Too Far Gone by Debra Webb, Regan Black

into human trafficking.”
    Her stomach dropped. She’d known Desmond couldn’t be innocent, but complicit? “What do you mean?”
    “Your boyfriend—”
    “
Agent
.”
    “Yeah. Yeah.” He frowned at her. “This is really ugly, Lauren.”
    “What’s worse than associating with a man who buys and sells people?”
    “Doing it for the worst of the worst.” Mike turned his laptop so she could see the screen. “Andreas Polzin. He lives like a Russian Czar off the revenue from dozens of illegal enterprises run by highly competent, brutal criminal lieutenants like Kozlov.”
    Lauren’s body started to shake with a vengeance. “I need a drink.”
    “You’ll need more than that.” Mike took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Vanya connects all the players. You saw her with Trinity that night, which means she must have left the scene with Kozlov and his pal Maksimov. Word is, she’s Polzin’s California mistress.” Mike sat down again and started typing. “I’ll need Claudia’s help to finish this.”
    “Finish what? Please spell it out! Not all of us are familiar with Russian crime.” There was a clear excitement in his eyes, but it wasn’t a happy or pleasant expression. There was something underneath, something predatory. It added a chill to the tremors. Dear God... what had she ignored all these years?
    “Sit down before you faint.”
    “I will not faint.” But she landed hard in the nearest chair. “Just tell me what the hell this all means.”
    He grunted. “Bottom line, we need to deal with Kozlov so you can have a life again.”
    “We need to deal with him so he goes down for the horrific crimes he’s committed,” she agreed. Life as she knew it might be over but bigger issues were at play. These monsters had to be stopped. If the police weren’t going to stop them, someone had to try.
    “True.” Mike rested his elbows on his knees. “I’m betting Vanya could be the key to taking out Polzin. She could break the operation wide open. Do you have any idea what any given branch of law enforcement would give to make that arrest?”
    “From the look on your face I’d say you’d rank that arrest ahead of Christmas or your birthday.”
    He sent her a pointed look. “Polzin has a piece of everything. On a global scale.” The enthusiasm in his voice and the gleam in his eye faded. “That means there’s no place for you to hide. It’s all or nothing if you want your life back.”
    For a long moment, she absorbed that news, distancing herself by pretending this was a role, not real life. She was exhausted, mentally and emotionally.
    Every discovery left her feeling worse than before. Desmond had died at the hands of a criminal, practically in the arms of an exotic woman with indeterminate loyalties. Feeling hemmed in on all sides, Lauren summoned her courage. “If Vanya’s the key, then we need to find her. Maybe she can help us.”
    “If it was that easy,” he argued, “the FBI or Interpol would have done it already.”
    “I know something they don’t.”
    “Oh yeah, what’s that?”
    “Vanya is afraid. I saw her fear that night in the office. I might be able to reach her, woman to woman.”
     
    Mike watched Lauren walk out of the office, staring at the empty doorway longer than necessary. There was a lot he could have said in response to her statement. He didn’t think it would be easy convincing Vanya to turn on Polzin. Sometimes salvation arrived too late and victims resisted leaving a bad situation.
    He shook off the bitterness. This wasn’t about his past or those young schoolgirls in a faraway country, it was about Lauren’s future. To that end, he didn’t want Lauren to be part of the search for the woman. Her safety was paramount. Having Vanya’s name was a good start. It was only a matter of time before they found a lead on her location. He and Claudia could do this without risk to Lauren. Stopping Polzin was essential if Lauren was ever going to have peace. It