“This isn’t mine. It isn’t anything I’ve ever seen before.”
“Shit. It’s really here,” Mitya said. “I honestly didn’t think we’d ever recover it.” He sank down onto the edge of the bed and opened it.
Sevastyan moved in close to him, and Ania crawled around to the other side of the bed so she was behind Mitya and could kneel up, her arms around his neck, chin resting on his shoulder, so she could read the contents as well.
“Amory wrote this,” Mitya said. “I recognize the handwriting. He does that half print, half cursive kind of style, and he always puts a curlycue on the letter g.” He glanced at his cousin. “You concur?”
Sevastyan took his time, studying the writing. “Definitely Amory.”
Mitya read the first entry, frowning. “He’s talking about following Joshua to the States. Joshua said he’d never met him.”
“Keep reading,” Ania urged. “Just because he’s following Joshua doesn’t mean he knows him. Maybe he has another reason.”
“Says Joshua will lead him to Drake.”
“Anyone can find Drake,” Sevastyan said. “I heard his name when we were still in Russia. Pretty much if you knew he was on to you, word was, don’t bother to continue, just walk away. He has a reputation.”
“So, Amory’s ultimate goal was Drake Donovan. Why didn’t he just find him and kill him? He resides in New Orleans. He’s not difficult to find,” Mitya said.
He turned the page and began to read more. Ania read over his shoulder, and Sevastyan could read as well. Amory wanted to work in all the places Joshua had worked. He had trained at the Donovan training facility and then he’d gone to work for Jake Bannaconni. Drake visited often. Amory was always respectful, but he kept a close eye on both men. While he was there, he recruited one man to their cause. He had to be careful and go slowly so as not to raise any alarms.
“What cause?” Sevastyan asked. “And he writes ‘their’ cause. Whose cause?”
“Why follow Joshua?” Ania asked. “Any number of men have come here from Borneo. Why single out Joshua?”
“There doesn’t appear to be an explanation,” Mitya said, “but from those entries, it goes to dates and times Donovan and Bannaconni met. Amory said twice he heard them discussing taking down businesses specific to the Anwar family. He states he believes the Caruso family is their ally.”
“This notebook was being delivered to the Anwar family,” Sevastyan pointed out. “To start a war between them? To make it look as if Donovan and Bannaconni were in league against them?”
“And don’t forget, my father delivered a package to the Caruso family. Was it a copy of this notebook?” Ania asked. She frowned. “Something wasn’t quite right, but I couldn’t hear an outright lie when the Carusos spoke to me.”
“That’s a possibility. It does seem as if someone is trying to sow the seeds of distrust among all of us,” Mitya said. “They’re succeeding with me. I’ve gotten to the point that I don’t trust anyone but the people in this room.”
“Fyodor and Timur would never, under any circumstances, betray us,” Sevastyan said.
Mitya reached up and rubbed his palm over Ania’s hand before thumbing through the notebook. “Amory had times and dates that Donovan met with Joshua. He went to work for him. It says he established himself and is becoming even more trusted within the security company. He thought Joshua had killed Rafe Cordeau for his territory. He mentions he hopes he has the satisfaction of killing him.”
“Who is this bastard working for?” Mitya demanded.
“It has to be someone in the Borneo area,” Ania said. “Nothing else makes sense.”
“But who? Here’s an entry about Elijah Lospostos. How clever he is. How he can’t possibly know the treachery Drake Donovan and Joshua are capable of,” Mitya said. “That’s really strange. Of anyone, Elijah has the worst reputation. Well, other than our fathers, but Lospostos is a name to be feared. Amory writes that Elijah is unaware of Donovan’s treachery. What does that mean? What has Donovan done that is so treacherous?”
“What is that?” Ania asked. She could see where a name had been written but then was crossed out multiple times and then erased. She could make out a few letters. “It looks like a name. Right there in the corner, Amory wrote it out and then tried to erase it.”
Both men studied the letters.
“Looks like Carrieri or something close to that. Does that mean anything to you, Ania?”
She shook her head. “I’ve never heard the name before. Could that be what they were protecting? A name? Because they clearly wanted everyone to be afraid of everyone else.”
Mitya sighed. “We can ask the others. They need to be told.”
“Has anyone searched Amory’s room?” Ania asked. “Maybe he left something there that would tell you why he despises Drake and Joshua.”