Leopard's Run (Leopard People 10)

“Beau and Gilbert are not the men they seem. I can only go by what my mother told me, and it wasn’t much, but don’t trust them for a minute, Timur. They fool people and it costs them. I know my father loved them both very much, and they betrayed him. I know my mother was afraid of them and afraid for their wives. She never elaborated, but I know she never wanted me to go near that family.”

“I’ll know if they lie,” Timur assured.

“Will you?” Drake asked. “I wonder. If they’ve managed to fool everyone, that means they were fooling leopards. That isn’t easy. They had to be able to tell lies and not have them heard.”

“Ashe tells me there is a trick to that,” Timur said. “One her father taught her.”

“Great thing to teach your child,” Eli murmured. “How to lie.”

“I’ve learned to rely on other things besides my leopard for the truth,” Timur assured.

Several of the men went to the sideboard and put food on plates. Timur reasoned that they thought the discussion over. He wasn’t so certain. He had a wide range of suspects, but those suspects were all connected.

“What are we going to do about Ulisse?” Elijah asked, proving he hadn’t forgotten the man who had aligned himself with Lazar against them.

“We’ve wanted Emilio Bassini to strengthen his territory. He runs guns, but despises human traffickers. He’d shut that end of the business down fast,” Jake said. “If you take out Ulisse, you could propose to the council that Emilio take over his territory. That way, we wouldn’t be spread so thin, and so far, we haven’t been able to find anything on him to suggest that he’s a shark in the water circling us for our blood.”

“With Ulisse’s businesses, that almost doubles Emilio’s territory,” Drake pointed out.

“True,” Jake agreed. “But his financials are a mess. He’s weak and very vulnerable. If he wasn’t allies with all of you, he’d be eaten alive by some of the other greedier bosses. He knows that. He would be more careful and perhaps even ask for your help, Elijah. In fact, when the council meets, you might offer that as a suggestion when you put Emilio’s name in the ring to take over that territory, that you would be willing to help him sort out Ulisse’s businesses.”

“How do you want it done?” Timur asked the question to the room, but he looked at his brother.

“I want him brought here. I want him questioned, and then I want him to die here,” Fyodor said. “I’ll be in attendance and I’ll ask him myself what he was thinking selling me down the river along with my wife.”

“That’s fair,” Elijah said.

Drake shook his head. “Just kill the bastard and get it over with. You take too many chances, Fyodor. Nothing can be traced back to you. Kidnapping him and prolonging his life adds to the margin something could wrong. The less time you have contact with him, the odds go down that you could get caught.”

“Also,” Eli added before Fyodor could react, “there’s always a good chance the Feds have him under surveillance. You don’t want to get caught on tape. Let me nose around a little. I have quite a few friends that will give me the information. I feed them tips every now and then, and it works both ways.”

“I’ll need that information immediately, Eli,” Fyodor said, “because I’m not waiting.”

“What does that mean, Fyodor?” Timur asked. “My woman’s leopard is still in heat. I can’t just leave her alone.”

“I’m not incapable of picking up this bastard myself,” Fyodor snapped.

Timur sent him a quelling look. “Don’t be an ass. I’ll do it. I just have to time it right.”

Fyodor nodded. “You’re right. And you’re right about Ashe. Of course, you have to be with her.”

“She’s sleeping now,” Timur glanced at his watch. “This evening, after her leopard calms, I can pick up Ulisse. In the meantime, Drake, get Ambroise and Christophe back here. Christophe wants a job. He’ll know by the end of our interview whether or not he thinks he can work for me. He’ll come back for the chance at a job. You’ll have to get creative to get Ambroise back here. Make certain to separate the brothers once you have them here.”

“No problem,” Drake agreed. “I’ll get on that now.”

“What about Beau and Gilbert?” Joshua asked. “When do you plan to get them here?”

“After I speak to Ulisse,” Timur said. “I want to make absolutely certain they’re the guilty parties, and I want to know what they want from Evangeline. We can pick them up after my interview with Ulisse. That’s going to take some time.”

Even if they cut off Lazar from Ulisse, Lazar would reach out until he found someone who would work with him and then he’d be a threat again to all of them. Still, as long as Lazar was afraid of them, and Timur was going to make certain his uncle was very afraid, then the man wouldn’t make the trip to the States. He would bide his time and wait for the right opportunity. Timur just had to make certain that opportunity never came.