Page 37 of Exacting Vengeance

Not wanting to add to the stress Alyona was already under, Kyle indicated Ernie and Malik should follow him into the hallway. “Ernie, get the Jersey City PD to do a wellness check on Alyona’s mother, Polina Volkov.” To Malik, he said, “Get another team of agents out there to find out who she talked to. Tell them to get her consent to sweep the house for listening devices.”

Malik nodded, pulling a phone from his belt. “Will do.”

“You got it.” Ernie also tugged out his phone.

Back in the room, Kyle said in the gentlest tone he could muster, “Alyona, we’ll make sure your mother’s okay, but you can’t tell anyone else where you are.” She nodded. “The Bratva are dangerous people. You know that.” He met Victoria’s gaze, sending her a silent message: Alyona wasn’t the only one in danger.

“I’m afraid,” Alyona said, looking at Victoria and squeezing her hand.

“I know you are,” she answered. “It’s okay to be afraid. That doesn’t mean you don’t have the courage to do this, and you’ve come so far. Say it: I can do this.”

Alyona nodded. “I can do this.” She smiled back and sat up straighter, as if drawing strength from Victoria’s words and emotional support.

“Let’s get you out of these vests,” Kyle said.

Jack’s phone buzzed, and he stepped into the hallway.

Deke began unstrapping the vest from Alyona. Kyle did the same for Victoria, opening the straps at her waist and feeling the warmth of her body seep into his fingertips. Her chest rose and fell faster as he tugged open one of the shoulder straps and slipped off the vest. When she swallowed and licked her lips, the impulse to kiss her welled up inside him. Across the room, Deke watched, one brow arched.

“Is everyone all right?” Greg Washington asked from the doorway. “I heard you had trouble on the way in.”

“You could say that.” Kyle took a much-needed step back and dropped the vest onto a chair. “A reception party was waiting for us on the Turnpike.”

Washington hitched his chin to Alyona. “How did they know where she was?”

“Fill you in later,” Kyle said. “Don’t worry. There’s no leak we need to worry about.”

Jack returned. “State troopers arrested five guys, all reputed Bratva.”

Washington didn’t look happy. “At least you got her here, and she’s safe.”

Kyle’s stomach tightened, because he knew better than to make assumptions.

Between the FBI, the U.S. Marshals, and courthouse security, they had eyes inside and outside. No one could get to Alyona with a weapon, but this wouldn’t be over until after she testified and was ensconced in another safehouse. Until then, he’d never assume she was safe.

A voice crackled in his earpiece—one of the deputy marshals stationed outside. “Guys, we’ve got Bratva everywhere waiting to get in.” The government had a small army in place to defend Alyona Kolbayev, yet Kyle had a sinking feeling it wasn’t enough.

“I’m going upstairs,” he said to his brothers. “Stay here.”

“What are you gonna do?” Jack asked.

Kyle shook his head. “Aside from hitting the marshals and Morrison up for more agents, I have no idea.” He yanked open the door and stormed down the hall, his shoes echoing on the tile floor.

Intercepting them enroute to the courthouse had failed—barely—and the only weapons inside the building were on the hips of armed federal law enforcement officers. As sure as he was breathing, he’d bet the Bratva had a backup plan.

At the elevator, he punched the up button. Could Lebedev’s or Kolbayev’s men have gotten to someone who worked here, paid them to smuggle a gun inside? It had happened before, in other courthouses across the country.

The elevator door opened, and Kyle hit the button for street level. If he couldn’t figure out what they were planning, in a few hours the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Federal Courthouse could become a war zone.

He’d planned this day for months. Everyone would be in place. His brothers, plus Ernie, John, and Malik in the rear of the courtroom, two other teams of agents planted in the gallery benches. More U.S. Marshals, Federal Protective Service, and agents would be stationed in the adjacent hallway, at the main entrance, and outside surrounding the entire building. That didn’t stop his guts from chanting out a never-ending warning that it still wouldn’t be enough.

Something else was coming. Something he couldn’t predict. Whatever it was, it would be bad, and people would die.

Chapter Sixteen

Victoria watched over Aly, who’d kept her mind busy doing crossword puzzles someone had thoughtfully procured to help pass the time.

Since he’d left three hours ago, she hadn’t seen Kyle. His brothers, Deke and Jack, had remained with them in the holding room, with another agent stationed outside the door. The only sounds came from the men as they responded to something in their earpieces, and the classic black-and-white government-issue clock on the wall ticking away.