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Chapter 30
Gideon closed his hand over Alex’s. “Before I call Mel, I want you to call the Russians back. Find out what they want. It’s probably the money, but don’t agree to anything. Get as much information as you can. It’s okay to let them hear your fear. Your horror. Your revulsion for what they did.
“Don’t give them any hints about where we are. If they want to come here, that’s a hard no. If they want you to come to them, get the address. Then tell them you have to call them back. You need to figure out how long it’ll take to get to them. Okay?”
He gripped her hand, and Alex stared at him. Took a deep breath. “I can do that. I know how to negotiate.”
“Let’s start by finding out what they want. We’ll go from there.”
Alex nodded, her gaze locked to Gideon. She was used to negotiating in a judge’s chambers. With another attorney. This was different.
She’d be negotiating for Jerry’s life. And maybe hers and Gideon’s.
Negotiating with stakes this high was terrifying.
Gideon clearly realized that, because he gripped her hand tightly. “You’re an attorney, Alex,” he said. “You do this for a living. You can handle it. Think of the Russians as the prosecuting attorney. You know how to get what you want.”
“Okay. You’re right.” She straightened and reached for the phone. Hit Jerry’s contact icon.
“Put it on speaker again,” Gideon ordered.
She clicked the speaker icon. The phone rang twice before the same man answered. “What do you think of my associate’s handiwork?”
“It’s disgusting. Horrifying. You’re monsters.” Alex took a deep breath. She could do this. “What do you want?”
“I want the money you took from his safe. All of it. You will bring it to us, or Trotter will lose another finger every half-hour until you arrive with the money. If you don’t have the money?” The Russian paused. “No fingers for Trotter.
“And if you don’t come and we’re forced to kill Trotter? We have an associate on his way to Evanston. With a picture of Sierra Baker.”
Alex bit her lip to keep the cry from escaping. “Where are you?” she finally managed to ask.
The Russian reeled off an address, and Alex watched Gideon working the mapping app on the sat phone. He scribbled on a piece of paper. Held it up.
“That address is almost an hour away from where I am. So there’s no way I can be there in a half-hour. You can’t cut off another finger until I get there. I have to get the money together.”
“You will come alone,” the Russian instructed. “Leave the man behind. Do you understand? If you don’t come alone, Trotter will die.”
“Yes, I understand. Come alone. Bring the money. I’ll be there in an hour and a half.”
“You said an hour,” the Russian growled.
“I said you were an hour away. I have to get the money together. Get dressed. And I have a crappy sense of direction. I could get lost.”
She heard Jerry in the background, assuring the guy that what Alex had said was true. Thank God he was still quick enough to do that. She had a great sense of direction, but it had been all she could think of to say.
Silence on the other end of the phone. Finally, the Russian said, “Fine. One and a half hours.”
Alex said, “No more fingers cut off until I get there with the money.”
A longer pause. “My associate is not a patient man.”
“He’d better learn to be,” she retorted. “Because if Jerry is missing any more fingers, the deal is off. I’ll kill you instead.”
“You will kill us? One woman against two men?” He laughed, the sound smug. Confident. “No woman has ever gotten the best of me. But you’re welcome to try.”
“No one has to die if you agree to leave Jerry with his fingers for another hour and a half,” Alex said, falling into the negotiator’s role.
“Fine,” the Russian said, chuckling. He was clearly still amused by the idea of Alex killing them. “No more fingers until you get here.”
