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The smile disappeared. “Kind of.” I pointed to the map. “He’s in North Miami, but the exact location isn’t super accurate.” Zooming in on the street view, the coordinates I’d pulled from the file showed a deserted parking lot. “It’s a start. Leo will be nearby. There’s a bunch of buildings in this area.”
One of them might contain the bare, concrete room where he was being held. Or, had been held. The date on the video was from a day prior. The weight settled back on my heart, threatening to sink me in despair. A lot could happen in a day.
Mikhail squeezed my shoulder bracingly. “Get ready to leave. We’ll head to that location right away.”
I raced upstairs to change into something suitable for a fight. It took me less than three minutes to tear off the sundress and put on my old jeans and one of my new oversized t-shirts. Andre, the mountain-sized security guard who first jumped me in the park, waited outside my room. He handed me a kevlar vest and a computer tablet.
“From the boss,” he grunted, falling into step beside me down the stairs.
“No gun?” I asked.
He only grunted again, his face an emotionless brick as he turned to me. “My orders are to keep you safe and help get your brother back in that order. You gonna make either of those things difficult for me?”
I shook my head and hugged the vest close to my chest. This big brute still gave me the creeps, but he was definitely capable and would be an asset in the rescue mission. “Thank you,” I all but choked out.
He could have smirked, but his face remained impassive. At the front door, he veered off to get in the first of three dark SUVs. Mikhail waited by the middle one; the third was already running, ready to go as soon as the order was given. I ran to his side, and he opened the back door for me to get in.
Once he was seated beside me, he gave the order, and the small convoy moved out, heading down the long route to get off the island and make its way up north. I kept a firm grip on my new tablet and the kevlar vest, holding them close like security blankets.
“You can see the location on that,” Mikhail said, tapping the tablet. “I thought you might like to know where we were and how close we were getting. The vest is probably self-explanatory. When we get there, I’ll assess your need for a firearm. Or if you leave the car at all.”
I nodded, too grateful he was taking charge of the operation to argue. The fear I struggled to keep at bay began to creep back in. Now that we were on our way, I could only stare at the map. Dark thoughts of what we might find when we arrived made it difficult to breathe.
What if we were too late?
Chapter 18 - Mikhail
In the car, Evelina remained silent and huddled close to me, her eyes glued to the map on the tablet I gave her, hoping to keep her from obsessing about what we might find. Now it seemed like a bad idea as she only stared morosely at the blue dot on the screen, her knuckles white as she held it in a vice grip.
I worried she might be in shock, so I closely watched her. Once we got off my island, the trip would take a little more than an hour, which wasn’t long in a normal situation, but it could seem like days to someone sunk in despair. I wished I could make more promises, but I didn’t dare. Not when I wasn’t sure I could keep them.
The Novikoffs had done a real number on Leo, which was only the portion they’d recorded to taunt us. I tried not to, but I feared the worst, and it was tearing me up not being able to offer Evelina any real comfort.
Another task I didn’t want to face was calling Oleg to keep him informed and assure him I was doing everything I could. With a sigh, I pulled my phone from my pocket and scrolled to his number, my thumb hovering over the call button.
Before I could tap it, Evelina slapped the phone out of my hand and dove for it when it hit the floor at my feet. Once she made sure the call hadn’t gone through, she turned to me with fire in her eyes.
“What in the hell are you doing? Trying to give an old man a heart attack?”
“Your father is only ten years older than me,” I said. It shouldn’t have stung at a time like that, and if things with Leo hadn’t been so dire, it might have been an awkward situation.
“I still don’t want you worrying him.” She held the phone in both hands, tight to her chest, as she glared at me.
“He has a right to know,” I argued. “I’d want to know if Kristina was in trouble.”
Her face turned red, then slowly eased back to normal. She handed over my phone. “Put it on speaker so I can talk to him too.”
I did as she asked, pleased a bit of her spark had returned. But as soon as Oleg was on the phone, she talked over me, downplaying everything.
“Hi, Papa,” she called out with forced merriment as she glared at me. “Leo’s got himself in a little bit of trouble, but Mikhail and I are taking care of it.”
“A little bit of trouble?” I hissed. She swatted my leg.
“Ah, I’m glad you and Mikhail are getting along,” Oleg said.
Some pink returned to her cheeks, and she dropped her gaze from mine. “Yes, he’s treating me well, Papa. You don’t need to worry about that. You don’t have to worry about anything.”
I was shocked at how she babied him, lying to protect his feelings. Did Kristina do the same thing to me? I wondered if every time she told me something was fine or even great, it was all lies.
