calls the same way we would a landline, right?” The kid who served as the head of his cybersecurity arm looked even younger than his twenty-something years.
Ian sat back with a sigh. “Yeah, well, I don’t think we would have found her anyway. Get me everything you can on Kelsey Owens.”
“Do you have any other information on her? I know it seems like there should be only one of them in the world, and every person is unique and shit, but lots of people probably have that name,” Hutch said. Ian sent him a stare, and Hutch stood up straighter. “I’ll find them all then. Awesome.”
It was good to know he could still scare someone. He obviously wasn’t intimidating to that Kelsey chick. He pulled up his email and sure enough, there was one marked Information not Intel.
Well, at least she spoke his language.
Ian opened the file. The records were all in Russian, and he wondered if Kelsey was connected in some way. She’d mentioned a client, but she wouldn’t talk about him or her. Had Sasha had mafia ties? Or did someone feel guilty for what happened to him? Guilt could be a good motivator. And living in a world of either spies or mobsters would qualify as unsuitable for children.
It was only one of the reasons he’d gotten out. It also hadn’t been good for his soul.
He opened one of the files, and the picture of a young girl popped up. She was thin, with dark hair and big eyes that had seen far too much of the world.
Natasha Smirnova
They’d changed her name. Of course they had. No one wanted her connected to her mother and father—people they’d tossed out like trash. They’d used the most common surname in Russia. Smirnova translated to still or quiet. It could mean meek.
They could change her name, but they couldn’t change those eyes. Sasha’s eyes. She had the same stubborn set to her jaw.
He quickly went through all the information Kelsey had acquired. None of it had been translated into English, as though she’d wanted to remind him of everything Natasha would have to go through if she didn’t have someone who spoke her language.
He had four kids. Four. His youngest wasn’t even six weeks old.
Si and Chelsea only had one.
And Simon didn’t speak the language. She would have one person to talk to, and no children her age around her. Would his girls make the difference in her having a smooth transition, or would bringing a potentially traumatized child into his family cause pain for all of them?
Did he even have a choice? Those big eyes stared at him.
Simon didn’t owe Sasha the way he did. Somehow when Theo had been taken, Ian had ended up feeling responsible for them all. Fucking god complex got him every time.
There was a knock on the door and then Alex was walking through it.
“Hey, I brought lunch.” His best friend in the world had two bags in his hand. “Thai. Two different entrees and some spring rolls.”
Alex could help. Alex almost always gave him sound advice. Except when it came to pool contractors. The fucker wouldn’t even help him bury the asshole’s body. And Charlie hadn’t let him kill the guy. No one let him have any fun.
“I need to avoid having a fifth child,” he stated flatly.
“I thought that was why you had your balls scooped out, buddy.” Alex set the bags on the desk and then seemed to understand he was serious. “Shit. Is Charlotte really talking about having another kid? Travis is barely out of the womb. I thought you were done.”
He turned the monitor Alex’s way. “The question is what do I owe some dude who couldn’t stand me when he was alive?”
Alex’s jaw dropped. “Shit. You found her. That’s Sasha’s daughter.”
“Kim Solomon sent us some intel that led Charlie to believe Natasha Federova was taken from Moscow and temporarily put into public care. We were all hoping we would find out a relative had stepped up to give her a home. Until today. Now we know for sure she’s alone. Some chick named Kelsey sent this, and now I have a decision to make.”