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“Where’s Luka?” My voice shakes as I look past Stepan to the empty elevator. “Where is he?”
Stepan responds to Budimir. His face darkens.
“Stepan.” I swallow. Dread fills me. My heart hammers my ribs. “Where’s Luka?”
Stepan barks more at Budimir before finally turning his attention to me. “You’re going to meet him,” he tells me, his voice softening. But the dark look in his eyes stays. There’s a storm brewing. This isn’t the man that left the penthouse with Luka over an hour ago. He’s panicked and angry at the same time.
“Why isn’t he here?”
“He said to bring you to him,” he says, trying to shrug off my question.
“Give me my phone.” I put my hand out to Budimir. “My phone!”
Stepan says something in Russian. I assume he’s translating for me.
Budimir pulls my phone out of his pocket, but before I can grab it, Stepan snatches it.
“Not yet,” he says to me as he slips it into the inside pocket of his suit. “C’mon. We don’t want to keep Luka waiting.” He punches in the security code and the elevator opens for him immediately.
There’s something eerie about the empty elevator. Getting in there is a bad idea. My brain screams for me to stay put. Do not go with them.
“I think I’ll stay here. Luka said he’d be home. I’ll wait.” When I step back, I bump into Budimir’s chest. The heavy stench of stale cigarette smoke makes my stomach swirl. He puts one hand on my shoulder in a harsh grip.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Stepan says. “Let’s go. The car’s waiting downstairs.” He heads into the elevator and with a shove from Budimir, I join him.
The entire ride to the garage, my mind whirls in one direction then another, trying to find the right answer here. How do I get away from them? And if I do, how do I find Luka? Something has obviously gone wrong. Stepan isn’t who Luka thought he was.
The garage is dark when the elevator doors open again. Luka’s motorcycle and other fancy cars are exactly where he left them. There’s a black SUV parked behind them, which must be Stepan’s car. He opens the back door for me and gestures for me to get inside.
“I don’t want to.” I push back against Budimir’s grip. “I want to stay here and wait for Luka.” I know how pathetic I sound. Obviously, Luka’s not coming back here on his own, but if I get in that car with Stepan, I may never come out of it again. If Stepan betrayed Luka, there’s no reason for him to let me live.
“I don’t care what you want. Get in the car.”
“Wait. Wait. What’s wrong with Luka? Why didn’t he come with you?” I keep pushing back against Budimir, but he’s getting rougher with me. His fingernails dig into my skin. The thin t-shirt I’m wearing offers no protection.
“Luka is fine. He’s waiting for you.” Stepan gestures toward the empty seat. “If you don’t get in the car and come with us, that might change. You don’t want to be responsible for that, do you?” He pulls back his jacket, exposing his own handgun. “Get in, Avery. A bullet doesn’t always kill.”
Budimir growls something from behind me and shoves me at the car. With shaky legs, I climb into the back of the SUV. The door slams shut behind me, and they both climb into the front seats.
“You’re bringing me to Luka, right?” I ask as he makes his way out of the parking garage.
“Yes.” Stepan looks at me through the rearview mirror. “Now be quiet. I need to think.”
I do too.
Nothing in my life has prepared me for a moment like this. I have no criminal mindset. How am I supposed to come up with something that gets me free, and makes sure Luka stays safe too?
As Stepan maneuvers through the city, heading toward the river, my phone sings from Stepan’s pocket. He lets it go to voicemail, but a moment later it goes off again.
“It could be my work asking me to cover a shift,” I suggest. “Let me answer it.”
“No,” Stepan barks at me, then rattles off orders to Budimir when it goes off for the third time. Stepan tosses the phone to Budimir who swipes the screen and throws it into his pocket. I try to catch the caller on the screen as it slides into his coat, but I’m not close enough.
Every street we drive farther from the penthouse makes my nerves rawer. The warehouse is on the river. Isn’t that what Luka said? There are so many warehouses. There have to be people at one of them. It’s Sunday night, but surely someone is getting a shipment or something. It’s New York City, for shit’s sake! It never sleeps.
Time flies when you’re being kidnapped by Russian mobsters. Stepan pulls into a parking lot behind a bunch of old buildings near the river. When he parks beside another SUV, my stomach plummets. Obviously, we’re not meeting just Luka. While I was busy trying to figure out how to get away from Stepan and Budimir, I didn’t allow myself to think about what might be happening to Luka.
“Davay, De Luca zhdet,”Stepan says to Budimir once he parks the car. That name. I’ve heard it before. De Luca. Mario works for him, I think. My mind is so fogged with fear, I can’t remember exactly.
