Drake Sisters 03 - Oceans of Fire

the best restaurants and he’s shopping in all the stores.”
    “And making contacts,” Aleksandr pointed out. “He can be very charming, but there’s no question he’s a shark.” He tapped the picture. “This one is up to something very bad. He’d never bother with stolen Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    art. What we have here is a takeover of an established route and whatever they’re bringing into the country via that route is hot and it’s coming in soon. They’re willing to kill to protect whatever it is.
    Nikitin is up to his neck in this, he’s most likely the advance man, but Ignatev is almost certainly the man in charge.”
    “Are you certain the man in that photograph was one of the men in the speedboat?” Jonas asked. “It was dark.”
    Abigail nodded. “Absolutely. It was a full moon and they weren’t all that far away from me.”
    “If Ignatev was there to pick up something and there was a problem, even a small one, he would have been angry. He has no patience and he solves his problems with violence.”
    “What would they be bringing in that would be so important?” Carol asked.
    Aleksandr’s gaze shifted to Jonas. Their eyes met over Carol’s head. Jonas nodded ever so slightly.
    Aleksandr let out his breath. “Ignatev was involved with a group that used terror tactics to try to overthrow the government. I know that he was trained in Africa and has ties to several terrorist groups. I would guess he’s returning a favor for someone and getting very rich while he’s at it. To get out of Russia safely, he had to use his connections and those kinds of favors always come with strings. He’d need money to rebuild.”
    Abigail looked from one grim face to another. She turned to Sarah. Sarah looked frightened. “Sasha, do you think he’s bringing in a bomb of some kind?”
    His arm swept her closer and he brushed a kiss on top of her forehead. “I think he’s bringing in a dirty bomb. Ignatev is here to receive it and pass it on to a mole. He’d never use it himself, but he’d be in a position of having no choice if they asked him to get it here. Nikitin knew about the route for stolen art, it’s been going on for years, so when Ignatev approached him, naturally he chose it. Unfortunately, we were in the middle of our investigation and Danilov was already in position undercover. They didn’t know about him or that Interpol was looking hard at this coast.”
    “You don’t know that for certain,” Joley said, her hand to her throat.
    Hannah made a small distressed sound and Jonas reached out and ran his hand down her arm in reassurance. “We’ll stop them, now that Volstov is working with me.” He frowned. “Why are you working with me? You’ve been stonewalling me this entire time. Why the sudden change?”
    “After Abigail and I are married, I’m going to need a job and someone on my side,” Aleksandr said.
    Abigail made a face and rolled her eyes at her sisters, but she remained silent. Aleksandr may have had a trace of amusement in his voice, but he was being serious.
    Jonas regarded him for a long moment. Abigail could hear the clock ticking in the silence of the room while Jonas weighed his reaction. “A job, huh? You do have a few skills that might be useful.”
    “A few,” Aleksandr agreed.
    Joley and Abigail exchanged a quick smirk. Men always seemed to growl and sniff around each other, bristling over nothing, and just as suddenly become buddies at the least likely moments.

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    “Aunt Carol.” Jonas turned his attention to the older woman. “You really have to listen to me this time. I don’t want you spying on anyone else. This is far too dangerous. You can see from everything we’ve said that you were in danger whether you realized it or not while you were playing at James Bond. You need to give me your word you won’t be skulking around with your camera poking into the hornet’s nest.”
    “I never skulk, dear,” Carol said.
    “Aunt Carol,” Sarah persisted, her voice stern. “Jonas is right this time.”
    “This one time,” Hannah muttered under her breath as she stared down at one of the photographs.
    Jonas scowled darkly, snatching the picture of the naked statue from her and crumpling it into a small ball. “You don’t need to be looking at this crap.” He looked exasperated. “And I mean it, Aunt Carol, no