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I take the lead, rushing up the stairs despite Pasha’s warnings to slow down. The light from his flashlight dances across the narrow walls as we ascend, following me as closely as it can without aiming directly at me.
“Come here,” Pasha growls as we reach the top of the stairs, grabbing me by the waist and pulling me back. “I don’t want you going in there alone. The top floor hasn’t been cleared yet.”
I use this as an opportunity to catch my breath, sucking in air and letting it out slowly. Pasha moves ahead of me, flashing his light down the hall and creeping forward.
I wait a few more seconds before following him, checking over my shoulder every few steps to make sure nobody catches us from behind. It’s eerily quiet upstairs. The shooting has mostly stopped in the house, and the movement downstairs has diminished to an occasional shuffle of footsteps.
“The bedroom is here,” Pasha whisper, pointing toward an open door down the hallway. “Let’s make this quick.”
I rush past him, eager to get my necklace back.
“Valerie! Slow down!”
I ignore his warning as I jump through the doorway into the master bedroom. It smells like Anatoly’s cologne, but he’s nowhere to be found. Pasha clambers in after me, panting as he shakes his head. “Don’t run ahead of me like that.”
“Sorry,” I mutter, already looking around for the necklace.
“I just don’t want you to get hurt. It’s still dangerous in here.”
I hardly hear Pasha as I open draws around the room, rushing from place to place until I’ve exhausted my options. I don’t want to believe it’s not here. Anatoly wouldn’t be carrying it around. He had to have left it here!
My hands are so sweaty that I can barely get a grip on the doorknob to the closet.
“Be careful,” Pasha warns, pointing his rifle at the door before I can open it.
I stand to the side, opening the door quickly and bracing myself for a loud bang. I’m thankful when there isn’t one, breathing out a long sigh of relief.
“Okay, you can look inside. Just make this quick. I don’t think the necklace is here.”
I scoff at Pasha’s doubt, but he’s probably right. It’s just not something I’m willing to make peace with until I’ve searched every inch of Anatoly’s bedroom. I’ve already checked under the bed, but there are a few other places the necklace could be.
I reach up to the top shelf in the closet, moving aside a few dusty boxes and something that feels like a gun. No sign of a necklace. It feels dumb to even look up there, but I can’t leave any surface of this room unsearched.
I check the floor of the closet again as I back out of it, shaking my head. “Okay, maybe in the bathroom,” I mutter.
“The bathroom?” Pasha asks, checking over his shoulder again. “I think we should just go.”
I can hear the impatience in his voice but I’m not ready to give up yet. I rush to the bathroom and fling the door open, searching the wall for a light until my fingers brush against something…
But it’s not a light switch.
Suddenly, the light comes on and I see a man standing in the clinically cold white porcelain room. His eyes are glowing with deranged focus, and the sides of mouth are stretched so high on his gaunt face that he looks like a poorly carved wooden puppet.
My scream is stifled by Anatoly’s fingers over my mouth. He pulls me against him, jabbing the nose of a silver revolveragainst the side of my head. The impact is so hard that for a moment, I think I’ve already been shot.
“Don’t fucking move,” Anatoly growls in my ear.
“Valerie!” Pasha appears in the doorway, his rifle aimed directly at me.
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Pasha
Time slows to a crawl as I lower my rifle. I can’t shoot now. I’d blow a hole through Valerie to get to Anatoly, killing them both.
Anatoly grins, but his hand is shaking wildly as he attempts to keep his revolver against Valerie’s head. “Got your girl, Pasha. What are you going to do about it?”
“Let her go,” I demand, keeping my voice calm but stern.
