Switched by Anne O'Connell Page A

was a friend. He and Misha
were close," she said, her eyes distant.
         "We want to create a
controlled situation where Richard leads his guys in to, presumably, kidnap
you. We strategically shoot Richard and hope the other two will run off to call
Victor. Tell him what happened. We convince them Richard is dead and you're now
property of Alexi Amelin," Brocco paused.
         Brad's eyes were wide. "So
wait, you want to use my girlfriend as bait and there are going to be guns
involved? And who the fuck is Alexi Amelin?"
         "We're dealing with the
Russian mafia Mr. Hudak. Not the boy scouts. You, of all people, with your
military background, should understand this. We'll put her in a bullet-proof
vest. The point of this little operation is to lure Victor out here to
Massachusetts, get him on attempted kidnapping, or at least conspiracy to
abduct Laura, and get him behind bars. At least for a few years. That way we
get him off the street while he's being indicted on other charges. We're hoping
with him in jail, more witnesses will come forward and help out in other cases
we’re trying to make against him. With Richard Vogt's written and recorded
testimony, we hope to put him in witness protection and have Victor think he's
a dead man. We will need Laura to bait him, and then testify. Then, if
necessary, we can stage her death and put her in witness protection,
too."  
         “And Alexi whatever?” Brad asked,
annoyed that the agent wasn’t answering his questions as quickly or as directly
as he wanted.
         Brocco gave Kali a long look and
drew in a deep breath. “Alexi is head of a rival Russian gang out here in this
neck of the woods. He and Victor have an old rivalry.”
         Brad leaned back in his chair,
taken aback by Brocco's revelation that they'd already looked into him. Nothing
got past these guys. More upsetting was the revelation that they wanted to use
Kali in conjunction with the name of another crime boss to help lure Kali’s ex.
They weren't playing it safe. If he knew anything from the deserts of Iraq, if
a person started dropping names, eventually that information was going to get
the attention of the person whose name was dropped. This was an all or nothing
campaign to get Victor Kolknov behind bars. "If you plan on using Kali as
bait," he said, refusing to call her Laura, "Then I have to be
involved, too. I'm not letting her do this without me."
         He felt Kali squeeze his hand under
the table.  She still didn't say anything.
         Amy sat quietly at the end of the
table looking back and forth from the agents to Brad and Kali. She looked
terrified.
         All eyes turned on Kali.
         "So what do you think about
all of this?" Brad asked. Brocco and Salazar had big plans, certainly, and
yet no one had really asked Kali how she felt about it. "You can keep
running or you can help get this guy. If you don't want to, you don't have
to."
         Brocco gave him a look of protest.
         Brad shook his head, "Don't
act like she doesn't have a choice. She does."
         "True, we can't force you to
do anything you don't want to do, Laura." Brocco gave her an expectant
look.
         Finally, Kali drew in a visible
breath and said, "I'll do it. I trust Richard and if Brad is going to be
there, too..."
         "We need to get Mr. Hudak
cleared first before we can make that kind of promise."
         Kali shrugged. "Then I can't
promise I'll help you."
         A slow smile spread over Brad's
lips. That was the Kali he knew.  "Guess you guys need to get on the phone
and see if I'm allowed to be present to make sure you don't accidentally kill
my girlfriend. You can't put a bullet proof vest on her head."
         Brocco gave Salazar a nod.
"Call it in; see what the higher ups think."
         Salazar stood and made his way into
the living room with his cell phone.
         He heard the agent's low voice in
the other room.
         "I realize this