Chapter 7 - Odessa’s Plan
Anton’s answer was immediate.
“No.”
Odessa folded her arms.
“You haven’t heard my idea.”
“No.”
“You don’t know what it is.”
“It involves you getting anywhere near Victor.”
“Possibly.”
“No.”
Luka leaned against the wall.
“I’m enjoying this.”
Anton glared at him.
Odessa placed the forged manifest on the table.
“Victor wants something.”
“He wants the company.”
“No. If he only wanted the company, why spend a year watching me?”
Anton stopped.
Odessa continued.
“He thinks I know something.”
“You know the records.”
“Exactly.”
She opened her laptop.
“For 3 years I’ve processed every shipment. What if he thinks I can find something he can’t?”
Luka straightened.
“The old ledger.”
Anton looked at him.
“What ledger?”
“Your father kept parallel records before everything went digital.”
Anton frowned.
“Those were destroyed.”
“Maybe Victor doesn’t believe that.”
Odessa suddenly remembered something.
“A customs code.”
Both men looked at her.
“Every 3 months, there’s a shipment with code A-17. It always has zero declared value.”
Anton went still.
“A-17 was my father’s private designation.”
“For what?”
“Emergency reserves.”
Luka swore.
Odessa searched the database.
The most recent A-17 shipment had been logged 2 weeks earlier.
Destination:
Warehouse 6.
Anton stared at the screen.
“That warehouse has been empty for 12 years.”
“Apparently not.”
They arrived before dawn with security.
Behind a false wall, they found a steel safe.
Inside were ledgers.
Bank records.
Photographs.
Evidence connecting Victor Saran to decades of theft, bribery, and murders committed without Anton’s knowledge.
And $14 million in bearer bonds.
Anton looked at Odessa.
“That’s what he wants.”
She nodded.
“And now we have leverage.”
“No.”
She sighed.
“Anton.”
“No.”
“What exactly is your alternative?”
“War.”
“That sounds expensive.”
“It is.”
“And people die.”
His silence answered.
Odessa stepped closer.
“Then let me help.”
“I almost watched you get shot.”
“And I watched you turn my apartment into a tactical operation.”
“This isn’t funny.”
“I know.”
Her voice softened.
“You cannot protect me by making every decision for me.”
Anton looked away.
Odessa touched his arm.
“If this becomes something between us, you have to understand that.”
His eyes returned to hers.
“If?”
She smiled faintly.
“Focus.”
The meeting was arranged for midnight at an abandoned terminal beside the Savannah River.
Victor believed Odessa would bring the ledger.
Anton placed a tracking device beneath her coat.
“You stay beside me.”
“I know.”
“If anything feels wrong—”
“I know.”
“Odessa.”
She touched his face.
“I know.”
Victor Saran stood beneath industrial lights when they arrived.
He was older than Anton, silver-haired and elegant.
Grant stood beside him.
Odessa felt nothing when she saw her ex.
That surprised her.
Victor smiled.
“So this is Odessa.”
Anton moved slightly in front of her.
Victor laughed.
“Interesting. For years I wondered whether my nephew had any weakness left.”
Odessa stepped around Anton.
“I’m not his weakness.”
Victor’s smile widened.
“No?”
“No. I’m the woman who found your accounting mistakes.”
Luka coughed to hide a laugh.
Victor’s expression cooled.
“The ledger.”
Odessa lifted the case.
“Release your people from our building.”
Victor nodded.
His men communicated through radios.
Luka received confirmation.
The building was clear.
Odessa extended the case.
Victor opened it.
Empty.
His smile vanished.
Odessa held up her phone.
“The real records were delivered to federal investigators 20 minutes ago.”
Anton looked at her.
That had not been the plan.
Victor stared.
“You stupid woman.”
“No,” Odessa said. “That’s the mistake all of you keep making.”
Victor reached inside his jacket.
Anton moved.
A gunshot exploded.
Odessa screamed.
Anton staggered.
Blood appeared across his shirt.
Chaos erupted.
Luka’s men returned fire.
Victor ran.
Grant froze.
Odessa dropped beside Anton.
“No. No, no, no.”
Anton looked at her.
“I’m fine.”
“You’ve been shot!”
“Shoulder.”
“That does not qualify as fine!”
He almost smiled.
Then another gunshot sounded.
Victor fell near the dock.
Police sirens approached.
Grant raised his hands.
Odessa pressed both palms against Anton’s wound.
His face had gone pale.
“Stay with me.”
“I’m staying.”
“You better.”
His eyes held hers.
“You sent the records?”
“Yes.”
“You disobeyed me.”
“Yes.”
Anton smiled weakly.
“I’m very attracted to you.”
Odessa laughed and cried simultaneously.
Then his eyes closed.
“Anton?”
May you like
He did not answer.
“Anton!”
