The Collector

Yuri Popov disconnected from Hank’s call and made a silent vow to himself: If it turns out that Alan Swansea has indeed been investigating him and had something to do with Nadiya’s disappearance, he would call Mick and tell him to make sure that Hank Multer suffers a lot before killing him. That would be his punishment for fucking everything up.

  But if what Hank just told him held true, that Swansea was nothing more than a website designer and probably had nothing to do with any of these strange coincidences, then he would let Hank live. He’d fire his sorry ass of course and warn him to never say anything about his business affairs or else, but at least the ex-cop could go on living his miserable life.

  Popov devised a plan that would settle this mystery once and for all—and the beauty of it was that no matter how it played out, he would prevail. Scenario One: If Swansea was in fact the same man who had called Luka regarding the sale of the girls—using the alias Gordon Davis—then he was most likely the same guy who had been snooping around and stolen Nadiya. Popov didn’t really believe in coincidences and had a hunch that these events were tied together. And if this were the case, his plan would result in Swansea’s capture and imminent elimination.

  Scenario Two: But if Gordon Davis was truly legit and wanted to purchase the girls, he would be more than happy to take his money and deliver the goods. He would rake in a bloody fortune for such a neat and tidy package of young, unspoiled merchandise.

  It was a win-win situation. And what could be better than that?

  But first he had to call Martin Fowler. Despite the fact he seriously doubted Swansea would be able to track down Fowler and the girls, Popov saw all of this as a sign that his old friend needed to get those girls out of his house once and for all. He had kept them long enough to take his crazy photos and now needed to free them up so he could sell them. Renting the young girls as a group package had been a huge mistake in the first place. All it had done was cause headaches.

  Live and learn.

  Popov resolutely punched in the number for Luka Rusakov.