Page 126 of Wicked Villain

There are records that lay down what happened during the kidnapping, and files with details of the laser treatment Gabrielle received for her wounds.

There are pictures that aggravate me.

Mostly because I was right.

Her scars were so much worse than what I saw the other week.

Four years healed them substantially. But had she not received that laser treatment, the scars would’ve been more pronounced and deeper.

I continue reading until I reach a section where Gabrielle mentions that the man who tortured her and killed her sister got away.

The man was one of the leaders.

I read over the description Gabrielle gave. Dark hair, six foot four, and a dagger tattooed into his cheek. He spoke with an American accent but he often spoke Russian to his peers.

I read on to the section completed by her therapist:

The patient continues to insist that an assailant fled the scene when her father’s men came to rescue her. Investigators found no evidence supporting this account. All the perpetrators were accounted for. Her fixation is likely a response to the trauma, a possible way to mentally save her sister.

At the time of this meeting, no further evidence has been retrieved and no other information verified because the holding facility in which Gabrielle and her sister stayed was burned down.

There’s no mention of any further investigation or reports after that. It’s like people accepted the trauma excuse.

Without any further evidence to investigate, they could be right. Trauma can cause many things and make you believe all kinds of shit, but Gabrielle said she saw the man get away. It feels hard to believe she’d imagine that.

I grit my teeth.

I lean back against my chair and think for a moment.

There are missing records in Gabrielle’s file and a missing man.

That can’t be a coincidence.

A rap on the door cuts my attention.

“Come in,” I call out.

The door opens and Aleksandr comes in carrying a large envelope.

“Hey,” he says, scanning the stack of documents on my desk. “Jesus, looks like you have a year’s worth of work there.”

“You may not be wrong. What have you got for me?”

He chuckles. “Just need you to sign off on the Zeretsky shipment. The old bastard coughed up the money and paid upfront for a second shipment.”

I smile. “Of course he did. That motherfucker.”

Aleksandr nods and slides the envelope toward me. “I doubt he’ll question our rates again.”

“I’ll get this signed and faxed back over to him before the end of the day.”

“How’d the meeting go with Kieran and Cormac?” Aleksandr sits in the chair before me.

“All good. Contracts are all signed and we’re in operation. I’ll just need you to sort out the new pipeline with the staff and liaise with the crewmen.”

“Consider it done. Kieran and I are going to be checking out some intel later about Petr. From the look of things, he’s still operating here in New York.”

“That gives us something to work with.”