Do Or Die

Viktor stood grabbing his tailored jacket from over the chair's back and hastily drew his arms through the sleeves. Lincoln's cell played the beginning of the Niki Minaj song "Beez In The Trap". He pulled the phone out and glanced at the screen and then froze, his eyes locked onto it. He slowly turned to face the other two men, displaying the cell's screen message. The Google map with the red icon representing fixed coordinates could not be misinterpreted.

Viktor, already adept at masking his emotions, easily hid his annoyance at the fact that Adrianna's explicit location was divulged to Lincoln so quickly. Viktor wondered at Xin's mounting challenge to his authority at every turn. This further shrank the time available to him to manage his deliverables - Audrianna to Dr. Eli by dusk.

"We have a decisive lock on her GIS coordinates." Lincoln looked at Viktor. "Would you like to lead the SWAT team?"

Lincoln had to hand it to Viktor; he appeared genuinely puzzled by the question.

"Me?" Viktor replied.

"Given your former profession, I thought you would rather like to handle the undertaking yourself."

Viktor blinked, aghast. "As an actuary?"

Lincoln sighed. "Are you willing to keep up the pretense, even now, though your wife's life is on the line?"

Viktor sighed in response to Lincoln's clipped tone. He laid a reassuring palm on his shoulder. The men were nearly equal in height; Lincoln had only two inches over Viktor. Viktor looked squarely into Lincoln's eyes and said quietly, "I trust you," before he grabbed his briefcase and headed towards the door.

Leaving the job of finding his wife in the hands of his U.S. Army-trained aides, Viktor headed towards the elevator. Trinidad was a small island, and he had no time to lose to arrive at the coordinates before Lincoln and his team. Audrianna's security team was highly trained in combat, a daring mash-up of ex-Marines, Interpol agents, and volatile assassins. They had no doubt taken the kidnapping as an affront to their very existence. Yet Viktor's training was undoubtedly of a more lethal vein than any human could dare measure against. Audrianna was his wife. He would make sure the person who had taken her drew his last breath the very second he laid his hands on him.

Viktor related to his secretary that she was to remain on call until further notice. He reached the elevator, pressed the button and waited. He then slowly turned to his right to face the approaching auburn-haired man. Viktor's brow furrowed as he sought to recall the young man's name. Viktor extended his arm and grasped the callused hand the man extended. "Brighton," Viktor inclined his head, "Darksmith."