Page 138 of Lethal Obsession

I turn back toward the heladería, my arm still through Seline’s.

“No.” She halts abruptly. “You didn’t leave your phone on the table. You never took it out of your pocket.”

She glances around nervously.

“I must have,” I say, smiling at her. “Let’s just check.”

“No,” she says again, and suddenly her grip on my arm is viselike. “Teresa never lets you out of her sight,” she says, almost as if she’s talking to herself. “And now she’s disappeared. You never took your phone out of your pocket, but now it’s gone. Ofelia.” She turns to me, her eyes wide with alarm. “We need to get you home. Now.” She pulls me forward, stumbling on a stone as she does, falling to the ground.

“Damn!” She scrambles to her feet, ignoring my outstretched hand as she stares around the alley. “We should hurry.”

“Seline!” I reach out a hand to steady her, surprised to find her trembling. “What’s wrong?” I glance around, but I can’t see anyone. “I’ve lost my phone, that’s all—”

“You didn’t lose it!” Her eyes dart around frantically. “Your pocket was picked, Ofelia. Please believe me.” Her words are almost a sob, and it might be my imagination, but her accent seems different, less obviously French.

“Just give me your phone.” I hold out my hand. “I will call Teresa—”

“There’s no time.” Seline’s eyes darken with fear as she stares over my shoulder. “I’m sorry, Ofelia. I realized too late—”

“You realized what?” I frown at her, confused.

“Too late,” she repeats dully.

“Da” comes a cold, masculine voice in Russian from behind me. “For once, little Gypsy blyat, your fortune telling is right.”

26

Ofelia

I should have run when she told me to.

Ever since the night Masha and I were kidnapped, I’ve always thought I’d react differently if ever there was a next time.

I thought I would be ready, that I’d sense danger before it was close.

But danger has been reading my tarot cards for over a year, and I had no fucking idea.

And right up until I hear that cold Russian behind me, I genuinely think that Seline is being typically dramatic. That any moment Teresa will come around the corner, waving my phone at me with a long-suffering eye roll.

Instead, my hands are brutally wrenched behind my back, held so hard I have no chance of freeing myself. Seline cowers against the wall, a man towering over her, Spanish by the sound of his hissed warnings. Two thickset men appear carrying Teresa’s slumped body between them, blood running down her face from a brutal cut on her temple.

“Bitch knows how to fight,” one of the men growls in Russian and spits a gob of blood onto the stones. “Took down Alek and one of the Duvals before we knocked her out. This would be a lot easier if we had guns, Ivan.”

“This isn’t Atlanta.” The man behind me answers curtly in the same language. “Any kills need to look like an accident. And right now we need to get off the street.”

“In here.” The Spaniard holding Seline opens a door and shoves her inside. The Russian, Ivan, pushes me in after her, and his goons holding Teresa close it behind them. It’s a local bar I’ve passed a hundred times but barely noticed, a small hole-in-the-wall that usually opens late at night. Going by the familiarity with which the Spaniard flicks the lights on, he clearly owns it.

“The car will be out front in five minutes,” he says. “What do you want me to do with this one?” He nudges Teresa’s unconscious figure with his boot.

“Keep her out cold until we’re gone,” Ivan says curtly from behind me. “Then take her somewhere out of town and make sure she can’t come back as a witness. Did we get that other bitch?”

Julia. My stomach lurches with horror.

“Si.” The Spaniard nods. “She took the bait after we called from this one’s phone.” He nods at me.

The gypsies on the main road. That’s when they stole my phone.

“Told her we found it lying in the street and then called the first number on it. She came out of the house right away. We snatched her when she got clear of the cameras, but we lost four men doing it. Four.” He glares at Ivan. “Good men, and three of them won’t ever wake up again. I hope you know what the fuck you’re doing, Ivan. Bodies draw attention.”