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I didn’t know how I was going to survive this. Once he realized that I wasn’t lying, they were going to kill me. He wanted me to somehow justify myself to him, but there was nothing to say.
I was worthless. Just some half-breed bitch that nobody wanted.
I closed my eyes but refused to cry.3LeonidRobin stared out the window as my car rolled through the mid-morning traffic.
“We’ve got two goals today,” I said. “Get you some clothes and some other essentials then meet with Hedeon to decide your fate.”
She grimaced. “Sounds easy.”
“The harder part is getting you stuff,” I said. “Can’t bring you out in public, since you’ll make a scene. For now, we’ll just meet with Hedeon.”
“What makes you think I’ll make a scene?”
“Oh, come on. The first person you see, you’ll go running up to them and beg them to save you. It’ll be embarrassing and annoying, and it won’t work. I’d really like to skip that.”
She frowned like she hadn’t thought of that. Maybe she hadn’t, but she would sooner or later.
“So what are we doing instead?”
“Hedeon’s got a place nearby,” I said. “We’ll sit and chat.”
“Why do you work for him, anyway?”
I squinted at the road in front of me. “I don’t feel like going through the intricacies of my relationship with him.”
“Just seems to me that you’re a smart enough guy, you don’t need—”
“Stop,” I said, keeping my voice level. “You don’t know what you’re talking about, and it’s only going to annoy me.”
She shut her mouth.
I pulled around the block until I found a spot across from a baseball diamond. Some young kids played football in the outfield. I parked, got out, and escorted Robin onto the sidewalk.
“Kids won’t help you,” I said. “You’ll just scare the hell out of them.”
She glared at me and followed as I walked around the car and crossed the street. A riot of plants grew between a tall, black wrought iron fence to the left. Robin sulked as we headed down the block beneath large shade trees growing big enough to break and deform the concrete around them. I turned left at the end of the block and came to a large gate in the fence.
“Here we are,” I said.
Robin crossed her arms. “A community garden.”
“Bingo.” I pushed the gate open. It made a loud creaking noise. “Come on in.”
She hesitated, but followed. I shut the gate behind her.
Hedeon’s patch was toward the back left corner. An older woman stooped over a crop of tomatoes in a wide-brimmed tan hat. She picked at weeds and flicked small bugs away. I saw Robin stare at her, and wondered if she’d try to make a move, but she kept silent. I tugged her along toward where Hedeon knelt with his hands in the dirt, his brow sweating from the sun, his pants already brown from mud.
“You’re late,” he said.
“She dragged her feet.”
He looked up, squinted at Robin, then looked back down. He pulled a couple more weeds.
“Nice garden,” Robin said.
“You talk again and I will beat you until you lose teeth,” Hedeon said.
I sighed. “He means it,” I said. “Do us all a favor. You’re pretty with your teeth.”
She glared at me but didn’t say anything.
“Cops are all over the body today,” Hedeon said.
“I figured they would be.”
“Pavel’s a mess. Thinks he’s gonna get caught. DNA evidence or some shit.”
“Pavel’s a moron.”
“I know.” Hedeon grunted and rocked back onto his heels. “I used to think you were the smart one, at least until—” He gestured vaguely at Robin.
“Ah, come on. She’s not so bad.”
“She’s a liability.”
“She’s worth something. Right, Robin?”
She gave me a tight glare but she nodded.
That was a good sign. Maybe the girl didn’t want to die after all.
“Maybe.” Hedeon pursed his lips. “I was hasty last night. I can admit it.”
“I understand. I surprised you and you don’t like surprises.”
“Not on job nights, no, I really don’t.” He stood up and rubbed his back. He shaded his eyes with the other hand. “What do you want to do with her?”
“Ransom,” I said. “I figured we could make some extra money on the side.”
“How much were you thinking?”
“Fifty thousand. Maybe a hundred.”
Hedeon smiled. “It’s almost hard to hear, isn’t it?”
Robin looked at me. I nodded.
“Doesn’t matter to me,” she said.
“Oh, I doubt that. We’re talking about how much money we think you’re worth as a human being. That can’t be easy to hear. I wonder if you thought it might be more?”
“I thought it might be less.”
Hedeon laughed and dropped his hand from his eyes. “All right,” he said. “Keep her around and see how she does. But the first sign of trouble and we’re getting rid of her.” He stepped on his garden patch. “I could probably fit a body under here. And I bet it’d be a very good fertilizer.”
