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I measure one of the sweaters against my chest. I’ll have to layer a few on to stay warm. “I have to save Ruslan.”
She gnaws at her bottom lip, hands wringing. “Is this really the best way? Can’t you just call the cops, tell them where everything is going down?”
“If I do that, they’re likely to shoot Arsen in the chaos. Or just because they want to. Oh, this is nice.” I’ve stuffed myself into a second sweater; this one is a pretty shade of pine green.
“Galina,” she nearly groans my name.
“I have to do this alone,” I say bluntly.
She stares at me like she wants to argue more, but instead she backs down. “How are you going to get to where he is?”
Taking her hands in mine, I slip on my most winning smile. “You said I can rely on you, right?”
“Oh God.”
“I need your car.”
Audrey throws her head back to stare at the ceiling. She shuts her eyes, staying like that, as if she’s gathering her courage. Letting go of my hands, she grabs my shoulders, staring at me hard as she talks in a serious whisper.
“When you bring it back to me—and you will bring it back—it better be in one piece.”
“Thank you, Audrey. I don’t deserve a friend like you.”
“Funny,” she laughs dryly. “I was just thinking the same thing.”
Yeremey has folded himself over the front desk. There are two police officers speaking to him in soft, patient voices. The woman sitting at the computer in front of him looks extremely uncomfortable. “Listen to me,” Yeremey begs. “I’m looking for a pregnant woman.”
“Yes, sir,” she says lightly. “We have many of those here.”
Yanking my hat further over my face, so that it’s nearly on my eyelashes, I speed-walk toward the exit doors. Yeremey is too distracted to see me. Even if he did, I look like an entirely different person. The double sweaters are plenty warm—too warm, thanks to my nervous sweating. It’s a relief to burst out into the chilly snowflakes.
Okay, she said she parked in the left lot. Scanning the cars all sitting in nice rows, I half-jog over the pavement. The snow has made it slick; my shoe kicks out from under me, one knee buckling. Gasping, I grab onto the hood of a red hatchback to keep my balance.
Be careful, I chide myself. Don’t go this far only to bust your ankle and lose everything!
Looking up, wiping snow from my eyes, I spot Audrey’s familiar green Subaru. I’ve been in Audrey’s vehicle enough times to know it by sight.
Yanking out the keys she gave me, I stick them in the driver’s side door. The car opens for me, letting me close myself inside. It’s not cold—she must have had the heat blasting in here before she parked.
I put the car keys in the ignition, where they jingle loudly. There are two empty containers of Jamba Juice in Audrey’s center cup holders. I pause, considering them with a funny sense of sadness. Audrey has always struggled to keep her car clean. I’d chastise her when we went on joy rides together, and she’d laugh it off, insisting she’d clean her car the next time we went out.
Of course, she never did.
The empty drinks are a stark reminder of the predictable life I left behind. A life I might never get back.
I’ll never get anything if I don’t do this.
Pulling out my phone, I message Yevgeniy.
ME: Where do you want me to go?
36
GALINA
The snow is coming down in sheets. With the wipers going at top speed, I’m allowed a few seconds of vision before I’m blind again. My jaw is clenched for the entire agonizingly long drive. White-knuckling the steering wheel, I take a right turn into a dark section of road. If my GPS is right, Yevgeniy’s location is closer to the hospital than Arsen’s cabin. There’s a chance I’ll beat him there if he’s spent enough time organizing his men before moving to strike.
Please don’t let me be too late.
