Page 2 of Ballistic

“I am. And I’m quite invested in bringing her back home.” He leaned in, then glanced over his shoulder, before lowering his voice. “So much so, I’m willing to finance your efforts to find her.”

“Finance my efforts.” I shook my head and sighed. I’d already been given access to a large sum of money—for an all-expenses-paid trip to steal back Nicoleta and take out as many of Tesarik’s men as I could, courtesy of a well-known hactivist in the underground scene, whose reputation put asshole’s in front of me to shame. “Look, I’m all set. ‘Sides that, how do I know you’re not some twitchy prick out to steal her for yourself?”

“You trust no one. I like that. I appreciate it, in fact. But perhaps I’m the one who should be asking what your intentions are, Mister Wolfe.” His brows winged up, and he cleared his throat. “As far as I’m aware, you’ve no other connection with my daughter, outside of having witnessed Tesarik purchase her at auction.”

“I have my reasons for finding both of them.” I had no intentions of telling him that I’d been provided information on where to find Tesarik, and by week’s end, a nearly year-long chase would come to a screeching halt.

“As do I. Nicoleta and I have not had the best relationship, as any father of a teenager will admit, but she is all I have. I’m at a bit of a handicap, though, since this isn’t my territory.” He glanced around again and rolled his shoulders back. “And as you so candidly pointed out, no one would give me the time of day here. My efforts at tracking down Tesarik, thus far, have failed miserably.”

Jutting my chin toward him, I crossed my arms over my chest. “Prove it.”

“Prove … what?”

“That you’re her father. He’s supposed to be some bigwig rival to Tesarik, right?” I waved over the owner of the bar—Stoli, we called him, after his favorite vodka. He had ties with just about every criminal in the city. The moment he strolled up next to the table, I nodded toward the stranger. “You recognize this guy, Stol’?”

“Nah. You from around here?”

Entwining his creepy gloved fingers, the stranger lifted his gaze to Stoli. “No.”

“If anyone would’ve recognized you, it’d be Stoli, here.” I kicked back the shot glass that’d been in front of me since the guy first sat his bold ass down at my booth. “You remember that girl, Nicoleta, right, Stoli? Her dad’s some big time criminal, ain’t he?”

“Yeah, never met him, but his reputation is something else. Dmitry’s his name. Supposed to have ties to the Vory, from what I hear, and they run in packs, last I checked.”

The man entwined his fingers and sat forward. “I prove to you what I am, and we’ll stop wasting time here?”

“Sure.”

“Very well.” He lifted his arm and snapped his fingers.

Previously concealed in the crowd, two men emerged from the corners of the bar, each wearing suits. Big guys, about my height, but who looked like they lifted more cheeseburgers than weights.

“We do tend to run in packs, as you say, but in the matter of my daughter, I don’t wish to draw attention.”

“Well, ain’t that a kick in the nuts.” Stoli patted my shoulder, then pointed at the stranger. “No trouble here. I don’t care who you are, how many assholes you brought with you, or where you come from. Dax is family, and we take care of family.”

“I’m not here to cause trouble. I want my daughter back. That’s all.”

“What are you asking from me? Seems like you’ve got the men and the finances to find her yourself.” Any asshole could grab two goons off the street, so I still wasn’t convinced the guy was some infamous criminal based on that alone.

“I can get people to talk. But it’s messy, and it involves a lot of casualties I don’t think you want in your backyard.” He slipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out a crisp white card containing only an embossed phone number, which he tossed it onto the table as he rose up from his seat. “Should you find her, I’ll ask that you contact me so I can have her properly placed out of harm’s way.”

Locking my gaze on the guy, I hiked an elbow onto the back of the booth. “Doesn’t seem like you did a very good job of that the first time.”

“Perhaps you’re right. But I didn’t get where I am based on repeating my mistakes.” His leather clad fingertips tapped the card still sitting on the table.

“And if I don’t bother to call you?”

“Then, you become my enemy in a game of let’s see how many people you actually care about. Considering I found your ex with ease, I don’t imagine you want to explore how quickly I could track down others close to you.”

Having grown up on the streets most of my life, I didn’t have many I cared about, but the few I did would be shipped off to Siberia before I’d let the prick lay so much as a finger on them. “That would be unfortunate. For you.”

“I appreciate your tenacity. I’m sure your loved ones would appreciate it, as well.” He turned as if to leave, but spun back around to face me. “There’s one more thing, Mister Wolfe. If, and when, you find him, I want Tesarik brought to me. Alive.”

I shook my head. No way I’d hand Tesarik over on a silver platter after months of tracking him down for myself. “Can’t guarantee that. Accidents sometimes happen.”

“Indeed. They do.”

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