Leopard's Run (Leopard People 10)

“Moran?”

Timur nodded. “He was in charge. They were fishing. Lipin must have already identified the hit squad for them. They have their names. Damn that kid for leaving anything behind. I told him to be thorough. To double-check every pocket. To wear gloves. To make certain he wasn’t caught on camera.” He paced away from his brother and halfway across the great room. It was a large room and still, his leopard didn’t ease up. Something wasn’t right.

“I don’t like any of this, Fyodor,” he admitted. “They dressed their boss up in a uniform and brought an expert with them. What are the odds the expert showed up? Have Drake find out everything he can about this man. Is he local? I doubt that. Is he a Fed? Interpol? That seems more likely.”

Fyodor already had his phone out and was texting Drake. “We’ll get replies fast.”

“He’s dirty,” Timur said. “He’s in Lazar’s pocket.”

Fyodor spun around. “Why do you think that?”

“I just have a gut feeling. My gut hasn’t been wrong yet. He didn’t want to shake my hand. I put it out there deliberately and tried to make him talk. He didn’t want to speak and he didn’t want to touch me.”

“Cops think we’re dirty, and we are. We have been our entire lives. He might be a good cop with an aversion to the bratya .”

Timur shook his head. “No, not like this. I was unclean to him. A traitor. He also wore gloves. My guess?” He looked at the tattoos on his fingers, the ones proclaiming he was part of a lair, part of something big. The bratya . “I think he’s wearing Lazar’s tattoos.”

“The Feds or Interpol would know.”

“Not if he says he was a cop in Russia and went undercover. That’s what I’d do,” Timur declared.

He glanced down at his phone. “Gorya found three bugs. One in the seat where the bastard was sitting. One on the mantel and one on the lamp in the front room, just by the door.”

“Have him go over it again. Then do every room.”

“Do you want him to destroy them?”

“Hell yes. We’re not going to pretend we didn’t suspect them. Fucking cops come to our home, pretend to be concerned for our women and then take the opportunity to leave behind bugs. How would they even get permission for that?” Fyodor was on his phone, texting Gorya again. “On second thought, let’s keep them in evidence. We can turn them over to our lawyer.”

“He was supposed to be here,” Timur snapped.

“He got stopped by a cop. Cop said he cruised through a stop sign. It turned into some kind of huge thing.”

“Fuckin’ cops,” Timur said. “I actually felt sorry for Jeff. I know he genuinely cares for Evangeline. Ray is an asshole. He acts like he already owned Ashe and she owed him, but Jeff is an upfront kind of man.”

“No one upfront tries to steal another man’s wife. I’ve got to tell Evangeline that we have to be careful. If they were given a warrant to bug the house, he could come by for a visit and try it.”

“We sweep every day, and when I asked Gorya about Jeff’s visit,” Timur said, seeing his brother was getting worked up at the thought of the cop using Evangeline, “he told me he swept immediately after the man left.”

Fyodor looked as if he wanted to hit something. Timur couldn’t blame him. “Are you certain you got every single one of Lazar’s squad?”

“I have no way of knowing that, but we have to find out who gave them the layout of your home, Fyodor. That means we need to talk to Evangeline’s brother. He visited her and she gave him a tour of the house. Her father and uncle were inside the house. Who knows whether or not she gave them a tour as well? Women do that shit and don’t think anything of it. Someone wants to see their home and they show it off.”

Fyodor swore under his breath. “She said they were playing pool. Damn it, Timur, this is going to break her heart. If her brother is guilty …”

“I’ll kill him quietly and he’ll just disappear.”

“She’ll know.”

“She won’t know. She might suspect, but she won’t know and she won’t want to know.”

“It will change your relationship with her, because she’ll know,” Fyodor insisted. “She’s smart. She thinks things through.”

“Better my relationship with her than yours.” Timur sighed and pushed his hand through his hair, wishing his woman was close. Right then, knowing he might have to kill Evangeline’s brother to protect the ones he loved, he needed the comfort of her body.

Fyodor swore again. “I’ll message him to come to the house.”

Timur nodded. “Do it for dinner. Tonight. My leopard is getting anxious. He wants his mate. I’ve got to take care of things on the home front and then we’ll join you.”