Page 41 of Exacting Vengeance

The AUSA rose. “Your Honor, I’d like a brief recess to speak privately with the witness.”

“I object, Your Honor,” Lazovsky said. “All I want is for the witness to answer my questions.”

“I agree.” Judge Whittaker nodded. “Request denied.” He turned to Alyona. “The witness will answer defense counsel’s questions.”

Shit. Could this possibly get worse?

One of the doors in the back of the courtroom behind the gallery opened. A uniformed FPS officer—the same one he’d left guarding the holding room where Victoria was—came into the courtroom. Followed by⁠—

Victoria.

Kyle ground his jaw so hard his teeth squeaked. She’d disobeyed his direct order not to be here. Now, here she was, floating in a sea of Bratva. Her change of hair color might be enough to fool some of them but not all.

She walked briskly to the bar, clutching her briefcase under one arm and resting her hand on the gate but not pushing through. She stared at Alyona, eventually catching her attention and patting her hand over her heart, nodding encouragingly and mouthing the words: You can do this. I know you can.

“Your Honor, who is this woman?” Lazovsky swung his arm in Victoria’s direction.

“Young lady,” the judge said, “please find a seat or go stand in the back of the courtroom.”

The door in the back of the courtroom opened again. For half a second, Kyle froze.

That something bad he’d been worried about…it was here.

“You see him?” Jack asked in Kyle’s ear.

He lifted his arm and clicked the mic at his sleeve, whispering, “Yeah. I got him.”

Yuri Petrov sauntered into the courtroom and leaned against the back wall. This was the first time Kyle had seen him since beating the crap out of him in Sasha’s. The beard was new, plus a few more pounds of muscle, but Kyle would know that asshole anywhere. What was he doing outside of Chicago?

Why was he here?

Kyle clicked the mic again. “Stay vigilant. Something’s up.” He could feel it in the air.

He knew the way Yuri’s mind worked. He’d have to have gone through a magnetometer like everyone else, so he couldn’t have smuggled a weapon into the courthouse. Shooting Alyona in the middle of a courtroom wasn’t his plan.

The man was plotting something else.

Absolute terror raced through Kyle’s bloodstream.

Please, Victoria. Don’t. Turn. Around.

Yuri hadn’t seen her yet. She turned to walk back down the aisle between the gallery benches. He knew the moment Yuri saw her. The man’s eyes went as big as dinner plates.

Kyle fisted his hands at his sides. If Yuri took so much as one step toward Victoria, he’d take his ass to the floor.

Victoria halted in mid-stride and put a hand to her mouth. Then Yuri did something that made no sense. He pivoted and left the courtroom.

Kyle’s scalp tingled with unease. After the failed assassination attempt on the New Jersey Turnpike, he’d assumed there’d be a backup plan in place to get to Alyona. Now he speculated Yuri was the backup plan. So why had he left?

He clicked his mic. “Jack, follow Yuri. Report back what he does.”

“Copy that.” Jack left out the same door.

Victoria looked over her shoulder at Kyle. Her eyes were also wide. Someone at the end of one bench rose to offer her his seat. Kyle was torn between his heart and his duty. He wanted to haul her pretty ass back down to the safety of the holding room, but he couldn’t leave his witness. Since he hadn’t told his brothers who Victoria was, they were unaware of the danger her presence here put her in.

Taking a deep breath, Alyona spoke, her voice stronger. “I did lie the first time I spoke to the FBI. That was because I was scared. Now, I’m not.”

“No further questions, Your Honor.”