AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Of course. Why? Should I not have?”
“Nope, just asking,” I say and squeeze the steering wheel until my knuckles go white. The fact that he told Roman about the girl doesn’t sit well with me, and that doesn’t make sense. I’ve never felt the need to hide anything from the pakhan.
“How is she?” the doc continues. “Did her family come to get her?”
“She’s still at my place.”
“What? Why didn’t you call her parents or someone?”
“She won’t talk. In fact, she hasn’t said a word.”
“Shit. She must be scared shitless. We should have had Varya stay with her until her family is able to come. You should probably stay away while she’s there.”
“About that.” I rub my neck. “She doesn’t seem scared of me. She’s actually been glued to my side since the moment she woke up this morning. Won’t let me leave her sight. She even insisted I stay in the bathroom while she took a shower.”
“Hmm. This isn’t my specialty, but I do know that assault victims can react in multiple ways. Does she flinch when you come close?”
“When I tried to leave the room to get her a glass of water, she screamed and jumped into my arms. Naked,” I say. “Do you have any advice on what I should do? How to behave until I can reach her family?”
“No idea. I’m not a psychologist. But, I’ll make a few calls and let you know what I find out.”
“Thanks, Doc.”
I put the phone in my jacket and look down at my watch. I shouldn’t have left her alone, but all this is new to me. I’ve never had anyone to worry about. Never had to take care of someone. And no one ever took care of me, so I haven’t a clue what I’m doing.
* * *
As I assumed, almost everyone from the Bratva’s top circle is here.
The head of security, Dimitri, is standing next to Roman’s desk, while Mikhail is sitting in the chair near the window. Mikhail oversees the transport operations involving the Bratva’s drug products, and he’s also in charge of information extraction. In other words—torture, when necessary. Sergei, the pakhan’s half brother, is leaning on the wall beside the door, flipping a knife blade in his hands. He handles the negotiations with our suppliers and buyers. And kills them occasionally.
“Fyodor’s daughter, Ruslana, has been found dead,” Maxim, the second in command, says and places a yellow folder in front of Roman. “The body was found in a dumpster in the suburbs. Some homeless man stumbled upon it.”
“Cause of death?” Roman asks.
“Suspected overdose.”
“Ruslana was a good kid. Sophomore in college. It doesn’t sound like her to get mixed up with drugs.” Roman nods toward the folder. “When did she go missing?”
“Last month. Her father said she went to a store and never came back.”
“Did he file a missing person’s report?”
“Yes. Nothing came of it. It was as if she fell off the earth. But that’s not the strangest thing.” Maxim takes a piece of paper out of the folder and passes it to Roman. “Here’s the medical examiner’s report. She was high on heroin, but they also found traces of an unidentified substance. I pulled some strings and had the results cross-checked against the pills taken from the dealer at Ural. Same thing.”
After a brief scan of the contents, Roman asks. “You think the heroin is a cover-up?”
“Probably.” He nods.
“Drugs are not ice cream. You can’t just whip up a new flavor in someone’s kitchen.” Roman drums his fingers on the desk and looks at Mikhail who is sitting to my right. “Did you get anything from the dealer Pavel caught?”
“He just kept repeating what he told Pasha,” Mikhail says. “A friend gave him the pills in exchange for debt forgiveness. He didn’t know how his friend got the drugs or what they were. We have nothing, just the name of this friend. But, it seems his buddy has disappeared. Yuri has men keeping their eyes on his place. As soon as he surfaces, they will bring him in.”
I watched Mikhail work over a guy once a few years back. He made torture into an art form. If Mikhail couldn’t extract anything else from the dealer, it means there wasn’t anything left.
Roman sets the folder aside and leans forward, placing his elbows on the desk. “Now, onto the second issue. What the fuck is wrong with you all—collecting random unconscious women and taking them home with you?”
All heads turn toward Sergei who is sitting on my right.
