Wish by Scarlett Haven Page B

let us
into their country, it would mean war. Instead, they’re going to
help us, which is good. Maybe we can get out of this with minimal
damage. I don’t know a lot about foreign politics, but I do know we
do not want to go
to war with Russia.
    By now, the whole world knows that
Damon Hartley and his alleged girlfriend, Katerina Vasin, has disappeared.
Katerina isn’t his girlfriend, but that is what the media is
saying. It’s only a matter of time before they dig up information
about her—about her father being a terrorist. They already know
she’s Russian, and people are speculating.
    “ Tristan,” one of the guys drawing
up the plans says to me. “Are you absolutely certain that this girl
is not involved. We can’t afford to be wrong about
this.”
    “ I am certain,” I say, not
hesitating or wavering. “Katerina Vasin is to be
trusted.”
    “ Okay,” he says, putting his faith
in me. “When did the girl’s cell signal go out?”
    “ They landed in Moscow early in
the morning,” I answer. “They must have realized that she had her
phone then and they ditched it.”
    “ Russia is a big country,” the
president says. “How are we supposed to find them? And how do we
even know they’re still in Russia?”
    “ I believe they’re in Russia,” I
say. “Everybody is looking for them. There is no way they can leave
the country. Wherever they are, they’re hiding out. They’re waiting
for us to make the first move. Well, not us. They’re waiting on
Mikhail Vasin.”
    “ And Mikhail is willing to comply,
right?” he asks.
    “ Yes. Anything to get his daughter
back. Right now, he’s looking for his wife, his son’s fiancé, and
Katerina,” I say. “They’ve pretty much taken his whole
family.”
    “ I thought he was supposed to be
their leader,” President Hartley says to me.
    “ He was. But as you know,
terrorism is a messy business,” I say. “Mikhail was offered a job
working for the Russian government about five years ago, and he’s
been working on the inside trying to take down the group that he
helped create. Somebody must have figured it out. It seems a lot of
people in the group have turned on him.”
    The information was something we were just
given last night. We were going to go after Mikhail, even though I
knew he wasn’t involved. Not with his daughter missing. I’ve seen
how much that man loves her. We were all shocked the hear it. Even
though I had seen how much Mikhail loves his daughter, I still
thought he was involved somehow.
    The news about Mikhail no longer being a
terrorist will make Katerina happy once she finds out. Probably his
wife too, if she’s still alive. Elizabeth Vasin has been missing
for quite a while now.
    “ And we’re offering him amnesty if
he helps us find the kid and continues helping take down the
group,” the president’s advisor says.
    Good.
    Mikhail has done a lot of bad things, but he’s
more than making up for them. Taking down a terrorist group from
the inside is a hard and messy job. One that he might not make it
out of alive. I know he can see that now. His wife and kids are
paying for his mistakes.
    “ We’re almost to Moscow,” a woman
says. “It’s time to buckle up and get ready to land.”
    All of us take a seat and buckle up. My heart
beats anxiously inside my chest as we make our descent into
Russia.
    I have to find Katerina.
     
    Worst of the
worst.
     
    Katerina.
    I can hear men talking from
upstairs.
    They sound anxious.
    Damon is asleep, so I slowly walk up the
stairs and put my ear to the door so I can hear what they’re
saying.
    “ Kidnapping the boy was a mistake .” I
know the voice. I am pretty sure it’s Matthews. Or at least, that
was his name as Damon’s bodyguard. I’m sure it’s not his real name.
He was with Damon the longest, so he’s grown to know, and possibly
care for Damon.
    “ It’s too
late to back out now ,” another voice says.
I don’t recognize this guy at all.
    “ The
Russian