Reckless (Benson Security 1)

“More missing women?” Ryan asked.

Dimitri nodded. “At least eight over the past three years. All tourists. All travelling alone. All women in their twenties.”

“And nobody noticed they were missing? Surely family or friends would lodge a complaint.” Megan’s outrage was a reminder of how sheltered and naive she was. “What about your parents? They must be going nuts.”

“They died in a plane crash on a holiday to Alaska six years ago.” He kept his tone even and focused on the table in front of him rather than on the sympathy, or pity, he knew he’d see in Megan’s eyes.

“People go missing all the time.” Joe rescued Dimitri from further questions. “Tourists run out on their bill and leave without checking out. How do you know if someone is really missing or has just moved on to the next stop on their tour? Only five of the women had anyone looking for them. The complaints weren’t investigated properly. No one connected the women.”

To everyone’s surprise, it was Julia who spoke. “I don’t understand. How is that possible?”

Dimitri sat up straighter in his seat. “It’s more than possible in a country where there’s a high turnover of tourists. Where the borders are weak and refugees are flooding in. A country where the economy is a mess and all public sectors are underfunded and run by people who are scraping by. The police are overwhelmed, overworked and lack the resources they need to follow everything up properly. Cases like this fall through the cracks.” He looked back at his sister’s smiling face. “People fall through the cracks.”

“Did they do anything to find her?” Megan said.

“They did what they could initially. The time and effort they put in dropped off dramatically after the first couple of months. I realised then that there had to be a private investigation, but I was on assignment and couldn’t get away. As soon as I was able I resigned my commission with the US Rangers, headed to Greece and started digging. A couple of months in I noticed one name kept coming up—Rudi Abramovich. I did more digging and discovered he’d built an empire on trafficking women. He targets tourists, homeless and poor women who won’t be missed. His speciality is educated, western women. If you want a particular type of woman, he’s the man to go to. He kidnaps to order.”

His stomach turned at the thought and he was comforted to see the same looks of revulsion on his teammates' faces.

“You’re sure he took your sister?” Rachel sounded sceptical.

Dimitri took a moment to gain control of his anger before he answered. The woman didn’t seem to realise how her words cut through the people around her. Or she just didn’t care. “I found the tour guide who was supposed to take her to the refugee camp.”

There was a heavy silence as Dimitri’s memory replayed the screams the man had made when he’d beaten the information out of him.

“He was working for Rudi?” Joe said.

He noticed no one asked what happened to the guy.

“He was working for a middleman. I worked my way up the chain until I knew for certain Rudi had her.” He turned to Rachel. “So, yeah, I’m sure he’s behind my sister’s abduction.”

“Did you get any idea where she’s been taken?” Callum said.

“No.” Dimitri ran a hand over his hair which was growing out from its military buzz cut. He suddenly felt exhausted. No, not exhausted, worn out. “That’s where I ran aground. Then I heard about the job Reynard Durand was putting together and manoeuvred to get on his team. Word was the guy had a straight line to Rudi and I wanted to get on that line.”

“Instead you ended up in Scotland.” Megan glared at him. “Trying to kidnap my sister.”

Yeah, that had been the job.

“Hey.” He held up his hands, hoping the gesture would make him appear non-threatening. Megan didn’t seem to buy it. “Don’t blame me for the plan to kidnap your sister. That was all Rudi and the idiot he hired.”

“The idiot who then went on to hire you,” she pointed out.

The woman would not let this issue go. Every time he turned around she was needling him about it. “I. Was. Under. Cover.”

“Which brings us to the second aim of this mission.” Callum glared at Dimitri and Megan, making it clear their argument was over. “Rudi wants Claire Donaldson.”

“Claire Dayton,” Megan interrupted. “She married that freaky man mountain. I don’t know why, but then Claire has always had a thing for lunatics.”

Callum raised his voice, “As I was saying, Rudi wants Claire and will go to any length to get her. That means this mission has two aims. We need to retrieve Katrina and eliminate the threat to Claire.”

“And by eliminate you mean—” Megan made a slicing motion at her throat.

Everyone stared at her.

“Why is she here?” Rachel pointed at Megan. “She knows nothing about security. She has no training, or experience. She’s a liability.” She turned to Callum. “Does your boss know she’s here?”

Callum looked like he’d had his fill of Rachel. “Lake isn’t my boss. Benson Security is owned by three partners now—Lake Benson, myself and Harry Boyle. Who, if you care to remember, is your direct boss.”