Merciless Hunter (Dark Syndicate 4)

3

Olivia

Iglance at the clock on the kitchen wall one more time and take a deep breath.

Gripping the blonde ends of my ponytail, I try to calm my nerves as I take note of how late itis.

It’s ten pasteight.

My curfew starts at nine. If Amy doesn’t come in the next fifty minutes, I won’t be able to see her until tomorrow. Another day would have passed, and all I’ve had is a message from her letting me know she’s still checking things out.

That was this morning.

Honestly, I doubt I’ll hear from her again tonight.It’s too late and Amy knows Jude’s rules.

Not only that, she has a husband and two kids under five to tend to.

If she’s at home taking care of her babies, that’s where she should be. Not doing God knows what to put herself in danger.

Amy has worked at the company for over fifteen years, so she is well versed in everything to do with Jude Kuzmin, butshe was also a close friend of Eric’s.So, hearing he was alive, and Jude had something to do with his disappearance, made getting the truth personal for her too.

I’m just worried sick something will happen to her.

It was panic that made me confide in her in the first place.

Panic and desperation.

Those same feelings overwhelmed me the night I overheard Jude on the phone talking about Eric.

He was working late at theoffice.He didn’t know I was there.

It was while I was dropping off a file I heard him.He was assuring whoever he was speaking to that Igor Evanovich would have his tributary payment on our wedding day, and the shit he’d gone through staging Eric’s death to get him out of the picture was worthit. Then he added more fire to the flames of truth by saying keeping him alive had been a benefit to them all.

That is what Iheard, and I got a name.

Like Jude, Igor is a powerful man in Russia.

The shock of what I heard made me jump into action.

Five long years have gone by and I thought my brother was dead.

His car was found at the bottom of San Francisco Bay.The car had supposedly exploded.We were told both he and his best friend Robert were in the car and their bodies were barely recognizable when the police dug them out.

We had a double funeral because Eric and Robert had been as close as brothers.

Fuck knows who it was we actually buried.And fuck everyone who was part of that plan to screw with us.

When Amy offered her help, I accepted because I knew I couldn’t look into the situation myself.

The only things I’d thought of doing were looking around Jude’s office and his computer.Two things which would surely bring Armageddon because I have eyes on me everywhere I go.Everything I do is reported back to Jude.

It’s a miracle no one saw me eavesdropping on his conversation.

Apart from Mom, it was a given I’d tell Amy what I’d heard because she’s the only person who’s stood by us, while Jude controlled everyone else like the puppet master.

Amy and I became friends after I graduated from Stanford and joined the web design team at the company. While I write the content, she deals with the technical aspects of running the site.Her technical skills, however, extend to a lot more and she has her ways of getting information.

Dare I say we probably wouldn’t need her to make use of those skills if my grandfather hadn’t made certain mistakes.