“Svetlana’s brother?”
“What?” gasped Gunner and Razor simultaneously.
“I’m beginning to think we don’t work together on jack shit,” Gunner shot at Shiv.
“He’s actually her step-brother. Different fathers,” added Pimm.
Gunner peeked his head out of the room they were in but didn’t see Raketa. “Excuse me, gentlemen,” he said before leaving to search for her.
He found her sitting outside, looking up at the sky. “Hey, Rocket Girl.”
“Hi,” she answered, nuzzling into him when he sat next to her.
“How’d your chat with Ava go?”
“It was fine. You were right.”
“She didn’t ask questions.”
“None at all.”
“Good.”
“What have you been doing?”
Gunner told her that he’d asked Razor what he knew about Topor Evasov. “What about you? What’s his background?”
“I don’t know much of anything.”
“He’s your uncle.”
Raketa raised her head and then turned to look at him. “Explain.”
Gunner reiterated the conversation he and Razor had had with Shiv and Pimm.
“Wow,” she said, looking up at the sky again and shaking her head. “He hates me so much.”
“Maybe he doesn’t.”
“You should’ve seen him.”
“Who else saw him?”
“What do you mean?”
“Surveillance, right?”
Raketa nodded.
“How do you think it would’ve gone down if Petrov thought Topor’s behavior to you was too…familiar? Did he ever hurt you?”
“Not really. He used to get rough and drag me by my arm, but nothing worse than that.”
They both heard the front door open, and Shiv came outside.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, but we need to wrap things up so you can leave.”
“Come on,” he said to Raketa, taking her hand in his.