Dirty Obsessions - The Lion and The Mouse

Hopefully, that gave me a huge advantage.

Throughout my planning, I called Kazimir. He never answered.

I’ll try again right before the plane takes off.

The moment I made it to the airport, I left the limo and ran out.

Earlier, my men had rushed to the stores and bought several laptops along with a long list of other hardware. Several of them hurried behind me, carrying the equipment. They had several Wi-Fi Pineapples which enabled me to connect using any device. Alfa network boards for injecting packets. There were also USB rubber duckies. They worked as a programmed keyboard in the shape of a USB drive. When one plugged it into a computer, it started writing automatically to launch programs and tools. Then, there were LAN turtles to harvest information from the network and give me the capacity to execute a man-in-the-middle attack.

The list went on and on.

I held the lockpicks on me. In most countries, possession of lockpicks was a criminal act. They opened a physical security device by analyzing or manipulating its components logically, without the original key. While the Paris airport would check my scary looking men, they would bypass me.

As soon as I made it to the jet, a stewardess held out a glass of champagne. “Hello, Mr. Stronz.”

I rushed by her and climbed up the stairs. Dima and Anatoly followed, carrying several items. I glanced back. “Be careful with all of that.”

They nodded.

I made it to my seat and began to set up. “Put three laptops over there. I want another two in the front. Have five total around my seat. Start taking the stuff out their boxes.”

They rushed through my orders. More of my men barreled in.

The stewardess entered and widened her eyes. Thankfully for her, she kept her mouth closed and tiptoed to the back.

My phone rang.

I pulled it out and spotted Pavel’s name on the screen. Sighing, I answered, “Hey. I’ve heard. I’m searching for the French right now.”

“Don’t tell me that,” Pavel said. “Tell the Lion.”

I sat down and turned on one of the laptops. “Then put him on the phone.”

“He’s taking a shower.”

I rolled my eyes. “Then call me back. I’m getting everything in place now.”

“Not happening. Before he rushed off to take a shower, he told me to get you on the phone. If you hang up a bomb will be coming your way.”

“Fine.” I placed the phone on speaker and continued setting up. My men fumbled through opening boxes. A few times things fell. I glared. “These tiny devices are more important than your life. Be careful.”

Nothing else dropped.

The stewardess walked over to me. “Mr. Stronz, we will be leaving shortly.”

“Good. Get me a double vodka.”

She nodded and left.

Pavel’s voice filled the jet. “He’s coming now.”

Alright. Time to deal with my dear cousin. Let’s see what level of ‘going to kill me’ is he on.

I picked up the phone, turned off the speaker, and put the device to my ear. “What is he wearing, Pavel?”

“Shirt, pants, and boots. All black.”

I stiffened. “No suit?”

“No.”

That’s level ten on the ‘going to kill me’ scale.

Taking off my tie, I prepared myself for his verbal wrath. Thankfully, I was on a plane heading out of Paris. If we were face to face, there might’ve been some wrestling. Neither of us had time for that.

Kazimir’s voice roared through the line. “Get the Devil’s location right fucking now!”

I set the tie down on the seat next to me. “Pavel explained everything to me. My people are on it now—”

“Your people? Your fucking people are on it? You need to be on it!”

I turned on the second and third laptop. “They contacted Maxwell. Emily talked to him.”

Kazimir growled. “When were you going to tell me this?”

I cleared my throat. “I called your phone.”

“You fucked up. Celina stole my babies? My fucking nukes! No fucking phone call—”

“I thought I had it under control.”

“Emily’s gone!”

I went quiet. I had no explanation to give him. I’d fucked up.

Kazimir continued. “Instead of you handling the situation yourself or calling me, you enlist some fucking psychos to track the nukes?”

My heart twisted. There was so much pain in Kazimir’s voice. Never had I heard him sound so scared.

We’re going to get her. Don’t worry, cousin.

I let out a long breath. “Kazimir. . .I’m sorry. You know I. . .I would never want something like this to happen to you. . .I understand. . .my mother. . .”

The line went silent. A quiet Lion was a very deadly one to behold.

I rubbed my weary eyes. “Kazimir, I’ll do anything. I’m on it.”

“You will.” A deadly edge coated his next words. “Because if something happens to Emily, your ballerina will never be able to dance again.”

He hung up.

Rage tornadoed through my chest.

I stared at the phone.

The stewardess set my vodka in front of me. “Would you like anything else, Mr. Stronz?”