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“I don’t see Mikhail or Dimitri anywhere,” I squeak. “You don’t think they—”
“Fuck,” Pyotr hisses. “We need to get out of here. We agreed to rendezvous at our checkpoint. We have to go right now.”
I nod numbly. My heart is beating so hard and fast I can feel my pulse vibrating my teeth. “Right,” I mutter breathless. “Can we please get off this damn roof?”
Pyotr takes my hand. “Let’s go.”
“Wait!” I say hastily, spotting something strange out of the corner of my binoculars. “Is that…”
A black SUV is parked about a block away from the warehouse. It hasn’t moved since arriving, and now I see why. I spot a familiar figure standing just outside the car door, screaming her head off at a few of her guards. She lookspissed.
Violetta.
“What is it?” Pyotr asks.
“It’s my mother. I think she knows she’s lost.”
“What is she doing?”
“Getting in her car. I think she’s going to try and get away.”
She slips into the car, and I can see her frantic gesturing through the windows. Her driver peels away in a hurry, tires likely screeching as they make their quick getaway. The look on her face is priceless. It’s the look of a woman who thought herself indestructible only to crumble into a heap. Her hubris landed her in this situation. She never saw me as a threat, and that was her mistake. All it took was a little outmaneuvering, and her entire operation has fallen apart.
“We can’t let her escape,” Pyotr says. “The only way to end this once and for all is to capture her.”
I gulp. “And then what?”
The question hangs in the air like an ax waiting to drop. I’m not an idiot. I know what my husband is implying. Violetta can’t get away, but if we capture her… the Antonovs will likely want her dead. I’m pretty sure they’ll want to put a bullet between her eyes themselves to be doubly sure she’s no longer a threat.
I do not love my mother. All my life, she’s tormented me. I hate the woman with every fiber of my being… But do I want her dead?
“We’ll worry about it after, Alina,” Pyotr tells me. “Right now, we need to go after her. The car’s still downstairs.”
“Okay,” I mumble. “Let’s go.”
Chapter 38
Pyotr
Driving through Moscow is already a pain and a half on a good day. Driving through Moscow after a massive shootout between two rival Bratvas is understandably next to impossible.
The cops are everywhere, along with ambulances and fire trucks. The streets are congested, impossible to navigate. It feels like a warzone. Violetta really picked the perfect time for a car chase. She’s only a few cars ahead, her driver weaving in and out haphazardly. I’m not sure if she knows we’re tailing her, but we’re going to lose her at this rate. Too many cars are in the way, too many panicked bystanders. If only we could predict where she’s going…
A lightbulb goes off in my head.
I hand Alina my phone. She’s seated in the passenger seat. “Call Luka.”
She does as I ask, putting the call on speaker so I can focus on barreling through the streets at top speed. Violetta’s vehicle is really legging it. They must know they’re in deep shit.
My little brother answers on the second dial tone. “Dude, it’s four in the afternoon, I’msleeping.”
“Then wake up!” I snap. “It’s life or death over here. I need you to track a car for me.”
“Hold on, hold on.” There’s some shuffling in the background, probably Luka rolling out of bed. I hear the telltale sign of his computer whirring to life. “Okay, I’ve got the grid up on my computer. It’s going to take me a second to access the network.”
“Make it quick. We’re running out of time.”
“Do you know if the target has a phone on them? It might be easier to triangulate their exact location.”
