After several hours, exhaustion crept in. I had an early meeting and needed to pretend that everything was normal at work. That would allow me to secretly work Katia’s case alongside my other cases. In order to do that, I needed to sleep.
Wanting to leave no stone unturned, I stopped by Katia’s apartment one more time in case I missed something. I returned to her foyer, hands on my hips as I slowly surveyed the scene. Frustration mingled with my exhaustion, and I emitted a soft curse at the fact that I had no tangible leads.
Something brushed against my leg, and I glanced down. Katia’s cat stared up at me, her large, green eyes almost sad as she meowed.
Crouching, I lifted my hand to her nose so she could sniff me. “I hate cats,” I muttered.
Sonya meowed again and nuzzled into my hand. I felt the familiar itch inside my nostrils and broke into large sneeze.
Sniffling, I softly petted her. “She’s going to be okay,” I soothed.
The cat sat down and looked up at me, her green irises cemented to mine.
My lips fluttered as I exhaled a defeated breath. “Fine. You can come home with me, but only until I find your mom. Do you understand?”
Sonya meowed, so I assumed that was ayes. I searched Katia’s hallway closet and found a cat carrier. Placing Sonya inside it, I zipped it up before breaking into a succession of loud sneezes.
“Fucking A,” I muttered, heading to the bathroom and popping two Benadryl. I searched Katia’s kitchen cabinets and closets, finding an unopened bag of cat food and cat litter. Returning to the foyer, I picked up the carrier and left the apartment.
Sonya meowed here and there as she sat in my front seat inside the carrier, but otherwise, the drive home was smooth. When I entered my house, I opened the carrier and Sonya jumped out.
“Don’tmake yourself at home,” I said, wagging my finger at her. “I’ll put some food and water out for you in the kitchen, and put some litter in a box by the back door, but don’t get used to being here anddon’tscratch anything. Do you hear me?”
The cat meowed, and I wondered if she was some sort of genius who understood English.
After putting out the food and litter, I sat on the couch and texted Alexis.
Leo: I know you’re on this. Any leads?
Alexis: I’m scouring EVERYTHING. I swear, Leo. Stay tuned. I’m going to figure this out.
Leo: I’m going to get a few hours of sleep and will be up early to get the evidence to the DNA lab. Keep me updated.
Tossing the phone on the couch, I harshly rubbed my face. I knew sleep would be almost impossible, but I needed to be fresh to crack the case. Heading upstairs, I willed myself to sleep for a few hours.
Sliding between the sheets, I closed my eyes and envisioned Katia’s gorgeous face.
“One more day, sweetheart,” I said, my eyes drifting closed. “I’m going to find you tomorrow.”
Succumbing to darkness, I left the terrible day behind.
Katia
I drifted in and out of sleep, groggy from whatever Oskar’s men had shot into my veins. At some point, I awoke with a gasp, desperately needing to pee. Were they going to make me go in the damn chair? How fucking humiliating.
Thankfully, my “guard” appeared and spoke in a serious tone.
“I’m going to take you to the bathroom,” he said, pointing to the gun at his hip. “Try anything and I’ll shoot you. Do you understand?”
I nodded and he unfastened the restraints at my wrists and ankles before urging me to stand. He chained my ankles together with a pair of handcuffs that had a long chain between them, and then handcuffed my wrists.
I shuffled out of the room, the man leading me, and realized I was in a private house. The layout seemed to be that of a one or two-story home, and I wondered who owned the house.
“Here you go,” he said, gently shoving me toward the bathroom. “Take longer than five minutes and I start shooting.”
“Fast shooter,” I said, wanting to get under his skin. “Don’t put that on your dating profile. Women hate a man who can’t perform.”
“Shut up,” he said, pushing me into the bathroom. “Five minutes.”
