The Assassin’s Billionaire Bodyguard
Chapter 20

Isabella curled into bed with Casper nuzzled next to her face on the pillow and sighed. She couldn't sleep. She had stayed out with her dad for at least two beer too many and she had made sure he had gotten home safe before taking a ride share home at his urging. No subway so late at night on his watch.

However, once she'd gotten home, she had time to process the events of the few minutes in the lobby of the rink and she was increasingly angry about Evgeni's escalating behavior. He was out of control and while she hadn't heard from him since Cam's intervention, she had spent so many days in a row receiving a constant barrage of his messages, she was on edge waiting for the next step in his unraveling.

She also very much wanted to know how Cam had sorted the situation at the rink. When she and her father had left, she hadn't looked back, even though he had been looking over his shoulder until they were out of sight.

As she lay there staring at the ceiling her phone rang on her nightstand and she rolled over to get it, laughing at Casper's whimper of annoyance at the disruption of his sleep. She saw Cam's number on the screen and accepted the call. "Cam," she spoke quietly into the receiver. "It's pretty late."

"It's midnight. I wanted to make sure you got home okay."

"I did. Are you okay?"

"No," he said honestly, "I've never wanted to beat someone to death so much in my life as I do Evgeni Andropov and the only reason I haven't, is his father is a long-time friend and a business associate. He's a loose cannon and Mikhail is unable to control him." He was quiet for a moment, "Isabella, I'd like to put a security detail on you until we figure out next steps with him."

"No need," she fought the immediate reaction of his intrusive request. "I met with Clara yesterday morning and already set something up. I'm good."

"No offense, but Clara's company manages tech security not bodily protection."

"I understand your concern, but I promise you Clara wouldn't mess around with something like my safety."

"Okay," he agreed quietly. He took a breath and spoke again, "We took him to his father's house, and I respectfully asked Mikhail to intervene because it was clear he was not in his right mind. Isabella, he genuinely believes once he has s*x with a woman, they are his for the rest of their lives. He actually used those words."

"It makes no sense," she said seriously, "he was never like this before. Don't get me wrong, he's said some possessive stuff in the past, but this is so far beyond anything he was like."

"He threatened to shoot me, Gideon and his father in the head."

"What?" Isabella was stunned. "He did not."

"He did. I've known Mikhail for nearly twenty years and Evgeni since he was a small kid. I've never heard him once talk to his father the way he had tonight. He's off his rocker Isabella and I'm worried." He spoke again, "Would you and Casper come stay here at my place for a few days?"

"Cam, I'm fine, I'm not leaving my home because Evgeni has lost his marbles. I'm confident between Clara and I, I'm safe. If you don't mind though, I'll let her know this information."

"I want you to tell her," He agreed seriously. They were both quiet for a few moments before he spoke again. "Do you and your dad go to the games a lot?"

She laughed at his question, "every year Clara buys us season tickets as our Christmas present. One year she bought us box tickets and she found out we were leaving the seats to purchase tickets in the lower bowl. Too far away from the action when you're so high up. If I wanted to see things on a screen, I'd watch it from home. Since then, she buys us our tickets right where the action is by the bench." She chuckled, "we like our seats. It was a good game tonight. We had fun until Evgeni cornered me."

"It was a good game. Did you go straight home?"

"No," she laughed, "we went to Papa's favorite pub near their home. We watched the LA Kings game at the pub and then I half carried the old man home. Mama gave us both a tongue lashing, I took a ride share home and got her about half an hour ago." "How's Casper."

"Snoring," she laughed lowly, "he's happy I'm home."

"I was worried he was still awake."

"Why?"

"If was still awake it would mean you were stressed out and he was watching you."

She was quiet for several minutes. "You don't miss much do you Torres?"

"Nope," he said with a quiet chuckle. "Especially where you're concerned."

"Do you have plans Thursday night?"

"What do you have in mind?"

"I was hoping to see you. I need to leave again in the morning, but I'll be back Thursday night. Friday night I'm taking Portia to the theatre."

"Ah so you thought you'd squeeze in a booty call Thursday night after your back?"

"No," he argued and then chuckled, "but seeing your a*s wouldn't be a bad thing. I do really want to see you. I won't get in until near eight so it would be closer to nine. I thought maybe I'd just stop by and say hello, or we could go for a drive? I want to spend some time with you."

"I'd like that Cam," she said as she fought the smile on her lips.

"Well, I have a few things I want to get done before I try to sleep for a few hours. Goodnight, Isabella."

"Goodnight, Cam." She whispered back.

As she ended the call she rolled back over to her side and noted Casper had indeed settled right back down. He was a good dog and Cam was observant to read the dog's responses to her change in emotions.

She stroked his ears and he sighed contentedly. She lay with her hand on his tiny head and willed for sleep to come but it was elusive. The notion Evgeni had spiraled so far, he had threatened his own father was terrifying. She wasn't afraid of Evgeni, but she was admittedly more concerned about his state of mind. She would have to have a conversation with her sister-in-law and do some reconnaissance on what his activities had been recently. Drugs or substance abuse would account for the changes in his behaviours. As if she knew Isabella had been thinking of her a text from Clara pinged her phone and she reviewed it carefully. She made her way downstairs to her living room, collected her laptop and her glasses from the tabletop and opened a browser. The sound of Casper's feet clicking along the stairs as he came down to sit with her made her smile.

She reviewed the contents of her assignment, accepted it, and then went upstairs to get changed. She then raced to the basement and pushed the mirrored panel opposite her treadmill which opened the access to the basement of the house next door. She waved to Casper who sat on the bottom stair of the steps, and she knew he was grinning inside. Whenever she left in the dead of night, one of Bellona's agents was dispatched to her house. They would come in through the back entrance and they would spoil him rotten while they provided remote back-up service to his mistress and the team. There was one woman, a self-proclaimed cat person, who had routinely volunteered to sit with Casper on every call because, as she said, he wasn't really a dog. He was far more sentient. As she strolled quickly through her armory, located in the basement of the house next door, which she owned and was occupied by a Bellona computer technology expert, she selected her equipment with precision. Two knives, her revolver, pepper spray and her go bag, which contained a change of clothes, a wig, her passport for her Bellona alias and cash should she need it. She exited straight into the back yard and using her thumb print entered a small shed in the back yard adjoining her house. In the shed she threw off the cover to her bike and ran her hand over the smooth body. The one thing she shared with her older brother was her love of motorcycles. Her mother lost her mind every time she rode though so the bike was hidden. She pushed the bike from the shed into the street and into the alley nearby. She revved the engine, wishing Bellona hadn't insisted they muffle the noise. She loved the roar of the engine but when you were running ops at two in the morning in a populated neighborhood, it drew too much attention.

She tore through the city towards the rendezvous point and parked her bike in an underground parking garage owned by Bellona. Clara was waiting for her as was Sabine.

"Delta and Beta?" she asked as she dropped her helmet onto the bike

"Ninety seconds or less out," Clara said seriously.

She tapped her foot impatiently.

"How was the game?"

"Awesome until I had a distraction," she met Clara's eyes seriously. "Evgeni showed up and told me I was his. Torres happened to come along and," she made a face, "I played the damsel in distress card and asked him to remove him, so I didn't cause a scene in front of my father." She saw Clara's face tighten, "he allegedly threatened to kill Torres, his muscle and Mikhail."

Clara cursed and Sabine instantly drew upright from where she'd been lounging on the car.

"You're joking."

"Something isn't right, and I can't figure it out. He's always been clingy, but he's never been crazy. Not like this."

"What are you thinking?"

"Drugs? Brainwashing? He's in with a weird crowd who convinces him every woman he sleeps with now belongs to him?"

"What do you need from me?" Clara said earnestly.

"Well, it's not like we can kidnap him, perform a drug test or ask him if he's joined a cult." She made a face, "considering how close we are to the family, they will blame either you or Torres because we are the only ones who seem to know how far off the deep end he's gone."

"What about a psych eval?" Sabine asked suddenly. "I'm with you. He's always played the crazy Russian card, but he's never been hostile or violent. Can Mikhail convince him to seek medical attention?"

Clara nodded as lights turned into the far entrance of the parking garage. "Good idea. I'll have a chat with him tomorrow." She pointed at Isabella. "Make sure you file the restraining order. This way if Ben's team must shoot to kill, they have a way to cover their a*s." "Yup," she nodded feeling uncomfortable with the notion of killing someone she once cared for. She also knew if it were between him or her, Ben's team wouldn't hesitate to take him out and neither would she.

As Corry exited her Miata, Josephine's car came into view. They waited for the team to all be standing in the same place and then headed for the elevator to the rooftop helicopter pad. In the elevator Clara quickly briefed them

"At twelve thirty, three girls were leaving a bar in Boston. A car pulled up and dragged a girl from the group and shoved her in the car. One of the girls was shot by the assailant and is in hospital in serious condition. The other girl called 911. PD is saying it's gang affiliated and instead of focusing on recovering the girl, they have their gang task force in play and are treating it like an attempted murder of the girl in hospital and suggesting the kidnapped girl was part of the plot because she was romantically involved with the kidnapper."

Isabella grimaced distastefully. It happened and sometimes the police were right. Gang violence was increasing exponentially around the country, and it wouldn't be a surprise to know they used a girl to set up a hit on another gang. But they'd all seen the video taken from a nearby traffic cam and the girl had fought hard to not get shoved in the car. Her friend got shot trying to pull her back out of the car. So far, the police hadn't seen the traffic footage because Bellona was so far ahead of the game.

"We were able to trace the car from the cams and it has crossed the city line towards Salem. Traffic cams are not as good in the area, but intel is working on it. By the time we reach our drop off, we should have a precise location." Clara didn't even look at her team knowing they were already on track with her thoughts.

As they made their way to the chopper Clara looked over her shoulder. "We have an hour flight. We need a good story. Isabella, tell us about what happened at Helena's."

As her team taunted her Isabella groaned and cursed her sister-in-law under her breath. It was going to be a long flight.