AllFreeNovel
Share Us
A video loads, the image grainy and dark. I press play, my knees buckling. There, bound to a chair with duct tape over her mouth, is my daughter. Her eyes are wide with terror, tears streaming down her ruddy cheeks. She’s dressed in her uniform still.
Rage courses through me, white-hot. I clutch the phone so hard I’m amazed it doesn’t shatter. They will pay for this. For every second of distress they have caused my child, they will suffer tenfold. I swear it on all I hold dear.
Then, a call. My hands shake as I look around at the empty room, as though someone might help me. I pick up on the second ring, hands shaking.
“H-Hello?”
“Caterina Genovese Zolotov,” a robotic voice comes from the other line. “You’ve seen the video.”
“I have,” I say through gritted teeth. “I swear, if you hurt one hair on her head—”
“You’ll what?” the man asks. In the background, I hear others laughing maniacally.
“Where is she?” I demand through gritted teeth.
He tuts. “Now, now, that’s no way to speak to those who are looking after your daughter.”
“Damn you!” I shout. “Tell me where Emiliana is or I will destroy you if it’s the last thing I do.”
He chuckles, the sound grating. “So dramatic.”
I want to reach through the phone and strangle him. “This isn’t a game,” I hiss. “Give her back to me now, untouched, and we can pretend this never happened.”
“I’m afraid that won’t be possible,” he says lightly. “The child is…leverage. For your cooperation.”
My blood turns to ice. Leverage. He’s using my innocent daughter as a pawn.
“Whatever for?” I gasp.
“Tonight, steal Mikhail Zolotov’s laptop and bring it to us. In exchange, you may have your daughter back.”
Steal Mikhail’s laptop? The absurd request screams that my father is behind this—I remember how he asked the same of me when we last spoke.
“I…I can’t.”
“Then your daughter is dead.”
“No, wait!” I shriek, desperation coursing through me. “I’ll do as you say. Please, tell me. Where will I find you?”
“You’ll receive the location within half an hour. Be prepared to leave in the dark. Make sure no one sees you. Do as we say, Caterina, and your darling Emiliana will stay alive.”
The line clicks.
I’m paralyzed with indecision, my mind racing through every possible scenario. Give Mikhail the laptop and betray him, destroying any chance of the life I dreamed we could have together. Or refuse and risk my father following through on his threats against Emiliana.
Mikhail. My darling daughter. The two people I love most, pitted against each other by my monster of a father.
I think back to the day I told Papa I was pregnant. His cold rage, his attempt to force me to get an under-the-table abortion when the hospitals wouldn’t do it since too much time had passed into term. I defied him then to protect my baby, and I’ll do whatever it takes now.
I bury my face in my hands, torn apart inside. I want to scream and cry and beg the universe for another way. But I know there is no other way. No matter what I choose, someone I love will get hurt.
And despite what I say, Emiliana must always come first.
But before I make this irreversible move, I must confirm I’m not being set up. With trembling hands, I call my father.
“Caterina.”
“Father, I received a call.”
