"We no longer have the element of surprise with Lemtov," Mac said. "He's bound to know we took in some of his guys. Lite, did we learn anything new?"
Lite twirled a pen around on the tips of his fingers. "Lemtov grew up with Ivan's deceased father. Went to school together. So there is a real connection between the two families. Lemtov is Ivan's godfather. Not sure as of yet whether the main connection is through Vasilii or Ivan."
Vasilii. His call. That was what had been bugging her. They'd forgotten to tell the others about it. "Vasilii called me," she said quickly. "The night you all met with Mitkin. I almost forgot to mention it because Six came home hurt." She looked over at Six, who suddenly sat up and leaned forward, folding his arms on the desk. Thankfully he didn't disclose what had her so distracted that night. Memories of the way he'd taken her made her shiver.
"What happened? What did he say?" Mac said.
Louisa recounted the conversation to them all. "It struck me as odd, because it started apologetically. But somehow it sounded … I don't know … it lacked authenticity if that doesn't sound too hokey. Then he gave me excuses, about the reputation of the lab and our security. Knowing what Aiden told us, he'd already had visits from the police and the FBI before he called. And then he ended by telling me I was paranoid."
Cabe swore.
"And where's the phone now?" Lite asked. "You wondered how they found you last night, Six. There could be a tracker on it. We should check for that first, then get rid of the phone."
Panic choked her. "If they know where I am because of my phone, what's to stop them from coming here to get me?"
Gaz laughed. "They'd have to be suicidal to come try to get you here. Weapon count, boys?"
All of them suddenly began to pull weapons. From holsters, belts. Louisa looked around the room. To a man, they were armed to the teeth, and not just with small handguns. There were big guns that could do a lot more damage. And knives. Suddenly she felt overwhelmed.
"He's right," Cabe said. "They'd be idiots to try to come in here."
"So what do we do now?" she asked.
"Lite is going to deal with your phone and try to find Ivan, among other things," Mac answered. "Buddha, Gaz, and I are taking a trip to LA to catch up with Lemtov. He's likely being cautious right now, but we'll get eyes on him, who he's meeting with."
Six tapped the table with his fingertips. She could feel the tension rolling off him. A small muscle twitched by his jaw. There was obviously something on his mind. She tapped his foot under the table, but he didn't look up. This time, she kicked it, much harder than the first time.
"Give me a minute with the guys, would you, Louisa?" he said. "Let me talk business for a minute while you get your phone."
They were supposed to be past this, him keeping her out of the process. "Whatever it is you need to discuss, you can say it in front of me. I'm-"
"Please." His eyes met hers. "I just want to tell them what we talked about this morning." His tone was soft.
She'd convinced him to let her give them more so they could honor the bookings they had while taking care of her. "Sorry," she said. "I'll go get my phone."
The air in the locker room was stagnant. It was probably some kind of safety feature that the place in which they slept had no other exits than the door, but they could certainly do with better ventilation. She reached for her phone and turned it on. The eighteen-percent battery was better than nothing but had no signal. She wandered out into the training area to find one and several notifications began to appear, including several missed calls from Vasilii. Dialing her voice mail, she sat down on a chair by the large doors.
"Louisa. It's Vasilii. I'm sorry about the call yesterday. But I need to speak to you urgently. Please call me back."
She saved the message because from now on she intended to keep a complete record of all of her interactions with Vasilii. There was no telling when she might need that information again. She pressed the right button to continue.
"Louisa. It's Vasilii again. Please, I need to talk to you."
His voice sounded strained, frantic even.
"I have sent you a photograph, Louisa. I hate to do this to you, but I need you to see this and return my call."
Louisa pulled her phone away from her ear and opened her email. There was a message with an attachment from Vasilii. When she opened it, there was no text, and for a moment she wondered whether or not she should open it with Six. But he was busy with his men, and she wasn't such a coward that she couldn't open an email in a box of a room where nobody could get at her.