So I had hired them to be my backup and my bodyguards, and they’ve been living in apartment 1 ever since. They are loyal, lethal, and, while you’d never know it to look at them, kind of lovable.
We exchanged bro hugs all around.
“You’re lucky you didn’t get shot sneaking in here,” Adam said. “Why didn’t you tell us you were coming back?”
“I was going to knock on your door at a more civilized hour. How did you guys know I was home?”
“You tripped the silent alarm,” Zach said.
“No I didn’t,” I said. “I totally bypassed—”
“Sorry, boss,” Zach said. “I’m talking about the new silent alarm. I installed it on the third step below the fifth-floor landing.”
“You had a nasty-ass visitor the other day,” Ty said. “We figured she’d be coming back.”
“What did she look like?” I said.
Zach took a picture out of his pocket and handed it to me. It was a black-and-white screen grab from the closed-circuit camera at the front door.
“Her name is Marta Krall,” I said.
“She tried to pass herself off as one of your art teachers,” Zach said.
“Well, I guess I taught her a few things,” I said. “And we don’t have to worry about her ever coming back. She flunked the final.”
None of them even blinked; kill-or-be-killed was in our DNA.
“We’ve been at threat-level red since she showed up,” Ty said. “You think we should ease it back to orange?”
“If Marta Krall was the only one who wanted me dead, I wouldn’t even bother locking the front door,” I said. “But I’ve made a lot of new enemies recently.”
“Don’t worry about it, Captain,” Adam said. “Nobody is getting in here.”
“What are we looking for?” Zach asked.
I told them the whole story. Zelvas, Chukov, the diamonds, Paris, Venice, Amsterdam, Marta, and of course, Katherine.
“Where’s Katherine now?” Adam asked.
“New York,” I said. “At least I think she flew back to New York after she left me in Venice. I phoned her, texted her, but no response. She probably thinks I just want her back, so she’s avoiding me.”
“Knowing the Russian mob,” Ty said, “if they can’t find you, they’ll go after her.”
“You’re right,” I said. “That’s why I came back here. I want them to find me. Fast.”
I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket. Four rings later a voice that was laced with sleep and booze picked up.
“Chukov.”
“This is the Ghost,” I said.
Chukov woke up in a hurry. “Where the hell are you? Where are my diamonds?”
“I’m still in Amsterdam,” I said. “Your diamonds are back in New York.”
“Where? Who has them?”
“Matthew Bannon,” I said. “He couldn’t unload them. The kid is an amateur. He couldn’t sell a fire extinguisher in hell. By the time I tracked him down, he chickened out and skipped town.”
“Where’s Bannon now?” Chukov said.
“He flew back home. He’s holed up in his apartment, trying to figure out how to get rid of those stones,” I said.
“He’s in New York?” Chukov said. “That son of a bitch.”
“Relax, Vadim. I’m catching a flight out of Schiphol in a few hours. I should be in New York by tonight to wrap things up. I’ll call you then.”
“I’ll be waiting for you,” Chukov said.
I hung up and turned to my three bodyguards.
“Let’s ramp up, boys. The Russians are coming.”
Chapter 75
CHUKOV’S PHONE RANG.
He clenched his teeth and picked it up. “Hello, Nathaniel. I was just going to call…”
“They sent for me,” Prince screamed.
“Who sent for you?” Chukov said.
“Who do you think? The heads of the Syndicate. You’ve made so much goddamn noise trying to find my diamonds that they found out Zelvas was stealing and now they want answers.”
“But Zelvas was only stealing from us,” Chukov said.
“That’s not the way they will see it. Now, where the hell are my diamonds?” Prince screamed.
“We’re working on it,” Chukov said. “We had a little setback.”
“What? What kind of setback?”
“Marta Krall is dead,” Chukov said. “From what I can put together, she tracked Bannon to Amsterdam and he killed her.”
Chukov had to hold the phone away from his ear as Prince let out a torrent of insults aimed at Krall, Bannon, Chukov, and the mothers who spawned all three from their respective wombs.
“Nathaniel, I know it sounds bad, but it’s under control,” Chukov said. “I just heard from the Ghost. Bannon couldn’t sell the diamonds, so he brought them back to New York. I swear I’ll have them in another few hours.”
“Natalia and I are at the airport now,” Nathaniel shouted. “In another few hours, I’ll be in Nassau and the Syndicate will have my balls in a vise. I want those diamonds back, and if Bannon already sold them, I want the money.”
“I’ll take care of it,” Chukov said.
“That’s what you told me when you hired Krall, may she rot in hell,” Prince said. “And unless you get the diamonds now, you’ll be joining her.”
“Nathaniel, I promise you I’ll—” Chukov stopped. Prince had hung up.
He grabbed a bottle of vodka from the bar, unscrewed the cap, and took a long swig. He had seen Prince go off the deep end before, but this was the worst.
He needed to put together a team. He called the top five professionals on his list. Three were out of the country on assignment, but both the Sicilian and the Jamaican were in New York and available. Then he called Nick Benzetti.
“Bannon is back in New York,” Chukov said. “He still has the diamonds and my boss is going batshit.”
“What happened to your sweet little German girlfriend who shoved the Glock in my face?” Benzetti said. “I thought she was handling the whole mess.”
“She’s dead,” Chukov said.
“Aw, poor thing,” Benzetti said. “Is she really dead, or are you just saying that to make me feel good?”
“I’m putting together a team,” Chukov said. “I want the diamonds back and Bannon at the bottom of the East River. I have two men already. Do you and your partner want in?”
“Yeah, but we’re not working for chump change,” Benzetti said. “Whatever you’re paying the other two guys, we get the same.”
“I can’t afford to—”
“No problem,” Benzetti said. “There are plenty of cops who work cheap. Just dial nine-one-one. Nice talking to you.”
“Wait. Don’t hang up.” Chukov could feel his chest tightening. He grabbed his inhaler. “Okay, okay,” he wheezed. “But it has to be now. We’re running out of time.”
“Relax,” Benzetti said. “The guy is a dipshit art student. How long can it take?”
Chapter 76
NATHANIEL AND NATALIA caught the early-morning JetBlue flight to Nassau in the Bahamas. The Syndicate had rented a block of suites at the Atlantis, a sprawling ocean-themed resort with waterslides, river rides, a hundred-million-gallon aquarium, and almost as many slot machines. It was Disneyland, SeaWorld, and Las Vegas all rolled into one. The Princes despised it.
A limo picked them up at the airport and took them to the One&Only Ocean Club on the eastern end of Paradise Island. Once a private estate, it was now a gated community of oceanfront guest rooms, garden cottages, and luxurious villas.