Page 74 of Acting on Instinct
“Medved’ Zoric. He’s Slovakian, I think. His main financial ties are to Russian oligarchs in shipping,” Kira said.
“Shipping helium,” Gator said.
“Yes, though, more recently, well, two years ago at the meeting with Omar in Tanzania, they were talking about fertilizer for Africa and food production, and wanting to restrict how much fertilizer was available by boosting the prices. That had something to do with making the African warriors hungry enough to go fight for Russia in Ukraine. And, as I’ve said, Uncle Nadir and William are both heavily involved with Russia. Thisis a long-term thing they’ve been working on, and I had hoped they’d fail.”
Gator moved over to the chair and sat facing her.
“Gator, you might be a better person to answer. You might have overheard this information. You were providing security for Christen, Lula, and their friend, Johnna Red, while William was having a meeting on his island. The attendees were all titans of the petroliate industry—buying or selling helium, oil, fertilizer. They were there to make plans for the future. I wasn’t there, so I don’t know,” Kira said.
“Do you think you that at some point you overheard something, and they know you’re friendly with Gator and Christen, so you might have told them something you shouldn’t have?” Lynx asked.
“Let’s see. Many years ago, during the Qatar blockade, William and Uncle Nadir rejoiced in the industry's distribution problems because they always drove up the price of helium and oil, and with less work and less product, they made more money. Global panic is key. And that’s happening now, right? But I don’t know anything specific about that. Women were in the women’s area and men in the men’s.”
“I don’t think that’s what they want to talk to you about,” Lynx said. “You’re too far removed from those conversations. There are too many global happenings that have changed in the years since you visited your family in Qatar.”
“Okay, well, what if they found out what Lula does for a living?” Kira asked
“Does London know?” Gator asked.
“Absolutely not. No. London tells William everything. I only know because Ty and Lula sat me down to explain everything. They called it a debrief. They said they normally don’t do that with civilians, but I guess they decided because Ty wanted to have a relationship with me, and I had to submitpapers to be able to see him on base. No—I don’t know what I’m talking about. I don’t know why they told me, other than that I was conferred asset status and could somehow help the CIA. They never asked anything of me, though, not since Tanzania. But if Christen hadn’t answered my call from Fort Bragg, my next call would have been to Langley. I wasn’t sure their operator would connect me to anyone who could help. My next step was to press the panic button.” She looked down as her fingers tangled together. “I’m really glad Christen answered the phone. I have a question.” She looked back up, moving her gaze from Gator to Lynx, terrified to know the answer. “When London said that Uncle Nadir's going to get me and ask me questions, do you think that he was going to try to take me to Qatar to ask the questions?”
“I wouldn't think so.” Lynx’s fingers were pressing along the padded surface of the photo album as if she were reading braille. “It would be hard to get you out of the country, not impossible. I mean, there are ways to do it.” Lynx turned to Gator.
“Not good ways,” Gator said.
“Uncle Nadir has a jet. And the jet isn’t with him in Tanzania. My Uncle was driving somewhere after William left for the hospital.”
“Do you have the tail number?” Gator asked.
“I have a picture of it.”
Gator called it in to their tactical manager at Iniquus, then they waited in silence. “The jet is flying from Qatar to Dodoma, Tanzania,” Gator announced, then turned his focus back to the phone. “Thanks, Deep. Out.”
“That’s where they took William to the hospital. They probably mean to use Uncle Nadir’s jet to fly William back to Qatar once he’s stabilized.”
“You’re exhausted.” Lynx stood with the album in her hand. “I suggest you try to stay awake if you can. Treat this like jet lag. Order room service when you think you can eat. I’d like you to stay in your room. We’ll come back and check on you this evening. Use the burner phone to let me know if you want me to bring you anything.”
Kira nodded. She wasn’t sure how she was going to stay awake until bedtime, and at the same time, she didn’t think she’d ever be able to sleep again.
“Kira, with your permission, I’m going to take your album to the Iniquus forensics lab and have them work on this right away.”
“I—yes, I—I—I trust, I trust you.” Kira felt very protective of that album. “I’m just nervous that anything should happen to the books. You know, things happen. People—things get misplaced.”
“We deal with important artifacts, documents, and the like all the time,” Gator said.
“We have a system,” Lynx smiled reassuringly. “It’s very methodical. I’m afraid that once we leave, Kira, you’re going to try to figure out the why. The more you think about it, the more it’s going to leave you.”
Kira scowled, knowing Lynx was right.
“I’ve found that when I can’t find the right word, or I can’t find the right information, if I go do something completely different and leave the question churning around in the back of my brain, it just bubbles up.” Lynx smiled. “Kira, the more you obsess about it, the harder it’s going to be to access any information that you might have.”
Lynx and Gator walked to the door with Houston. If only Houston could stay. The feeling of isolation and danger might not wrap around Kira quite so tightly.
“Remember,” Gator said. “Leave your phone on airplane mode. Only use the burner. We’ll be back in a bit. Hopefully, with answers from the lab. Then, we can make a plan.”
Lynx wrapped Kira in a sisterly hug. “Kira,” she whispered, “remember to breathe.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
