Dirty Obsessions - The Lion and The Mouse

I put on the suit. The pants hugged my legs. I finished the outfit off with black six-inch heels and brushed my hair back into a smooth bun. Before leaving, I grabbed my gun, checked that it was loaded, put it on safety, and placed it in my purse.

Just in case.

I headed out of the bedroom.

Yefim met me in the center of the room. Shock covered his face. “You look. . .nice.”

“I thought it would be smart to make a good first impression.”

“You. . .” He looked away. “You will.”

“Awesome. Did you get the address?”

“Yes. The limos and vans are ready.”

“Vans?”

“Most of your men will be in the vans.”

“All right.” I nodded.

I’m so out of my element, but that’s okay. I’ve got this.

Circuit appeared. “Jesus Christ, are you going on a hot date or what?”

“Misha said they’re into style.”

Circuit drank me in. “I don’t know what will annoy Misha more, that you went to handle the Xecutioners or that you did it looking this gorgeous.”

I pointed to my ears. “I have the trackers on.”

“I know.” Circuit gestured to the screen in the right corner. “That’s you.”

I checked and spotted a bright pink dot within the layout of Misha’s underground offices. “It’s already tracking me?!”

“Never take it off. I can also hear anything that is said, so if you need help someone will be listening. We need a code word.”

Yefim offered one. “Danger.”

Circuit rolled his eyes. “That’s too obvious. How about kludge?”

I quirked my brows. “What’s kludge?”

“It’s a poorly programmed piece of software.”

“Uh. I wouldn’t remember that.”

“Oh. Let’s go with sneakernet.” Circuit looked proud of himself. “It’s the old-fashioned way of transferring data using external, portable media by copying the data to disk and then walking it over somewhere.”

I shook my head. “Perhaps, we can use. . .wait. Don’t they call Misha the Mosquito?”

“He doesn’t like it.”

“I think it’s cute.” I beamed. “If I’m in danger, I’ll say something like there’s a mosquito here or—”

“But I think the Xecutioners know that he is called that.” Circuit waved it away. “We’ll need something else.”

Yefim added, “The ballerina.”

Circuit frowned. “That makes no sense. Why would the ballerina say the ballerina out loud?”

“He has a good point, but it was a great idea.” I gave Yefim a weak smile. “I do like the idea of using something ballet related. Then I’ll remember it during a stressful moment. Do you know any ballet terms, Circuit?”

Circuit shrugged. “All my knowledge of ballet is the movie the Black Swan. And even then I never finished it. I’ve tried three times.”

“That’s it.” I nodded. “Black Swan is the code word. If I say that, send in the troops.”

Minutes later, we rode to the Xecutioner’s new location—an old bunker that Misha used long ago.

I’m really doing this.

The trick was to get this done and return safely. Misha didn’t need any more problems. Deep in my heart, I knew that he needed as many people helping as possible.

Our limo left Kupchino—the South Ghetto. I checked out the address of Misha’s old bunker.

Central District.

This location made more sense for a man of his caliber.

St Petersburg was divided into eighteen administrative districts. The most popular and expensive area to live in was the Central District on the south bank of the Neva. It was the home to the Hermitage and Palace Square and filled with other beautiful 18th- and 19th-century buildings. Several embassies existed there. The district also boasted the splendid Tavrichesky Garden and palace that once belonged to Grigory Potemkin—the lover and advisor of Catherine the Great. During the summers, tons of concerts and events were held at Tavrichesky Garden. During winter, people ice skated and sledded there.

When Misha first arrived in St Petersburg, he probably also had a condo in Central District. Thus, he chose an underground secret office near it.

I’m in love with a rich genius. He makes smart moves. But. . .is my move smart too?

I turned to Yefim who sat across from me. “Do you think this is a bad idea?”

He nodded.

I widened my eyes. “What? But you helped me convince Circuit.”

“You’re smarter than me. I’m hoping that you think this is a better idea.”

I gulped in fear. “I figured that when you backed me up that it was an excellent idea.”

Jesus Christ.

Yefim widened his eyes. “Do you want the driver to turn the limo around?”

“No way.” I checked all of the vans behind me. “We started this. I can’t just stop and go back to doing nothing.”

“You can do whatever you want.”

“Then, even more, we need to head to the Xecutioners. Do you know anything about them?”

Yefim picked up the thick folder next to him and handed it to me. “Circuit gave me this. It’s the information that they were able to pull on the group.”

Sighing, I placed the folder on my lap and opened it. The men from the restaurant filled the picture. I flipped through more images. All of the views looked like cameras from a public area. The Xecutioners definitely didn’t know they were getting their pictures taken. After all of the images, there was one sheet of paper with words on it.