Read Online Leverage by Nancy S Thompson - Free Book Online

commute from Issaquah, but for Leo, that makes no sense.”
    “Bingo! Leo could’ve lived at home and saved all kinds of dough, not that it looks like he needed it,” Aaron surmised. “Jus’ sayin’, seems kinda weird to me, ya know?”
    I stroked my finger and thumb along my chin, staring at Aaron yet not seeing him. “Yeah,” I admitted, “seems weird to me, too.”
    “And get this. His full name is Leonid Anton Vasin. His father owns and runs a bookstore in the District, on University near Northeast 52nd. A Russian bookstore, Ty,” he said, his forehead a mass of horizontal lines.
    “What are you telling me, Aaron?”
    He shrugged and shook his head. “Russian name, the bookstore, Brighton Beach—”
    “Brighton Beach? What does that have to do with anything?”
    “Well, it ain’t called Little Odessa for nothin’.”
    “Little Odessa. What does that mean?”
    “Means there are a shitload of Ukrainians there. Russians, too, all tied to the motherfuckin’ Brotherhood. A real hot bed for the Russian Mafia, my man.” He shook his head, his bottom lip jutting out. “With your history, hard to believe this is all a coincidence.”
    I rocked back in my seat, my arms up, and my hands sliding along the back of my head as I stared into space. That old familiar feeling gripped my stomach again. Terror. I let my arms fall to my sides then leaned up on the desk as I focused back on Aaron.
    “You said that wasn’t what bothered you most.” Aaron shook his head no. “So what is then?” I asked.
    “When I couldn’t find a social security number for Katy Holender, I searched under a few other names, Kate, Katherine, Kaitlyn, a bunch of others, all nothing, at least nothing that fit our little Katy. Until, working on this hunch I have about the Russians, I entered Ekaterina.” His eyes got wide. “Bingo. Miss Katy is actually one Ekaterina Oksana Holender, nickname Katya. She’s Russian, as well. No way that could be a coincidence, too.”
    I stood and turned toward the window, my hands pressed to the glass as I mulled it all over. I turned back to Aaron. “This could all just be a coincidence. Maybe Leo was dealing drugs or something. Seems more likely than him being connected to the Bratva . Besides, there’s a large Russian population here, Aaron, all over the Eastside. Just ‘cause he was Russian doesn’t mean he was Bratva .”
    Aaron nodded at the possibility that it could all be a coincidence. “Yeah, that’s true. But, come on, Ty, do you really want to take that chance?”
    I turned back to the window, uncomfortable as to what that could possibly mean. “No,” I said then caught his reflection in the dark glass. “I don’t.”
    “Good,” he replied and stood. “Then I’ll look into it more thoroughly and get back to you. In the meantime, keep your family close and your eyes open.”
    I simply nodded, my back still to the door as Moody slipped his coat back on and left.
    Then I recalled Conner’s bitter words from the day before.
    I sighed and repeated, “Fuckin’ awesome,” to my reflection in the dark glass.

CHAPTER 8

    Tyler

    Tomorrow was the big day, when Conner would finally be released from rehab. It would be difficult to see him face-to-face, knowing what I knew about his friends, yet unable to share. That would open a whole can of worms neither Hannah nor I wanted opened. So I’d been a little cagey and kept Aaron’s information to myself. I told Hannah I had Aaron looking for Katy to give Conner some peace of mind, so he’d know she was okay. I planned on telling her everything as soon as I knew what that was exactly, but I hadn’t heard back from Aaron in the last week or so, except for a quick “I’m working on it” whenever I’d leave him voicemail. That didn’t go over well with Hannah or Conner when I passed his message on.
    “I don’t understand what’s taking Aaron so long,” Hannah said while we cleaned up after breakfast.
    I dropped the large frying