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Matthew was taking rasping breaths as he tried to fill his lungs with air. His eyes were wide, and his legs kicked uselessly, scrambling away from me until his back was against the wall into his grease-covered kitchen.
“Who are you?”
I tilted my head to the side. “You don’t know who I am?”
He shook his head so fast it looked like he was vibrating.
I couldn’t help it; I laughed. “This is even more pathetic than I thought. How much did Devin pay you?”
Recognition crossed his face, but he tried to play dumb. “Who?”
“Did Devin tell you why you were kidnapping a pregnant girl? Did he tell you who her boyfriend was?”
“I didn’t know she was pregnant, and he didn’t say anything about a boyfriend,” Matthew stammered.
I clicked my tongue against the roof of my mouth and shook my head. “You really ought to vet these jobs more thoroughly. Otherwise, you might end up kidnapping the pregnant girlfriend of a mafia boss.”
The little bit of color left in the man’s face drained out. His skin was a doughy white color, and I thought he was going to pass out. “You’re Gavril Stepanov?”
I smiled and bowed slightly. “The one and only.”
“The girl was just supposed to be his sister. No big deal,” Matthew said, lowering his head into his hands and bringing his knees up, so he was in a kind of fetal position. “I didn’t even get paid that much. One hundred bucks to drive the car. Plus gas money. Shit.”
“Shit, indeed,” I agreed. “Your friend screwed you over.”
“He isn’t my friend,” Matthew said, looking up at me quickly. “I don’t even know the guy.”
I knelt down in front of the trembling man, my elbow resting on my knee. “Then you won’t mind telling me where he took my girl?”
He paused, seeming unsure, so I decided to clear things up for him. Before he could even blink, I shot my elbow into his nose so hard that his head cracked back against the wood, denting the drywall. His nose began to bleed immediately, streams of red pouring out of each nostril and covering his front teeth.
“What the fuck, man?” He cupped a hand over his nose and tilted his head back. “I was going to tell you.”
“Not fast enough. I need to know where she is now. I need to find her safe and unharmed.”
“He is her brother. He wouldn’t hurt her,” Matthew said.
Again, before he could react, I jabbed my fist into his throat, momentarily stopping the movement of air from his lungs. His mouth flopped open silently for a few seconds before his windpipe re-opened. He folded forward, one hand still pressed to his nose, the other wrapped around the front of his throat.
“Why are you doing this?” he asked, his voice hoarse.
“Because the mother of my child has been kidnapped by her psychopath of a brother, and it is partially your fault.”
“I just drove the car,” he said, starting to cry. “Devin said it wouldn’t be a big deal.”
I leaned forward, so my breath washed over his face. “Devin lied. Tell me where she is, or I kill you right now.”
“I don’t know the guy’s name,” he said, holding up both hands and leaning back against the dented wall. “He has a private plane that Devin was going to use to escape, but that was the next phase. I didn’t ask much about that because it didn’t involve me.”
I sighed and reached for the gun at my hip, slipping it from the holster. “That’s too bad.”
Matthew saw the gun and then squeezed his eyes shut. “He drives a blue truck and has a snake tattoo around his neck. He looks hardcore. Piercings, leather, the whole getup. And he’s rich. Big house and a private plane.”
“How does Devin know him?”
He shrugged and kept talking, his voice frantic. “I don’t know. I just know the guy has a pilot license, and he owed Devin a favor. I don’t know where he was taking them or when.”
I twisted my mouth to the side. “That’s a little helpful.”
“I’d tell you more if I could. I swear I don’t even know these guys. I needed some cash for rent and drugs, and Devin said he had an easy gig for me. A no-brainer. He said he only needed me for an hour, and I’d make $400, so I jumped at it. If I’d known that it had anything to do with you, I would have stayed away.”
I nodded slowly. “You’re right, it was a no-brainer.”
Matthew’s eyebrows lowered in confusion. Then, I lunged toward him. I placed the gun against his temple and grabbed the collar of his shirt. “Only an idiot without a brain would agree to kidnap someone without knowing who they are or why they are being kidnapped. You made $400 and made yourself the enemy of the most powerful crime boss in the state. Total no-brainer.”
