It's been two weeks since Leo went missing.

Aleksandr and I agreed not to tell the others Red's true identity, so after Jane Doe seemingly disappeared from the hospital we had to do the investigation on our own.

Which of course means everything takes 10x longer than if we just let Boris handle it.

We delivered each of the hostages back to their families last week, including the body of Devin Rodriguez. I emphasized this act was a show of good faith in the future alliance, and encouraged them to recover for now. I'd explained we'd act once they were all ready to discuss the alliance. They all responded the same way - ready to get to work right away to take Rossi down.

Admittedly that's the answer I had been hoping for when we decided to do this job in the first place.

Unfortunately, between running my companies and planning to deal with Rossi, I've had to rely on Aleksandr to take care of everything else.

With both of us slammed like this, it's left less time than I'd prefer for the hunt for Leo.

Every spare second we have had we spend in my office looking for him. Aleksandr is working through all the hospitals in the city and surrounding areas to see if Leo has been admitted anywhere. Meanwhile, I'm looking into his work and personal life.

I found his apartment, but it's pretty obviously being watched and he hasn't been there in a while. The surveillance is top notch too. I am assuming WKTA is keeping an eye out for whoever it is Leo is running from.

Someone named 'Mel' told him to go to the safehouse, and that is the person I'm hoping to find.

The night we had dinner together was the first and only time I'd ever seen him scared. Even when I held him and he was prepared to die in my arms, finally giving me his name... he still didn't show any fear. Resignation, maybe, but not fear.

What does it take to scare die Dame?

"Breakthrough!" I exclaim, spinning my laptop around.

"What'd you find?" Aleksandr asked, rushing over.

"The night he saved me in the alley? He was at that bar for work. He apparently offers IT services to the bar owner. That's how he was able to erase the footage from that night. He had to give a police statement when they found the bodies, and the detective on the case requested alibis for a ton of different dates - not quite sure why, but that's not the interesting part. Look here, the alibi for these two dates," I point to the name listed in the police file I managed to finally break through and steal.

"Melanie Jones, MD," Aleksandr reads.

His eyes bulge and snap to me.

"MD? As in doctor?"

He immediately sits back down at his laptop and starts typing so hard I worry he'll break the damn keyboard.

Melanie's phone number and address are included in the file since she provided alibis for Leo's case, and I quickly write them down.

"She's a doctor at Christ Hospital. It's on the list but it's further out from the city, so I hadn't gotten to that one yet," he mutters, clicking away with a newfound passion, "She may have transferred Leo to her care directly."

"I'm willing to bet my left nut she also goes by Mel," I state nonchalantly and he freezes mid-typing.

"The text," he gasps, his eyes snapping to me, "You think she's WKTA?"

"It's very possible. I'm going to look into her. Leo's online presence is almost non-existent, and the only things I can find are tied to his publishing company, his books, and his job - aside from a shit ton of ridiculous news articles that are absolutely worthless gossip. She may be the key to all this."

I dive into my own furious typing looking for everything I can find on Ms. Jones. I start with the police records that I've already got up anyway, and I discover a detective that has taken a strange interest in Leo. He's had both Leo and Mel followed on 'suspicion of intent to destroy evidence for Columbian gang members.'

Oh shit, he started looking into Leo after the alley.

His file is thorough, if not a bit over the top, and his investigation was apparently placed on hold after Leo filed harassment charges against his office. What he gathered before his investigation was put on hold is more than enough, though.

Apparently Mel and Leo spend a lot of private time together... they may very possibly have been in some kind of romantic relationship. There are photos of them having dinner together, holding hands, and kissing in both private and public.

This detective took his work a bit too seriously... some of these photos are bordering on stalker-like versus investigation-like photos. He also apparently dropped by Leo's office, and there's a recording mentioned that outlines some concerning statements he made.

No wonder Leo opened a complaint against him.

"I found him," Aleksandr whispers, looking up from his computer, "He's in a private room on the 6th floor of Christ, and he's currently assigned private security. He is scheduled for discharge, but hasn't left yet."

We both hastily grab our jackets without another word.

I'm pretty sure I broke every traffic law on the way, and I couldn't give a fuck less.

Walking in, despite the both of us being insanely anxious, Aleksandr and I both don a slow and unhurried pace. We don't want to draw more attention than necessary. We stroll in without looking around, already knowing where we're heading.

We make sure to look casual, confident, and like we're on a mission... we don't want anyone stopping us or asking questions.

When the elevator dings on the 6th floor, though, I'm pretty sure everyone around me can hear my heart beating right out of my damn chest.

Following the signs, we head for room 622... only to freeze at the end of the hall when we see the chaos in front of us.

"What the fuck do you mean a nurse rolled him out? I had already told you he had no tests today, he was being discharged!"

A woman that I immediately recognize as Mel from the detective's photos is clearly in a panic, and it doesn't take me long to realize Leo's missing.

Rushing forward, I draw her attention instantly and she freezes in shock. I bolt to the door of the room and confirm... the fucking room is empty. There isn't even a bed in here.

It takes everything in me not to see fucking red.

We were so God damn close!

I spin and glare at her shocked face.

"Where is he," I grit out, trying my best to be composed but struggling.

Her eyes flick from me to Aleksandr and back, gears clearly turning in her head. Her pale face and bugging eyes, though, make it clear what the answer is.

She doesn't fucking know.

"Fuck!"

I spin and slam my fist into who I'm assuming was supposed to be his security detail, knocking the bulky fucker to the ground before turning and repeating it on the other guy standing beside him before he can react.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize these fuckers failed at their jobs.

"Stop!" Mel screams before they retaliate, glaring up at me from the ground where they're both now sporting bloody lips.

They're lucky that's all I did to them.

"You two. In my office. Now," Mel spits pointing to Aleksandr and I.

Then turning to the security guards who have now gotten to their feet, she adds, "And you two, figure out where the fuck that nurse took him!"

Glaring at them as they walk away, I take a deep breath before I follow Mel into her office. She ushers us in first before closing the door behind her and staring at us.

"This room is not soundproofed," she says cautiously.

I nod in understanding.

"How do you know Leo?" she asks slowly, studying us.

It's pretty clear she knows who we are, and it only confirms for me that she works with Leo at WKTA.

"Leo contracted with us recently. As you know, I own several companies and he's particularly talented. However, when he suddenly stopped returning our calls, we got concerned and leveraged some resources to discover he'd wound up here. We came to check on him," I reply casually, though I know my eyes are hard and my body is wound so tight I might actually snap.

"Interesting," she replies, still studying me skeptically.

"What happened to him, Ms. Jones," Aleksander speaks up, frustration evident in every fiber of his being.

He's having a much harder time putting on a show.

After a long moment, I see something shift in her eyes - as if she's made a decision.

Based on the look in her eyes, I have a feeling it's in our favor.

"I can't discuss my patients with you, I'm afraid. However, Leo is a close friend of mine and I'm always glad to make friends with his friends. I'd like to invite you both to dinner this evening."

"That sounds lovely," I respond casually, "shall we be by your home around, say, 6pm tonight?"

She frowns slightly at that, before nodding.

"That sounds perfect. I'll see you this evening, gentleman. In the meantime, I must ask you both to leave as you are not family, and thus are not able to visit Leo at this time due to his strict security."

"We understand," Aleksandr grits out, and the moment she opens the door he storms out - heading straight to the elevators.

I nod to her politely before following him, both of us staying silent the entire walk back to the car. He's nearly vibrating in fury, and I can't help being in a similar boat.

We both know we have to wait until we're alone to have a discussion - and the second we're both safe inside, he explodes.

"Son of a bitch!" he curses, leaving English behind in his frustration.

"Whoever he's running from... I think he found him," I respond, also preferring our mother tongue in my own irritation.

"We have to get back to the office. I think we need to bring Boris in. We can't do this nearly as fast as he can."

I nod, pulling away from the hospital as dread fully sets in. The only thing on my mind during the entire drive back is Leo's face the night we had dinner and that text came in.

I'm so in my own head that by the time we arrive back, neither Aleksandr or I have said another word. He's clearly caught up with his own thoughts as well.

"Boris, meet me in my office," I bark the moment I walk inside, heading straight for the whiskey the moment I'm sitting behind my desk.

Aleksandr, taking his seat across from me, accepts the glass I hand him without hesitation.

We both need a fucking drink.

The moment Boris joins us and closes the door, I motion for him to sit in the chair beside Aleksandr. The look on his face is strained, but I don't care how nervous or concerned he is right now.

"What we're about to discuss doesn't leave this room. If I discover anything we talk about makes it past the door, death will seem like a reprieve by the time I'm done with you. Do you understand?"

Boris is already a pretty pale guy, but I watch every ounce of blood drain from his face as he nods.

"A man named Leo Jamison was abducted from his hospital room this afternoon. I want him found immediately. We start with hospital surveillance footage and go from there. We know a male nurse took him from his room and he was never returned, but we have nothing else to go on."

I hand him Leo's file, which he immediately opens and starts to read through.

I watch him do a double take when staring at the photo, tilting his head for a long moment before his eyes snap to mine.

My eyes narrow, focusing on anything to indicate he can't be trusted with the pieces he's putting together.

"Is... is this?" he gulps under my stare, shrinking into his chair like the smart man he is.

"Yes."

"Holy shit," he whispers, looking back down and studying the folder again.

I see the moment he shakes his stupor, and I relax a bit as he falls into investigation mode.

"Let me grab my laptop," he mutters, putting the file on my desk before rushing out and back in with his computer.

None of us leave the room for the next four hours.

Aleksandr is diving into Leo's past - trying to figure out who we're even looking for. We're both pretty sure his backstory is faked, so he's trying to figure out the real story. He's not had much luck yet, but I imagine this will be something that takes quite a bit of time.

I'm focused on Mel. If we're meeting with her tonight I want to know everything I can about her, her relationship to Leo, and any red flags I can find. If I manage to locate the safehouse Leo's been using, that's a bonus.

I may have had a win on a vehicle that Mel was using from the hospital that was clearly being driven while she was at the office, but I haven't made it too far chasing that rabbit trail quite yet.

Boris' focus is on finding where Leo is right now. The security footage at the hospital was compromised, a shitty loop put in place while the nurse was stealing Leo away. Despite the shitty work, they effectively managed to hide the nurse from all cameras on site. Boris has already started going in new directions, trying to figure out if he can find which vehicle they used to escape and use facial-recognition for any pings in the area.

So far, he's come up empty.

I lean back and stretch for the first time in hours when my alarm goes off to warn me it's time to head to Mel's.

"Boris, this is your top priority. You work on nothing else unless I say so, do you understand?" I eye him carefully, making sure he knows I'm dead serious.

"Da, Pakhan," he nods, never lifting his eyes from the computer screen.

"Work in here. This file and your findings do not leave this room under any circumstances. If you have to leave, lock the door behind you," I state, standing and nodding to Aleksandr, "We'll be back in a few hours, hopefully with more information to speed up the search."

He nods, absentmindedly, and I can't help smirking at his focus.

If I could bottle that, I'd take over the fucking world.

Shaking my head, I head out with Aleksandr on my heels. He's as anxious as I am to figure out what Mel has to tell us.

As we get in the car I catch a glimpse of his new handguns holstered under his jacket. Mine are similarly located on me at the moment.

They truly are stunning pieces. Seeing them makes my throat tighten, but I push that away as I start up the car and head towards the address for Mel I got from the police file.

It's a short 20 minute drive but it felt like it took hours, and my road rage got a bit out of control toward the end.

Motherfucker shouldn't have tried to cut me off. He's lucky I didn't run his ass off the road. If stopping wouldn't have wasted more time, I would have.

When we finally pull into the drive of the small two story, I find myself questioning if this is really the residence of a WKTA operative. It seems a bit too modest and simple. Appearances can be deceiving though, so I keep alert and head to the front door with Aleksandr by my side.

Like he always is.

She answers quickly, eyeing us both and quickly clocks we're packing under our jackets. She doesn't say anything though, and instead gestures for us to enter.

"I appreciate punctuality gentlemen," she notes casually as she walks in front of us and leads us to the dining room.

The inside is just as modest as the outside, but the home has a very welcoming charm that's hard to deny. I stop short when I see a photo next to the couch of Mel and Leo, and I can't stop myself from staring at it for a long moment before continuing forward. I end up sitting opposite her at the dining room table where a bottle of red wine and a single wine glass she's already been sipping from waits for her.

She catches the direction of my gaze when she sits down and nods.

"Leo is incredibly important to me," she confirms.

"Where is he?" Aleksandr dives in immediately, not keen on small talk when he's anxious.

"Before we get into that, I need to know how you found him. Quite frankly, I'd also like to know how you know him. I know who you are, so let's skip the bullshit. I know you worked together on the Rossi job, which is obviously where Leo nearly died.

That alone is cause for alarm. No one is more cautious than he is, so the fact that he didn't just get injured but got that injured isn't normal. I want to know everything and I want to know it before I tell you shit."

I study her for a long moment, trying to gauge what we should and shouldn't reveal. I decide to stick to the cover stories that we discussed with Leo in advance, and fill any blanks in with the truth.

"Leo approached us about Rossi several weeks ago. He explained that he was a merc who had gotten some juicy details he thought we'd be interested in. We initially planned to ignore him, but he brought up a recent attempt on my life that convinced me he was serious. He introduced himself as Red, always insisting on wearing ridiculous outfits and makeup, but his intel was good so we worked together on a plan to get several allies that Rossi had taken hostage out of his estate.

The plan was mostly Red's, and it was a damn good one. If everything had gone to plan, he wouldn't have gotten injured. He was caught in the crossfire when things went sideways, and we knew he wouldn't survive if we didn't take him to a hospital. We dropped him off, claiming to have found him in an alley. We spun it like a rape gone wrong. When he went missing from the hospital, we managed to track him down through ambulance records at your hospital."

She doesn't interrupt but she studies me with narrowed eyes the entire time I speak. I'm used to lying in interrogations, so I deliver each line smoothly.

Or so I thought.

"Bullshit. If you're going to lie to me, get the fuck out," she stands, pointing toward the door.

Brave one, since she knows we're armed. It makes me wonder if she's got defenses here I'm unaware of.

"What makes you think he's lying?" Aleksandr says defensively, glaring at her.

"You shouldn't have escaped The Rouge. It made no sense that you were able to stop the dart. It was aimed flawlessly and executed too fast for anyone without superhuman reflexes to stop... unless you were warned in advance," she sits back down, staring us both down and daring us to disagree.

We both say nothing, keeping our faces blank, so she continues.

"Leo's an incredible liar. He always has been. The only one he never lies to is me. He also almost never turns down a job as long as it's not a kid. He may add a tax or bitch about a location, but he never really even considers turning down a job down. Until a hit came out against you," she said, eyeing me.

"He spoke out against The Rouge job and I agreed with his reasons. When he spoke out against the hit on you that came out after... well that didn't make any fucking sense. Then the payment was taken by your people. Almost as if you'd been tipped off about where it was and when to be there."

She sits back, observing us both as she speaks.

"I didn't suspect Leo at first. Leo doesn't do relationships. Not even friends. But then you helped him on the Rossi job together and I got suspicious. You confirmed every suspicion I had when you showed up outside his hospital room and punched the security guards responsible for his safety in the face for fucking up. So let's cut the bullshit."

I look at her for a long time. I see why Leo likes her, she's impressive as fuck.

I nod, slowly, looking at Aleksandr and seeing the look in his eyes that says 'we don't really have a choice.'

"I'm the one Leo saved in the alley behind the bar," I finally admit.

She gave alibis for him, so I know she knows what I'm talking about - at least to some degree. I decide to skimp on the details though, even though the feeling of Leo straddling me as I sat handcuffed to that chair is seared into my mind forever.

Her eyebrows meet her hairline in surprise before realization sets in on her face. She doesn't say anything, clearly waiting for me to continue. I look to Aleksandr once more before deciding this isn't the time to pull punches.

"I don't know why he saved me that night. The only thing I can say is we had... a connection. It's difficult to explain, but it was felt on both sides. It's that connection that led him to warn me about the dart and the hit. He's become... important to me.

It was his idea to pull the Rossi job. I didn't lie about that or the details he gave me that helped convince me it was possible. As far as my team is concerned, he's just a merc I hired to help us pull it off. In truth, it was his plan, we just helped him execute it. If it had gone to plan, he wouldn't have gotten injured. All of that was true.

The bullets he took saved our lives. As for how we found him... when he thought he was dying, he told me his name."

She listened silently right up until the end... until the last bit. Then she gasped like I told her I'd killed the Pope.

Actually, the way she's staring at me has me wondering if that may have been less shocking.

"Leo... took a bullet. For you. Then told you his name," she confirms, speaking slowly as if she needs to make sure I understand each word.

I simply nod.

We sit there in a strange silence for a long moment while Mel stares at us, as if she can piece together some puzzle if she looks at us long enough. Then, after things have officially become awkward, she lets out a long, strained breath.

"Leo was trafficked and sold to Jason Aire when he was 12. His parents were drug addicts, both dead now, and they needed money after getting into a bad situation with some local loan shark or some shit. They traded their debt for their child. Aire took him and made him his child bride - cause in the US that shit is still fucking legal.

In addition to being a literal billionaire after inheriting Daddy's business that he's only continued to expand - Jason runs a deep web torture porn business, and Leo was his favorite from the first day he got his hands on him.

He has others, of course, and he runs a large trafficking ring that hooks up anyone who's anyone. He has ties to every corrupt politician and businessman in the fucking world that gets off on watching women be tortured or buying kids, and he has their protection because he meets a very specific kind of market demand.

Leo has been through things you can't imagine, and every bit of it was recorded and sold for the pleasure of powerful, disgusting sadists around the world.

When Leo found out he was pregnant he escaped. I don't know how, and he didn't exactly want to talk about it - so I didn't push. At some point he got hooked up with witness protection for him and his kid in exchange for his help with the case. It didn't go anywhere, of course... Jason got off on some bullshit technicality and it all got covered up... but it gave Leo and his kid a chance. He managed to go to college, get his degree, launch his career, and transition all while his kid got a pretty normal childhood. She graduated high school early and ran off to college before she was even 18. Pretty sure she has no idea about what happened, and Aire never knew she existed.

I met him when he was already a success, and his kid was preparing to leave the nest. He was busy picking fights he couldn't win. I knew he'd be an asset though, and I offered him an opportunity to work for me. Die Dame was the best investment I ever made. I swore my protection from Jason for him and his kid as long as he continues to work for me. Even in the event of his death, as long as he's on my payroll at the time of said death, his kid has my protection for life."

Fuck... he said we didn't have all the puzzle pieces. What an understatement. I look at Aleksandr who meets my eyes, and I know he's thinking the same thing.

"Aire is the one that's taken him?" Aleksandr asks, leaning forward.

She studies him for a long time before her shoulders slump a bit in defeat.

"Yes," her words come out dejected, and her eyes drift away from us landing on the photo of Leo.

"I always swear neutrality... WKTA is my pride and joy, and I've worked hard to earn and keep the reputation we have. I told him he was alone for the Rossi job because of it. I couldn't risk us being associated with a gang war."

Her voice softens as she continues, her eyes unfocused as if lost in a memory, "We had an argument before he left, but the moment he saw me after the job he kissed me as if nothing had changed. He always forgives me so easily."

She pauses, and I have a feeling it's to get a handle on her emotions. She keeps her face blank, and her eyes never show a hint of a tear - she strikes me as the type that doesn't want to show weakness. Yet the way she's looking at the photo of them right now, it seems like she's having a hard time staying composed.

"It was my responsibility to protect him," she says, her eyes snapping back to me, "I failed. I won't fail again. I will find him and retrieve him... but I could use some help. Going against Aire isn't like a run-of-the-mill senator assassination. We're mercenaries that specialize in killing people. We don't pull off heists or abductions, certainly not against someone like Aire... and even if we did, the one who would arrange something like that is..."

"Die Dame," Aleksandr states simply, sitting back and nodding knowingly.

We saw her in action. She's a mastermind, both in advance and in the moment - there's no denying that.

"We're in," I say firmly, "and I'd like to start by seeing the safehouse where he was staying. His home is being watched, I'm assuming by you, but I'd like to get in discretely if possible."

"What are you hoping to find?" she asks.

Her tone isn't accusatory, just curious - which is good progress.

"Well, first we want to look for evidence of surveillance. If Aire found and grabbed him from the hospital, it's very likely that they did reconnaissance first. If there's any evidence, even a little bit, it might help us figure out where they've taken him."

I want to find any electronic devices he may have left behind, but I don't want to tell Mel that quite yet. He had two phones on him, but they were both wiped when he thought he was going to die. If he was working with us behind Mel's back, he may have other connections we can leverage that Mel isn't aware of.

She studies me as if she's trying to see into me... or through me. I keep my face blank, though.

"Leo has three phones. His personal cell - the one he uses for work and his normal life. His WKTA cell - which is exactly what you think it is. And a secret burner that he uses for his... side gigs. He has a few people that owe him favors - all the people you could potentially leverage would be on that burner. I'll let you in both spaces, but his laptop is off-limits. He's incredibly protective of all of his books and that's where he keeps his manuscripts."

I'm starting to think this woman is fucking psychic...

"Leo and I have no secrets... well, until you came along, apparently," she says, sitting back and sipping the wine glass in front of her with a smirk, "I am fully aware of his side missions. They're usually because someone put out a hit on a kid... he always takes those a little personally. We reject them, but he always said he knew someone else would take the job. He felt like it was his responsibility to use the information he had to keep the kid safe.

It's earned him several unexpected allies and a few favors that could be very, very helpful right now. He kept what he did, who owed him favors, and so forth to himself because we agreed it violated our neutrality if I knew about them. But he also wanted to make sure I knew how to find the details if I ever needed them. Looks like that day has come."

I have to fight to keep my face blank at this point, but I'm pretty sure my surprise is evident on my face. These two are impressive as fuck. It's clear they're a damn good team.

Which is probably why it does strange things to my gut to know he'd been willing to lie to someone so clearly important to warn me like he did. Repeatedly.

Sighing heavily, Mel stands and walks out of the dining room and into her living area, grabbing a pad of paper and pen that sit on the end table before returning. She quickly scrawls something on the paper and rips it off, almost angrily, and tosses it to me.

I raise an eyebrow, as I grab the paper - there is an address written on it.

"You won't find anything of value in his home. That's the safehouse where he's been hunkered down in recently. When he's on a job, official or unofficial, he takes everything with him. His backup phones will be there - very possibly locked inside the panic room."

She eyes me for a long time, sitting back.

"I never thought Leo would end up enjoying the company of a man again. He's never even looked at one sideways before you."

My heart skips a beat and I find myself looking at Aleksandr, catching his eye. I see it in his face too... the significance of that statement, now knowing his backstory.

She looks between the two of us, a smirk forming on her face.

"I see. Damn. You two must be something really fucking special."

I don't really know what to say to that, and since there's a lump stuck in my throat I decide not to say anything at all.

"If you hurt him, I will use every single resource at WKTA to hunt you down and finish the job we started at The Rouge. Mark my fucking words."

Her face is hard and her tone is dark... and I know without a doubt she'll deliver on that promise without hesitating.

"Consider them marked," Aleksandr says hoarsely, his eyes never leaving mine.

The revelation... the significance of what we've just learned about our little assassin... has a feeling blooming in my chest I haven't felt for anyone other than Aleksandr.

I can see in his eyes he feels the same way.

"He... he was going to leave. After the job, he left us a message saying goodbye and that he was going to leave," I say hesitantly, my brain starting to reject both what she's saying and what I'm feeling with something akin to panic.

Her eyes go wide and her mouth opens, processing what I've said.

"My God... he's in love with you," she whispers.

And that... that fucking breaks me.

--

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