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“I know.” She leans her head back and traces the tip of her finger down my nose. “Take care, big guy.”
“I’m meeting with someone who supplies us with cars.” I laugh. “He’s almost eighty. I think I can take him on if he becomes hostile for some reason.”
Angelina smiles, kisses me again, and wiggles her butt, so I put her down, squeezing her ass in the process.
“I’m going to get those chips now,” she says and rushes back into the house.
As I watch her climb up the steps, a strange foreboding sensation settles in the pit of my stomach. It doesn’t leave me even after I arrive at the meeting point. In fact, it only becomes stronger. Twenty minutes into the meeting, I decide to cut it short and head back home.
Half an hour later I’m parking the car on the driveway when Felix exits the house and stares at me with a grim face, his hands planted on his hips. I head to where he’s standing on the porch while a sense of unease spreads through me.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, climbing the steps.
“Angelina left.”
“Alone?” I stop on the top stair. “Where did she go? I told her I’ll be back in two hours. If she needed something, she could have waited.”
Angelina likes going to the small grocery store down the street, but I prefer for her not to wander around alone.
“She left you a note on the bed. I saw it when I went to look for you two,” Felix says and looks away. “She’s not coming back, Sergei.”
I stare at Felix, processing what he just said, then rush inside the house. I take three stairs at a time and run to my bedroom. There, on a tidily made bed, lies a lonely piece of paper. For a few moments, I just look at it as panic unfurls inside me. I take a deep breath, approach the bed, and read the neatly handwritten note.
Sergei,
For quite some time, I’ve been thinking about my life and everything that has happened. I’ve decided I need a fresh start. I contacted one of my father’s friends earlier this week, and he arranged for me to get an ID so I can access my money and leave the States. While I truly enjoyed spending time with you, I realize that if I want to bring order into my life, I need to cut connections with everything that ties me to my past.
We had some nice moments together, but sometimes you scare the shit out of me, and I think it’s time we part ways. I thought I could deal with your issues, but the truth is, it’s too much, and it’s best that I leave. I booked a one-way flight to Europe, and I don’t plan on coming back.
Thank you for everything and take care.
Angelina.
I stare at the paper in my hand, then crumple and throw it across the room. Rage, stronger than any I’ve ever felt, consumes me. Felix’s voice reaches me from behind, but it gets weaker with every passing second until all I can hear is the ringing in my ears, and then nothing.
They’re late. I turn around and look up and down the street, wondering if, by some stroke of luck, Diego changed his mind. Even though it’s rather warm, I keep the red leather jacket on. Other than a few toiletries and a change of clothes, it’s the only thing I took with me when I sneaked away from Sergei’s home. I planned on leaving the jacket as well—it was crazy expensive—but I couldn’t make myself do it.
There’s also one of his small knives hidden at the bottom of my backpack. There is no way I’m going to Diego unarmed. A gun would have been a much better option, but it was harder to hide.
I wrap my arms around my waist and debate if I should call the redheaded bitch, Juana, to ask what’s going on when I notice a black car approaching. A sensation of falling overtakes me. It looks like I’m not that lucky after all. The car stops in front of me, and a short man sitting in the driver’s seat lowers the window. He’s in his late forties and an American. The car itself is maybe ten years old and is well used. Nothing even remotely is suspicious about it. Apparently, Diego doesn’t want to risk the boarder authorities looking too closely at the passengers.
“Do you have my documents?” I ask.
“Yes.”
I take a deep breath, throw the phone Sergei bought for me into the bushes, and walk around the car to get into the passenger side door. “Let’s go then.”
“Sergei?” Roman’s voice reaches me from somewhere on my right.
I open my eyes and, for a couple of seconds, I can’t grasp where I am until I notice familiar details. The bookshelves to the left are still in place, probably because they’re anchored to the wall. They are the only things, other than the bed where I’m sitting, that are still intact. The two recliners lie overturned near the opposite wall from where they should be, some of their parts are missing. The dresser, with clothes spilling out of it, is askew atop one of the chairs. Pieces of wood, fabric, and books are scattered all over the room, making it look like an earthquake or a tornado has hit it.
“Sergei? Are you with us?”
I look up.
Roman is standing in the doorway with Felix lurking behind him. Mimi, with her head on her paws and eyes peering at me, is lying on the floor in front of them.
“How long?” I ask.
