Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 127461 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 637(@200wpm)___ 510(@250wpm)___ 425(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127461 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 637(@200wpm)___ 510(@250wpm)___ 425(@300wpm)
He sounded so hopeless that Maya’s heart went out to him. Wraith and I can find the women, she assured Gorya.
I was certain you would be able to. I think Braum and Albert Krylov have forgotten what it’s like to go up against an Amurov.
Maya wasn’t certain she liked the underlying note of what she could only identify as eagerness.
Did you suspect Braum was the person behind the others siphoning the money?
Yes, but only because of his position with both you and the former pakhan. He’s in the best position to know everyone’s business. Gorya, I need you to get this man’s address for me now.
Maya. Gorya’s tone was cautionary. We’ll get the women. We can’t tip off the others until we’re ready to deal with all of them.
I’m not waiting to get to the daughter. She’s been gone too long. I know what happens and it isn’t pretty. I can handle it quietly.
Not alone.
Alone is quiet. You have to have faith in both Wraith and me. I trust you to take care of your end of things. I’ve been hunting these people a long time. Albert Krylov spent quite a lot of time in Houston giving those parties, and eventually he convinced the men we were with to use the women in sick, depraved ways. When I was able to, I tracked him and found he went from lair to lair doing the same thing. At first I planned to kill him, but then I realized he was acting as an emissary for someone else. That’s when I decided to follow the trail back to the head of the entire organization. Leo’s daughter isn’t safe. She’s been in their hands too long. Right this minute something bad is happening to her.
She said it with conviction because she was certain of it. The longer she looked at the misery on Leo’s face, the more convinced she was. An ominous feeling had been spreading through her since Leo had shown up. She willed Gorya to understand that this was something she had to do. More, she was going to find the girl whether he gave his blessing or not.
She felt Gorya’s sigh, yet his expression gave nothing away. You’d better keep me informed every minute. And don’t do anything rash. If you need reinforcements, I’ll get to you.
Maya didn’t wait.
The trail wasn’t so difficult to follow once she knew each of the scents. She visited Leo’s home first and familiarized herself with both Yelena’s and Alicia’s scents. Then she went to the residence of George and Vera Morozov. She didn’t make the mistake of hurrying, because her warning system was shrieking at her. She knew part of her fear for Alicia was from that door in her mind cracking open and the terrible trauma of her childhood spilling out. She knew what these men did to women when they had them helpless in their possession. She couldn’t allow that to cause her to make mistakes. That wouldn’t help anyone.
Maya pushed the past from her mind and concentrated on the female leopard. Surprisingly, it was always the females who were the hardest to take over. Most were strong and independent—if they were healthy. The moment she connected with Vera’s leopard she could tell the animal was groggy, disoriented, repressed even. She was barely able to detect Maya’s presence.
Maya flowed into her mind very slowly, careful not to alert the leopard’s mate or her human partner. This was the most important moment, when everything could go wrong. The female leopard couldn’t fight her presence or become agitated in any way, warning the others there might be an intruder in their home. She matched the rhythm of breathing and brain waves perfectly until she was sure she had the right path and then she simply took the leopard from her human counterpart and mate. She did so carefully and subtly, but the animal retreated far back, leaving Maya completely in charge.
Next she examined the animal’s memories. They were very ugly in regard to her human counterpart’s actions against young Alicia, Mindy’s friend. The leopard had always liked Alicia. The accusations Vera had leveled against her were lies. No matter what the leopard said, Vera ignored her and insisted to Mindy that the young girl had attempted to seduce her husband. She slapped her repeatedly and called her names. In the background, two young men smirked and leered as Vera ripped at Alicia’s clothes and thrust her toward them. She demanded that if Alicia wanted to be a whore, they teach her a lesson she’d never forget.
Mindy had been frozen in the corner, her hand covering her eyes as the two men jerked the sobbing girl to them, laughing and assuring Vera it would be taken care of. Alicia begged to be taken home to her family. Vera slapped her again and told her she was never going home, that there was no home to go to. Her stuck-up parents should have been friends with the right people.