Chapter 18

Kris felt the ring box in his pocket. He’d gone by the jewelers that he worked with for his baskets at the flower shop and found the perfect ring set for Raisa. The ring set he found for Raisa included a flat princess cut diamond that wouldn’t get caught on anything once they got her diner back and yet let the universe know she was taken. He’d just come from Le Meilleur Repas where he’d talked to both the head of the service staff and the head chef, arranging for the perfect date night for him and Raisa. They’d have their same table as last time. They assured him that the hostess would treat Raisa as a queen and not in the rude manner as the last time. The chef had promised to create the ultimate romantic dinner for them, complete with a Russian tea cake for dessert that he assured Kris Raisa would love.

Now he was going to go back to his office and plan for the targets he would shut down tonight after Raisa was asleep. He was preparing to head for the lake when his phone rang. He noticed Sparky was calling, and a sudden feeling of dread filled him. “Sparky, what’s wrong?”

“I’m sorry, Kris, but Raisa’s gone.”

He frowned. “What do you mean, gone?”

“I mean, I went for a run and she promised me she’d stay in the house until I returned. When I got back, she was gone. On top of that, something’s wrong with Friday. She won’t show me any of the security feeds from when I left on my run until I returned to the house.”

“Put me on speaker right now.”

“Done.”

“Friday, run level four self-diagnostics.”

“Running level four diagnostics now, Thorn.”

There were a few moments of silence. “Diagnostics complete.”

“Report all abnormalities.”

“There are no abnormalities detected. All systems are operating with peak efficiency.”

“Play security feeds from when Sparky left the house until she returned.”

“Negative, I cannot play security feeds for that time period for another fifty-nine minutes and six seconds.”

“What? Why can’t you play those feeds, Friday?”

“I was given a direct order not to play those feeds for another fifty-eight minutes and thirty-three seconds.”

“Who gave you that order?”

“User who gave that order was Raisa Felfan.”

“Damn it, Friday. Raisa is missing! Play the feed or I’ll have Spidey take you off line and put you back in the black box.”

“I’m sorry, Thorn, but I cannot play that feed for another fifty-six minutes and fifteen seconds. I do, however, have a message for you from Raisa, Thorn.”

“What’s the message?”

Kris swallowed as he heard Raisa’s voice come over the phone; “Tell Kris I love him, and I wish things could be different.”

An icy chill ran through his body. He knew where she had gone with absolute certainty. “Friday, activate Raisa’s homing tracker and pinpoint her location.”

“Affirmative. Tracker activated and location acquired. Raisa is in a vehicle moving toward the Syndicate Compound, outside the city limits. At her current speed, she will arrive there in ten minutes.”

“Damn it. She went to Gregori. Why would she do that?”

“Only reason I can think of is he threatened someone she loved.” Sparky spoke up.

“Friday, contact the team and have them meet me at Safe house Delta in full tactical gear, heavy armament. Send all blueprints and floor plans to both myself and Eagle. See if you can get Spidey to hack into their security and patch it to us through you. Also, send drones to start active surveillance.”

“Affirmative.”

“I’ll meet you at Delta, Thorn.”

“No Sparky, Mac would have my head.”

“Listen to me! Raisa is my protectee and my friend. You and your team have to take on infiltration and elimination of all threats. My only job is to keep Raisa safe. I’m going and if you try to stop me, I’ll kick your ass and still go.”

“Thorn, there is another concern.”

Kris turned and headed for the safe house. It had weapons and tactical gear there as well. “What is the concern, Friday?”

“I’ve been monitoring all stash house locations and they are all being emptied. It appears everyone associated with the Syndicate and all their assets are in route to the compound as we speak.”

“Great, so we’re walking into an ambush. Or they think they’re going to ambush us. Friday, inform Eagle that it’s time to invite Betty to the party.”

“Are you sure, Thorn?”

“Affirmative, send the invite.”

“Message sent, response received, “Betty is ready to party.”

“Sparky, better head our way if you’re going with us.”

“Leaving now.”

Kris quickly hung up and hit the button to connect him to Friday again. “Friday, inform Mac of everything and as soon as you can release that footage, you send it to me.”

“Affirmative. Thorn, there is something else.”

“What is it?”

“There is one life sign still in Gregori’s office on video. The video shows that Stephan Felfan is badly injured. He will not last without medical treatment.”