Sawyer glanced at Rory to see that he looked just as nervous. That was when Sawyer realized that he wasn’t the only one worrying about what secrets Erin and Elliott had spilled. When Sawyer had briefed Weatherford after they’d stopped the auction on the mountain and subsequent fight with Yegor, he hadn’t mentioned anything about Tilly or that Rory had been the one who leaked the details about the mission. But would Erin and Elliott cover for Rory, too? He’d sent texts to their phones several times asking that very question, but neither had replied. Given Tilly’s abilities and the fact that Erin and Elliott didn’t think much of supernaturals, Sawyer didn’t see them having Rory’s back.
“Sawyer. Rory. Good to see you again,” Weatherford said, then looked around the table with a frown. “Where are Erin and Elliott? I expected everyone to sit in on this call. We have a lot to cover.”
Sawyer did a double take. Erin and Elliott should have been back in London by now. He exchanged glances with Rory, who looked as baffled as he was. A dozen different possibilities shuffled through his head, including the notion that Yegor and his goons had intercepted their teammates and killed them.
Knowing he had to say something fast—before Weatherford became suspicious—he decided to play it safe with his answer. “I know you wanted to see all of us, but Erin and Elliott are out doing some other stuff. I’ll give them a full rundown after we talk.”
Weatherford was silent as he chewed on that and Sawyer braced himself, waiting for his boss to ask for more details. But he seemed to decide he could live with Sawyer’s answer because he nodded.
“That’s fine. Just make sure to catch them up on what we talk about.”
Before Sawyer had a chance to comment, Weatherford began explaining what information MI6 had come up with since their call the previous day.
“Brielle wasn’t lying,” Weatherford admitted. “I have no idea how she got him out, but Yegor and Julian have been missing from Diyarbakir for at least fourteen months. As far as we can tell, they walked right out of there without anyone trying to stop them.”
That seemed too improbable to even consider. Then again, there was a lot about Brielle that they didn’t know, including how she could locate supernaturals anywhere in the world. Maybe she had some kind of unique skill that allowed her to break her brother and Yegor out of prison unnoticed.
“If Yegor escaped over a year ago, why didn’t we know about it?” Rory asked. “Isn’t this something MI6 should have been keeping an eye on?”
Weatherford bristled visibly at the question, his mouth tightening, like Rory was attacking him personally. But just as quickly, their boss’s demeanor changed and his shoulders slumped a little.
“I’m still digging into the details, but it seems someone at the prison did report Yegor missing. The word simply hadn’t filtered down to us yet.”
That was scary.
“Unfortunately, the bad news doesn’t stop there,” Weatherford continued. “Based on what you said about Yegor possibly being involved in the murders of your former teammates, we did some digging and found video footage of Seamus arriving at Calgary International Airport in Alberta an hour before Sarah and Cedric were killed. We found no direct link to Silas’s death yet, but considering all three of them had their throats slit, I think Seamus killed him, too. He’s obviously getting revenge for Yegor.”
Sawyer’s gums and fingertips ached, his fangs and claws trying to get out. He’d already hated Seamus before, but now he flat-out wanted to kill the bloody bastard—preferably by ripping his throat out with his bare hands.
“It goes without saying that MI6 wants to get Yegor back in our custody—badly.” Weatherford scowled. “It’s an embarrassment that the man escaped without us knowing it. The fact that he’s responsible for the deaths of three of our agents only makes it more imperative we find him quickly and before he goes after anyone else on your team. Unfortunately, while we were able to collect a lot of information on Yegor’s actions prior to the auction in Greece, we have no idea where he is at the moment.”
Sawyer couldn’t help but notice Weatherford didn’t mention the fact that he was likely on Yegor’s list, too.
“Finding Yegor would be easier if we knew what he might be up to next,” Rory pointed out. “It’s possible he’s trying to arrange another auction, but since he doesn’t have Brielle to find more supernaturals for him, that seems unlikely.”
“We’ve had our analysts working on it nonstop since talking to you the other night and have even been working directly with the Americans in STAT, but we still don’t have anything concrete on what Yegor’s up to,” Weatherford said. “Our best bet is that he might be looking to pick up where he left off with his original plans.”
Sawyer had to actually think awhile to dredge up the memories of what Yegor had been up to four years ago. Most of the details escaped him, but all he could say for sure was that Yegor and his brother had been pissed about the Russians encroaching into areas historically accepted to be Ukrainian territory. When the European members of NATO, especially France and the UK, had refused to get involved, the two brothers had lost their entire family oil business, something that made them furious.
“Do you think Yegor might be planning a major terrorist attack against the Russians?” Rory asked, his dubious tone giving away the fact that he wasn’t buying that.
Weatherford made a face. “I agree it seems like a stretch, but right now, it’s all we have. We’re working on this around the clock. Once we find something, I’ll pass it on to you and the STAT team.”
“The easiest way to figure out what Yegor is up to is to talk to Brielle,” Sawyer pointed out. “She was part of his inner circle from the very beginning and implied she knows what he’s up to. She’s willing to tell us if we let her and her brother go, but STAT is more interested in getting their hands on her for her ability to detect supernaturals than in stopping Yegor. Any chance MI6 can put some pressure on them to let her walk in return for information?”
Weatherford thought about that a moment before letting out a heavy sigh. “We’re well aware of her abilities and the Americans’ interest in her. I’ll talk to McKay, but honestly, I’m not holding out a lot of hope.”
The virtual meeting broke up shortly after that, with Sawyer’s team stuck in a holding pattern until they knew more.
“Erin and Elliott never made it back to headquarters,” Rory said the moment the teleconference connection was off. “Do you think Yegor got to them?”
Sawyer frowned. “I don’t think so. If Yegor killed them, he’d want us to know they were dead. There’s no payoff for him otherwise. I’m hoping they’re just having second thoughts about walking on us and are at some hotel figuring things out.”