Page 81 of The Marriage

Because surely ... no, she had to be wrong. He chose that facility for a reason. Their willingness to skirt the law in some cases to help families who could afford their services, for one. And the promise, by Michelle Wang, that Twin Rivers was undoubtedly the safest place to hide Karine given their location, and the security team on sight.

“Mr. Avdonin, please calm down,” Sylvia said, her voice rushed but still hushed on the other end of the call. He could only imagine why—undoubtedly, the facility was trying to cover their asses. “I know this is stressful. We have sent out a search party to look for her.”

“She ran away—what, on foot?” he spat back, not bothering to quell the growing rage. “And you haven’t found her yet? I mean, how far could she have gone without anything to get her there? What the fuck are you useless pieces of shit even doing up there?”

“This happened earlier—by the time they notified me, I wasn’t even on the property today, it had been more than a couple of hours. She wasn’t on foot, actually, and we suspect she might be farther than we can reach because of that. Her father was here to see her today, we had a new nurse working the front desk, and wasn’t entirely familiar with Karine’s file or case. She went off a miscommunication in the file, and allowed the visitation when Karine agreed. They, Karine and her father, disappeared together after. Based on the footage we’ve been able to find, it appears he took her with him when there was a distraction in the dining hall.”

Her father.

Roman ended the call before Syliva said another word. It was all he needed to hear. Everything else fell into place far too easily.

Scarily so.

Maxim had found her—did he convince her or forcibly take her away from the facility? The only thing was—Roman had no idea where he would take her. Nobody even knew where Maxim was or where he’d been hiding all this time.

In an effort to keep Karine hidden from Dima—Roman had neglected the need to keep her hidden from her father, too.

Apparently, the man had been waiting.

Time was up.

*

Roman took the stairs from the loft apartment to the garage below three steps at a time. The loud, rhythmic slap of his shoes to the stairs was the only sound he heard mixed in with his screaming, racing thoughts.

He had one option—charter a jet to Vegas, and find her. Catching a flight last minute would be a joke.

He didn’t give a fuck anymore—not about his father’s orders to stay in New York, or if he was going to be followed by Dima and his men. At this point, he literally had everything to lose. Karine was his everything, after all. He didn’t give a fuck about the consequences of being seen, or how visible it would make him to officials. Too much damage had been done already. Marky was dead. They had too much attention from the FBI and police, and it wouldn’t be long before the two merged to see how they might be able to help one another.

These were things that were entirely out of his control. Nothing could be done to stop what had already happened.

Roman focused on what he could—Karine, and locating her. He was the one who failed to keep her safe, no excuses.

He blamed himself for leaving her there. Maybe trying to prioritize getting her help should have taken a backseat to move her as far out of the country and reach as he could. His hubris was assuming he should have relied on anybody to take care of her.

That they were capable.

Nobody could be trusted.

Before he even had a chance to hit the unlock button on the fob for the rental Porsche he’d been using, a van pulled into the garage. The two men driving had parked five feet from Roman and jumped out before the garage door even closed completely.

Lincoln and Kostya nodded his way, but even their smiles were grim. He hadn’t expected to see the two—men Marky had considered friends in Roman’s crew of guys, who worked closely for him.

“We have a surprise for you,” Kostya said as Lincoln rounded the back of the van with Roman.

For a moment—Roman fantasized about seeing Karine sitting in there. That somehow, in a matter of a few hours, she had found her way to him. All the way from Nevada. It was a foolish, errant thought that he knew couldn’t be true when nobody but him and the people in another state knew she was missing.

Of course, it wasn’t Karine.

It was Masha.

She sat crouched in the corner in the back of the van. Her shaking betrayed the fear she was in, despite the courage with which she met Roman’s eyes.

He stood there in silence, staring back at her until his brain managed to comprehend the piece of the puzzle that had suddenly been laid at his feet.

“Found her hanging around Leon’s gas station,” Lincoln explained as he stepped back beside Roman. “Begging for change so she could make phone calls.”

“The feelers came through, then?”