Drake Sisters 05 - Safe Harbor

Harrington. I will be going hunting very shortly and I'll need every ounce of energy I can muster."
    Jonas studied his expressionless face. "You aren't what they say."
    "I'm exactly what they say. I do the job nobody else wants."
    Jonas continued to lock gazes. "Maybe you do, but the real question is not what you do, but who you work for."
    Ilya Prakenskii didn't so much as blink, but Jonas knew, in the strange way he often knew things, that he had hit a target.
    "I work for Sergei Nikitin."
    "Is he the mark?"
    "Think what you like." Prakenskii stood waiting for Jonas to get out of his way.
    Jonas shook his head. "You can't have her, Prakenskii, not if you're what you want the world to believe, and I think you know that."
    Ilya didn't bother to pretend not to understand. "My relationship with Joley Drake is not your business."
    "Actually, it is. The Drakes are my family and I look after my own."
    "Is that what you're doing?"
    Jonas stepped back, allowing Ilya to take the tray into the living room, where the Drake sisters sat, or lay, on the chairs, couches and floor, the drain of energy after helping Hannah taking a toll.
    Jonas narrowed his eyes, watching as Ilya carefully handed each woman a mug of tea, giving Joley the one he'd sipped from. He opened his mouth, but a cough instead of words came out, and Joley frowned, looking up at him as she sipped, and then at Ilya.
    "What did you do?" she demanded, her voice husky. "I felt that small flare."

    Jackson crossed the room to touch Elle's cheek, placing his body carefully between her and the Russian. Jonas knew him well enough to know he had put himself in a position to get a clear shot if necessary.
    Ilya appeared not to notice, but when he moved away from the sisters, he settled with his back to the wall, directly facing Jackson and the other fiancés of the Drake sisters.
    "I put natural vitamins in your tea. Nothing poisonous."
    Hannah took another swallow. "You'll have to tell me how you make it. I can feel the difference already."
    "Jonas," Sarah called him to attention. "There's a message for you from a man named Duncan Gray." She straightened in the chair and pushed back her dark hair. "He said to tell you Petr Tarasov died a few hours ago from injuries sustained during the attempt to break him out of custody. He also said the agent he told you about has been identified."
    "Who is Duncan Gray?" Libby asked. "Why is that name so familiar?"
    "Jonas worked for Gray when he first got out of the Rangers," Sarah said. "Why would he suddenly be calling you now, Jonas? Is this anything to worry about?"
    "Who is Petr Tarasov?" Joley asked.
    "Petr Tarasov is the brother of Boris Tarasov, one of the most violent mobsters alive today," Elle answered. "Boris Tarasov is wanted around the world for just about everything from fraud to murder. Word had it that the defense department arrested Petr for murdering one of their agents, and was holding him in an unknown location.
    A few days ago, an attempt was made by Boris's organization to get him free."
    "What else do you know, Elle?" Jonas demanded.
    "Petr was shot and again taken to an undisclosed location for treatment." She looked directly at Jonas. "There must have been someone in the defense department feeding Boris information for him to find both locations, and if I'm not mistaken, the cryptic message to Jonas was to tell him the traitor has been identified and is now deceased."
    "How the hell would you know all that?" Jackson demanded.
    Elle lifted an eyebrow at him and took a drink of tea to avoid answering.
    Jackson took a step toward, going from protective to menacing in a heartbeat. "We had a talk about this, Elle. I told you to quit."
    She stood up, her dark eyes flashing fire at him that fast. "You tell me a lot of things. I told you to quit and I see you're still a deputy." She glanced at Prakenskii. "Giving me orders doesn't work, Jackson, so back off. And now isn't the time for this anyway."
    "This isn't over, Elle," Jackson said.

    "It is for me," she replied.
    Jonas held up his hand for peace, looking around the room at the women he called family. They were tired and pale, but the tea was helping. "Let's just put this aside for now. We're all tired and upset."
    "I have a bit of news that may interest you," Ilya said, watching him closely. "There is a rumor going around that four of Boris Tarasov's crew went missing and when the fifth delivered the news, telling an outrageous tale of a house eating a man,