Page 24 of The Bratva King

Fire department ETA: eight minutes. Generator tampered with. Wire pulled from the automatic transfer switch.

I type back.

Lock down the site. Nobody in or out. I want the name of everyone who stepped onto this property today.

I pocket the phone.

Eight minutes.

I can do eight minutes.

Catherine has stopped hyperventilating. She sits on the floor with her back against the wall and her knees drawn up, breathing carefully, the way Pasha coached her. He’s settled beside her, telling her about the book he was reading to Mila.

Catherine hangs on every word.

I count the seconds and tell myself to keep it together.

Pasha looks over his shoulder. I see the concern in his eyes. I try to look indifferent.

I’m failing, but he pretends not to notice.

7

Gabby

A knock hits the door, and I freeze. It’s barely seven in the morning. I don’t have friends here. There’s no reason anyone should be knocking on my door.

I’ve been awake for thirty minutes, watching Luke sleep and wondering whether I can stretch the peanut butter another week after paying the electric bill.

I ease off the mattress without waking him and pad to the door. I check the peephole first. Always the peephole first.

No one.

I frown, unlock both locks, and open the door.

The hallway is empty, but there’s something on the door, taped at eye level.

I tear it off.

A seven-day notice to pay rent.

I stare at it. The words blur, and I blink them back into focus. The amount I have to pay to stay is written at the bottom. I’ll never come up with that kind of money. Certainly not in seven days.

Then I think about the broken AC. The cockroaches. The orange water from the tap. Everything the landlord should have fixed months ago.

I step into the hall and look down the stairwell.

“Hey!” My voice echoes off the concrete. “Hey, I know you can hear me!”

Nothing.

“You couldn’t talk to me? You had to tape it to my door like a coward?” I lean over the railing. “Get rid of the roaches, and maybe I’ll pay on time!”

Silence from below.

I go back inside and slide both locks into place.

I put the notice face-down on the counter so I don’t have to look at it.