Clearly needing to feel useful, Lena asked Feodor, "Where do you keep the cleaning supplies? I'll tackle that mess upstairs."
"Leave it," Yuri said with a wave of his hand.
"But—"
"Nikolai's man will take care of it, Lena."
Her eyes widened slightly. Whether she knew of Kostya or not, he couldn't say. It was likely Benny had spoken of him but he couldn't be sure. Either way, she seemed to understand what he meant.
The doorbell chimed loudly. Yuri shook his head as Feodor shuffled toward the arched kitchen doorway. "I've got it."
He crossed the house and unlocked the reinforced double doors. Smoking a cigarette, Nikolai stood on the top step. He'd come alone in his sleek black car but Kostya was pulling into the driveway behind him.
Nikolai took his final drag and lifted his shoe to snuff out the cigarette. He pocketed the butt instead of tossing it carelessly into Yuri's landscaping. "So?"
"It's bad." Yuri watched Kostya climb out of his SUV. Raising his voice, he said, "Bring your cleaning bag. There's a lot of blood."
"Disposal?" Nikolai asked as he trailed him into the house.
Yuri shook his head. "He's still alive. He needs a doctor."
Nikolai frowned. "Is it one of your bodyguards? Was there a botched hit?"
"No." Sadly, he said, "That would actually make this whole situation so much simpler. No—it's Lena's cousin."
Nikolai's eyes narrowed. "The fence?"
Yuri shrugged. "I don’t know. He was trying to steal from me."
"Why? Lena's father and the nephew deal with high-end fencing. I've never known them to dabble in the B-and-E end of things. Joe Cruz is extremely careful."
"Apparently he wasn't careful enough. Hiring idiot nephews to work for you appears to have its drawbacks. "
Kostya appeared in his scrubs and looked like a surgeon. He had his red bags in hand. "Where am I going?"
Yuri motioned to the grand staircase. "Top of the stairs. You can't miss it. And don't open the bedroom doors. I've got Sasha closed in and he's incredibly agitated tonight."
Kostya nodded and headed upstairs to do what he did best.
With a flick of his fingers, Yuri indicated Nikolai should follow him to the kitchen. His voice lowered, he admitted, "I'm out of my depth here. This is cartel shit and I don't know how to help her."
"Her? You mean Lena?"
"Her father is being held by the Guzman Cartel."
Nikolai wiped a hand down his face. The heavy ink on his fingers and the backs of his hands drew Yuri's gaze. With an irritated sigh, Nikolai said, "I can't promise anything, Yuri. I need the facts first. Then I'll do what I can."
Side by side, they entered the kitchen. Tommy took one look at Nikolai and jumped off the chair. Stumbling backward, he knocked over two chairs and held up his uninjured arm. "No. No. No." He shot a pleading look at Lena. "Don't let them kill me."
"They're not going to kill you!" Swallowing nervously, she glanced at Nikolai. "You're not, right?"
Showing his dark sense of humor, Nikolai chuckled. "No, Lena." He flicked his attention to Tommy. "Not tonight, at least."
Her cousin went ghostly white. "Look, I didn't have a choice. I needed that painting."
Yuri held up a hand. "Sit. Then start from the beginning."
Tommy did as instructed. Gulping, he licked his lips and told the whole sordid tale. "We had these paintings, right? Like—we were holding onto them until the heat died down so we could fence them. They were supposed to be Tio Joe's retirement. He's getting out of the game and these paintings were mega cash."
"Retiring?" Lena sounded shocked. "When did he decide that?"
"A few months back," Tommy said. "He didn't want to tell you until it was a done deal. He said this was going to be a promise he wasn't going to break."
Yuri witnessed the pain flashing across her face. He thought of the way he'd stood her up at the restaurant. Her reaction made so much more sense. He vowed then and there he was never going to break another promise to her.
"So Tio went down to Matamoros to unload a shipment of shit that we've had accumulating in the warehouse," Tommy continued. "While he was gone, I got this call about one of the paintings. This chick was offering big bucks for it, way more than Tio thought he'd get for it through his connection in New York. I wanted to surprise him. I wanted to show him I was serious about taking over the business and producing a profit. I made the deal, got the cash drop and left the painting in one of the empty warehouses near that old gas plant where your dad likes to make transactions."
Lena cursed angrily and rubbed her eyes. "You fenced a hot painting to some chick in a warehouse and it never occurred to you that it was a bad fucking idea?"
Tommy grimaced. "I know. It was stupid."
"Yeah, it was, Tommy. You know the rules. You only fence art to another fence. Layers of protection, Tommy. That's the only thing that keeps you safe."
Yuri stared at Lena. He'd known she was street smart but apparently she possessed a wealth of criminal knowledge.
Feeling his stare, she rolled her eyes. "Let's just say dinnertime conversations around my house didn't revolve around the weather or the upcoming elections."
"Clearly," he muttered and turned back to Tommy. "This painting you fenced? How did a cartel painting get into your hands?"
Tommy shrugged. "I don't know. We don't touch the cartel business. Like at all. That shit is crazy dangerous. I guess the fence who sold to Tio Joe lied about the painting's provenance."
"Obviously," Lena grumbled. "But why come here tonight? Why try to steal one of Yuri's paintings?"
"The one I sold was a Galán. I tried to get a hold of the buyer but her phone was a burner. It's dead. So I went online and tried to find out everything I could about the painter. I read that the last one sold at an auction was sold to him." He gestured to Yuri with a tip of his chin. "A record price, too. So I figured maybe they would take this painting as a fair trade for your dad's life."
"Figured?" Yuri asked. "You don't know for sure?"
Tommy shook his head. "They won't let me talk to him. They've shut me out."
"I talked to him on Sunday morning." Lena spoke so softly Yuri barely heard her. She glanced up at him with shimmering, watery eyes. "He called and it was so early. I thought he sounded strange but it never occurred to me that he was in trouble."
"What did he say?" Nikolai wondered. "Maybe he was trying to give you a message."
She shook her head. "He told me he loved me and asked me if I had my gun close. That was it."
"He was trying to warn you," Nikolai replied.
"Yes." She made another face. "God, I'm so stupid. The other night, at 716, I busted a dealer called Chains in one of the back rooms. He told me that Tommy had screwed up a job but I didn't ask which one because I didn't care."
Yuri heard the anguish in her voice. He pulled her close and kissed her temple. "It's okay, Lena. I'll fix this."