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I go straight to Maggie, scooping her out of Esther’s arms, checking every square inch of her. She’s crying. But she seems unharmed. I bury my face in her neck, hushing her, rocking her, trying to find my calm. Needing distraction from my rage. She eventually quietens down, and I stand at the kitchen window and watch the men drive all the cars in, including Tank’s mangled Mercedes and the van that tried to get away. Goldie has taken Anya and the man to Danny’s office. I’m itching to go there. Smash her to pieces. But they need information first. And I need this.
I take a seat at the table, and a cup of tea slides in front of me. I notice the ring on Esther’s finger. “Congrat . . .” I can’t get the word out, breaking down, my adrenaline drained.
“Oh, Rose.” She crouches, trying to hug us both. “She’s okay.”
“But Pearl isn’t,” I whisper, looking down at Maggie. She’s now calm, trying to focus on her arms flapping in front of her, mesmerized by the movement. But all I see is Pearl’s face. Her closed eyes.
“Mum, take Maggie.” Danny stands at the entrance to the kitchen looking like he could explode.
I don’t protest, giving our daughter up to her grandmother. “She probably needs her diaper changed,” I say, standing.
“I’ve got it.” Esther disappears, and I face my husband, bracing myself for the show. I’ve no doubt it’ll be epic.
He strolls across the kitchen and opens a cupboard, pulling down a bottle of Scotch. He pours two glasses. One for me? No. He necks both. Faces me. “I’m so fucking mad I don’t even know where to begin.”
“Then I will,” I say, sitting. “Ella seems okay, but she can’t remember much from the boatyard. She used her cell to see in the container because it was dark. She saw Nolan on the floor. And her ex. Why was her ex in the container?”
“He knocked Ella about. Brad brought him to the boatyard.” His nostrils flare. “A gift to his son.”
“Right,” I say, taking in more air, ready to go again. “That’s the last Ella remembers before she was struck. Pearl said it was a fist. I expect because she was victim to that fist a few times herself. I told her repeatedly things were going to be okay, and she didn’t look like she believed me, so I used my own history as a source of evidence that even in the darkest, worst times, you can find your way to the light.” I get up and go to the counter, pouring myself a glass, since my husband’s lost his manners. I down it, gasp, and slam the tumbler down, returning to the table. “I mentioned Dimitri. Pearl blanched. I pressed her and she told me Anya’s surname was Dimitri.” I show the ceiling my palms. “There’s foreign identification, apparently, and when I went to find Anya to question her, she had already left. I found her running to Tank’s car. With. Our. Baby. So if you’re mad, fine. I’ll happily bear the brunt of your rage.” I take a breath, trying to stabilize my voice. “Pearl got Maggie back.” His eyes widen. “Anya got in the car and tried to run me down. Pearl knocked me out of the way and took the force of the car.”
An inhale, long and deep. Calming. “You’re quite good at debriefing.”
“I learned from the best.” I stare at him, my face as straight as his. “So what are you going to do about Anya fucking Dimitri?” I ask.
“I’m not going to do anything.” Danny’s cell chimes and he lifts it, looking at the screen, his eyebrows slowly arching as he reads whatever he’s reading. What the fuck is he reading?
“You’re doing nothing?”
Danny pushes away from the counter and walks out, and I watch, astounded, as he leaves me alone in the kitchen. “No.” I go after him, following him to his office. Tank and Fury stand either side of the entrance. I expect to be blocked, but they let me pass. And Danny leaves the door open for me to enter.
Anya is on a chair, Goldie guarding her, and the other guy is front-down on the rug, Ringo standing over him. I notice there is no Brad. He’ll be with Pearl. I swallow down the tennis ball wedged in my throat. Please be okay.
Danny sits on the edge of his desk and drags a gun off the wood. “I’m not going to do anything,” he repeats, looking at me, holding the gun out. “You are.”
I accept the gun, half shocked, half thirsty for Anya’s blood, as Danny folds his arms. “This is Stefan Dalca.” He nods to the guy on the rug. “He’s the dumb fucker boyfriend of this sweet thing,” he says quietly, looking at Anya. “Nox Dimitri’s baby sister.”
My mouth falls open as I look at Anya. She has a sneer on her face still. She is not here because she has been forced to be here. She’s here because she wants to be.
Danny pulls a cell from Anya’s backpack. “The code.”
“Du-te dracului,” she hisses.
“That sounds like a no.” He sighs, throwing the cell to Otto. “Well, given King asked for his virgin intact, I’m going to assume news that Pearl is no longer a virgin hasn’t made it to him yet.”
“How did you come to be with the Polish?” I ask the obvious question. She doesn’t answer.
But Danny does. He stands and smiles at Anya. “Mind if I give my wife a bit of background information?” he asks, as I peek across to Otto. He’s on his laptop. A constant, real-time stream of information.
“Your wife betrayed my brother!” Anya screams. “She is a whore!”
Danny laughs lightly, a worrying edge of psycho laced through it. I wouldn’t blame him if he backhanded her. But he won’t. Even The Brit has limits. He turns to me. “You gonna let her speak about you like that?”
I step in and crack Anya across the face, the connection stinging and deafening, the mark on her cheek instant.
Then I step back before I get carried away.
“There was a time many months ago,” Danny begins casually, “when The Russians and the Polish were working together quite nicely under The Bear, AKA Beau’s mother, who, as we all know, met quite the spectacular death at the hands of her daughter, our very own little ninja, or, as her fellow cops knew her, Lara Croft.” He smiles. It’s dark. Then he turns it onto Anya. “The Poles and the Russians. Friends once upon a time. That soon went to shit when egos, power, and money got in the way. And us. We got in the way.” He pouts. “You’re not talking, but Brad’s confirmed you knew about him and Pearl, and, like I said, King doesn’t know, so something tells me you might be batting for Sandy. There is only you and that cunt over there.” He looks at the man face down on the rug. “You couldn’t very well take us down on your own, so to get revenge for your brother, as well as information for Sandy, who is passing select information on to King, you went to places you completely underestimated, didn’t you, you sick little bitch? To earn your stripes, maybe earn some cash, and reinstate your family’s name and reputation.” He leans down. Smiles. “Am I right, or am I right?”
