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The air outside tastes like static. Snowflakes are falling, spiraling down like little dancers in white. Once he eases me into the back seat of the dark blue Tesla, I tuck my legs close to my body. To the plain eye, I’m soothing myself through my suffering. “What hospital are we going to? How far away is it?”
“Saint Juniper’s. It’s just five miles. I’ll drive as fast as I can. But it’s going to be at least a half hour.”
“Thank you.” In the shadow of my jacket, I tuck my phone in my lap and begin to text Audrey. I know her number by heart.
ME: Meet me at Saint Juniper’s. I should arrive in half an hour with this snow.
AUDREY: Okay, I’m coming now. Should I bring anything?
ME: A disguise of some kind. I’ll duck into one of the bathrooms. Just wait in there for me.
“You doing okay back there?” Yeremey asks. He peers at me in the middle mirror.
Curling over on the seat, I suck on my teeth. “How much longer?”
Snapping his attention between the road ahead and his phone’s GPS, Yeremey makes his tone as cheerful as possible. “Real soon, I swear.”
He’s a nice guy. Lying to him really does suck.
And I hope Arsen won’t punish him too harshly when he realizes my ruse.
How long will it take Arsen and his group to arrive at Yevgeniy’s house? I’m terrified that I’ll be too late. To go this far and have it all be for nothing … It makes my stomach hurt. I was already hugging myself, but I do it for real now. Yeremey watches me occasionally in the mirror. He looks worried.
The snow makes it too dangerous to hammer on the gas. In spite of this, we pull into the large parking lot of a massive multilevel hospital in the next ten minutes.
“Okay, we’re here. Let me pull up to the emergency drop-off.” He slows to a halt. The tires grind on the salt that’s been laid down in front of the red-painted curb. Before he can cut the engine, I jump from the back seat. “Galina Yevgeniyevna, wait!”
“I can’t, I’m going in!” I yell without looking back. Please, please let me be faster than him!
My plan won’t work unless I can escape into the bathroom without him noticing. Once the doctors and nurses get involved, slipping away will be that much harder. Darting through the sliding glass doors, I feel the eyes of the front desk on me. “Sorry!” I groan, patting my belly with a sheepish grin. “Baby’s pressing on my bladder, can’t wait!”
The woman flashes an understanding grin. She can’t see any blood with my jacket hiding the evidence; to her, I’m just a soon-to-be-mom about to pee on herself. From the corner of my eye, I glimpse movement; Yeremey has reached the glass doors. My shoe nearly slips out from under me from how sharply I turn down the hallway. The restroom sign is a beacon of hope. Panting heavily, I push the door open, stumbling into one of the three stalls.
Okay. Okay. I did it, I’m here! Now I have to hope my guard doesn’t get bold and come investigate. The front desk didn’t see us together. With any luck they’ll send him away. If he waits for me in the lobby, that’s a different issue, but one I have a solution for.
Squatting on the lid of the toilet, I hunch over my phone. Come on, Audrey! I’m about to text her for an update when the door to the bathroom swings open. Shoes shuffle on the tile, turning in place, as if unsure where to go. I stand warily.
“Galina?” Audrey asks in a soft hush.
Popping the stall door open, I jump into her arms. “Oh my God, you made it!”
“Did you think I’d bail on you?” she laughs, hugging me back. “Come on now. Are you all right?”
“Sort of. Did you see a guy out there acting cagey?”
She peeks back at the door she came through, puckering her lips. “Yeah, the front desk was telling him if he didn’t calm down and leave, they’d call security on him. Let me guess, he’s with you?”
“One of Arsen’s men,” I explain. “He won’t be a problem if you brought?—”
She holds up a backpack. “You can always rely on me.”
My immense relief makes me feel like I’m glowing. “You’re amazing,” I say, taking the bag. Digging through it, I begin lifting out the various hats and shirts.
Audrey cranes her neck as she watches me. “I didn’t know what you wanted exactly, so I brought a few options.”
Flipping a fluffy white winter hat with a fuzzy pompom into the air, I shove it over my hair. “This is perfect. Yeremey won’t recognize me at all.”
“Galina, what exactly is your plan?”
