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“Your soft heart will be your downfall.” Talia returns to the man and holds the knife to his throat.
I close my eyes and block out his screams for mercy.
“Open your eyes, Paige,” she commands. “If you don’t, I will cut him deeper. Youmustwatch.”
“Will you let him live if I watch?” My voice shakes.
“This man burned down a house, and a boy died.” Talia looks from man to man as each one laughs. “He knew the boy was in the house, yet he did it anyway. The boy did nothing wrong. Should I let the innocent suffer while the wicked go free?”
I don’t know what to say. If it’s true, the man should be punished, but not by Talia. “You should turn him over to the police.”
They laugh even harder this time as I tremble on that cold floor with fear.
“What do you think he is, Little Ms. Lucky?” Talia smirks as she raises the knife in her hand.
I know what’s coming, and I am powerless to stop it. Her face turns into a cruel mask of rage. The blade strikes with precision, slicing through the man’s throat in one clean motion. He looks at me with wide eyes before his life slips away in a stream of blood, dyeing his shirt.
I huddle in a ball and pray that Andrei will find me.
Chapter 2
Andrei
I rush from one room to the next in the ER, searching for Paige, although I know she won’t be there. But that doesn’t matter. I have another person in mind. A plan that is overdue. I find the room I want and Gerald Reyes lying in bed, looking like he’s already dead.
With great difficulty, I manage to stop my hands from squeezing his throat. I step closer to his bed, hovering over him, the man who inadvertently brought Paige to me.
For better or worse.
He moans softly against the pillow, looking like a skeleton with his sickly complexion and mouth hanging slack. He senses my presence as his eyes flutter open. He gazes at me without recognizing who I am. But then, gradually, he sees my resemblance to Vasily, and his face morphs in response.
“What are you doing here?” His voice is a raspy whisper. “Go away. I’ll get the police.”
I shake my head. “No, you won’t.”
He looks at the empty chair. “Where’s my daughter?”
Dmitri steps into the room and shakes his head slightly. There are no clues in the hospital to Paige’s whereabouts. But I’ve decided on someone else.
I reach for the tubes connecting Gerald to an array of machines and start pulling. He winces as the needle rips out of his arm.
“What are you doing?” asks Dmitri. “You can’t get rid of him here.”
I glare at Dmitri. “We’re taking him with us. Call ahead to the house and have a room and a doctor prepared for our arrival.”
Dmitri pauses, ready to argue, as Gerald uses all his strength to move to the edge of the bed. Before he can fall out of it, I grab him. Dmitri closes his mouth and heads out the door.
A nurse rushes in, no doubt alerted by the machine. “Sir, what are you doing?”
I have Gerald in my arms, holding him easily. “I’m taking him home.”
“You can’t do that, sir! He’s very ill.” She rushes toward me, and I push past her. “Sir, are you a relation?” She follows close on my heels. “I’m calling the police!”
“Go right ahead,” I reply without looking back.
She watches helplessly as I put Gerald into the Rover. She may give the numbers on the plates to the police, or maybe not. It makes no difference either way. I’ve already informed the hospital administration about checking Gerald out today to bring him into private hospice care. A hefty follow-up donation sealed the deal.
Gerald does his best to sit up in the back seat, but eventually, he lies across it as Dmitri and I sit in the front.
