Free Ciaran (Bourbon & Blood) by Seraphina Donavan Page B

warmed up to me.”
    Grant chuckled. “Kaitlyn doesn’t do warm, Matt. Hate to break it to you. She tolerates you, but that’s pretty much her stance on all humans over the age of fifteen. But she hasn’t chewed your ass yet, so you might be on her good side. If she has one.”
    Matt shook his head. Kaitlyn DuChamps-Ashworth was like a badger trapped in a supermodel’s body. Vicious and beautiful all at the same time, but she’d move heaven and earth for Loralei, so she was okay in his book.
    “Fuck,” Grant said softly. “A car just pulled up in front of Loralei’s house. Dark tinted windows, late model Escalade, two guys getting out while the third keeps the engine running.”
    “Stay down, don’t let them see you,” Matt said and started the car.
    Grant sighed. “I think it’s too late for that. One of the guys just pointed this way and shouted something in Russian.”
    “Get out. Put that fucking mom-mobile in gear and get the fuck out.”
    Matt could hear the revving of the engine and the squealing of tires.
    “They’re right on me, Matt,” Grant said. “I’m heading towards campus; I can lose them down some of those side streets maybe.”
    Matt gripped the wheel tighter as he sped off toward Loralei’s house. “Find a fucking cop…even a damn campus rent-a-cop!”
    He heard the sound of breaking glass, and then nothing. The call had been disconnected. Speed dialing dispatch, he identified himself and began barking commands.

    I n the upstairs bedroom of Loralei’s house, Dimitri closed the laptop. The idiot woman needed better security and stronger passwords. The framed photo of her ugly dog bearing his name had been a dead giveaway to the password of her computer. Now, he’d managed to track the location of her phone by reporting it “lost,” which had the added benefit of turning it off entirely. If she attempted to use it, it would simply give her an out of service message.
    Ivanko had taken care of the cop’s friend, albeit temporarily. Still, it would give the cop something else to worry about while they tracked down his little sister. There was a slim chance the cop might figure out why they had taken the other man’s phone and warn the Irishman, but it was a risk they had to take.
    “Let’s move,” Dimitri said, rising quickly to his feet. “We don’t have much time.”
    “We could let it go,” Ivanko said. “This girl is bad news for us. Every time we get close to her it goes to shit. Just ask Sergei.”
    “I’ve no time to talk to a fucking corpse. She can identify Sergei, even if he is dead, and in turn, he will be linked to us. She must be eliminated. When the cop is on bereavement leave, the case will be transferred to Jenkins, and we will all be safe,” Dimitri reminded him. “Or do you wish to question my leadership further?”
    Ivanko backed down, thoroughly chastened. “No. I will follow whatever you command me to do.”
    Dimitri nodded. “Find the bitch and kill her. Leave the Irishman to me.”

    B y the time Matt reached the scene, first responders were already there. Margaret’s Volvo was wrapped around a streetlight, and Grant was sitting on the sidewalk while EMTs taped a cut above his eye. In all, it could have been, and he’d honestly expected it to be, much worse.
    Taking a deep breath, Matt climbed out of his car and walked over to where Grant was getting first aid. He pointed to the nasty gash over his eyebrow. “How’d that happen?” Matt asked. The airbags in the car had deployed, so there shouldn’t have been any way of him busting his head open.
    “Fucker hit me with the butt of his gun,” Grant said on a grimace.
    “Kaitlyn will kill me for getting your pretty face messed up,” Matt said, unable to express his relief at seeing his best friend of nearly three decades reasonably unharmed. “Why didn’t you call me back?”
    “They took my damn phone,” Grant said.
    On his own phone, Matt pulled up the app to locate lost phones and