“Okay, Ivan, I get it. We’ll get protection on her immediately,” Dmitri says. “I’ll pull Yuri from his current assignment and have him go over and sit outside Emma’s apartment building. Anything else you need done?”
“I’ll let you know,” I tell him, turning to face the window. I’m angry that Emma is in this position and doesn’t even know it. I need to talk to her.
Dmitri and Kolya exit my office and leave me in peace. I pour myself a drink from the bar cart and down it quickly. The burn feels oddly comforting. I didn’t expect to utter the words that Emma was mine, but I don’t regret saying them. Emmaismine, even if she doesn’t know it yet.
I can’t explain it, but I need to put my own eyes on Emma and see for myself that she is safe. Theoretically, I know she’s fine. She’s a strong woman who can handle herself. Realistically, I feel an unknown threat is looming over her. I wasn’t kidding when I said earlier today that I don’t believe in coincidences.
I pull up to her building and wait outside in the car. I know she’s not home yet because I drove by the restaurant and saw her working. I called Boris and he told me she’s only working lunch today, and she was about to be off soon. When I drove by and saw Yuri parked outside the restaurant, I knew I didn’t have to worry about her walking home, at least for today.
I smile to myself when I look in the rear view mirror and see her turn the corner onto her street. She walks confidently with a purpose, and I love the smile she wears while doing it. Her long hair peeks out from the bottom of a pink beanie hat. I’m pretty sure pink is her favorite color, because every time I see her, she’s wearing something pink.
I watch her walk up the steps to her building and let herself in the front door. From there, I know she’ll walk up to the second floor and to her own apartment. As soon as I see the front door close behind her, I spot Yuri parking his car and getting out to walk over to mine.
“Boss,” Yuri acknowledges as I roll down the car window. “Nothing to report so far today. She spent the morning at Brookline Hospice before taking the bus to work.”
“Thank you,” I replied before rolling up my window and getting out of the car, while Yuri returns to his own car to resume watching Emma’s apartment building.
I walk up to the building and type in a security code to let myself in. When Kolya was gathering info on the owners of Emma’s building, he also hacked into their security system and created a security code for my personal use. I walk up to the second floor, and when I get to the stop of the stairs I notice a man talking to Emma in the hallway, and she looks a little uncomfortable.
“Hello,lyubimaya. Do you have a moment?” I ask, startling both Emma and the guy she is talking to.
“Hi Ivan. What are you doing here?” Emma asks, looking over the guy’s shoulder. The look she gives me is a mix of relief and confusion.
“I need to speak with you in private,” I tell her.
“Sure thing, Ivan,” she replies before turning her attention to the other man in the hallway. “Patrick, I’ll talk to you later.” She opens her door and gestures for me to follow.
I move past Patrick, and our eyes meet for a brief moment. His eyes go wide before he quickly looks away and moves down the hall to his own apartment door. He knows who I am and what I do—what he doesn’t know is that I know who he is and who he works for.
As I enter Emma’s apartment and close the door behind me, I take a moment to look around the small space. She keeps things clean and neat, and I don’t see any signs of a boyfriend. The bathroom is set across from her bedroom. Pink is definitely her favorite color, as there’s flashes of pink throughout the apartment. Emma invites me to take a seat at her small dining table next to the kitchen, and I sit down.
“Can I make you some coffee or tea?” Emma offers, getting cups down from an overhead cabinet.
“Coffee is good. Thank you,” I reply. She gets the coffee pot started and then comes to sit down with me.
“What did you want to talk to me about?” Emma asks.
“How well do you know your neighbor, Patrick?” I start.
“Why? We’re just neighbors.” She shrugs.
“I don’t like him. He was getting too close to you.”
“I don’t know him all that well. We see each other occasionally in the hallway, and sometimes he has friends over to watch football or play video games,” Emma says, getting up to pour our coffee. “Somehow, I don’t think that’s why you came over to talk to me. Speaking of that, how did you even get in the building?”
“Not important,” I tell her, glossing over the question she asked. “You’re right, though. I came to talk to you.”
“Well then, what is it?”
“I have reason to believe that your attack was no accident.”
“How do you know this?”
“I can’t tell you that right now. What I can tell you is that I believe you may be in danger.”
“That seems a little far-fetched,” Emma says, not really taking it seriously.
“Not in my world,lyubimaya.”
